Latest / The Real Estate Agent Playbook / The Wolfpack Way: Real Estate Success After Postpartum Struggles | Maddison Berrios

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The Wolfpack Way: Real Estate Success After Postpartum Struggles | Maddison Berrios · The Real Estate Agent Playbook

0:00
what is up guys today
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I'm so excited for another episode of the Wolf Pack Way
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today we have Madison Barrios from Harrisburg
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Pennsylvania
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Madison has absolutely crushed her real estate business
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but the true
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elevation of her real estate game
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happened after she had her daughter
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who's now almost 2 years old and went through some
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you know trying times
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but she has continued to compound
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pound is Ed Millett says on her business
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and building it organically through social media
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one step at a time unapologetic to her family
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and her commitments to that side
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so I'm super excited to bring Madison on
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so if you're here
0:47
we have an entire playlist over on YouTube
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of the Wolf Pack way where I'm featuring my partners
0:52
if you are interested in chatting with any of them
0:55
I super highly recommend you reaching out to connect
0:59
because the culture that we have built is um
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you know leaders lead givers give kind of situation
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and so if you ever want to check that out
1:09
or connect with Maddie
1:10
there will definitely be tons of information in the
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show notes
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or the comments below for you to connect with her
1:18
but without further ado let's bring on Maddie
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hello Addison Barrios
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how we doing today I'm good
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how are you I am so good
1:27
thank you so much for coming on
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uh
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we won't tell them that this is the second episode uh
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that we've recorded
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but we're gonna get rolling I got the record
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I see it in the the corner
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it's there yeah
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there we go so
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let's kind of dive right in and
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take you back to kind of when you first came to EXP
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and everything that was going on right
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we had a brokerage change
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we had a baby we had
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you know uh
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the husband's job change as I recall yeah
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yeah and I just remember so many conversations in this
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in the in those days right
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and it's like what am I doing
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how am I doing it Jeremy
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like I have to sleep
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like when can I do this
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and so tell us a little bit about your mindset around
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becoming a parent for the first time right
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and how you've
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you've grown your business to where it is today
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where it's absolutely crushing
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but it wasn't always like that right
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so tell us a little bit about that
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yeah the
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the journey of doing all this
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at the same time has been absolutely insane
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um I fully recommend doing it
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just maybe a little bit differently
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than how I did in the beginning
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um so yeah
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when I was pregnant with my daughter
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I was at another brokerage and um
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it was the opportunity was presented to me
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that we would possibly be switching over here to EXP
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and um
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at first I was like this is insane
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I just you know
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I had my daughter and then not even a few weeks later
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we were having the discussion of making a brokerage
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change and for me
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it was kind of one of those like
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this is all or nothing mentality
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like I'm here it's hard
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but if this is meant to be for me
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it's gonna be meant to be and we're gonna do it
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so yeah I had my daughter
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and then switch to EXP
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and try to learn an entire new brokerage
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a new way of doing business um
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cause EXP is obviously
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very different than just a typical brick and mortar um
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and I was on a team so the switch was very um dramatic
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I'll call it dramatic
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and so that was that was a wild year for me
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I experienced postpartum depression during that switch
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and so
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it was trying to navigate my own personal issues
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with
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navigating a Newborn for the first time in my life
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to navigating a business that was booming for me
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at the time that she was born
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um and then yeah
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a couple months later
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my husband made a massive switch in his business
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which took a pay cut instead of a pay raise um
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to leave an industry that treated him horribly
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to be in a business that he was happy in
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so he could support our family in a happier way um
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it was all crazy that was a year that I look back on it
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it's like oh my God
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I could never do that again
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but it's brought me here so um
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I'm very
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I'm very happy with where I'm at so far because of that
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but if I didn't trust myself to make that switch
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I would certainly not be here in my business
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I know that for a fact
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so tell us a little bit about how the business kind of
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you know stacked upon stacked upon stacked
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because it was a time thing right yeah
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you have your daughter she's not in preschool
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um your husband was making a change from a business
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I believe he worked you know
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odd hours things like that yeah
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and so how did you take that
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keep the daughter No. 1 first and foremost
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and the family right
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let's not let's not discount the husband
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yeah the
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the family first and foremost and
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and slowly get that production and find that time
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because the time management thing was massive
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and I admire your your success in doing so
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because I remember the days when it was really hard
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and we were on the phone talking about
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you know the helpless feeling and that kind of stuff
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so tell us a little bit about how you kind of
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put all that together and didn't necessarily
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put your business on the back burner
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but did not discount
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one second of time with your family
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yeah no
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you were definitely a big support in that
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because when I made the switch over here
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and you being the reason why
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why I'm here um
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I I needed that
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I needed some motivation
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during the times that it got really hard
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to not know what I was supposed to be doing
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and juggling at all
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and I will not say that I'm perfect at it now
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I think it's just
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it's been different shifts in the age of my daughter
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and changing and
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you know making new schedule routines throughout her
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her time so it's definitely
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it hasn't been easy
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but I have found ways to navigate it and
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and understanding in my life
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that my kid will always come first
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and then my career like no
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I've never put it on the back burner
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I'd say but
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there's definitely been times
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where I've had to pick and choose
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what was most important to me
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and what was needed
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and sometimes it was just my daughter needed me
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and I couldn't be somewhere else
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so
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I think it's really hard for people to disconnect that
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when you're so like
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heavy in your business and your
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I know
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this is something that people struggle a lot with is
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well but my business needs me
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and in order for me to make income
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I have to keep the the grinds
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the hustle culture um
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and for me that's just
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that's not how I operate I don't operate on hustle
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I operate on what is so important to me
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that feeds my cup every single day that like
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I can pour into and it was always my kid
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like I love being home with her
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I love being her mom like
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I love that I get to teach her
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and not some random strangers
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teaching her to preschool
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which is never a bad thing
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I don't wanna knock daycare
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but for me that was a huge goal was
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I want my kid to learn from me
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and watch me and be here with me
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and so it no
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it has not been easy that
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that journey of trying to figure out the balance
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has been really hard
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um but yeah
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we're here so it
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it has to be working yeah
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I'm asking a rhetorical question
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uh how are you building your business
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a lot of Zillow leads a lot of realtor
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com leads a lot of that kind of stuff
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the answer is no I'll answer for you
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so tell us a little bit about how organically
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you've grown that being Parent 1
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a 24 7 for your daughter and
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and kind of the strategy behind it
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the highs the lows
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and kind of
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your strategy behind your social media stuff
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so social media has been a life changing thing for me
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and I'll
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I'll backtrack to when I first got in the industry
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my first broker told me that social media didn't matter
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in our business and like me growing
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that wasn't gonna make a difference
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and um
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he was wrong I
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it has absolutely changed my life
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it's given me the opportunity to
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connect with people when you know
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I can't go sit in a coffee shop every day with my kid
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right like I can't just leave the house sometimes
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so I have to find ways to connect with people that
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I can relate to them and be beneficial to them
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and social media is the platform to do that
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obviously I'm on Facebook a lot
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and that's where I get a lot of my clients from
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is past relationships with friends with
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you know colleagues from other businesses
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um you know
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and then friends of friends who just refer me
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because they know like
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and trust me as a person
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because I've built that relationship online right
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so I'm super vulnerable online
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I'm very open um
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you get real raw me all the time
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so
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who I am on here is the same person I am in my family
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and same person with my friends
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so I'm very open
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and that's what I love about my business
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is it's very raw and so
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I get to connect and build relationships with clients
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that are very similar to me
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or can relate to me and so we have a good experience
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um but yeah
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this is my first like
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real year that
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I'm actually starting to connect with a lot of people
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that I've never met in my life
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so the referral to referrals
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you know started to get
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those random people that are being sent to me is
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really kind of crazy
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because it's definitely been a massive switch
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since I got into the industry
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right and so that's another thing
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like you say connecting on social media
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what's that mean what are you
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what are you doing what's connecting
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yeah social media mean
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so I'm very big on you know
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if I have a thought
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I'll put it in a Facebook status and just say like hey
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like I just had a recent one where it was like
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what kind of sneakers does everybody like for like
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I need a pair of sneakers for my trip
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and I got so many replies to that like
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and then there was people messaging me and they're like
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oh like
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you know well
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like I haven't talked to you forever
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where are you going for your trip
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and so it's just a matter of like
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relating to people and being just there
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but I'm also very more so open about my life and honest
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and so I'll do like Instagram Stories
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talking about my day talking about my frustrations
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talking about you know
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literally anything client wins
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um so I
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I'm very emotional and real in what I talk about
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clients
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and I've had so many people just DM me and say like
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oh my God me too
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like my kids so frustrating today and like
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this is so hard or oh
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it's so nice to relate to somebody who's similar to me
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like the whole Instagram
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Facebook era is all about just
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staying connected to people
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and then meeting people you've never met before through
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online and I'm
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I think I'm up to like
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6,000 some odd followers on Facebook
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and like I don't know all of these people
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I can tell you that right now
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but
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am I building connections with them every single day
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absolutely
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they get to know me more and it makes them trust me
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right and so it's
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it's the video stuff it's the emotional stuff
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and I will tell you right now
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Madison's one of the most emotional people on Facebook
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not always in a bad way right
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we've you know
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she she tells stories
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she she tells real stuff what's going on
10:58
sometimes she is sad sometimes she's like
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you know my daughter was
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didn't sleep all night and now I have a settlement and
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you know whatever right
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and so those are all things that
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that come out uh
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but but it gives people a connection point
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and I think that's important
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so um
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let's talk a little bit about how you utilize emotion
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uh in the terms of
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of your client wins you know
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in that to kind of really
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really lay the the groundwork for people to
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you know connect with your content
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so a big thing that I teach about social media is that
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it's not about me and that conversation
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when sharing wins should not talk about myself ever um
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I'm along for the journey
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that's kind of how I've
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always looked at it in an analogy is like
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you know my client is the driver
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and I'm the passenger of that whole experience
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so I'm here to support you
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I'm here to help you navigate it
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but at the end of the day
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like you are the person that has to make it happen
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so I can do whatever I can
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but not always can a client make it to the table
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and so I get really invested in these clients
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because we spend a lot of time together
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for the most part um
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and so
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to build those relationships for me is very meaningful
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I don't take any client for granted
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because the fact that they wanna work with me
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is a big deal they trust me enough
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they think I'm expert
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enough to know what I'm talking about
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so for me it's like okay
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I've got them because I know what I'm doing
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but it's a real honor to have clients
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actually wanna work with you
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because there's how many other agents right
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so I take their experience to heart
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and I am
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the first person that wants to celebrate that win
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and for the most part people want to be on social media
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some don't
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I've had a couple clients that are not big on that
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and that's okay
12:43
I fully understand people don't want their lives online
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um but the ones that do
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I'm all about sharing it because you never know
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if you tag
12:50
your client in something who is gonna see it
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and I've had that happen to me before
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where I had a client who settled and
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you know we posted all about them like yeah
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you won your house blah blah
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blah and then literally
13:03
I had someone to reach out to me
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that was a family member of that client who said
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you know hey
13:07
I I talked to your client
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and they said that you did a phenomenal job
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and now we we really wanna work with you
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so if it wasn't for me sharing that
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I don't know if my client ever posted about that house
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that they they want
13:18
so
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nobody would have ever even known they bought a house
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um so it's about it's just about talking and
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and building that story like you said
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having that communication online and
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and talking about
13:29
how proud you are of the person that actually did
13:32
all the work to get there
13:33
and that's huge win for me to do that yeah
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absolutely and that's
13:39
that's a really cool kind of Segway here as far as
13:43
you know testimonials and things like that
13:45
obviously the client testimonials are huge
13:47
people have found you through Google
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and found you through all these areas
13:51
but every transaction is an opportunity right
13:54
you can tell the story without giving names addresses
13:57
information personal stuff
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you can
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you know get as general as you want or need to um
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to do that but
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I think that's a huge missed opportunity for agents
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and I think a lot of it comes from
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kind of what you alluded to
14:12
is celebrating your wins right
14:14
a lot of people um
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you know say
14:17
I don't want to just see all the sold houses on your
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you know on your Instagram
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like that's bragadocious or whatever it is
14:24
and with that said certainly
14:28
like I've seen a lot of sold posts on your
14:32
your Instagram your Facebook
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whatever it is but every single one has a story
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and you're telling that story
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and the truth is it's almost like a third party
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testimonial that you're giving yourself
14:45
yeah um
14:46
and so
14:46
talk a little bit about kind of your strategy there
14:49
maybe an example of one um
14:51
that that really resonated uh
14:54
with your audience
14:54
so a client of mine when I first got into the industry
14:57
which feels like it's forever ago at this point
14:59
but it really wasn't too long ago um
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he was one of my very first clients
15:03
and he had reached out to me and said
15:05
you know hey
15:05
I'm a first generation home buyer
15:07
and I saw that you're a realtor now
15:09
and you know
15:10
I trust you because we've been friends our whole life
15:13
and you know I'm a first generation home buyer
15:15
like nobody in my family has ever bought a house
15:17
and I don't think that it's gonna be possible for me
15:19
so can you help me kind
15:20
of figure out what that would look like
15:22
if it's possible and so we got him a pre approval
15:25
I told him like you know
15:26
we can just save up just a little bit more money
15:28
we can try to get some seller assistance and um
15:31
if we just find the right house in the right area
15:33
for that that budget
15:34
cause it's a very minimal budget
15:35
I mean I was working with hardly anything
15:38
um and so we found him a house
15:40
and he was under contract
15:41
and sold within two months of that
15:43
and that was such a win for me
15:45
cause that was my third deal ever
15:47
and I felt like I was on cloud nine
15:49
I'm like I cannot believe that we were able to do this
15:52
and he pulled through and he like
15:54
he hustled to make this happen
15:56
and so I got to be a very minuscule part of that
15:59
which was just giving him the motivation to do it
16:01
um and so you talk about testimonials
16:03
he's actually one of two clients who's ever left me
16:06
two testimonials it was one when we
16:08
we went under we sold at settlement
16:10
and then he put a testimonial on my page a year later
16:13
and he was just like I can't believe
16:15
it's been a year that I've been a homeowner
16:16
like without you I wouldn't have this
16:19
um and which is not true
16:20
I mean clearly he
16:21
he did it he did all the work himself
16:23
but I was just there to be
16:25
support system for him that he never had
16:28
so that testimonial for me
16:31
sharing that story
16:32
of helping first generation home buyers
16:34
is a huge thing like
16:35
there's some people that feel like
16:37
it's just never gonna be possible
16:38
but if you sit down and have the conversation
16:41
it might be possible just like that
16:43
and so I just get to be a small part of that journey
16:46
and sharing his story obviously really helped me
16:49
and I still get leads from him from that story
16:52
like three years later he still shares my name
16:55
it's still being passed around to friends of ours
16:57
um that are also in the same boat
16:59
of first generation home buyers and
17:01
and not knowing if they can do that
17:02
so it's been very eye opening for me
17:05
I love being a part of that
17:06
I work with a lot of first time home buyers
17:08
so it's a very similar situation
17:10
um but yeah
17:11
it's it's just building that relationship
17:13
or keeping
17:14
the relationships that you've made in your life
17:16
or going back to them is just so important
17:19
it's huge and then
17:20
you know obviously
17:22
the two testimonials probably covered a decent amount
17:25
yeah
17:26
but sounds like they were more on the emotional side
17:29
where when you're sharing the story
17:30
it's analytical first generation home buyer
17:33
like didn't think he could do it
17:36
had to save money had to do this
17:38
so you're going through those steps
17:40
and while some might appeal to the emotion
17:44
like that's how we're gonna get the Maddie as a client
17:46
right
17:47
and some might appeal to the analytical piece of it
17:49
like these are the steps this is the order
17:51
this is what's going on
17:53
so you're gonna get Jeremy the client and um
17:56
I think that that's important
17:58
an opportunity that is missed
18:01
because it doesn't look like it's the same story right
18:05
it's testimonial 1 testimonial 2
18:07
which is cool and then your side of it
18:10
probably posting it very different times
18:12
maybe you're on the way to settlement here and you know
18:15
he did it when they're under contract or a closing
18:17
or whatever it is
18:19
and so it's just telling a story again
18:21
right and reaching out and seeing okay
18:23
that one story could connect with someone
18:25
they can raise their hand right
18:27
yeah and me too
18:28
no I I think it's definitely it's been very
18:31
very beneficial for me to
18:34
be able to share those stories
18:35
and again
18:37
it's not about me like the process is not about me
18:39
so I reiterate that I'm very thankful to my clients
18:42
when they're willing to share testimony
18:44
or allow me to share their story
18:45
because it does help me grow my business
18:48
and I tell them that you know
18:49
in my little thing about you know hey
18:51
leave me a review it does help me grow my business
18:53
it helps other people find me
18:55
it really does but at the end of the day
18:57
like
18:57
I am so thankful when a client wants to work with me
18:59
because they could choose anybody else to work with
19:02
and so for them to have had a good experience
19:04
and to be able to share that
19:06
it only continues to grow what I'm doing over here
19:09
which is I want to help more people in that same boat
19:11
it's not a financial gain for me
19:13
it's more so that mindset of
19:15
I just want to help people
19:16
and that's that's what we do every day
19:19
it doesn't seem like we do a whole lot as realtors
19:20
but we really do and it's a huge emotional piece right
19:25
that's that's really key and this is I mean
19:27
honestly this is how you got yourself
19:30
100% back into this best quarter right
19:34
a lot of real estate is delayed gratification
19:36
especially in the first time home buyer space
19:39
but if you can organically build it
19:41
and you can hold on to this one success story
19:43
and that success story keeps referring you business
19:45
and referring you business and referring you business
19:47
then a lot of the prospecting work is taken out of it
19:51
right there's a lot of things
19:53
you can't prospect at 10 o'clock at night
19:55
when your daughter's sleeping right
19:56
you can't prospect I mean
19:58
you can but you could but no
20:00
some people would make it mad if you know
20:02
their their husband or wife is getting
20:04
a text message at 10:30 at night
20:06
hey wanna buy a house
20:07
like yeah
20:08
you understand not that that's how we prospect
20:10
but the use of social media
20:12
the time delay the ability to post
20:14
the ability to send a message it
20:16
you know
20:16
maybe won't be a notification on someone's phone
20:19
um it's
20:20
just seems a little more acceptable to send a message
20:22
a DM at 10 o'clock at night versus text message
20:25
in my opinion maybe that's just me
20:27
but I agree um
20:28
how you've kind of built that is
20:30
is key and
20:33
you know
20:34
talk a little bit about this time management piece
20:37
right because you have your daughter at home
20:40
uh during the day
20:42
you're doing real estate tasks around that
20:45
however you can
20:46
unless she raises her hand and needs something
20:48
which I mean I have a two year old too
20:50
so I know how that rolls I
20:52
I I'm the working haha
20:54
out of the house guy kind of um
20:56
but from your perspective
20:58
how do you do that because here's the deal
21:00
it's not like here's the daughter hubby
21:03
like I'm out right
21:05
because the family time is one a right all together is
21:10
is kind of your passion
21:11
I know this because I watch it on your stories
21:13
because I've talked to you about it
21:14
and so when does when does real estate happen
21:18
every day is very different
21:19
every day I have a Google calendar
21:21
that has certain things plugged in
21:23
that are routine um
21:25
but if my kids having a really bad day
21:28
a lot of that's just not gonna get done
21:30
it's not and meetings things that are
21:32
you know routine
21:34
sometimes I just have to put on that back burner
21:36
and pay attention to my kiddo
21:38
when it's really rough now granted
21:40
I'm kind of creeping out of that
21:41
she's a little more independent
21:42
a little bit more verbal
21:44
to communicate to me what she needs
21:45
but before it was some days were just like disasters
21:48
I'm like I can't get anything done um
21:50
so yeah the business hours change every day and I'm
21:54
I'm very open and honest about that with other agents
21:57
with clients um
21:58
you know my clients get my schedule weekly from me
22:01
regarding what it's gonna look like up front
22:02
so they know when I'm available and when I'm not um
22:05
I just like to be very transparent about that with them
22:08
and it's been so successful for me to just be
22:11
honest and say hey
22:12
like I'm I'm busy till 4 today guys
22:14
like
22:14
we're gonna have to reschedule or I'm gonna have to
22:17
you know move your showing to tonight
22:19
and it's been very flexible
22:21
and I think when you approach it from a flexible aspect
22:23
in your business
22:24
it's more doable than changing it up last minute
22:27
or not being reliable um
22:30
so that's something that
22:30
I've always been really careful with is
22:32
I don't wanna portray or miscommunicate or
22:34
make promises I couldn't keep
22:36
so I'm very honest hey
22:38
I got a daughter if I can't answer the phone
22:40
I'm probably with my daughter if you know
22:42
if we're on the phone and we're in a zoom meeting
22:44
my daughter's probably in the background
22:45
climbing on me like a monkey
22:47
like you just kind of have to adapt
22:49
and that's that's really been my struggle in
22:52
in the very beginning
22:53
was just trying to figure out what that looks like
22:55
for me um
22:56
but yeah
22:56
my husband doesn't get home from work till about 4
22:58
he's gone by the time we get up and he's home at 4
23:01
so really that whole time frame throughout the day
23:03
when it's normal working hours
23:05
and communication hours for people
23:07
happens with my daughter and if I can't get help
23:10
that is that is what it is
23:11
we just kind of have to to make it work
23:13
so a lot of my like busy work kind of like this
23:17
like doing podcasting or you know
23:19
doing mentee sponse trainings
23:21
happens at night
23:22
when my husband's home and I have full focus
23:25
or other days it's hey mom
23:26
I need help I'm gonna be on a podcast with Jeremy
23:29
so I need you to watch my daughter today
23:30
so she's not screaming in the background um
23:33
so yeah it's about it's
23:34
it is really about having a support system as well
23:36
and I know not everybody has that
23:38
so I'm very blessed to have that um
23:40
I don't wanna make that seem like
23:41
it's a thing that everyone has
23:42
cause they don't but it's definitely
23:44
it's a work in progress all the time
23:47
and I I think the biggest difference uh
23:49
in your kind of acceleration here is
23:53
you gave yourself permission
23:55
when at first
23:56
you didn't really know if you could do that um
24:01
be a mom first and to try and do it all
24:03
and you're a achiever
24:04
so you wanna get at you wanna do everything
24:06
you wanna keep everybody happy
24:08
but I think that's the major shift
24:10
where I really saw things change
24:13
from my perspective is like
24:15
I'm giving myself permission to be the mom
24:17
to show up for my family
24:19
how we need to show up in this season
24:21
and and so I think that's key
24:24
um saying no I think was a big
24:27
so I asked this question at Ex Pecon in Louis Gault's
24:30
um it was one of their like smaller sessions
24:33
and you know
24:34
I kind of just said you know
24:35
how do you guys say no to things
24:36
that are really awesome
24:38
cause I am a person that I'm a yes person
24:40
I'm a people pleaser through and through
24:42
I know that about myself
24:44
and it's really hard for me to say no
24:45
especially when opportunities present their self
24:48
that I'm like how can I say no to that
24:50
but then I'm like
24:51
I don't have time to do all these things
24:53
like
24:53
sometimes you do have to walk away and allow yourself
24:56
Grace and time for yourself
24:58
and not overrun your schedule
25:00
cause I'm a big person that would do that
25:02
and so ex
25:03
pecon really made a big change for me
25:04
to be able to say no
25:05
you know what I don't wanna help this client
25:07
cause they don't understand that I'm a mom
25:09
and they can't relate to me
25:10
so we're not a good fit I've said no to clients
25:13
more this year than ever in my business
25:16
because we just were not a fit
25:18
and it's it's cool to be at that part of my business
25:21
to be able to really
25:23
care about me and care about my family first awesome
25:27
that's that's great
25:28
so let's transition this a little bit to um
25:31
the agent to agent referral side um
25:35
and talk a little bit about your success
25:37
since coming over to EXP getting referrals um
25:41
you know from other agents and kind of how you like
25:45
kind of stumbled upon that and now it's grown into
25:49
you know something we'll talk about right after this
25:51
so I when I came to EXP
25:53
I was like you know what
25:54
this is a crazy time of my life
25:55
but if I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do it right
25:58
like I've heard so many great things about EXP
26:00
and their organizations and programs
26:02
and the trainings they offer
26:03
there are stuff I still have not touched
26:05
with this bridge that
26:06
I still need to do
26:07
and I don't know when I'll get to do them
26:09
so we have
26:10
like an abundance of things
26:11
that I would love to be involved in
26:13
and it's that you know
26:15
immerse yourself into the EXP experience
26:18
that's really important for your success
26:21
and it allows you to
26:22
kind of break out into something
26:23
that's a little bit different than the everyday
26:25
just working with clients
26:26
it allows you to meet more people
26:28
um
26:29
it allows you to be engaged and grow with the company
26:31
so the big thing for me
26:33
with these agent to agent referrals
26:35
it's been phenomenal for my business
26:36
I I would say
26:37
a lot of my business comes from agent referral
26:40
which means a lot to me
26:41
that they trust me enough to take care of their client
26:43
but it's because I've built the relationship
26:45
through the company um
26:47
so putting yourself out there with EXP has been huge
26:49
I've been a part of the
26:50
1 EXP network now for over a year
26:53
and I love being a part of 1 EXP
26:55
we're building an organization within one EXP soon
26:58
so I'm very excited
26:59
but being a part of the EXP certified mentor program
27:02
um being in the Wolf Pack
27:03
obviously has been such a major game change to my life
27:07
um but just being a vocal in my state
27:09
and being more open to helping
27:12
and just right
27:13
you know
27:14
meeting people here has given me such an opportunity
27:17
that I wouldn't have had if I wasn't
27:19
putting myself out there and being vulnerable yeah
27:21
and that
27:22
it's something with the XP that I didn't really
27:24
consider right
27:26
I'm joining a at the time I joined
27:28
it was a 70,000 person brokerage
27:31
with agents all over the country
27:33
all over the world and you're
27:37
you're hyper local right
27:39
Littleton Colorado Harrisburg PA uh
27:43
you know
27:44
agent and there's gonna come times where you know
27:47
there's different models and systems we have
27:49
starts with workplace and you're like oh
27:52
I just got a referral for my area
27:54
that I wouldn't have had
27:55
if I wasn't a part of this company
27:56
if I didn't get the notification that
27:58
you know there's something in in the Denver
28:00
Colorado area
28:01
whatever and and then it goes further right
28:06
and then you're like okay
28:08
what other things can I kind of get involved in
28:10
is it the Revenos program
28:12
is it this is it that
28:13
is it you know being on the big agent meeting
28:17
is it you know
28:17
the chief learning officer Brian Ellington's you know
28:20
fast cap is it where where is that
28:23
you know where do I find my way
28:25
and the truth is there is so many
28:28
but every little piece
28:30
every time you take a step forward
28:32
you're rubbing shoulders with executives
28:35
you're rubbing shoulders with people that are
28:37
you know heads of different organizations
28:39
and next thing you know
28:41
you're in these organizations and and all the things
28:43
and so that's a really
28:46
cool way to kind of see it and see the EXP model um
28:51
but let's tell
28:53
tell them a little bit about where you're going
28:55
with this and
28:56
you know this is the next step
28:58
I guess yeah
28:58
you create an organization yeah
29:01
when you run out of things to join
29:03
you create your own right
29:04
when you run out of networking opportunities
29:06
within a 90,000 person brokerage
29:08
you create one so tell us a little bit about EXP nest
29:11
I'm super excited uh
29:12
about that yeah yeah
29:14
so I I'm a firm believer that like
29:16
you put yourself in the right rooms
29:17
and you're gonna meet the right people
29:19
and that's what I've done since coming to EXP
29:21
which some of these rooms I haven't even tried to be in
29:23
I just fell into them um
29:25
so I really
29:26
I'm blessed to have had my name put out here
29:30
so much in the EXP already um
29:32
but yeah I just
29:33
I recently joined with the um
29:34
Agent Advisory Council in Pennsylvania
29:37
sort of a mentor I've been part of other organizations
29:39
but now creating my own with E x P ness
29:42
I'm so excited and I love talking about it
29:45
because it is very deep to my heart
29:47
obviously being a mom
29:49
trying to navigate this business and work life balance
29:52
there are people that have never figured it out
29:54
and they've left the industry
29:56
and it's really sad to see because if they
29:58
just had a little bit more support
29:59
or if they had someone to relate to
30:02
maybe they would have stuck it out and stayed
30:03
in the industry and become really successful
30:06
and I call myself successful cause I feel like I'm
30:08
I'm there you know
30:09
it's different definition of success for everybody
30:11
but I found success in the hardest parts of my life
30:15
and so E X P s is here to be that support system
30:19
we have resources we're building a whole group
30:22
we have weekly calls that you know
30:24
we are one on one or you know
30:26
we'll be in a big group setting with agents who need
30:28
support
30:29
and who just want to find like minded people to vent to
30:33
to be there with um
30:35
so really loving our our weekly calls
30:37
but then even to like
30:39
getting ready to start in person events
30:40
and
30:41
just being that system that I wish I would have had
30:45
is really important so
30:46
the fact that we're gonna become a one
30:47
EXP organization is so insane
30:50
because we've been dreaming about this
30:52
since we decided to make this group
30:53
that was back in November
30:55
um and we've been working on it since
30:56
so it's definitely it's in the growing process
30:59
but it's it's about to be something really big
31:02
and in a network that we don't have in our industry
31:05
really cool right because you
31:07
you think of a lot of different areas where people
31:11
you know need organizational support
31:14
and all the things
31:15
parenting is not one that typically is like
31:17
oh that's a subset of people that needs support
31:21
especially in the real estate industry so um
31:24
I'm really excited to kind of see that
31:26
but that's I mean
31:27
that's what it is that's getting involved
31:28
that's givers gain that's
31:31
you know kind of taking something that you're like okay
31:34
you were on workplace you connected with a few people
31:36
you came to expcon connected with more
31:39
join some of the organizations
31:40
did the things and now you're creating one
31:44
so that's really cool uh
31:46
that's wild that's kind of part of it
31:47
but also something that's more of a passion project
31:50
right this is
31:51
this is something that in the industry
31:53
sometimes people you know
31:54
get burnt out and they're like that
31:56
but when they have passion projects
31:57
that are kind of tied to it
31:58
and connecting with other agents and stuff
32:01
I only see you know
32:02
success coming from from that and a
32:05
you know spot on idea um
32:07
as you go so um
32:09
super excited about that so I tell agents all the time
32:14
right to kind of document their journey
32:16
do the thing like if you're a new agent
32:18
document the journey if you're in school
32:20
document your journey so that when you get here
32:23
that you'll have something to look back on
32:25
or share with your audience
32:26
or whatever it is and so that's
32:29
that's where it's at
32:30
and that's kind of how you've built your business
32:32
right as a homeowner you
32:34
you kind of documented that journey
32:35
those emotions
32:37
um and then now you have the kiddo
32:39
and you're building this EXP nest
32:41
so tell us a little bit about how you utilize
32:45
you know
32:45
Facebook to kind of document that entire journey
32:49
and then
32:50
we'll talk about where people can connect with you
32:52
to see it and go from there
32:54
yeah so I put everything online
32:57
probably more than people want to know about me
32:59
everything goes online but yeah
33:01
I've shared my whole journey
33:02
and this has been my whole life
33:03
it wasn't even just real estate
33:04
but like when I was in college
33:06
I was very vocal about what I was doing
33:08
and was constantly sharing
33:09
like the UPS the downs
33:11
life is very up and down all the time
33:13
I don't always share happy
33:15
happy news or happy things in our life
33:17
um so yeah
33:18
it's been a journey being a homeowner
33:20
and figuring out the ins and outs of my own home
33:23
um sharing that online about our 70s fixer upper
33:26
and yeah
33:27
then having our daughter and sharing that online
33:29
and being relational to people has been so beneficial
33:33
thank you for telling me to make sure that I do that
33:36
because I was really that was something I was like
33:38
should I share the parenthood journey yes
33:41
yes you should
33:42
because everybody does relate to you
33:44
um but yeah
33:45
over sharing I put everything of my life online
33:49
and then it's so great to look back at and say okay
33:52
today I didn't feel like I've come very far
33:54
but when I look back on it
33:55
it's like wow
33:56
I actually have been doing a lot in my business
33:59
and doing a lot in my personal life
34:00
that I didn't notice
34:01
because sometimes we just get so busy with the mundane
34:05
everyday like
34:06
things that
34:07
it's really cool to look back
34:09
and see how far you've come
34:10
so for me if you look me up on social media
34:13
you know everything about me
34:14
everything
34:15
and that's what's really cool about that platform
34:17
is I can also get to meet people very similar to me
34:21
and share that experience
34:22
so yeah you can find me anywhere on Facebook um
34:26
under my name or um
34:27
on Instagram at the Retro Realtor and um
34:30
our new podcast that's coming you can find that too
34:33
so I just want to say sharing podcast
34:36
I should start a podcast yes
34:37
I am finally I'm starting
34:39
I've been saying this for like a year guys
34:40
I've been like oh
34:41
I gotta start a podcast no
34:42
it's actually happening it's launching in April
34:44
so very excited right
34:45
yeah and I'm gonna close with this
34:47
cause this analogy keeps coming back to me
34:50
the jar with the rocks in it right
34:52
is there anything else that could fit in this jar
34:55
the answer is no right
34:57
until you get pea gravel and you fill that in right
35:01
and it kind of works its way in the space
35:04
and then you say can anything else fit no
35:07
then you go get you know
35:08
sand haha
35:10
then it fills in a little more
35:11
and then you get the finer sand
35:13
and all the sudden four times you've said no
35:15
nothing will fit in this jar
35:17
it will but it's just with extreme
35:20
you know patience and time for it to fill in
35:23
and I think that's a true testament analogy to
35:26
to your exact situation and parenthood in general right
35:31
so um
35:33
if you could give one piece of advice to the
35:38
you know agent who's a parent who feels like
35:42
maybe this wasn't the best idea
35:44
maybe this career isn't for me
35:47
maybe has another outside thing coming in
35:49
like a husband's job change
35:51
what's one piece of advice you would give those people
35:54
that are struggling in that moment
35:56
give yourself a lot of Grace and a lot of patience to
36:02
slowly figure it out
36:03
I think a big thing for me so I'm 27 now
36:05
I got the industry at 23 um
36:08
and I told myself by the age of 30
36:10
if I'm not successful at this
36:12
like I'll find something else and that was back
36:15
you know four years ago when I said that
36:17
and my definition of success has changed so much
36:21
since then um
36:22
because I didn't know what success meant at 30
36:24
but I know for sure if I would have given up on myself
36:28
when the hardest days came
36:29
I would not be here
36:30
and I'd probably be back in healthcare miserable
36:33
so even the hardest days of this journey
36:36
are better than the other results
36:39
it's truly that like
36:39
grass is a greener on the other side mentality
36:43
and we just had this conversation in EXP
36:45
next call the other day we said
36:46
do you guys have a plan B
36:48
if this doesn't work out for you
36:50
and everybody kind of just looked at us like
36:52
what do you mean and I'm like
36:54
well we're having this conversation
36:55
cause you don't want a Plan B right
36:57
like you don't want a Plan B
36:59
when you're here and you're in this business
37:00
and it's such an awesome business to be a part of
37:02
but you get the flexibility of your family and the
37:05
you know
37:05
just the perks of being here and working with clients
37:09
you don't want a Plan B so you have to hustle
37:11
like you have to make it work
37:13
and that's that's the whole point of my life is just
37:16
I want to give myself the Grace and patience
37:17
to understand this is just a season
37:19
that I'm going through this really hard
37:21
and if I don't keep pushing through it
37:23
it could be a lot worse right
37:24
like it could be a lot worse
37:26
so definitely give that Grace to yourself
37:29
give yourself some time to yourself
37:31
outside of your business outside of your family
37:33
you need self care time to be able to reset
37:36
I'm not talking about going to bed and resetting
37:38
like take time away
37:40
and do things for you that bring that joy
37:42
or your passion projects find your niche
37:44
find what makes you excited
37:46
um because it is hard
37:47
there's
37:47
you're never not gonna have a hard time doing both
37:50
so you just kind of have to give yourself that time
37:53
give yourself permission always say no
37:56
you're allowed to say no alright perfect
37:59
so thank you so much for joining us
38:01
I will link all of Madison's information below
38:05
look out for other Wolf Pack Way features
38:09
featuring agents across the country
38:10
and soon to be world um
38:12
about all the wonderful things
38:14
reach out to Madison she is an open book
38:18
she's willing to help she's willing to mentor
38:20
she's willing to sponsor you
38:22
if you want to join her organization
38:24
absolutely amazing human
38:26
so thank you so much Madison for your time and like
38:29
comment subscribe
38:30
share the podcast with your favorite real estate agent
38:33
and we'll see you guys next time