Longevity is being Learning-based (ft. Leanne Barschdorf-Nichols)

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You're listening to KW Mean's Beyond the Sale podcast.
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Hey everyone.
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Uh it's Kevin Fletcher.
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We're here with uh Leanne Nichols today.
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Leanne is one of the co-founders and uh founding members of Kellow Williams at Maine.
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Um Leanne, I really appreciate you taking some time to be with us today.
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Thank you, Kevin.
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Pleasure to be here.
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Um so Leanne and I have known each other for now only a year or two.
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I'm kidding.
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25 years?
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We're practically siblings.
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25 years.
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And when we decided to launch this podcast, you were certainly on the top of my list of people interested in sitting in the hot seat in the chair and having a conversation with.
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You know, kind of grew up in the business together, if you will.
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In the West and Auburn area.
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In the in the greater LA, if you will.
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Greater LA.
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Greater LA market.
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Um but um you know our our paths certainly have bumped along the road.
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Um but yeah, I gotta tell you, you just you've done amazing.
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Thank you.
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Um Kevin.
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Oh, thank you.
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Flattery will get you everywhere.
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We've always enjoyed, you know, a camaraderie.
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Yeah.
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Pre-KW.
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Pre-KW.
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And that's important in this business.
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And you were the first person I called when I said, hey, explain this KW thing to me at this coffee shop in Yarmouth.
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Do you remember that?
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I do, that was fun.
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Um, but but I really want to go back uh if we can dust off the memory banks.
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Um you know, one of the things that you and I were just chatting about before we jumped on this is that, you know, certainly back 25, 30 years ago, nobody ever raised their hand out of high school and said, hey, I want to get into real estate when I grow up.
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Um what got you started in in arguably what we both consider to be an amazing profession?
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What got you started into into real estate to begin with?
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If I if I really dig deep into the memory banks, I would have to say that um I've probably always been a bit of a disruptor from early on in life.
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You know, I was born into a pretty traditional family setting and family that wanted me to follow a traditional path for women at that time, which was what, secretary, wife, maybe a nurse.
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Um school teacher.
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Okay, yeah, maybe a school teacher.
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And none of that ever seemed very appealing to me.
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And I was always very drawn.
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I had these very interesting uncles in my family that were entrepreneurs, they were investors in real estate, and I was always very intrigued by what they were doing.
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Where to the point where after school I would often just buzz over to the multifamily that my uncle had just bought and help him clean out piles of diapers that were left there, and just very curious and loved talking to these men at that time, and so I was just sort of always very curious and didn't really think too much about necessarily what I was going to do, um, even though I was sort of being encouraged in one direction.
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Um, and honestly, that direction really kind of blew up on my family when my parents split when I was 10.
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And I had two younger siblings, and it was kind of like survival time.
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And um, in that change, um lots of different opportunities presented themselves to me, I would say.
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Um lots of challenges that were hard and and painful and difficult.
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Um but within that, sort of the piece that clearly formed within me was um a desire that something like that would never happen to me, and not being plunged into that degree of deprivation or scarcity and just being a single mom with three kids didn't seem very appealing to me.
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So I kind of felt like okay, well, my mom was a secretary, she did great, um, very grateful to my mom for all she did for us.
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But I was also just really sort of terrified about that possibility.
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So she did this really interesting thing, and my siblings and I kind of joke about in the summer she was always looking to get rid of us because we weren't in school.
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So she involved us in this program, which is a trio program, which is actually currently being cut by the federal government, but um it was a six-week-long program in the summers.
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It took place at Bowdoin College and it was called Upward Bound, and it was for underprivileged children like ourselves to um be essentially in an academic setting all summer.
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So for six weeks I went to Bowdoin College, not as a Bowdoin student, but engaged in this curriculum that was really interesting.
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Um one of them was almost like a um like a political science class, a math class, English class, and a drama class.
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An art drama teacher just recently passed, which was very sad, but you know, doing Shakespeare in the summer in a hot little room.
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Um, but I formed some ideas during that that there was a way I could avoid the risk or minimize the risk of what happened in my childhood family happening to me by pursuing bigger dreams than had ever been pursued in my family.
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No one in my family had gotten a college degree.
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My mom had an associate's degree, which perfectly poised her to be a secretary.
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Yep.
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Um, and so I was like, oh she, you know, okay, kind of interested in all these things.
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There's like this big, huge world out there, and I was on this amazingly gorgeous college campus with these interesting people, some of them were Bowdoin students, our are counselors, and the professors were just these incredibly interesting people, and so I was like, huh, okay.
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And so that put me on the college path.
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Yep.
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Um, and I did go off to college uh from Lisbon Falls.
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I went out to Ohio for my first college experience, and at that point, um, I really wanted to continue to pursue playing field hockey.
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I loved that in high school.
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That I swear to god, it kept me on a very straight and narrow path in Lisbon Falls where I grew up, which had some interesting extracurricular opportunities, I would say.
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Well, as a person who took advantage of those um not so extracurricular, extracurricular activities in gray, I certainly know what you're talking about.
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So yeah, and I I knew that if I did, it wasn't gonna be a very good field hockey player, and I really loved it, and so it really kind of kept me on the straight and narrow, which I'm very grateful for, and just this desire to have a different life for myself.
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And so went to school in Ohio, played field hockey for a couple seasons, and that wasn't a good fit for me for a school because it turns out I missed the ocean, I missed the mountains, and um probably needed to be on a little bit more even footing.
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So I came back home, I enrolled in school in the University of Maine system, and um was very happy.
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And my mom said to me one day, she said, Oh, Debbie Booker, who was one of her very best friends, whom I grew up with, they were in the JCETs together.
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My mom was very civically oriented and minded before she had to work as much as she did when my dad left.
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And um Debbie has she works for Mark Stimson Real Estate down in Portland, and they're hiring this videographer person for all their listings because at that time a staff member within the company would go and take pictures of the listings and do all the marketing in-house, and it was very different, it was time marketing-wise, now that I think about it, and and she thinks you ought to apply because I told her you were home from school and blah blah blah, going to school and at in the overcome, and I said, Okay, so I went and I applied, and I met with Mike Lyons and Kim Coit, and didn't get hired for the job, but the I really hit it off with these guys, and they said they really liked me.
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I was like, Okay, well, whatever, great, see ya, and I just kept on with my thing, I was waiting tables, and then I claim about Hadley's in Williston.
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No, okay, well then you anyway, that was a scary job, but they called me back a few weeks later, and they said, you know, we're really sorry we didn't hire you for this job, but we have another job.
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And what it was, it was very interesting because at that time, I guess that was February 1992, and Maxine Galinus, this amazing executive secretary for a group of the brokers at the Baxter Bullet office, Mark Stimson at the time, um, she had just had a horrific car accident and they needed someone to fill in for her, but they also needed someone to help Kim Coyt write the um, I think it's essentially what became the law for buyer agency in the state of Maine.
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I think he was working with the real estate commission and with other, you know, maybe the Maine Association of Realtors and just doing this really interesting legal work, and he needed someone to help him with that, and so that's what I was hired to do.
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I I mean a lot more, uh you know, you could have done a lot worse starting into real estate than working with Kim Coyt at the Mark Stimson Real Estate.
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It was really fun, and I mean what a brilliant man, too.
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And and obviously Mark Stimson built this, as we know, this amazing company here at Maine.
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So and I attended his funeral on Saturday, 99 years old, and saw I mean, just a I mean, I'm totally aging us when we talk about you know Mark Stimson and what he did, and and I mean Kim Coit still with what he does and has I mean they certainly paved the way for real estate here in Maine.
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Icons.
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Yeah, and and you know, in a man's world, they they weren't really the kind of men that blocked women out.
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No, and so yeah, I mean I was 19 years old at the time, and um it was really really fun.
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Real estate brokers were really fun.
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Yeah, I didn't want to be one of them, but they were really fun, and um I really enjoyed it.
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So you started with Mark, you started well with Mark Stimson Network, and then uh wasn't the Mark Simpson Network at the time, it was just Mark Stimson Company and working with Kim.
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Um where'd you go from there?
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Well, we worked on those projects.
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Maxine came back and was in full health.
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Then I kind of rotated throughout most of the offices and would cover for vacations for all the secretaries in the different offices.
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So I went up to Windham and hung out with Ed Getty and Linda Plino and helped them and all the different offices all around, which was really super fun.
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I loved that.
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And then I had uh at the time there were a lot of foreclosures, and Bryce Hamilton managed the portfolio of foreclosure inventory that was held by Mark Simpson.
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Yep, and so um what you Bryce still does an enormous amount of foreclosure.
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I mean, not that there's been a lot of foreclosures in the last several years, but yeah, he's still plugging away, incredibly so.
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And he's Mark Simpson's son-in-law, yeah.
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And so I had the opportunity to put my talents to work with him and pursue payment back from the third-party companies that owned these um properties that we had to maintain, you know, keep the power going, have them cleaned out, have them prepared for market.
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And so I basically took care of all that third-party billing for them, and then basically ultimately worked myself into a full-time position in the accounting department in the accounts payables with Martha Flanders at the time, who's now Martha Summer, who I'm also still good friends with.
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And um did that.
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I ultimately worked in administrative capacities at Mark Sincer for two and a half years, and having worked myself into a full-time position, I recognized that I wasn't really pursuing my academic pursuits, not getting my college studies done, and I really still wanted to do that.
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At that time, I wanted to go to law school and become a lawyer, and had just this huge fire in my belly around that, and so I quit.
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And at that time, David Banks had just left RE-MAX, and this whole new sort of like energy was stirring in our industry because what had started to happen is people like Nan Sawyer, Jim McFarland, David Banks, Adele Aronson, Susan Shea, Dottie Beau were starting to like the top producers started to realize that they um kind of had their own momentum within themselves for their business expansion and sphere of influence.
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And these weren't things that were talked about.
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No.
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I mean, team teams didn't exist.
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No, because it was it was traditional model, it was you know, um the company brand, Mark Simpson brand was was it, or the global banker, or the century 21 the gold jackets, you know, it was very traditional the RA blue, yeah, Century 21 Gold Jackets, yeah, you know, you were you were an agent at the company, company brand, company logo, everything was the company brand logo.
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Everything was the company, and there was a different economic model as a result of that.
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Correct.
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And in exchange, there wasn't like a lot of um business acumen amongst the ranks of the individual real estate licensees.
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Um, they were just some of them there were a lot more part-time people, you know, teachers that would do it more in the sum in the summers, um, or you know, I believe it was David Banks at the time, he had a full-time job at one of the large supermarkets in the executive offices, you know.
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So it wasn't uncommon to have it as a complementary supplemental income.
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Right.
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And that I mean, that's about when I got into the business, right?
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Like um, I started ERA and it was the ERA brand.
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Um, you know, then went to an independent from there.
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And yeah, that that economic model, the agent ad.
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Uh it was slightly elevated above the Glengarry Glen Ross bullpen style salespeople.
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You remember that movie?
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No.
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Oh, you'll have to watch that.
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Glenn of Glengarry Glen Ross is an old movie about real estate salespeople you'll have to watch.
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Oh, I never even heard it.
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Especially what I know.
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You know, that was kind of the the bullpen style sales manager yelling at you.
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Like, it was elevated from that.
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That would have been horrible, right?
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It was elevated from that, but it was certainly a company-centric model.
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Very company if you talk, right?
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Like, um, and and I think that's what we grew up in.
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Yeah, but then you started seeing the tides shift a little bit.
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Well, and I didn't even really know because I was working administratively, so I hadn't a clue about really much of it.
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I just knew who the top producers were.
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I didn't know anything really about what the exact economic model was because I was paying the bills for the company going out, but I didn't necessarily see what was coming in.
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So I didn't really understand those concepts.
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Plus, I was going to school, you know.
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Well, and and we're both, I mean, at the time going back, right?
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I'm totally aging ourselves, right?
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Like at the time going back, we're both in our mid-20s and we're looking at early 20s.
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Right?
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Yeah.
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Um, you know, I I started at 23, and the only thing I ever knew was if I had a closing, I made about a thousand dollars.
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Yeah, it could have been eight hundred, it could have been 30.
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Oh no, I did not.
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I mean, come on now.
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Yeah, I know, right.
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Well, we why we do it.
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You're speaking gibberish.
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Okay.
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But but the only thing I knew is I made about a thousand dollars, which at 23 years old was a lot of money.
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Huge money.
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Yeah, huge money.
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And it's still huge money because uh obviously everything is kept up with inflation.
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But uh anyway, it it was certainly a different model back then.
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And then I think to what your point is, somewhere around you know, the late 90s or and certainly by the early 2000s, the the tides kind of shifted to where, you know, brokers were looking at becoming uh to your point a little bit more entrepreneurial.
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Well, the only option for someone who was entrepreneurial in that model for really what dominated the industry at the time, which was that traditional model real estate company um experience, was to go out on their own and start their own small company in a company.
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Which a lot of people did.
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Which there was a fair amount of that.
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But that number really over time hasn't changed a lot.
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It's been the same percentage overall.
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Um, and and a lot of people do find benefit in economies of scale in large companies, also still.
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So that's interesting that that really is a pretty consistent theme.
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But what did happen is the Remax model did really sort of break out of the traditional model and created more of a landlord-tenant type relationship with the agent and recognized the um the entrepreneurial nature and the business acumen of some of the licensees and the brokers who were building names, and the minute they were able to put their own name on that sign was what really kind of like jolted the industry into this new world that it it moved into.
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And so I had quit my job at that time to focus on my studies, went and got a full-time wage listing job, which I'd done all through high school.
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Um, because that it was sales.
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Now I know you know, it was I loved it, and I had a little bit more control over my earning potential being in that type of a business.
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And so I did that, and then quickly my phone started ringing from some of these entrepreneurs in the industry who knew me because I had been their secretary and helped them out in a lot of different ways and had worked in administrative capacities, was conscientious, showed up, was clean, earnest, honest, hardworking.
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Yeah.
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What was all the things that we expect?
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I mean, I don't know, it was just what I did, right?
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And interviewed with a variety of them, went to work with one of them as an admin to help just her business, and that wasn't a great fit.
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And then Dottie Bo called me, who happened to be related to.
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Our grandfathers are brothers, yeah, and or were brothers, they're no longer here.
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Um, and she called me, and my grandma said, Yeah, Dottie Ann.
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Dottie Ann.
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And I was like, Who's Dottie Ann?
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Because we didn't call her Dottie Ann, we called her Dottie Bo.
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Right.
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So um she called me and she said, you know, really, and she had gone to Remax and was all into this whole new vibe that was happening in our industry.
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So I was like, okay, you know, and she's like, you know, I think I'd like you to be my assistant.
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At that time, I think there were two others Brenda Carmichael, who worked for Adele Armson, and um Jackie, Lizard, who worked for David Hanks.
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And then I came in and started working with Audi.
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And it was really kind of fun because you know, these brokers would come into the office with these great big piles of paper that didn't have laptops back then.
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I mean we did, but they didn't use them.
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The admins used them.
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Well, and the laptops were not the same as laptops now, they were huge.
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Yeah, and they were like, What is that thing?
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And then they would have these software programs like Agent 2000 that you know, REMAX said, You gotta have this, it's a database.
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Right.
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And they'd be like, I gotta have this.
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But it would be printed out in a file cabinet in their bottom left hand drawer.
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Don't touch it, don't do anything with it, but I have it.
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And so then we brought those things to life.
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We organized it in such a way that it became more interactive and it started to help them expand their business.
00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:54.480
You know, I'd take a purse or a day timer and I would take all that stuff and digitize it and digitize the receipts so that come tax time I could print something out for her and she could take it to her account and her husband, and the marriage got better.
00:19:54.799 --> 00:20:02.880
Because they weren't fighting at tax time, you know, and and just I would see, oh, she met with this person and it was a first interview for a potential listing.
00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:04.640
She probably needs a market analysis.
00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:05.839
Let me see what I can do.
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:07.119
Put together a market analysis.
00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:07.599
Here you go.
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:14.880
Whoa, she just got two hours of her life back, you know, and just these little things along the way, and it was it was really fun.
00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:31.279
So that's your your your intro, and you you ended with, hey, I met Dottie Bo, um, who is also a co-founder of one of the Well, there was a lot more water to flow into that ridge.
00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:31.920
Correct.
00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:40.960
So I was her admin, and then I finished my studies at University of Southern Maine, and I was loving waiting tables and just working for her and doing whatever, you know, the day came.
00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:43.599
I didn't sell any houses.
00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:47.359
I just cleaned up everything and made everything perfect for her.
00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:55.519
And then she said, okay, she was like, oh, quit my wages and job.
00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.440
She literally didn't open my wages and job.
00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:02.319
And I was like, okay.
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:11.359
Um then we reorganized my economic situation so that I could pay my dolls.
00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:18.240
And I did, but I did not sell one house, and that was May through the end of the year.
00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:19.200
What year?
00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:21.599
That would have been 1997.
00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:27.039
So we got licenses literally the same time, I think.
00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:30.640
I think that was April and 97.
00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:33.680
I had my license for two years, but I didn't use it.
00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:35.279
Other than helping her.
00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:35.519
Yeah.
00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:39.680
Or something for her or meet her here and do this or whatever, but I didn't sell anything.
00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:40.960
I didn't write any contracts.
00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:41.920
Nothing.
00:21:42.559 --> 00:22:03.839
And so at the end of that, she was like, Training event, which is scripts and dialogues and learning how to actually sell.
00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:06.079
And I went for a week.
00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:14.000
I sang scripts, I whispered scripts, I yelled scripts, I karate chopped scripts, we scripted from 7 a.m.
00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:14.880
till 10 p.m.
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:16.880
We weren't allowed to drink coffee.
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:19.599
They controlled what we ate.
00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:21.680
It was a very interesting experience.
00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:22.799
But it was great.
00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:26.160
And I came back and I sold 40 houses my first year.
00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:36.559
So the takeaway I hear on that are besides the I wasn't allowed to have coffee, which would fly about 0% with me.
00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:52.160
Um in early on to sell 40 houses your first year, it sounds to me like you know, the takeaway is you had a great mentor that saw where the gap was and helped you get the education that you needed at that point.
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:55.759
So it really pushed me out of the nest.
00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:56.960
It was cool.
00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:57.839
For sure, right?
00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:00.559
Like, yeah, I mean it there's also that that nudge.
00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:16.799
I mean, you know, I coach agents all the time, and you know, one of the things that we've heard um, you know, in our in our network is you know you're you you're really a 50 unit producer, but you're only doing 25.
00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:22.240
But I can see you being a 50 unit producer or you know, a$10 million producer,$20 million producer.
00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:33.759
And I think I think that's oftentimes when we when we talk to agents in in the business right now that aren't exactly where they want to be, they've got the potential, but they just need some coaching.
00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:39.759
They just need sometimes it's that push out of the nest, you know, one might argue it's a boot up the butt, right?
00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:47.200
But but there's that, hey, I need that nudge, but that you know, as coaches and mentors, we see what they're missing and we try to help them.
00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:59.039
Um so my takeaway for you to sell 40 units in your first year really is hey, you had a really good mentor that saw the gap and helped you get what you needed to accomplish that.
00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:06.720
Oh, yeah, because there was really hardly anything else I didn't know about the industry, other than I mean, I knew all the documents, I was doing it all for her.
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:15.519
Well, and I think you know, there's there's always this, you know, hey, I know the documents, and um, hey, I know the contract, and and all of that.
00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:19.039
And that's all definitively stuff that we have to know in this business.
00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:22.480
But there's also a human capacity to this business.
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:27.599
There's the necessity to have conversations and to help people with their times of need, whatever it is.
00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:29.039
Well, help them get what they want.
00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:35.440
Yeah, and and and and you know, sometimes it can be I was coaching uh agent this morning.
00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:42.480
System set up, website set up, all the systems are set up, and how many calls are you making?
00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:43.039
Right?
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:49.039
Like, okay, it's great that the website's working, but real estate's a contact sport.
00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:56.880
So I think you know, the takeaway that I hear is it's like the right mentor, the right coach at the right time with the right motivation to help.
00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:01.279
I mean, 40 houses your first year is an astronomical number.
00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:01.680
Yeah.
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:03.359
I mean, you should be really proud of that.
00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:04.160
It was cool.
00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:09.680
I mean, but I mean, let's face it, I was able to pick up the crumbs from her business.
00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:13.279
You know, so her listings, I could I did open houses back to back.
00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:13.680
Yep.
00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:32.960
Once I had the confidence that that scripting taught me, which really is, yeah, you have to get your license, you have to learn the documents, you have to learn the forms, but you've you've got to have the confidence also to pick up the phone and to actually put yourself in harm's way to actually start doing some belly-to-belly business.
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:36.640
Well, and and buyer agency had come out not long before that.
00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:44.960
So the whole idea of representing the buyer in the transaction, I wouldn't say was overly new, but it was newish at that time.
00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:47.279
Um, but that still exists today.
00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:54.079
I mean, any agent listening to this more than likely could go to a higher producer in their company and hold an open house for them.
00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:58.720
Well, in those 40 transactions, I'm pretty sure we're all buyer sides.
00:25:58.880 --> 00:25:59.119
Yeah.
00:25:59.279 --> 00:25:59.920
I'm pretty sure.
00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:17.759
You know, and and but you know, there's probably an agent at the company that a newer agent could could could partner with, even if it's not necessarily on a team approach like you had with Dottie, um, that would allow them the opportunity to hold houses open, circle prospect listings, right?
00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:24.160
And and I think, you know, that just you know, that opportunity and unwinding how to do this business.
00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:28.400
Um you know, we talked about this a little bit again before we get started.
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.799
Sometimes we don't know what we don't know.
00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:36.880
And there's a right way and a wrong way to, you know, not a wrong way, there's a better way in this business sometimes.
00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:38.640
Well, we can get in our own way.
00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:39.359
For sure.
00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:46.400
We can get in our own way, we can get in our head, we can really slow ourselves down by trying to overthink things too much.
00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:47.759
Am I sending the right postcard?
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:55.359
Am I did you know, and it was interesting because I was picking up the crumbs and had definitely had phenomenal mentors.
00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:01.680
Dottie was clearly in the primary hot seat, but there I was surrounded by the best of the best.
00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:11.839
Yeah, you know, learning from the Pat Rabbit's of the world and and just anyone I was doing a transaction with or bumping into by virtue of supporting Dottie's business and doing her contract management.
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:21.839
And but picking up her crumbs at the same time, I was kind of doing that disruptor thing too for myself by getting into the rotary club in the town that I was living in.
00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:23.279
I didn't have a family at that time.
00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:23.599
Right.
00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:26.240
I was single and I wanted more in my life.
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:31.119
I was a Girl Scout all through high school, you know, and so I needed some of that civic stuff back into my life.
00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:32.880
My mom was very civically oriented.
00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:46.799
So I was also building that part of my business out too, and starting to cultivate those relationships, you know, getting the experience and making the money and picking up the crumbs, and then also building that other thing at the same time.
00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:59.279
So, you know, you have the immediacy of certain needs, and you can accomplish those needs by you know circle prospecting other people's business, and but then you're building another thing at the same time.
00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:01.119
So you're almost spinning multiple plates.
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.000
Well, and I I I mean, we we coach to that all the time, right?
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.079
You gotta spin multiple plates in this business.
00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:09.119
Now, you know, civic-mindedness for sure.
00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:10.960
You know, here's the interesting fact, right?
00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:21.200
Open houses worked in 1997, open houses worked in 1998, open houses still work in 2025, and they're still gonna work next year in 2026, right?
00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:29.920
So, you know, so much about uh, you know, pausing to the basics is still very much um uh relevant.
00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:31.759
Well, the basics never stop.
00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:34.160
I mean, I take a listing now, I still do an open house.
00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:34.559
Right.
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:38.799
But the degree to which I might follow up with those buyers, I dare say I might not.
00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:39.119
Right.
00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:45.759
You know, and there's times I'll say to buyers, you know, I love the buyers who say, Oh, you know, they'll call on my listing, they'll say, Well, keep me in mind.
00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:48.480
And I'll say, No, I'm not gonna do that.
00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:48.799
Right.
00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:50.640
And they'll say, What?
00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:52.319
What do you mean?
00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:53.920
Why would I do that?
00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:55.200
You're not signed with me.
00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:57.279
Yeah, you're not giving me any loyalty.
00:28:57.359 --> 00:28:59.519
Why would I give you any loyalty or time?
00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:02.160
You know, but we do that's been happening.
00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:14.240
But I think, you know, as buyers agency has progressed, we need to be more courageous in encouraging people to be accountable and to also be clear about what their need is, if they really do truly have a need in real estate.
00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:14.799
Correct.
00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:24.000
And I mean, buyer agency brings like the fiduciary to the buyer, which is a a whole nother concept about which we won't really go down that rabbit hole.
00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:25.519
One of my favorite words.
00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:26.000
Yeah.
00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:26.960
Fiduciary.
00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:28.720
Well, it's it's one of my favorite words.
00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:33.200
It's an incredible word and often overlooked.
00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:37.680
Or misunderstood, maybe not overlooked, but certainly misunderstood in the true meaning of the word.
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:42.640
Well, Gary Keller puts it very simply: functionary versus fiduciary.
00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:43.359
Right.
00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:46.640
And the law says you're a fiduciary.
00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:48.319
You're doing the old card.
00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:49.519
You know, you're doing it.
00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:49.920
Yep.
00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:51.920
And so it's you have to know what that is.
00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:55.039
If you're signing a representation agreement with someone, you you're a fiduciary.
00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:55.519
Yep.
00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:01.440
Hey, if you're finding value in these conversations and they're resonating with you, be sure to like, follow, and share.
00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:08.559
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00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:12.559
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00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:14.720
Let's go beyond together.
00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:18.559
Yep.
00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:36.240
So, you know, you you you you build this good business, you got 40 40 deals in your first year, which again, arguably, I don't care if you were licensed before, but pulling the trigger and being active as a real estate agent and doing 40 deals in your first year is phenomenal.
00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:40.079
Um, so you work with Dottie for several years.
00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:55.839
We stayed at Remax together for, we were there for nine years and built our business to um at by the time we ended our time at RE-MAX, I was 30 years old and we were doing about 30 million, I believe.
00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:59.359
Dottie was doing probably about 15 million, she had a much higher average transaction.
00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:01.920
She was really embedded in the waterfront community.
00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:05.839
Um, mine was still lower, growing, gaining.
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:10.640
I mean, my average transaction initially, that first year of those 40 transactions, I think it was like 50,000 each.
00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:17.519
Um, and then she had been taking taking some coaching classes, so she really wanted to get into coaching.
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:24.319
She was at a point in her life where she wanted to reach a bigger audience and make a bigger difference in more people's lives.
00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:26.160
I think she liked the mentoring thing.
00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:27.839
Well, she has that heart.
00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:28.319
Yeah.
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:30.480
I mean, that's at the core of who she is.
00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:37.039
That's she's been a mentor of mine since you know for the last eight years for sure.
00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:46.480
Um so she was doing that, and I was sort of not sure that I was in the middle of an identity crisis or not.
00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:47.519
What am I gonna do?
00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:51.119
You know, and honestly, you know, I've had several identity crisis.
00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:52.240
They're good for you.
00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:53.039
They're good for you.
00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:55.519
Yeah, I encourage them early and often.
00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:04.480
Um and so I did what I always did, which was go away for training, and Dottie had taught me to do that as well, because she sent me to San Francisco.
00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:13.839
And this one, this training event, it was well, I was 30, so that would have been 20 2002, I think.
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:16.079
Yeah, 2002.
00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:23.359
And so Linda Polino, Lori Guerin, and myself, and maybe a few others, maybe Susan Shea, I can't remember.
00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:29.680
We left from here in Portland and went out to a Howard Rittman seminar in Southern California.
00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:34.079
And um it was great.
00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:43.839
It was right after 9-11 it happened, and there was this one day, there was this panel, and I was really looking forward to it because I loved hearing the big big dogs chit-chat and do panels.
00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:44.480
I love that.
00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:50.640
And they had the chief economist for NAR, National Association of Realtors, which I always love listening to those guys and talking to those guys.
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:55.839
I love that type of um thinking and um discussions about what's happening.
00:32:55.920 --> 00:33:00.480
Um, I think it's very interesting, and we have to know that stuff for to serve our clients anyway.
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:02.960
And the past president of NAR.
00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:14.480
And that was fairly emotional talking about 9-11 and what had happened and what NAR had done um to support the community around all of that, and what we all rallied around as realtors, which was important.
00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:20.240
Um, and then um on this panel as well was this guy I'd never heard of, Gary Keller.
00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:22.240
And he looked a little weird to me.
00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:28.720
He was dressed in all black, and then all these other guys are in suits, and um, Dave Lenninger.
00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:33.440
Um, and when I graduated from the University of Southern Maine, I had a Remax balloon on my cap.
00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:37.279
And now everybody decorates their caps, but nobody did back then.
00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:39.519
So major nerd move.
00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:42.079
And I was really excited to hear them talk.
00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:59.200
And Dave Lenninger talked about um how the balloon was what was driving all of our businesses, and a lot of us there were Remax people because Remax didn't really provide um training or it was it was um a place to hang your shingle.
00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:07.920
It was very much a landlord-tenant relationship, it was a very clean sort of we'll leave you alone, just do your business, you can promote your name.
00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:14.320
They provided, you know, certain minimal supports that an agency is required to provide, but it wasn't a lot.
00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:18.239
Um but it was great, it was a great group of people.
00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:34.480
This the synergy of the top producers was a very um wonderful experience, very um invigorating and energizing and inspiring um to be in that kind of a think tank setting.
00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:35.280
It was great.
00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:39.119
Um and Dave Lindinger started talking about the balloon.
00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:43.840
But now, just for point of clarification, Dave was the CEO of Remax and the founder.
00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:44.320
Founder.
00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:45.440
A founder of Remax.
00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:48.320
Yep, okay, and he was talking about I knew that.
00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:50.559
I just wondered for the sake of the audience listening.
00:34:50.800 --> 00:35:05.519
And it was sort of I mean, it's hard to describe the breathtakingness of that moment because all of us that were, I mean, there was like a the a lot of the air went out of the room because that we were in this new independent model coming from the traditional model where it was all about the company brand.
00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:22.159
And the independent brand really was our opportunity to promote our own names, which is what Dottie Bo's name, Going in Lights, helped us to really build out that brand and to build out a big team, which was the start of that kind of entrepreneurial spirit nature of the business.
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:22.880
Yep.
00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:23.760
Yep.
00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:37.199
And it was, it was, it felt like a real reversal, it felt like a real rollback um on that philosophy of the empowerment of the licensee, um, and and encouraging the building of that brand.
00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:41.599
And I was like, whoa, what just happened?
00:35:41.760 --> 00:35:47.920
And then this little voice starts talking, the southern drawl from on stage.
00:35:48.079 --> 00:36:01.360
Almost like you didn't know it was on stage, you just heard it, and you're because it's almost an existential moment, and it's like, Dave, with all due respect, I do believe you got that wrong.
00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:04.639
And I was just like, What is happening here?
00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:17.280
And and Gary Keller started speaking, and he says, you know, I you know, with all due respect, I would give my eye teeth to be in business with any percentage of the brokers that you're in business with, you're in business with some really tremendous brokers.
00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:22.559
And I don't think that it is the balloon, I think it's them.
00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:26.960
And your business is this is successful because of them.
00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:28.960
It's not the other way around.
00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:36.960
And anything you can do to pour back into them to garner their success at a higher and higher level is going to make you more successful.
00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:45.679
And he said, and I think what they want isn't necessarily a balloon or color or a brand, but what they want is things that are going to enrich and empower them.
00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:55.039
They want more of a say in the business because they have good experience in running their businesses, so they have something to bring back to the brokerage.
00:36:55.280 --> 00:37:03.119
They want uh the the growth of the business, really, I believe, is directly correlated to their level of professionalism and their success.
00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:05.039
So they want a share in that.
00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:11.280
Um, and they want to be invested in, they want to be treated as the incredible entrepreneurs that they are.
00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:23.599
And so he was just kind of going on and on and on about this world that felt much more resonant to me and what I would love to have had that I recognized I didn't have.
00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:27.039
And so it was existential.
00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:35.599
And so I went back home and two weeks later, Dottie says to me, You haven't said a word about Howard Renton.
00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:41.920
And usually you have multiple things that we can implement right away from those experiences.
00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:43.039
What's going on?
00:37:43.199 --> 00:37:47.360
And I just said, I'm moving to Texas.
00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:52.000
And she was like, Oh, okay.
00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:56.639
And see, at that time I wasn't having success in finding a significant other here in Maine.
00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:02.159
And I did want to partner with someone and have a family, and I thought maybe my chances would be better there.
00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:08.719
And my brother lived there anyway, and Gary Keller was there, and this whatever it is he's doing.
00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:11.519
And so that's what I told her.
00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:16.320
And she said, Okay, well, if that's what you want to do, certainly you can do that.
00:38:16.960 --> 00:38:24.000
And we also could consider looking at that business model and bringing it here if it's something that this marketplace needs.
00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:26.000
And I said, Great.
00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:29.679
So we reached out to the regional.
00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:32.159
I just want to pause for a second.
00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:42.400
You hear this guy speak on stage, and two weeks later you're ready to uproot your entire life and move to Austin, Texas.
00:38:42.639 --> 00:38:43.119
Sure.
00:38:43.519 --> 00:38:45.679
Because of this Gary guy.
00:38:46.159 --> 00:38:46.800
Yeah.
00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:50.960
Well, and the guy I didn't know I was gonna meet, potentially.
00:38:51.199 --> 00:38:52.239
And I love my brother.
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:52.639
Yeah.
00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:54.320
And Austin's a fun city.
00:38:54.719 --> 00:38:55.280
I'm sure it is.
00:38:55.440 --> 00:38:57.679
Well, no, I've been there a few times, absolutely.
00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:06.159
But I I just I mean, I want to pause for a second and just talk about that how impactful one seminar could be to a life.
00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:24.719
Yeah, and I mean, you know, when you are the kind of person too that I said the word disruptor, um, and doesn't go necessarily completely with the flow, but can follow models and can recognize decent mentorship and decent leadership, those things can converge.
00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:28.480
Yeah, and I, you know, and again, I just a quick pause on the takeaway.
00:39:28.639 --> 00:39:30.960
Like, you know, we talk a lot about going to events.
00:39:31.039 --> 00:39:36.400
We talk, I mean, you and I both have been to National Association of Realtor events, both mid-year national events.
00:39:36.559 --> 00:39:41.920
Um, we just wrapped up last week the MAR convention here at the main association of realtors.
00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:55.360
And, you know, I I I always just find it interesting that, you know, any particular event can can either increase your business, change your direction, um, but the one thing that won't change is if you don't go.
00:39:55.519 --> 00:39:56.800
Yeah, that is very true.
00:39:56.960 --> 00:39:57.199
Right?
00:39:57.599 --> 00:39:58.239
That's very true.
00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:04.320
And and so, you know, I I just I I didn't know that about the story, so I appreciate you sharing that.
00:40:04.480 --> 00:40:13.119
Um, now I'll let you get back to the conversation about maybe we don't move to Texas, maybe we go check out this business model.
00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:19.199
And that's a hallmark of a good mentor is they don't say no, you can't, you know, because then you're just gonna go do it anyway, right?
00:40:19.360 --> 00:40:25.199
Um, and so we got on the phone with the regional directors, Carl Nardone.
00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:31.519
We went, I actually drove around to England and visited the few market centers that there were at the time, reported back to Dottie.
00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:41.119
We reached out to KWRI, we went to Texas and um met Moe Anderson and um Dave Janks at the time, rest his soul.
00:40:41.360 --> 00:40:45.119
Um, and became quite interested.
00:40:45.519 --> 00:41:00.320
Um, I think it was an FSO training, franchise systems orientation, learned the numbers of the business and and um, you know, kind of kept working away at it, did ultimately did an application, did all the work to put that together.
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:07.199
I met my husband here in Maine during that period of time, actually, which is interesting.
00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:12.000
So I didn't have to go to Texas to meet a man or my partner, my life partner.
00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:16.159
Um, and so I know your husband, he's a he's a great man.
00:41:16.719 --> 00:41:18.239
Yeah, really lucky.
00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:27.920
Um and we we were ultimately awarded the franchise in January of that following year, so that would have been 2003.
00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:32.000
And I was the first licensed Keller Williams agent in the state of Maine.
00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:35.199
And um, yeah, it was an interesting story.
00:41:35.360 --> 00:41:44.400
Dottie has some color I'm sure she could put onto that page around sort of how that transition went, but it was pretty s pretty scary.
00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:45.679
It was pretty scary.
00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:47.280
Oh, I'm I'm sure it was terrifying.
00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:48.400
It was very terrifying.
00:41:48.800 --> 00:42:00.559
She retired, yeah, you know, and became, you know, the the face of KW, and then I quickly got terminated from where I was where we were licensed before.
00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:03.679
And um yeah, it was very scary.
00:42:03.920 --> 00:42:11.199
And uh brokerage, you know, kind of like shifted who our core group was going to be coming with us.
00:42:11.519 --> 00:42:13.199
Um, so that was okay.
00:42:13.360 --> 00:42:22.480
But at the time, another interesting thing that happened is um Mark Simpson had been bought out by DeWolf.
00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:24.559
I've I lived through that merger.
00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:27.760
Okay, so I was part of the Mark Stimson Real Estate Network.
00:42:27.840 --> 00:42:30.639
I can remember the conversation when DeWolf bought them out.
00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:31.440
Yep.
00:42:31.679 --> 00:42:37.599
So it was DeWolf, and DeWolf was beloved, like Mark Simpson, but on a regional level.
00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:39.760
Um, and people loved working there.
00:42:40.159 --> 00:42:43.440
Had good culture, good esprit de corps, good good.
00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:58.159
Um and then um Colo Banker came in and bought DeWolf and caused massive disruption, like a mushroom cloud, and we were kind of there.
00:42:58.719 --> 00:43:12.320
And we're that's where we gained tremendous momentum from some talented people we were fortunate enough to get into business with at that time that really catapulted us to succeed at a very high level.
00:43:12.800 --> 00:43:16.239
Well, you I mean, clearly you built a phenomenal business.
00:43:16.400 --> 00:43:19.440
You built a you know the largest real estate company in the state of Maine.
00:43:20.159 --> 00:43:25.679
Well, and the thing I would say about that is I I am a little sensitive to pronouns.
00:43:26.320 --> 00:43:34.000
And by that I mean, you know, for Dottie and I, it was always a look at does the marketplace want this?
00:43:34.159 --> 00:43:34.320
Yeah.
00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:36.800
We can be the people to do it.
00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:40.719
Because we we're not risk averse, we're risk takers.
00:43:40.880 --> 00:43:41.119
Right.
00:43:41.599 --> 00:43:42.719
But does the marketplace want this?
00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:48.400
And that's what we were always very sensitively at asking that question and probing that question.
00:43:48.880 --> 00:43:53.440
Because that's really if that if the answer isn't yes to that question, then no.
00:43:54.320 --> 00:44:00.800
So if you're always showing up and giving the marketplace and the people what they want, then it's Gonna work.
00:44:00.880 --> 00:44:02.320
Then it transcends you.
00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:13.920
Your ego is is able to be put aside, and it's not about your ego, it's just you're showing up, coming from contribution, giving the marketplace, the people, consumers, what they want.
00:44:14.239 --> 00:44:15.760
Well, and don't get me wrong.
00:44:15.920 --> 00:44:28.239
I mean, I'm I I certainly understand the concept of the core belief system at this company, which is that coming from contribution, um you don't have to have the ego.
00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:30.800
I'm more than happy to provide it to you.
00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:34.960
I think that you guys have built this phenomenal organization.
00:44:35.519 --> 00:44:40.159
And and you know, I think it's okay to pause and be proud of that.
00:44:40.480 --> 00:45:08.320
Well, I mean, but it's it's it's always still um a driver to make this industry better, you know, because in so starting this, it's led to so much more that needed to be realigned, you know, within our MLS, how we work together, within our realtor association, how we work together.
00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:13.039
There's always so much more to do to make real estate work better for everybody.
00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:31.920
Well, and I, you know, that that that coming from contribution, that belief that the industry, this is a phenomenal industry that provides tremendous opportunities for any person that you know that that chooses to raise their hand and join.
00:45:32.079 --> 00:45:36.000
Um, you know, we have the Y-4 C2Ts, it's the belief system at Keller Williams.
00:45:36.079 --> 00:45:43.519
And one of my two favorites is, you know, the E is the equity and opportunities for all, um, and success is results through others.
00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:46.800
And those are my two favorites of the Y-4 C2Ts.
00:45:47.360 --> 00:45:56.880
And, you know, the fact of the matter is, is this this industry does provide an opportunity for anybody that is willing to do the effort and do the work.
00:45:57.119 --> 00:46:06.719
And and at the nature of it, our success as an organization, our success as a company is only correlated to the success of the agents that partner with us.
00:46:06.960 --> 00:46:07.440
Totally.
00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:11.519
And if we're not all about their success, then we will never be successful.
00:46:11.599 --> 00:46:17.840
And I would tell you, sometimes the things you need to learn show up for you when you didn't even know you need to learn them.
00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:18.320
Oh, yeah.
00:46:18.480 --> 00:46:26.480
And the Y4 C2Ts, for me, I had to like meditate on that because I really feel like I came out of a shark tank.
00:46:26.719 --> 00:46:31.440
As exciting and invigorating as my former environment was, it was very cutthroat.
00:46:32.159 --> 00:46:37.039
And in business, that's one of the options you have to succeed, is to be super cutthroat.
00:46:37.119 --> 00:46:37.199
Yep.
00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:39.599
And I wasn't super happy or fulfilled in that.
00:46:39.679 --> 00:46:42.320
And the Y4 C2Ts helped me in a lot of ways.
00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:44.079
Well, it certainly is a strategy.
00:46:44.159 --> 00:46:51.840
I mean, uh, you know, Andrea, my my counterpart co-team leader here, you know, she talks about the first company that she joined.
00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:58.480
It was very everything held was held tight to the vest and a little bit cutthroat, and nobody really talked.
00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:03.199
And, you know, my first organization was there's a conference room, there's a phone book, and there's a phone.
00:47:03.360 --> 00:47:03.760
Yeah.
00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:05.599
You know, that's how you do the business.
00:47:05.760 --> 00:47:17.920
And and and so again, just having a belief system that you know comes from, you know, Austin on down to Portland, Maine, I think it's exceptional.
00:47:18.239 --> 00:47:21.760
Well, and I felt it that day in California.
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:22.159
Right.
00:47:22.400 --> 00:47:24.239
I felt it from the man in black.
00:47:24.719 --> 00:47:26.639
And who still wears black, by the way?
00:47:26.719 --> 00:47:27.679
Who still wears black, by the way.
00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:28.480
And I still feel it.
00:47:28.559 --> 00:47:28.639
Yeah.
00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:29.360
I still feel it.
00:47:29.440 --> 00:47:30.480
And I don't talk to the man.
00:47:30.559 --> 00:47:30.639
Yeah.
00:47:30.800 --> 00:47:31.679
And I don't have to.
00:47:32.400 --> 00:47:35.199
Because that's the heartbeat of it.
00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:46.159
And it's a wonderful thing to be a part of and to to know that I can be, you know, sort of a cog in that wheel of bringing that also and and and making that come to life.
00:47:46.239 --> 00:47:47.360
It's like our contracts.
00:47:47.440 --> 00:47:59.440
I always say that it lives, you know, and bringing our models, our economic model to life and and allowing that to be a pathway for success for people because you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
00:47:59.760 --> 00:48:09.119
I mean, we were reinventing the wheel every day, working, you know, when I was an admin, the first one of the first admins for a top-producing agent.
00:48:09.280 --> 00:48:11.360
And now people don't have to do that.
00:48:11.440 --> 00:48:12.559
You can follow the models.
00:48:12.719 --> 00:48:13.519
You don't have to.
00:48:13.599 --> 00:48:20.559
You can stay in e-mode, entrepreneurial, but we named our company E to P L L C for a reason.
00:48:20.880 --> 00:48:26.719
Because that's what this is all about for us as partners on this journey in starting this was E to P.
00:48:27.679 --> 00:48:28.719
Yeah, okay, fine.
00:48:28.800 --> 00:48:29.920
We don't know the answer.
00:48:30.320 --> 00:48:31.280
That's normal.
00:48:31.519 --> 00:48:35.840
So then if E is where we are now and we don't know the answer, then P is where the answer is.
00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:36.159
Right.
00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:37.440
So let's go find the answer.
00:48:37.599 --> 00:48:38.480
Look at the models.
00:48:38.639 --> 00:48:39.920
Success leave clues.
00:48:40.079 --> 00:48:41.920
Other people have done it more successfully.
00:48:42.000 --> 00:48:49.119
So when you just kind of put the ego away and you dumb yourself down and you say, okay, I'm not gonna be creative and weird and entrepreneurial over here.
00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:53.119
I'm gonna go get purposeful and I'm gonna just do what someone else did.
00:48:53.199 --> 00:49:07.280
And well, it it and you like to your point, the people have lived before us, and and you know, that's where the training comes in, that's where the coaching comes in, that's where you know, plugging into the systems come in.
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:18.800
You know, um, you know, I had this unique perspective early on where if anybody was conversing or speaking in front of the room, I was listening.
00:49:19.039 --> 00:49:22.639
If there was a sales class offered, I was listening, I was there.
00:49:22.800 --> 00:49:25.360
I mean, I took Mark Leader before, you know.
00:49:25.679 --> 00:49:28.079
I don't know if you remember the Mark Leader was a trainer.
00:49:28.639 --> 00:49:29.280
I don't remember that one.
00:49:29.440 --> 00:49:31.280
It was it was old-ish style.
00:49:31.519 --> 00:49:31.679
Okay.
00:49:31.840 --> 00:49:32.000
Okay.
00:49:32.320 --> 00:49:33.280
I remember sweat hogs.
00:49:33.519 --> 00:49:34.960
Sweat hogs, I took Floyd Wickman.
00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:35.760
Floyd Wickman.
00:49:35.920 --> 00:49:40.239
So Dottie would have um she would let me house sit in her nice house because when you're in college, you don't have a nice house.
00:49:40.559 --> 00:49:44.800
So she would let me house sit for her when she would go to Florida, and I would take her.
00:49:44.880 --> 00:49:45.760
I'm such a nerd.
00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:50.559
I would take her Floyd Wickman tapes, VHS tapes, put them in and just sit and watch them.
00:49:50.800 --> 00:49:54.159
And then I'd get on the phone and start calling FISBOs or expires.
00:49:54.400 --> 00:49:54.639
Yeah.
00:49:55.119 --> 00:49:56.079
I did the same thing.
00:49:56.239 --> 00:49:57.599
I had the audio cassettes.
00:49:57.679 --> 00:49:58.000
Yeah, I'm not sure.
00:49:58.079 --> 00:49:58.960
I'm dating myself, right?
00:49:59.039 --> 00:49:59.760
I had the audio cassettes.
00:49:59.920 --> 00:50:02.719
When the car could take an audio cassette, now we can just listen to podcasts.
00:50:02.960 --> 00:50:09.679
You know, you can listen to podcasts, and or you can listen to the training or the coaching or you know, find a mentor and plug in.
00:50:09.760 --> 00:50:18.480
And and I think what's really interesting is, you know, in talking about the journey, and and life is a journey, and business is a journey.
00:50:18.559 --> 00:50:22.239
And to your point, like we can get stuck in patterns and ruts, and for sure.
00:50:22.480 --> 00:50:32.400
And there there may be a listener in, you know, listening to this right now that's kind of stuck in a pattern of whatever, you know, facing some challenges, which I get.
00:50:32.559 --> 00:50:43.519
I mean, I've had plenty of challenges in my life, you know, rebuilt different things, you know, and and that's kind of normal.
00:50:43.760 --> 00:50:44.000
Yeah.
00:50:44.239 --> 00:50:44.559
Right?
00:50:44.639 --> 00:50:48.079
Like life just kind of throws you these curveballs.
00:50:48.400 --> 00:50:56.639
But in the course of business, let's just write, you went from in, you know, an admin, you know, basically a secretary.
00:50:56.719 --> 00:51:13.519
Like we don't like to use that secretary word anymore, but you were a secretary to 30, you know, to 30 years later, you know, being a founder, founding partner of, and you don't have to have the ego, I'm I'm okay with saying the largest real estate company in the state of Maine that is very agent-centric.
00:51:13.760 --> 00:51:15.039
Kudos to you.
00:51:15.360 --> 00:51:17.199
And I love real estate agents.
00:51:17.360 --> 00:51:34.480
You know, and and I think if if we can, you know, provide any type of uh belief or motivation to somebody out there right now, it's that that might be listening, that's stuck in a pattern or stuck in something, that they can have the opportunity to change their life.
00:51:34.800 --> 00:51:39.119
Well, I mean, it's there's proven science behind how to change your life.
00:51:39.440 --> 00:51:45.440
And you just, like I said, sometimes you don't know what you need until it shows up for you.
00:51:45.599 --> 00:51:50.079
So are you showing up for that to present itself to you?
00:51:50.239 --> 00:51:50.480
Right.
00:51:50.639 --> 00:51:57.440
You know, and some of my worst days in this business have been, sorry, best days in this business have been days I didn't want to show up.
00:51:57.599 --> 00:51:57.840
Right.
00:51:58.079 --> 00:51:58.880
But I did.
00:51:59.360 --> 00:52:04.559
Put on the best suit, put on the best outfit, and faked it till you make it.
00:52:04.719 --> 00:52:05.039
Yep.
00:52:05.199 --> 00:52:11.440
And then you make it, you know, because something shows up for you there that day that you didn't know was gonna show up.
00:52:11.519 --> 00:52:12.800
That's exactly what you need.
00:52:13.039 --> 00:52:15.760
Or you meet this guy in black on stage.
00:52:17.599 --> 00:52:18.159
Yeah.
00:52:18.480 --> 00:52:24.159
Or you bump into someone at a coffee shop who gives you three listings.
00:52:24.400 --> 00:52:24.960
Yeah.
00:52:25.199 --> 00:52:33.920
Or you get so mad that you didn't get that one listing that you do some extra reaching out to some folks, and then three listings come your way.
00:52:34.000 --> 00:52:34.159
Right.
00:52:34.480 --> 00:52:42.159
You know, you what motivates you, what inspires you, and are you gonna flip the switch during that moment, or are you gonna stay mired in that rut?
00:52:42.480 --> 00:52:49.599
One of the reasons, or are you gonna one of the reasons I was so encouraged about starting this podcast is just for that, right?
00:52:49.679 --> 00:52:53.039
Like here is an opportunity for somebody to plug in.
00:52:53.199 --> 00:53:07.119
Uh, you know, you know, you could be driving through Scout Heagan, Maine, dealing with challenges about paying your rent or paying your mortgage, and and maybe we give you one little bit of nugget that helps you turn your life around.
00:53:07.280 --> 00:53:07.599
Yeah.
00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:08.239
Right?
00:53:08.480 --> 00:53:14.239
And that becomes that agent-centric model, and to your point, of elevating the industry.
00:53:14.400 --> 00:53:14.800
Yeah.
00:53:15.039 --> 00:53:15.519
Right?
00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:25.199
Well, I mean, it's it's it's such an entrepreneurial business, and I love that about all of us in this industry.
00:53:25.599 --> 00:53:38.960
Um, but what I will say is those who do expand their entrepreneurialness and add a few little aspects of purposefulness, it's just gonna be a lot easier for you.
00:53:39.199 --> 00:53:43.280
And don't bang your head up against the wall and say, well, that worked there, but not here.
00:53:44.159 --> 00:53:54.400
There are certain systems and models that will work, that will get you there quicker, that will cut out a lot of the hardship that we went through not having those systems and models.
00:53:55.119 --> 00:53:56.960
You know, my life has changed exponentially.
00:53:57.039 --> 00:54:10.639
It's made me, I think, capable of being a better parent than I would have been, a better spouse, certainly a better business person, certainly better in the boardrooms when I've had to try to help the industry see things differently.
00:54:11.039 --> 00:54:28.000
Um, I've just gotten better skills and become a better person as a result of really sticking to models and having my ladder leaning up against this wall that has people that are decent people that are trying to make the world a better place through real estate.
00:54:28.159 --> 00:54:28.320
Yeah.
00:54:28.719 --> 00:54:29.920
And that's what we do.
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:31.199
We're part of our communities.
00:54:31.360 --> 00:54:37.360
We're involved, we're coaching the little little league teams, we're Girl Scout leaders, we're all of these things.
00:54:37.440 --> 00:54:39.360
And we're selling Girl Scout cookies.
00:54:39.599 --> 00:54:45.920
We're selling Girl Scout cookies, which that might not be the best thing about Girl Scouts, but you know, it's yeah.
00:54:47.519 --> 00:54:48.639
It's all there.
00:54:49.440 --> 00:54:52.719
Again, I want to thank you for this uh, you know, conversation.
00:54:52.880 --> 00:54:56.719
I think, you know, from my perspective, several takeaways, if I can.
00:54:57.119 --> 00:55:07.360
Um, you know, I I think it's really you you've you've been instrumental in the real estate industry in the last 25 years in Maine, 30 years.
00:55:07.519 --> 00:55:08.480
Goodness gracious.
00:55:08.880 --> 00:55:09.440
Maybe 20.
00:55:09.679 --> 00:55:10.719
Let's call it 20.
00:55:10.880 --> 00:55:20.559
Um, you've been incredibly instrumental, um, you know, with your your your uh civic give back both in your communities.
00:55:20.719 --> 00:55:31.760
Uh you've been, you know, so instrumental with the main association of realtors, main listings, greater Portland Border Realtors, um, as well as the work that you've done here at Keller Williams and Maine.
00:55:32.159 --> 00:55:35.840
Um I just really appreciate the conversation.
00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:43.440
I think your story is one that I know sometimes it may feel awkward to speak it.
00:55:43.920 --> 00:55:48.239
And I appreciate your your taking the time to talk.
00:55:48.639 --> 00:55:55.280
I think you know your story is one that I I hope impacts some lives, right?
00:55:55.440 --> 00:56:11.840
Like moving from, you know, a secretary, waitress, unsure 19-year-old to what you wanted to do to selling 40 houses in your first year, you know, to the work that you've done on board levels, etc.
00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:24.320
The the you know, the plug-in with, you know, you know, the Howard Britton course in California, meeting that Gary guy and dressed in black, uh, and bringing Kelly Williams to Maine.
00:56:24.400 --> 00:56:34.960
You have impacted hundreds and hundreds of brokers' lives um and changed hundreds of brokers' lives, you know, through the work.
00:56:35.119 --> 00:56:37.360
You should be extremely proud.
00:56:37.840 --> 00:56:40.639
Um, you have made an impact.
00:56:40.960 --> 00:56:53.920
And, you know, there are numerous brokers walking the halls at 50 Sewell Street, uh, and still numerous brokers at other companies yet that uh can be changed because of the work that you've done.
00:56:54.079 --> 00:56:56.000
And I applaud you for that and thank you.
00:56:56.320 --> 00:57:02.880
Oh, thank you, Kevin, and thank you for coming on board and taking the torch and running with it the way you are.
00:57:03.199 --> 00:57:04.800
I appreciate you immensely.
00:57:05.440 --> 00:57:12.320
That was uh that was an interesting conversation we had over coffee in Yarmouth when I said uh tell me what this KW thing is.
00:57:12.559 --> 00:57:20.559
Well, good for you for having an open mind and seeing what was in front of you that uh presented opportunities that you didn't know.
00:57:20.719 --> 00:57:29.519
And you know, last little nugget you don't know what you don't know, and we don't know what you don't know.
00:57:30.800 --> 00:57:32.639
So bring yourself to the trough.
00:57:33.199 --> 00:57:34.639
Look for a drink of water.
00:57:35.119 --> 00:57:35.920
We're all here.
00:57:36.079 --> 00:57:36.719
There's so much.
00:57:36.880 --> 00:57:39.440
I know it's a lot, it's like a fire hose now, right?
00:57:40.239 --> 00:57:48.239
Um but get to know some of us, and um, there's there's a lot here, and uh there's a lot for you here.
00:57:48.559 --> 00:58:07.360
Don't give up and uh turn that uncertainty, insecurity that you have, that we've all had, hardship, challenge, bad diagnosis, whatever it might be, um, that you still need to persevere through, um, turn that into your success.
00:58:07.679 --> 00:58:12.800
Well, it's interesting because you know, you you talk about that, and you know, we don't know what we don't know.
00:58:12.960 --> 00:58:20.880
I had been in the business for 20 years when I came here, and I, you know, I had been knocked down a few rungs in my life for sure.
00:58:21.039 --> 00:58:28.719
Um, but I still came here thinking I was, you know, you know, the term I classified, I was I was technically a mega agent.
00:58:28.960 --> 00:58:29.280
Right?
00:58:29.360 --> 00:58:34.159
Like we know that term here at KW as a mega agent, and I was technically a mega agent.
00:58:34.400 --> 00:58:36.639
Um and then I came here.
00:58:37.599 --> 00:58:43.199
And then I got to see what I didn't know, and then I realized how not a mega agent I was.
00:58:44.400 --> 00:58:45.679
I'm not a mega agent.
00:58:45.840 --> 00:58:52.880
No, it's just I mean, as as much as we, you know, there's always there's always more to learn.
00:58:52.960 --> 00:58:55.920
There's always a bigger business that we could build if we want.
00:58:56.079 --> 00:58:56.239
Yeah.
00:58:56.480 --> 00:59:02.320
And then some of our best agents are living their best lives and in in doing things, and they're okay just doing the deals they do.
00:59:02.719 --> 00:59:03.679
It's cool stuff.
00:59:03.840 --> 00:59:04.239
Yeah.
00:59:04.400 --> 00:59:05.920
So I appreciate your time.
00:59:06.079 --> 00:59:11.039
Um, I feel like we've only literally tapped the tip of the iceberg.
00:59:11.199 --> 00:59:16.559
So um I envision I envision a uh a round two at some point.
00:59:16.719 --> 00:59:19.519
Um, would love to sit with you and Darty at the same time.
00:59:19.760 --> 00:59:21.199
I think that would be phenomenal.
00:59:21.599 --> 00:59:22.000
That'd be fun.
00:59:22.239 --> 00:59:22.960
Frick and frack.
00:59:23.280 --> 00:59:24.079
Frick and frack.
00:59:24.400 --> 00:59:25.039
Oh and peep.
00:59:25.280 --> 00:59:25.599
Yeah.
00:59:25.840 --> 00:59:27.039
That was, yeah.
00:59:27.119 --> 00:59:28.400
So those are the good old days.
00:59:28.559 --> 00:59:28.719
Yeah.
00:59:28.800 --> 00:59:30.159
So thank you very much.