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Welcome to Action Solves Everything, the show for those who want to stop overthinking and start producing.
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I'm your host, Alex Montagano, broker, leader, and founder of Lockstep Realty.
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Around here, we believe movement creates momentum, clarity comes from doing, and the agents who take action are the ones who win.
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Every episode is built to help you grow your skills, your confidence, and your career.
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Now, let's get to work.
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Welcome to another episode of Action Solves Everything.
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We got an awesome guest in the house today, Daniel Leaper.
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He jumped in the real estate industry in 2018.
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I've been fortunate enough to have him working side by side with me since 2020.
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We'll touch a little bit on that story today, how we came to.
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But Daniel has absolutely crushed it with the development and growth of Lockstep Realty.
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He's been a pillar and a cornerstone of everything that we are today.
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He has recently made a change from leadership at Lockstep, where he sat for the last four years, into a new role of getting back into being a realtor, rolling up his sleeves and doing the hard work.
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Daniel, welcome to the show, man.
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What's up?
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Thanks for having me, Al.
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Feels good to be back.
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Yeah, dude.
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Uh let's hit let's just dive right in, man.
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Rip the band-aid.
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You're back to being a realtor.
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Um and I got to give you your flowers, man.
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Five sales in 30 days of being an agent.
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How did you do it?
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What's going on?
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Um, I think that uh there's more to the more to that question than just like a quick answer.
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But basically, I think you and I um came to the same conclusion around the same time that it made sense for me to get back to what I was passionate about.
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Um, you know, when you do something you feel good about, your energy is positive, people can feel that.
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And it's not that I didn't love helping the lockstep agent room grow, but it just wasn't um wasn't rewarding me the way I thought it would.
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And so when I decided to come talk to you, hey, let's let's spend some time in your office, or you called me in and we sat down.
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Um, the conversation was actually pretty easy.
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Would you agree?
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I mean, it was natural.
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Well, yeah, I mean, look, I think um an old line, we suffer more in imagination than in reality, right?
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So um I think look, you had given up a lot to get into the leadership role.
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We had designed a lot around some stuff for you to be the dad you wanted to be, the husband you wanted to be.
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And look, man, real estate doesn't care.
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As an for agents, it doesn't care.
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Like, and if you don't have boundaries around your business, it's really hard to do the parent thing right or to a to a level that people are really passionate about doing it.
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And being the spouse that you wanted to be.
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So when you jumped in that role, like as the role evolved, you had done a lot to support our agents, you were giving up personal business.
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And so I was always concerned like, hey, if this ever unwinds, there's a lot of decisions that we made that are hard to unwrap and hard to get back to like a solid baseline.
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So when I made a decision that I was gonna pull you aside and have the conversation just to see how you were feeling, I had finally just convinced myself that everything works out how it's supposed to, and if I feel it, you probably feel it.
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And funny enough, when I work with we used to work with buyers and sellers, anytime they ever signed a contract with me, I used to tell them, if I ever want to fire you, you probably already want to fire me.
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And everyone would laugh, but that's true, it's typically a mutual thing.
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So I stole that line from you.
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I use it now too.
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When I when I asked you, hey man, how are you feeling?
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Are you loving your job?
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And you just looked at me and goes, I was gonna talk to you in four days.
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Yeah, I was able to get there.
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I needed to formulate a couple more thoughts, but it's the same thing.
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I was suffering more in imagination than reality, and I just didn't I didn't want to let anybody down, specifically you, but the team too.
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And like I was such a big part of what we were trying to all get toward, you know, the same goals, the same accomplishments.
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And so for for us, it was just like a matter of how do I do this the right way?
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I I didn't I didn't think I wouldn't be a lock step at the end of the conversation, but I also didn't know, and I that's not something I wanted, and I know and I I hear you, I know you're about to say, but it's also like you have to play those scenarios out in your head and figure out all right, if this goes this way, am I gonna be okay with the decisions that we're all making right now?
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Yeah.
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Look, man, I think um it's been 33 days in your new role, um, and in my new role too, but just talk about what being an agent means to you.
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Because I think you haven't you wore it just a different hat for a long time.
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You get back in the seat and gangbusters, man.
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It's been it's exciting to watch and fun to be a part of because you're in the seat that you belong in, you are operating from a position of best self, and look, you didn't for a while.
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My fault, my selfish decisions of what we signed up for, but it's really neat to see it.
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So just talk about it, man.
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33 days.
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Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna uh leave, I tee myself up a little bit.
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So when I decided to leave journalism to become a real estate agent, it wasn't like uh something I knew I was gonna be good at, but what I did know is that I cared about like people and I wanted to use my skill set to to enjoy work again, right?
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And so my skill set is like how do I work with people, how do I help them, how do I work hard?
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And at the end of working hard, how do I have um you know enough income to support a family the way I want to support them, right?
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And so that's why I decided to give real estate a try in 2018.
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I just will give it a shot.
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And if it doesn't work, I'll pivot to something else.
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And fortunately for me, um, I've had a lot of people put their trust in me and I've and I've earned a lot of referrals and repeat clients, and I've earned your trust, I've earned lockstep's trust.
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And so um, when I decided to go back, it's it's interesting.
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I in the leadership role, I constantly talked and and taught and trained on the idea of like running a calendar.
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And you have to run your calendar to be the best version of yourself and to make sure that your clients are taken care of and stuff like that.
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Well, what happened is when I was in the leadership role, I was constantly being pulled in every which direction.
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And what happens is is as a result of that, um, the the goal was to have this great home life, to work normal hours in real estate, which you don't get to do very often, but then to be able to come home and be a great husband and a great dad and a great friend.
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And um in a leadership role and a calendar, sometimes that stuff gets turned on its head because of the need for your time.
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And so um now that I'm back in this role, I'm back into giving myself advice that I would have given any agent.
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You have to run a calendar, um, it has to be flexible, but through like a diligent day-to-day schedule, you're able to be more um flexible and able to uh react to the things that are important to you.
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And that includes my family, and that includes both of you know Max and Ben's school schedules and so on and so forth.
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So um to answer your question in a in a long roundabout way, I think my success is is that I'm I'm back to doing what I love.
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And I think when you do that, uh people recognize that and you get to be the best self and it comes with successes.
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How um how are you handling some of the challenges of like evening showings or evening negotiations or counter offers or anything like that?
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Yeah, uh in this industry, again, um we have to communicate at a high level with our clients, but I think that you have to communicate at a high level with your spouse too.
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Um Steph works at a traditional job.
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She works Monday through Friday, uh actually Monday through Thursday and uh during the day.
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And so if I have evening showings or evening inspection response conversations or this, that, and the other, um I'm pretty comfortable telling my clients that I have certain hours where I can't work and certain hours when I can work.
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And Steph is kind of signed up for that too.
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And honestly, when I was deciding if I was gonna come talk to you, those conversations were had with her up front so that we could set expectations for what my schedule was gonna look like once we got on the other side of the conversation with you and me.
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I want to get behind the importance of the communication and what that all looks like, especially around the idea of your spouse.
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I mean, look, I talk about a lot what my goals were when I jumped in the industry.
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And two of my big three were present present husband and present dad.
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And look, I'm home most every single night.
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Like, and that doesn't always mean present, unfortunately.
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It's a it's some it's a work in progress that you know we try to get better at all the time.
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But last night um, you know, I'm making a diligent effort right now to build my rental portfolio.
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I went out, found some options, and wrote three offers last night.
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And look, when you don't get in and write your own offers, like punching around in these sky slope and digic sign and all sorts of stuff, it's it's not something I'm familiar with.
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So like I'm trying to be home with the kids, but I'm trying to do this.
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And Maureen, Mikey, and Will are pulling on me and yelling at me, Dad, Dad, dad.
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And Maureen goes, Hey guys, dad's doing a little work.
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And Willow's like, What's he doing?
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And Maureen goes, buying houses.
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That's what he does.
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And it was like, it's really cool that my family can identify in in your family too.
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Like, hey, when dad is working, it's not like I would much rather be spending time with uh Michael and Willow and and Maureen.
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But sometimes duty calls as part of the dream that we're pursuing or the career and the life that we've built.
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And I just thought it was really neat to hear that's what he does.
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Like, this is how he works, this is how he supports our family.
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And it was like, hey, look, man, I I'm really fortunate.
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Maureen loves you, you love Maureen, all this stuff.
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It's like it's really cool that that's what I get at home every day.
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And it allows me to be best self.
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So, like Steph understanding your seat and Ben seeing you and Max growing up with a dad who works hard, like it's important for families to see that and recognize that.
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Man, I love that for you.
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Yeah, you said something that's pretty interesting there.
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Um they understood, right?
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Their understanding of what was happening last night.
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And there's always, in fact, probably every night, there could be something always that pulls you away from your family.
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Conversation with an agent on the team, or a conversation with an agent on the other side of a transaction, or what you're talking about with the writing of offers.
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There's always something, right?
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But I think the more confident you get in what you do, and the more often in what you do it, you can set boundaries for yourself that allows you to have a pretty flexible life.
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And you might have to punch out an email at nine o'clock before you turn the lights off, or you might need to tell a client, hey, I I can't talk tonight, but I'll be available at eight o'clock tomorrow morning.
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And I think that if you deliver that message with confidence and solutions, um most of the time that's going to be received pretty well by your family and your client list.
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I think um finding a client list that respects that version of yourself.
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So, hey, Mr.
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Klein or Mrs.
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Klein, I'm unavailable to talk till the morning should be good enough for a lot of people.
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And like it doesn't need a I have this going on instead.
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It's just hey, I'm unavailable, I'm available tomorrow.
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And what I noticed the longer I did this career when I started creating boundaries for myself and for others and for my family, the respect for my clients got it was grew and grew and grew.
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So I think it's like important, like anyone that listens to this, if you're a realtor and you don't have boundaries, they have there are no boundaries for anybody to respect.
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So you get what you tolerate, right?
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So, like what you tolerate.
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And if you want somebody to respect your calendar and respect you at nine o'clock at night, let them know.
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Hey, this is when I'm available, this is when I'm not available.
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Congrats to you, dude, for drawing those lines early.
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Um, where are your clients coming from?
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Dude, five deals in 30 days.
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You can sell 60 houses in a year.
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2027 should be pretty crazy.
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Um, yeah, I think that um every every single one is a sphere deal.
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So either a past client or a referral.
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And um, I think it's important um for my business to lean into again what I'm good at.
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And I I'm all about relationships.
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What is one of our core value?
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No, relationships matter.
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And that goes within our industry, but also with our our our client base.
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And so five deals, all sphere, referrals, past clients, whatever it might be.
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And that feels good.
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It feels nice to know that I've done a good enough job that people are either calling me or sending their sister my way or or or whatever.
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And that's always and forever going to be my bread and butter, my pillar.
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Um, I pride myself on keeping up on that stuff, on the relationships, on answering the call, contractor referrals, whatever it might be.
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Um, it's just important to me, and it's a big reason why I do the job.
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Um we talk a lot about the Enneagram in the office.
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I'm a two, I'm a helper.
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That's my natural, like my natural inherent ability.
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And so if I can apply that to what I do for my profession every day, that it's that much better for for how I do things.
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Um yeah, five deals, it's great.
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I want I want to do more.
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Um you had said you jumped in 2018, you're leaving the TV industry.
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Can you talk a little bit about that transition?
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Because I want to I want to lean in uh some more conversation or about around like your current success.
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But when you started, like what drew you to real estate?
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Well, I was in TV working 11 p.m.
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to 7 a.m.
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trying to I I didn't have kids yet, but trying to be a good partner, a good spouse, and you know, going to bed every night, or I'm sorry, going to bed every morning and my wife's getting up to go to work.
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It's it's a little it's a little weird, a little hard.
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And not not to mention I just wasn't making a lot of money.
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And so I started calling friends, family, people I really trusted and cared about that were gonna give me an honest response.
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And I was like, what should I do?
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Like, I can't keep going down this path.
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I don't necessarily want to go back to college.
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That seems like something I didn't want to do in my early 30s.
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And the common message to me was that I was wasting away at a desk job, essentially, like figure out a way to get out of a traditional desk job and get in front of people, pour into people, find a way to do that.
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And sales doesn't have to be like the slimy cliche, um, uh you know, that that it's portrayed or or considered in a lot of people's worlds.
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And so, how how do I change that narrative?
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How do I get into sales of some kind and do a good job at that and have a good reputation?
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And I mean, honestly, there's a pretty low barrier of entry to our our business.
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And so I was able to get my license while still working in television, and that allowed me to work, study, work, study, work, study.
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And then after a few months, that I was able to transition fully into this business.
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And um, as you know, the first year I started off with a small boutique brokerage.
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I spent exactly one year with them until I met you.
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And then um what I didn't know is I didn't have the mentorship, training, coaching, and resources here in Indianapolis that I needed to be successful, and it was it was genuinely a fake it till I make it type of thing.
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And then um you grabbed a hold of my career and it's been a rocket ship.
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You um I wouldn't say look, how many deals you sell in your first year?
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Because I think 18 deals year one.
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How that ain't faking it till you're making it, that's making it in our industry.
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So how'd you how do you sell 18 houses your first year in the business?
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Talk about some of the stuff you were doing.
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I didn't have any distractions.
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I didn't have anybody who's telling me I needed to be somewhere.
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So every day I had goals of talking to as many people as possible about my new career.
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So I was dropping off lunch to my dentist, or I was joining a Dart League, or I was um talking to my wife's friends at gatherings.
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Her sorority sisters, for some reason, were a big part of my early success.
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Um, and then when you do a good job, those people tend to say your name in in front of rooms that might use you as well.
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And so um I didn't have paid leads my first year.
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It was all sphere.
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Um and I think I was reactive to pretty much anybody who needed my help, and I would run those down as fast as I could with no distraction.
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And you learn a lot on the fly doing it that way, but I'm not sure you learn like great habits being in a room where you're the only person who you're talking you're listening to.
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So this is interesting.
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I was leading a training today, we were doing a role play session with a handful of agents in the room.
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They were asking questions like how do you learn how to do this?
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And I don't have the confidence to have these conversations like you do, and and and look, like they were like, How did you learn that?
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Or how did you learn to say that or deliver a message that way?
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And look, like at some point, like some of uh some things are skill based, but skills can always be practiced and learned and developed.
00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:51.440
And I told them I said, Look, there's a room of 17 agents at lockstep, you guys should talk to each other more.
00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.920
It's not text more, you shouldn't send more emails.
00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:57.839
You should go sit in a room and say, I'm having a challenging scenario, can we role play through it?
00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.119
Can we work through the challenges here that I'm struggling with?
00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:07.039
And look, like with anything in life, the more times you do something, the more the muscle builds.
00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:15.359
And so, you know, I remember when I started, I solved problems the best I knew how, but sometimes there was nobody there to help.
00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:26.799
And look, like that increases the likelihood of like burning a bridge, getting it wrong, screwing it up, but boy, do you learn fast that way.
00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:30.799
And, you know, it's like go to your peers and practice.
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.160
Go to go to do that.
00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:39.440
And dude, if you're sitting at home by yourself grinding a business, one, it's fun for a while, it becomes a lonely journey.
00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.880
And two, like you just can't learn as fast.
00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:54.799
It's not an apples apples comparison of Daniel at lockstep at 20 in 2026 versus Daniel as an individual agent in 2026 out on his own doing his own thing with nobody else mentoring, coaching, supporting.
00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:57.759
One's not as purposeful either.
00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:02.000
Yeah, I look, I don't I don't need to rehash what you just said.
00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:02.960
I agree with all of it.
00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:10.240
But basically, my my message to anybody who's listening to this is that there's there's different ways to do this industry.
00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:34.480
And I'm not saying you have to agree with me, I'm not saying you have to agree with Alex, but what I will say is that if you can get out of your own bubble, whether it be you and your partner, whatever you by yourself, whatever it is, and get to a room full of people who work as hard as you do and are doing the same job as you at a high level, you are inevitably gonna sponge up information that you can apply to your business and become that much sharper and that much better.
00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:43.599
Um, if you're the best person in the room because you're the only person in the room, I'm not sure you're you're succeeding the way you think you are, the way you think you might be able to.
00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.319
Um, I'm always gonna be a team player.
00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:53.440
I think that there's just too many benefits to being around smart, sharp, motivated people to keep me going as well.
00:19:53.440 --> 00:20:00.319
And that's not just from a place of education, that that's a big part of it, but that's the motivation of getting the job done every day.
00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.119
Um, you can tell yourself a story to stay in bed all day.
00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:12.319
You can tell yourself a story to not prospect or not follow up or not show up for your clients that can be pretty detrimental to your long-term goals.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:23.839
And so I I'm not even in leadership, and I'm still at the office every morning at 8:30 after I drop my kids off because that's the place where I'm gonna find the most success and the most growth, most growth.
00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:29.759
Well, I mean, look, like you get knocked on the mat.
00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.640
Sometimes it's hard to pick yourself up.
00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.599
And there's gotta be something if you have it in your life that pulls you up.
00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:38.400
Hey, that's great.
00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:41.599
But sometimes that something doesn't work, it's a somebody.
00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:50.480
And you know, sometimes it's your wife or your spouse, sometimes it's your kids, but sometimes it's your peer just coming in and giving you a little extra juice.
00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:54.640
Like, hey man, I just really appreciate this, or hey, I just wanted to let you know that.
00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:59.039
And it's like, oh man, I hadn't I didn't see that kind of like that was amazing.
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:02.720
Um, and and I just think about it all the time.
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:12.160
I couldn't agree more with your alignment on the idea of like if you're the smartest person in the room when you're in a room by yourself, like you're just that is not best self.
00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:12.880
It just isn't.
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:16.480
It's an impot like it's an impossibility for that to be what best self is.
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.920
We uh we have lockstep, and this is just kind of like a patting us on the back.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.920
We celebrate wins like both big and small.
00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:32.720
And the reason I say that is because some agents are at a different port in their careers where a small win of them might just be getting an agency agreement signed so that they're out showing houses this weekend for the first time in a while.
00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:38.640
And then we might have another agent who had a heck of a month and they sold four or five, six houses like we talked about earlier.
00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:44.319
And so, like those celebrations that bring you all right, you know what?
00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:52.960
I got this team behind me rallying around me, applauding my buyer's agency signature, like that's that's really cool, and that's what we do really, really well.
00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:55.039
Yeah, I think it's interesting.
00:21:55.039 --> 00:22:05.759
Um when you start accomplishing success, if you're telling Telling people in your life, hey, I sold a I sold a house today, and then the next day you tell them, Hey, I sold a house today.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:19.119
It is a natural thing for the people that you share that with to be less excited when you sell three houses in a week than when you sold your first house ever, because you just sell many houses now.
00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:23.279
And so it's like hey, you sold your first house that's unbelievable.
00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:34.880
And so like when you take somebody who's brand new or needs to be lifted up, celebrating every single win, it gives perspective to the room of like where that person is in a journey.
00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:42.160
But additionally, you sell six, you know, we had an agent sell four house in a week last week, five house in a week, things like that.
00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:47.839
It's like it gives somebody else uh merit to the idea of like, hey, anything is really possible here.
00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:55.440
And look, I think it gives agents like something to strive for and how to dream bigger.
00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:59.039
Like it gives you something, it's like, man, I could do that.
00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:03.759
And to be pulled along that journey with others who are already doing it makes it a lot more fun.
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.839
Yeah, but say you don't even have the pipeline to do something like that, okay?
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:14.799
Like just a hypothetical world, you come to work every day and you're like, Man, how do they even have five clients, let alone five pendings?
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:26.319
Well, we we've encouraged our room, and we do a good job of this of like he didn't just get those by existing, he went out and got those, or she she did this to earn that business.
00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:40.400
And so go sit with that person, hop in their passenger seat and ride along with them, listen to their phone calls, listen to the conversations because there's a skill set there that earned them that it wasn't like they just had it handed to them.
00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:49.839
And that's what a room full of achievers allows you to do from a from a uh not a new agent standpoint, but somebody who's just trying to level up in whatever way.
00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:55.759
Um compound interest, ninth wonder of the world.
00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:58.160
Um is what they say.
00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:01.839
Compound interest of the ability to show up every single day.
00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:05.200
So, how did the agent get five deals in a week?
00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:14.400
They showed up every day for five weeks, five months, five years, over and over and over, no matter how bad, how hard, how challenging, how sick, how tired, whatever.
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:19.200
That sustained level of commitment is how that stuff is built.
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:27.599
And I think seeing that in our industry is something that is a monster eye-opener for so many agents that want to achieve success.
00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:35.519
Anyone that goes out there and does a great business in our industry, the agents on the side doing that type of business work incredibly hard.
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:41.279
They have an incredible commitment to the craft, to their clients, to every to the profession, everything.
00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:48.720
And seeing that as an outsider, like I was fortunate enough to spend my birthday with a great friend of mine, John Murphy.
00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:50.480
We were in New York City together.
00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:52.000
That guy works hard.
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.559
He works hard all the time.
00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:58.000
And it was an eye-opener to me.
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.279
Like, he puts more in than I do how he does it.
00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:03.759
And it's like, man, kudos to him.
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:05.039
Like, that is how he built it.
00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:14.559
And so it's like, if you're learning from others that are doing it at a higher scale than you or at a greater scale than you, you can observe that and make decisions around yourself of like, do I want those things?
00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:16.400
Am I willing to make that sacrifice?
00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:22.079
But if you never see it and never know, it's easy to just go, he got lucky.
00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:24.319
I don't even that I can't do that.
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:25.359
That's not me.
00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:31.119
But if you look through the other lens and go, hey, that's possible, I can do that, or I'm willing, or that that aligns with my goals.
00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:32.079
I want to do it.
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:34.799
It's how you get the mentorship to understand how to get there.
00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:40.079
Yeah, but it's also like if you're saying that about somebody, you're probably justifying why you don't have it.
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:40.799
You know what I mean?
00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:41.279
Oh, yeah.
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:46.160
I'm not gonna sit and dog anybody, but like we know John works hard.
00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:50.960
We know other people work hard, we know what is earned versus what is you know given essentially.
00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:57.119
Um, and some people don't have the goals to work as hard as you or me or some other people do, and that's okay too.
00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:06.880
But there are ways to work within your goals, whatever your self-driven goals are annually, to be the best version of yourself in that transaction.
00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:14.400
So, say instead of doing 50 deals a year, you want to do 15 deals a year, whatever that is, be the best version of yourself in those 15 deals.
00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:18.799
And that's all the stuff we've talked about is still applicable to those 15 deals.
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:23.759
I would love to know uh like from your seat.
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:38.799
Um, you know, there was 2018 Daniel that got in spry, young buck, green, hustling, um, you know, no family or no kids, step in the picture to today.
00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.160
Like would you change anything in how you got here?
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:46.640
And uh what would today's Daniel tell 2018 Daniel?
00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:48.559
Oh man, that's a big question.
00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:55.839
Um I think that the common denominator of 2018 success and 2020 success is the work ethic.
00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:00.400
It's stuff we've already talked about kind of at length, so I'm not gonna really go down that road again.
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:07.920
But what I think that has changed is the level of focus that I have and the level of organization that I have.
00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:16.319
So, what I tell a lot of the new agents who come to our room is let me see your calendar, let me see your email inbox, um, are you working with intentionality?
00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:20.079
Um, how do you prevent anybody from sliding through the cracks?
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:21.680
How's your CRM?
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:31.599
All those things point back to one thing, and it's like an organized daily task list that keeps you on tracks and keeps you focused to reach your goals.
00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:45.039
And so the work ethic of 2018, where I'm gonna get in the car and run out the door and be the first person to show house, the first person to write an offer, the first person to call the listing agent and figure out what it's gonna take, is the same as it was then as it is now.
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:50.960
But I think that I've earned some respect in our industry for my phone calls to get answered.
00:27:50.960 --> 00:28:06.319
And I think I also have leveled up in my presentation, both in the way I look, act, email, talk, text, all that stuff, to um to confidently do this job at a higher level than I ever thought possible.
00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:10.640
And so I think that it goes back to like being a pros pro.
00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:12.079
So, like, how do you do that?
00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:17.039
Um it's it's hustles, hustle will get you a long way.
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:22.079
But once you like polish that hustle up with the finer points, that's when you become a professional.
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.200
How did you learn that?
00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:35.519
Uh you I mean, honestly, it's and I know that was like a one-word, like kind of a fun answer, but it's it's kind of real.
00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:38.799
Um, I think we taught each other a little bit about it, actually.
00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:48.000
You were already so entrenched in the industry, you had all the relationships that I needed, you had all the skill set that I wanted.
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:57.680
So I got to learn a lot of about how to do this and how important it was to have relationships in the industry, and I inherited a lot of them from you.
00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:20.240
And then I got to see firsthand how don't take this the wrong way, how sloppy things could get, yeah, how I thought there's got to be a better way, and you were open-minded enough to to hear that feedback, and we learned together how to how to not only level up our business, but to teach, coach, and train locative agents on how to do it the right way.
00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:21.359
Is that fair?
00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:24.240
I'll go um for the record.
00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:31.920
I used to forward DocuSign envelopes without an email that said subject line offer attached.
00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:33.599
That was how I did things.
00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:36.319
Um, so you didn't learn it all from me.
00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:44.240
But look, I think um we've talked about hey, this is what we do for lockstep agents, but I'm actually gonna take it further.
00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:46.880
I think it's a commitment of excellence for the rest of the industry.
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:54.079
And I think one of the special things is like look, preferential treatment to every single lockstep agent.
00:29:54.079 --> 00:30:00.079
Hell yeah, like they're the best, they get everything, every single thing, no holds barred.
00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:03.599
The rest of the industry, you get a whole hell of a lot from us.
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:15.759
And it's not just me, I don't that that's not what this is about, but it's like educating the person on the other end of the of the offer, it's supporting the agent to go, hey, look, here's why you didn't get the offer.
00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.480
If you're gonna write another one, this needs to get cleaned up.
00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:20.480
This would definitely help you.
00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:28.240
And I think that's something that just over time working as hard as we do in the industry, it's like this should be shared.
00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:30.319
And you do a really good job of that.
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:40.799
Um, as you like have grown and learned and been open-minded to getting better, it's something that you bring a lot of folks along the way, and it's how you built so many great relationships in the industry as well.
00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:54.079
Would would you agree that once when you call somebody, so you call another agent who's not with our brokerage, that you've done a deal or five with, whatever it is, they get excited for that phone call.
00:30:54.079 --> 00:31:03.200
They're like, we know that we're gonna get somebody on the other side who knows what the heck they're doing, who's gonna get this all the way through, who's gonna who's gonna be the pro that we need on the other side of a deal.
00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:05.359
Because at the end of the day, this is a cooperative.
00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:13.680
Yeah, look, it's um I think years ago, real estate was pitted as a side versus side.
00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:15.839
Um, you know, buyer versus side.
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:26.720
Well, yeah, look, I I think um the COVID market changed that substantially because it was so taxing and hard on everybody emotionally.
00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:32.319
Uh, somebody's in my house, there's this crazy virus running wild, rampant across the world.
00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:33.839
How the hell are we supposed to act?
00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:36.000
But we're deemed essential, and interest rates are 2%.
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:36.720
What the hell?
00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:41.440
We need to buy a house, mask up, gloves up, teamwork lights all the house.
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:50.640
And as soon as people started working together on those things, it made the importance of working together amongst transactions, at least for me, um, more important than ever.
00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:58.720
So I think so much of that is like I think there has been a trend, and and maybe it's maybe it was always people working together.
00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:00.799
It certainly didn't feel that way for me.
00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:14.079
But uh look, I think now more than ever, there is like a substantial portion of the industry that does this job at an insanely high level with great professionalism.
00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:20.640
And then there's a smaller grouping um that gives us the bad rap that we have as realtors.
00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:23.599
Um they don't understand or they don't know.
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:30.160
And and again, it's like they support the barrier to entry being low, and they give us a black eye.
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:34.480
And and look, it makes it easy to be excellent in this business.
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:36.960
And look, you had sent something to our team yesterday.
00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:41.519
It's like, here's all the stuff that's gone wrong for me around agency in the last week.
00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:49.920
I could sit here and piss and moan, or I can just work harder, control the things I control and and determine my own fate of what is controllable.
00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:51.759
And I look, I think that's the right way to look at it.
00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:55.359
You tell the team that message because you hope that they they can.
00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:57.440
Hey, I I'm having a rough week.
00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:06.079
Um, Daniel said last week he had a he had a rough week, and this is how he got through it, and they can apply a little bit of that mindset to what they're dealing with.
00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:18.720
Now, I'm not gonna give anybody access to our text thread on on this on this Zoom, but I I'll hit you up because I really get frustrated with some of the professionalism in our industry.
00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:41.359
And I know it's easy to like let that stuff get you down, but I think that for the most part, if you go about it the right way and you pick up the phone and call people and you have conversations, for the most part, I think you're gonna find somebody on the other side of the deal that's gonna that's gonna work it with you in as hard as you, and that's that's ultimately the goal here.
00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:50.640
Now, you're always gonna run into some knuckleheads, whether it be another agent, a goofball client, or you know, a contractor who's not fulfilling their obligation.
00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:52.319
Is that loud?
00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:53.039
No.
00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:53.920
Okay, good.
00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:56.079
I have a contractor outside right now, actually.
00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:57.039
Yeah, you're good.
00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:58.960
I apologize, it got a lot for a second.
00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:06.559
But my point in saying that is like it I mean, we've been talking for over a half hour, and the message just keeps going back to this.
00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:12.559
If you show up every day and do the job at a high level, um, you're gonna find success in a lot of different ways.
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:18.719
It might be in more real estate transactions, but it might be more in relationships and getting deals to the closing table.
00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:21.840
Because a lot of the times you can get deals under contract but can't close them.
00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:33.199
And so these are the things that you have to work towards in a room full of high-producing agents that make you that much better and um you know push you to be better.
00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:41.119
I um in 2013 I was experiencing my first level of success in the business.
00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:49.519
And uh I remember telling some folks who are like, how how are you what's going on?
00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:50.639
Like, what's changed for you?
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:54.079
And and I remember very vividly.
00:34:54.079 --> 00:34:57.039
This industry is very easy, and I remember this, you know.
00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:01.679
So I'm like this young new guy in the industry, ignorant enough to say that.
00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:04.159
I said this is really interesting, this is really easy.
00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:14.320
If you show up, if you work really, really hard, you care about people, and you smile at them, it is incredible how much success you can have.
00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:16.159
And I still believe that.
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:20.239
Are are there some ins and outs, or there's some nuances in the industry that you need to know?
00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:28.800
Yeah, but those are things that list that I gave you, showing up every day, caring about people, working really hard and smiling at people, you can control those every single day.
00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:33.920
No matter how poor of a day, no matter how shitty something is, if you do those, you control those.
00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:36.159
Those are all choices that you get to make.
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:40.079
Um like that, it success ties to so much of that.
00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:44.559
It creates ease with clients, it creates relationships with people on the other end of the deal.
00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:51.440
It keeps the main things the main things, and it keeps the emotion out of deals that oftentimes gets in the way.
00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:56.639
And wouldn't you agree that people right now in 2026 are craving positivity?
00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:04.480
Well, people need a I mean, look, we it it's because we're uh we're showered in negativity at uh at every single opportunity turn.
00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:09.760
You open up your phone, just click a news channel, get on ESPN, somebody's bitching about something.
00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:12.559
It's like, look, there's tell me about all the problems.
00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:15.920
Like, give me the story about the Good Samaritan that did something nice for somebody.
00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:24.480
Give me the story about a win where somebody did something for somebody else, or or there's something that's turned on its head that actually turned out to be better.
00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:29.119
Nobody cares, nobody gets that because it's like that's not the highlight.
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:31.679
Doom and gloom sold to us every single day.
00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:37.440
It's bullshit, and we're forced to consume it all the time if we let it be that.
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:48.719
So, yeah, dude, if you're the beacon of hope that sheds positivity and gives people a reason to smile or pats people on the back, your life and career will be nothing but a rocket ship.
00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:54.719
And and look, your internal happiness, if you're doing that for others, inherently you will be a much happier person.
00:36:54.960 --> 00:37:07.679
Yeah, and I think that I mean I mentioned earlier I'm an Innegram too, and if you know anything about that, um dangle that carrot of a smile and a happy client at the end of a transaction where they want to take a picture with the big key and write you a good review on online.
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:09.760
Man, I'll I'll show up every day.
00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:12.639
That's I'll ride that cloud all day and all night, you know.
00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:14.800
Like that's that's what I that's why I like to do this.
00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:18.239
Of course, it's there's there's you know financial benefits to this industry.
00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:24.800
The harder you work, the more clients you help, the the more success you have, the you know, the better stuff you you can have for your family.
00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:28.960
But the day-to-day stuff is what really gets you going and what's really gets you out of bed.
00:37:29.599 --> 00:37:30.960
Dude, I love that.
00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:36.559
Um where is 2026 Danny Boy headed?
00:37:36.559 --> 00:37:38.320
Like, let's hit on that a little bit.
00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:40.079
It's it's interesting you asked that.
00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:46.480
I was actually having a conversation with myself because I was at home this morning for a little bit, and I wasn't talking out a lot, I was just having some inner dialogue.
00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:52.800
But um, I I so I I created a I got into Claude.
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:54.320
I know you would love to hear me say that.
00:37:54.320 --> 00:38:12.880
I got into Claude and I had a long conversation about Dan Martell's Buy Back Your Time, you know, creating a calendar, um, all the things that I already know a lot about, but I wanted to set a schedule for myself that allowed me to work diligently in like 15 minutes or 30-minute increments on stuff that was important to me on a daily basis.
00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:23.840
So I create this calendar, and so far I've had a hard time sticking to it, not because I don't trust what I created, but because I'm then more reactionary than I normally am.
00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:28.639
So reacting to this client or reacting to this inspection response or reacting to this phone call.
00:38:28.639 --> 00:38:39.840
And um, to answer your question in a more direct way, I need to figure out now that I'm back in full-time agency shoes, um, how to maximize my day.
00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:44.000
When I was in leadership, you know this you don't have a minute to breathe.
00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:47.440
You're constantly jumping from meeting to conversation to I got to get back to that person.
00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:48.960
Oh, shoot, I gotta make this decision.
00:38:48.960 --> 00:38:50.320
Oh, you know, whatever it is.
00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:54.320
And in that, your day would go by in a in a flash.
00:38:54.320 --> 00:39:05.199
Whereas now it's up to me what my responsibilities are from the moment I get up to the time I pick up my kids from daycare, and then in the evenings after I put them down, you know, to go to sleep.
00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:08.159
And so 2026, what does it look like for me?
00:39:08.159 --> 00:39:15.199
I want to get back to what I'm good at, uh helping clients buy and sell houses, which look so far so good.
00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:26.400
Um, but also I want to get back to like creating um a plan and a schedule that is reflective of what I believe in and who I who who I taught all that stuff to.
00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:31.519
I want to be able to live the life that I was trying to teach the rest of our team on how to do that.
00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:38.079
And I think that there's some challenges with that, but I need to give myself a longer runway than like five or six weeks.
00:39:38.079 --> 00:39:44.320
And it's gonna take a little bit a while to adjust and tweak and make some changes, but guess what?
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:45.119
I just said it.
00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:55.519
I'm in a room with a bunch of people who do this, and I'm gonna ask all the right questions and have some meetings with people and ask them, hey, how can I how can I make some adjustments to what I'm doing to be more successful?
00:39:55.519 --> 00:39:59.119
And um, that's the big benefit of being still in the room with you guys.
00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:00.559
Love that, man.
00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:02.400
Um answer.
00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:07.039
Batch your calendar around specific sectors of the business.
00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:07.519
Yep.
00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:21.760
Here's when I show houses, here's when I do contracts, here's when I have calls, here's when I prospect, here's when I dad, here's when I husband, here's when I soccer, music, yada yada.
00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:22.239
Yep.
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:28.880
Batch it that way and set your phone on do not disturb and don't give in.
00:40:29.599 --> 00:40:40.079
Yeah, I I'm I'm already seeing um I think we get we talked about this, so I'm not gonna go down this again, but I think we alarm that like a client might fire us if we can't talk at 5 30 p.m.
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:42.239
That's just simply not the case.
00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:52.639
So I'm just setting boundaries and guardrails to make sure that I um don't go off the rails with my family life because it's it's why we do all this anyway.
00:40:53.039 --> 00:40:55.039
Love your recognition of that.
00:40:55.039 --> 00:40:59.280
Um we wrap this with two good questions.
00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:02.559
Uh, question number one where can folks find you online?
00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:04.400
How do people find you or connect with you?
00:41:04.719 --> 00:41:05.840
Can I give the long answer?
00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:06.559
Yeah.
00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:07.920
I'm mostly on Instagram.
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:10.320
My handle is Daniel in Midtown for a reason.
00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:12.639
Um, I live in Midtown, I love Midtown.
00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:18.079
Um, I I I just landed here 12 years ago from Fort Wayne, didn't know anything about it.
00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:22.960
Um, Broad Ripple, Mertin Kessler, um Butler Tarkton, they're a part of my identity.
00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:31.119
And so a lot of my Instagram is gonna be uh real estate, but it's also gonna be my community that I eat, breathe, and sleep and genuinely love.
00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:31.920
Love that.
00:41:31.920 --> 00:41:33.119
Daniel and Midtown.
00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:35.440
Um the last question.
00:41:35.440 --> 00:41:38.480
This podcast is called Action Solves Everything.
00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:42.480
Um, look, I'm a I'm a junkie for action.
00:41:42.480 --> 00:41:52.559
You know, it's like sometimes too much, but it's been a huge pillar of my success and and a cornerstone of how lockstep and many other things I'm a part of have been built.
00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:57.280
Um, it's fun watching you as somebody that's a killer action taker in our industry.
00:41:57.280 --> 00:42:06.000
But instead of me making the determination behind what that looks like, I would I would love to know uh what does taking action mean to you?
00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:10.480
Uh taking action to me, I think that um it goes back to goals.
00:42:10.480 --> 00:42:21.280
And if you have um if you have commitments to goals and you get up every day with diligent effort to reach those goals, that is that is action, right?
00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:30.320
But um you you should align those goals with what your what your spouse wants, what your family wants, um, how how you can get get to those goals.
00:42:30.320 --> 00:42:50.159
And I think for me, choosing to get up, choosing to have a calendar, choosing to have goals that are attainable, those are the things that require me to put focus energy into treating this as a career and not just like a day-to-day like hobby, job, whatever you want to call it.
00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:58.079
Um specific actions, I think we can create excuses for ourselves all the time to uh just take the day off.
00:42:58.079 --> 00:43:05.119
I won't I won't go to the gym as you as you as you say to me all the time, or I won't write that contract out, I won't call that client back.
00:43:05.119 --> 00:43:08.559
Um put yourself out there.
00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:17.840
You you might miss, you might not do a great job, but I think that you're always gonna learn from the effort you put into whatever you're trying to accomplish.
00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:19.519
That was awesome.
00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:24.639
I um I tell people this you will believe whatever bullshit you will tell yourself.
00:43:24.639 --> 00:43:28.400
You're gonna sell 60 houses in 2027, you'll you'll do it.
00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:29.599
Can I add one more thing?
00:43:29.599 --> 00:43:30.559
Yeah, go ahead.
00:43:30.559 --> 00:43:32.320
This has been my mantra for two years.
00:43:32.320 --> 00:43:33.199
You know what I'm gonna say.
00:43:33.199 --> 00:43:35.440
You are the people you spend your time with.
00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:40.960
So if you spend your time with people who aren't lifting you up, aren't making you better, you better believe it.
00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:42.639
You're gonna be part of that group too.
00:43:42.639 --> 00:43:58.880
The moment you realize that, and the moment you make uh the moment you make a pivot and choose action towards whatever is gonna have a positive impact on your day-to-day, the moment you choose to work with people who have your best interests in mind, it's it's something you can't describe.
00:43:58.880 --> 00:44:00.880
It will it will make you better.
00:44:01.199 --> 00:44:03.119
Dude, this was an awesome conversation.
00:44:03.119 --> 00:44:04.639
I could talk to you for hours.
00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:08.719
Um thank you so much for your time today and everything that you shared.
00:44:08.719 --> 00:44:10.079
Congrats on all your success.
00:44:10.079 --> 00:44:15.679
I'm grateful to call you a friend and somebody that's been a massive part of everything we've accomplished here at Lockstep.
00:44:15.679 --> 00:44:16.800
So thank you for that.
00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:19.360
And uh best of luck and much success ahead.
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:20.320
Thanks for joining us today.
00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:23.119
I know this is evergreen, but happy 40th birthday.
00:44:23.360 --> 00:44:24.320
Hey, thanks, brother.
00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:30.400
Thanks for listening to Action Solves Everything.
00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:38.320
If today's episode pushed you, challenged you, or helped you even take one step forward, send it to someone else who needs that same nudge.
00:44:38.320 --> 00:44:40.239
We all get better when we grow together.
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:53.920
And if you're looking for a partnership that actually believes in coaching, collaboration, accountability, and actually becoming the best version of yourself, shoot me a message online at all social handles at Alex Montagano.
00:44:53.920 --> 00:44:58.400
That's A-L-E-X-M-O-N-T-A-G-A-N-O.
00:44:58.400 --> 00:45:02.239
Remember, success rewards the ones who move.
00:45:02.239 --> 00:45:05.360
Take action, and I'll see you on the next episode.
00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:08.480
Welcome to Action Solves Everything, the show for those who want to stop overthinking and start producing.
00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:14.240
I'm your host, Alex Montagano, broker, leader, and founder of Lockstep Realty.
00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:21.359
Around here, we believe movement creates momentum, clarity comes from doing, and the agents who take action are the ones who win.
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:27.120
Every episode is built to help you grow your skills, your confidence, and your career.
00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.359
Now, let's get to work.
00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:36.719
Welcome to another episode of Action Solves Everything.
00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:40.799
We got an awesome guest in the house today, Daniel Leaper.
00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:43.679
He jumped in the real estate industry in 2018.
00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:49.840
I've been fortunate enough to have him working side by side with me since 2020.
00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:52.960
We'll touch a little bit on that story today, how we came to.
00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:00.640
But Daniel has absolutely crushed it with the development and growth of Lockstep Realty.
00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:03.759
He's been a pillar and a cornerstone of everything that we are today.
00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:16.719
He has recently made a change from leadership at Lockstep, where he sat for the last four years, into a new role of getting back into being a realtor, rolling up his sleeves and doing the hard work.
00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:19.439
Daniel, welcome to the show, man.
00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:20.000
What's up?
00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:21.439
Thanks for having me, Al.
00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:22.879
Feels good to be back.
00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:24.000
Yeah, dude.
00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.640
Uh let's hit let's just dive right in, man.
00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:27.599
Rip the band-aid.
00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:29.439
You're back to being a realtor.
00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:32.319
Um and I got to give you your flowers, man.
00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:36.560
Five sales in 30 days of being an agent.
00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:37.680
How did you do it?
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:38.560
What's going on?
00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:43.439
Um, I think that uh there's more to the more to that question than just like a quick answer.
00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:51.840
But basically, I think you and I um came to the same conclusion around the same time that it made sense for me to get back to what I was passionate about.
00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:57.760
Um, you know, when you do something you feel good about, your energy is positive, people can feel that.
00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:07.599
And it's not that I didn't love helping the lockstep agent room grow, but it just wasn't um wasn't rewarding me the way I thought it would.
00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:14.000
And so when I decided to come talk to you, hey, let's let's spend some time in your office, or you called me in and we sat down.
00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.240
Um, the conversation was actually pretty easy.
00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:16.879
Would you agree?
00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:18.159
I mean, it was natural.
00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:26.560
Well, yeah, I mean, look, I think um an old line, we suffer more in imagination than in reality, right?
00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:35.360
So um I think look, you had given up a lot to get into the leadership role.
00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:41.840
We had designed a lot around some stuff for you to be the dad you wanted to be, the husband you wanted to be.
00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.000
And look, man, real estate doesn't care.
00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.000
As an for agents, it doesn't care.
00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:54.240
Like, and if you don't have boundaries around your business, it's really hard to do the parent thing right or to a to a level that people are really passionate about doing it.
00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:57.280
And being the spouse that you wanted to be.
00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:04.719
So when you jumped in that role, like as the role evolved, you had done a lot to support our agents, you were giving up personal business.
00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:14.800
And so I was always concerned like, hey, if this ever unwinds, there's a lot of decisions that we made that are hard to unwrap and hard to get back to like a solid baseline.
00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:27.039
So when I made a decision that I was gonna pull you aside and have the conversation just to see how you were feeling, I had finally just convinced myself that everything works out how it's supposed to, and if I feel it, you probably feel it.
00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:35.520
And funny enough, when I work with we used to work with buyers and sellers, anytime they ever signed a contract with me, I used to tell them, if I ever want to fire you, you probably already want to fire me.
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:39.039
And everyone would laugh, but that's true, it's typically a mutual thing.
00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:40.479
So I stole that line from you.
00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:41.520
I use it now too.
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:46.240
When I when I asked you, hey man, how are you feeling?
00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:47.599
Are you loving your job?
00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:51.360
And you just looked at me and goes, I was gonna talk to you in four days.
00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:53.520
Yeah, I was able to get there.
00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.719
I needed to formulate a couple more thoughts, but it's the same thing.
00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:03.280
I was suffering more in imagination than reality, and I just didn't I didn't want to let anybody down, specifically you, but the team too.
00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:08.560
And like I was such a big part of what we were trying to all get toward, you know, the same goals, the same accomplishments.
00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:13.120
And so for for us, it was just like a matter of how do I do this the right way?
00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:32.160
I I didn't I didn't think I wouldn't be a lock step at the end of the conversation, but I also didn't know, and I that's not something I wanted, and I know and I I hear you, I know you're about to say, but it's also like you have to play those scenarios out in your head and figure out all right, if this goes this way, am I gonna be okay with the decisions that we're all making right now?
00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:32.959
Yeah.
00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:44.480
Look, man, I think um it's been 33 days in your new role, um, and in my new role too, but just talk about what being an agent means to you.
00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:50.160
Because I think you haven't you wore it just a different hat for a long time.
00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:54.399
You get back in the seat and gangbusters, man.
00:04:54.399 --> 00:05:06.399
It's been it's exciting to watch and fun to be a part of because you're in the seat that you belong in, you are operating from a position of best self, and look, you didn't for a while.
00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:12.480
My fault, my selfish decisions of what we signed up for, but it's really neat to see it.
00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:13.600
So just talk about it, man.
00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:14.480
33 days.
00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:18.000
Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna uh leave, I tee myself up a little bit.
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:31.839
So when I decided to leave journalism to become a real estate agent, it wasn't like uh something I knew I was gonna be good at, but what I did know is that I cared about like people and I wanted to use my skill set to to enjoy work again, right?
00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:36.000
And so my skill set is like how do I work with people, how do I help them, how do I work hard?
00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:42.399
And at the end of working hard, how do I have um you know enough income to support a family the way I want to support them, right?
00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:46.399
And so that's why I decided to give real estate a try in 2018.
00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:47.600
I just will give it a shot.
00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:49.839
And if it doesn't work, I'll pivot to something else.
00:05:49.839 --> 00:06:00.480
And fortunately for me, um, I've had a lot of people put their trust in me and I've and I've earned a lot of referrals and repeat clients, and I've earned your trust, I've earned lockstep's trust.
00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:04.319
And so um, when I decided to go back, it's it's interesting.
00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:11.360
I in the leadership role, I constantly talked and and taught and trained on the idea of like running a calendar.
00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:18.399
And you have to run your calendar to be the best version of yourself and to make sure that your clients are taken care of and stuff like that.
00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:24.079
Well, what happened is when I was in the leadership role, I was constantly being pulled in every which direction.
00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:37.759
And what happens is is as a result of that, um, the the goal was to have this great home life, to work normal hours in real estate, which you don't get to do very often, but then to be able to come home and be a great husband and a great dad and a great friend.
00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:44.879
And um in a leadership role and a calendar, sometimes that stuff gets turned on its head because of the need for your time.
00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:51.839
And so um now that I'm back in this role, I'm back into giving myself advice that I would have given any agent.
00:06:51.839 --> 00:07:04.800
You have to run a calendar, um, it has to be flexible, but through like a diligent day-to-day schedule, you're able to be more um flexible and able to uh react to the things that are important to you.
00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:11.279
And that includes my family, and that includes both of you know Max and Ben's school schedules and so on and so forth.
00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:18.639
So um to answer your question in a in a long roundabout way, I think my success is is that I'm I'm back to doing what I love.
00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:27.040
And I think when you do that, uh people recognize that and you get to be the best self and it comes with successes.
00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:35.759
How um how are you handling some of the challenges of like evening showings or evening negotiations or counter offers or anything like that?
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:44.160
Yeah, uh in this industry, again, um we have to communicate at a high level with our clients, but I think that you have to communicate at a high level with your spouse too.
00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.240
Um Steph works at a traditional job.
00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:50.879
She works Monday through Friday, uh actually Monday through Thursday and uh during the day.
00:07:50.879 --> 00:08:02.879
And so if I have evening showings or evening inspection response conversations or this, that, and the other, um I'm pretty comfortable telling my clients that I have certain hours where I can't work and certain hours when I can work.
00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.360
And Steph is kind of signed up for that too.
00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:20.160
And honestly, when I was deciding if I was gonna come talk to you, those conversations were had with her up front so that we could set expectations for what my schedule was gonna look like once we got on the other side of the conversation with you and me.
00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:28.560
I want to get behind the importance of the communication and what that all looks like, especially around the idea of your spouse.
00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:32.399
I mean, look, I talk about a lot what my goals were when I jumped in the industry.
00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:39.759
And two of my big three were present present husband and present dad.
00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:44.799
And look, I'm home most every single night.
00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:48.159
Like, and that doesn't always mean present, unfortunately.
00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:53.039
It's a it's some it's a work in progress that you know we try to get better at all the time.
00:08:53.039 --> 00:09:00.639
But last night um, you know, I'm making a diligent effort right now to build my rental portfolio.
00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:04.799
I went out, found some options, and wrote three offers last night.
00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:16.080
And look, when you don't get in and write your own offers, like punching around in these sky slope and digic sign and all sorts of stuff, it's it's not something I'm familiar with.
00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:18.879
So like I'm trying to be home with the kids, but I'm trying to do this.
00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:24.240
And Maureen, Mikey, and Will are pulling on me and yelling at me, Dad, Dad, dad.
00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:28.320
And Maureen goes, Hey guys, dad's doing a little work.
00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.480
And Willow's like, What's he doing?
00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:32.399
And Maureen goes, buying houses.
00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:33.600
That's what he does.
00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:39.840
And it was like, it's really cool that my family can identify in in your family too.
00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:48.320
Like, hey, when dad is working, it's not like I would much rather be spending time with uh Michael and Willow and and Maureen.
00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:56.080
But sometimes duty calls as part of the dream that we're pursuing or the career and the life that we've built.
00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.960
And I just thought it was really neat to hear that's what he does.
00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:01.440
Like, this is how he works, this is how he supports our family.
00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:04.480
And it was like, hey, look, man, I I'm really fortunate.
00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:07.120
Maureen loves you, you love Maureen, all this stuff.
00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:11.200
It's like it's really cool that that's what I get at home every day.
00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:13.519
And it allows me to be best self.
00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:25.120
So, like Steph understanding your seat and Ben seeing you and Max growing up with a dad who works hard, like it's important for families to see that and recognize that.
00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:26.240
Man, I love that for you.
00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:28.720
Yeah, you said something that's pretty interesting there.
00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.960
Um they understood, right?
00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:32.960
Their understanding of what was happening last night.
00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:38.639
And there's always, in fact, probably every night, there could be something always that pulls you away from your family.
00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:47.200
Conversation with an agent on the team, or a conversation with an agent on the other side of a transaction, or what you're talking about with the writing of offers.
00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:48.720
There's always something, right?
00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:59.279
But I think the more confident you get in what you do, and the more often in what you do it, you can set boundaries for yourself that allows you to have a pretty flexible life.
00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:09.279
And you might have to punch out an email at nine o'clock before you turn the lights off, or you might need to tell a client, hey, I I can't talk tonight, but I'll be available at eight o'clock tomorrow morning.
00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:19.360
And I think that if you deliver that message with confidence and solutions, um most of the time that's going to be received pretty well by your family and your client list.
00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:28.000
I think um finding a client list that respects that version of yourself.
00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.000
So, hey, Mr.
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:30.720
Klein or Mrs.
00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:36.000
Klein, I'm unavailable to talk till the morning should be good enough for a lot of people.
00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:39.120
And like it doesn't need a I have this going on instead.
00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.919
It's just hey, I'm unavailable, I'm available tomorrow.
00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:54.720
And what I noticed the longer I did this career when I started creating boundaries for myself and for others and for my family, the respect for my clients got it was grew and grew and grew.
00:11:54.720 --> 00:12:02.320
So I think it's like important, like anyone that listens to this, if you're a realtor and you don't have boundaries, they have there are no boundaries for anybody to respect.
00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:03.600
So you get what you tolerate, right?
00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:05.120
So, like what you tolerate.
00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:11.279
And if you want somebody to respect your calendar and respect you at nine o'clock at night, let them know.
00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:14.080
Hey, this is when I'm available, this is when I'm not available.
00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:17.120
Congrats to you, dude, for drawing those lines early.
00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:19.600
Um, where are your clients coming from?
00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.519
Dude, five deals in 30 days.
00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:23.840
You can sell 60 houses in a year.
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.320
2027 should be pretty crazy.
00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:31.120
Um, yeah, I think that um every every single one is a sphere deal.
00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.440
So either a past client or a referral.
00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:40.960
And um, I think it's important um for my business to lean into again what I'm good at.
00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:42.799
And I I'm all about relationships.
00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.080
What is one of our core value?
00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:45.440
No, relationships matter.
00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:49.840
And that goes within our industry, but also with our our our client base.
00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:55.120
And so five deals, all sphere, referrals, past clients, whatever it might be.
00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:57.679
And that feels good.
00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:04.399
It feels nice to know that I've done a good enough job that people are either calling me or sending their sister my way or or or whatever.
00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:09.120
And that's always and forever going to be my bread and butter, my pillar.
00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:16.639
Um, I pride myself on keeping up on that stuff, on the relationships, on answering the call, contractor referrals, whatever it might be.
00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:21.519
Um, it's just important to me, and it's a big reason why I do the job.
00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:25.039
Um we talk a lot about the Enneagram in the office.
00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:26.480
I'm a two, I'm a helper.
00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.759
That's my natural, like my natural inherent ability.
00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:37.519
And so if I can apply that to what I do for my profession every day, that it's that much better for for how I do things.
00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:40.240
Um yeah, five deals, it's great.
00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:41.679
I want I want to do more.
00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:49.200
Um you had said you jumped in 2018, you're leaving the TV industry.
00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.440
Can you talk a little bit about that transition?
00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:57.679
Because I want to I want to lean in uh some more conversation or about around like your current success.
00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:01.759
But when you started, like what drew you to real estate?
00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.440
Well, I was in TV working 11 p.m.
00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:06.480
to 7 a.m.
00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:16.559
trying to I I didn't have kids yet, but trying to be a good partner, a good spouse, and you know, going to bed every night, or I'm sorry, going to bed every morning and my wife's getting up to go to work.
00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:18.799
It's it's a little it's a little weird, a little hard.
00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:21.360
And not not to mention I just wasn't making a lot of money.
00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:27.440
And so I started calling friends, family, people I really trusted and cared about that were gonna give me an honest response.
00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.279
And I was like, what should I do?
00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.919
Like, I can't keep going down this path.
00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.919
I don't necessarily want to go back to college.
00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:37.120
That seems like something I didn't want to do in my early 30s.
00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:50.639
And the common message to me was that I was wasting away at a desk job, essentially, like figure out a way to get out of a traditional desk job and get in front of people, pour into people, find a way to do that.
00:14:50.639 --> 00:15:00.159
And sales doesn't have to be like the slimy cliche, um, uh you know, that that it's portrayed or or considered in a lot of people's worlds.
00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:02.320
And so, how how do I change that narrative?
00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:08.000
How do I get into sales of some kind and do a good job at that and have a good reputation?
00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:13.279
And I mean, honestly, there's a pretty low barrier of entry to our our business.
00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:23.200
And so I was able to get my license while still working in television, and that allowed me to work, study, work, study, work, study.
00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.840
And then after a few months, that I was able to transition fully into this business.
00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:33.279
And um, as you know, the first year I started off with a small boutique brokerage.
00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:37.039
I spent exactly one year with them until I met you.
00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:50.240
And then um what I didn't know is I didn't have the mentorship, training, coaching, and resources here in Indianapolis that I needed to be successful, and it was it was genuinely a fake it till I make it type of thing.
00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:55.279
And then um you grabbed a hold of my career and it's been a rocket ship.
00:15:55.279 --> 00:16:03.360
You um I wouldn't say look, how many deals you sell in your first year?
00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:07.039
Because I think 18 deals year one.
00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:10.240
How that ain't faking it till you're making it, that's making it in our industry.
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:14.000
So how'd you how do you sell 18 houses your first year in the business?
00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:15.679
Talk about some of the stuff you were doing.
00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:17.440
I didn't have any distractions.
00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:20.879
I didn't have anybody who's telling me I needed to be somewhere.
00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:26.480
So every day I had goals of talking to as many people as possible about my new career.
00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:35.840
So I was dropping off lunch to my dentist, or I was joining a Dart League, or I was um talking to my wife's friends at gatherings.
00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:40.080
Her sorority sisters, for some reason, were a big part of my early success.
00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:47.279
Um, and then when you do a good job, those people tend to say your name in in front of rooms that might use you as well.
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:51.759
And so um I didn't have paid leads my first year.
00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:52.960
It was all sphere.
00:16:52.960 --> 00:17:01.840
Um and I think I was reactive to pretty much anybody who needed my help, and I would run those down as fast as I could with no distraction.
00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:12.079
And you learn a lot on the fly doing it that way, but I'm not sure you learn like great habits being in a room where you're the only person who you're talking you're listening to.
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.079
So this is interesting.
00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:19.279
I was leading a training today, we were doing a role play session with a handful of agents in the room.
00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:24.319
They were asking questions like how do you learn how to do this?
00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:32.720
And I don't have the confidence to have these conversations like you do, and and and look, like they were like, How did you learn that?
00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:36.160
Or how did you learn to say that or deliver a message that way?
00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:45.519
And look, like at some point, like some of uh some things are skill based, but skills can always be practiced and learned and developed.
00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:51.440
And I told them I said, Look, there's a room of 17 agents at lockstep, you guys should talk to each other more.
00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.920
It's not text more, you shouldn't send more emails.
00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:57.839
You should go sit in a room and say, I'm having a challenging scenario, can we role play through it?
00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.119
Can we work through the challenges here that I'm struggling with?
00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:07.039
And look, like with anything in life, the more times you do something, the more the muscle builds.
00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:15.359
And so, you know, I remember when I started, I solved problems the best I knew how, but sometimes there was nobody there to help.
00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:26.799
And look, like that increases the likelihood of like burning a bridge, getting it wrong, screwing it up, but boy, do you learn fast that way.
00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:30.799
And, you know, it's like go to your peers and practice.
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.160
Go to go to do that.
00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:39.440
And dude, if you're sitting at home by yourself grinding a business, one, it's fun for a while, it becomes a lonely journey.
00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.880
And two, like you just can't learn as fast.
00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:54.799
It's not an apples apples comparison of Daniel at lockstep at 20 in 2026 versus Daniel as an individual agent in 2026 out on his own doing his own thing with nobody else mentoring, coaching, supporting.
00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:57.759
One's not as purposeful either.
00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:02.000
Yeah, I look, I don't I don't need to rehash what you just said.
00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:02.960
I agree with all of it.
00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:10.240
But basically, my my message to anybody who's listening to this is that there's there's different ways to do this industry.
00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:34.480
And I'm not saying you have to agree with me, I'm not saying you have to agree with Alex, but what I will say is that if you can get out of your own bubble, whether it be you and your partner, whatever you by yourself, whatever it is, and get to a room full of people who work as hard as you do and are doing the same job as you at a high level, you are inevitably gonna sponge up information that you can apply to your business and become that much sharper and that much better.
00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:43.599
Um, if you're the best person in the room because you're the only person in the room, I'm not sure you're you're succeeding the way you think you are, the way you think you might be able to.
00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.319
Um, I'm always gonna be a team player.
00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:53.440
I think that there's just too many benefits to being around smart, sharp, motivated people to keep me going as well.
00:19:53.440 --> 00:20:00.319
And that's not just from a place of education, that that's a big part of it, but that's the motivation of getting the job done every day.
00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.119
Um, you can tell yourself a story to stay in bed all day.
00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:12.319
You can tell yourself a story to not prospect or not follow up or not show up for your clients that can be pretty detrimental to your long-term goals.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:23.839
And so I I'm not even in leadership, and I'm still at the office every morning at 8:30 after I drop my kids off because that's the place where I'm gonna find the most success and the most growth, most growth.
00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:29.759
Well, I mean, look, like you get knocked on the mat.
00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.640
Sometimes it's hard to pick yourself up.
00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.599
And there's gotta be something if you have it in your life that pulls you up.
00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:38.400
Hey, that's great.
00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:41.599
But sometimes that something doesn't work, it's a somebody.
00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:50.480
And you know, sometimes it's your wife or your spouse, sometimes it's your kids, but sometimes it's your peer just coming in and giving you a little extra juice.
00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:54.640
Like, hey man, I just really appreciate this, or hey, I just wanted to let you know that.
00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:59.039
And it's like, oh man, I hadn't I didn't see that kind of like that was amazing.
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:02.720
Um, and and I just think about it all the time.
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:12.160
I couldn't agree more with your alignment on the idea of like if you're the smartest person in the room when you're in a room by yourself, like you're just that is not best self.
00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:12.880
It just isn't.
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:16.480
It's an impot like it's an impossibility for that to be what best self is.
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.920
We uh we have lockstep, and this is just kind of like a patting us on the back.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.920
We celebrate wins like both big and small.
00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:32.720
And the reason I say that is because some agents are at a different port in their careers where a small win of them might just be getting an agency agreement signed so that they're out showing houses this weekend for the first time in a while.
00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:38.640
And then we might have another agent who had a heck of a month and they sold four or five, six houses like we talked about earlier.
00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:44.319
And so, like those celebrations that bring you all right, you know what?
00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:52.960
I got this team behind me rallying around me, applauding my buyer's agency signature, like that's that's really cool, and that's what we do really, really well.
00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:55.039
Yeah, I think it's interesting.
00:21:55.039 --> 00:22:05.759
Um when you start accomplishing success, if you're telling Telling people in your life, hey, I sold a I sold a house today, and then the next day you tell them, Hey, I sold a house today.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:19.119
It is a natural thing for the people that you share that with to be less excited when you sell three houses in a week than when you sold your first house ever, because you just sell many houses now.
00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:23.279
And so it's like hey, you sold your first house that's unbelievable.
00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:34.880
And so like when you take somebody who's brand new or needs to be lifted up, celebrating every single win, it gives perspective to the room of like where that person is in a journey.
00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:42.160
But additionally, you sell six, you know, we had an agent sell four house in a week last week, five house in a week, things like that.
00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:47.839
It's like it gives somebody else uh merit to the idea of like, hey, anything is really possible here.
00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:55.440
And look, I think it gives agents like something to strive for and how to dream bigger.
00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:59.039
Like it gives you something, it's like, man, I could do that.
00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:03.759
And to be pulled along that journey with others who are already doing it makes it a lot more fun.
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.839
Yeah, but say you don't even have the pipeline to do something like that, okay?
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:14.799
Like just a hypothetical world, you come to work every day and you're like, Man, how do they even have five clients, let alone five pendings?
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:26.319
Well, we we've encouraged our room, and we do a good job of this of like he didn't just get those by existing, he went out and got those, or she she did this to earn that business.
00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:40.400
And so go sit with that person, hop in their passenger seat and ride along with them, listen to their phone calls, listen to the conversations because there's a skill set there that earned them that it wasn't like they just had it handed to them.
00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:49.839
And that's what a room full of achievers allows you to do from a from a uh not a new agent standpoint, but somebody who's just trying to level up in whatever way.
00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:55.759
Um compound interest, ninth wonder of the world.
00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:58.160
Um is what they say.
00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:01.839
Compound interest of the ability to show up every single day.
00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:05.200
So, how did the agent get five deals in a week?
00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:14.400
They showed up every day for five weeks, five months, five years, over and over and over, no matter how bad, how hard, how challenging, how sick, how tired, whatever.
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:19.200
That sustained level of commitment is how that stuff is built.
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:27.599
And I think seeing that in our industry is something that is a monster eye-opener for so many agents that want to achieve success.
00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:35.519
Anyone that goes out there and does a great business in our industry, the agents on the side doing that type of business work incredibly hard.
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:41.279
They have an incredible commitment to the craft, to their clients, to every to the profession, everything.
00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:48.720
And seeing that as an outsider, like I was fortunate enough to spend my birthday with a great friend of mine, John Murphy.
00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:50.480
We were in New York City together.
00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:52.000
That guy works hard.
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.559
He works hard all the time.
00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:58.000
And it was an eye-opener to me.
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.279
Like, he puts more in than I do how he does it.
00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:03.759
And it's like, man, kudos to him.
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:05.039
Like, that is how he built it.
00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:14.559
And so it's like, if you're learning from others that are doing it at a higher scale than you or at a greater scale than you, you can observe that and make decisions around yourself of like, do I want those things?
00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:16.400
Am I willing to make that sacrifice?
00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:22.079
But if you never see it and never know, it's easy to just go, he got lucky.
00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:24.319
I don't even that I can't do that.
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:25.359
That's not me.
00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:31.119
But if you look through the other lens and go, hey, that's possible, I can do that, or I'm willing, or that that aligns with my goals.
00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:32.079
I want to do it.
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:34.799
It's how you get the mentorship to understand how to get there.
00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:40.079
Yeah, but it's also like if you're saying that about somebody, you're probably justifying why you don't have it.
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:40.799
You know what I mean?
00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:41.279
Oh, yeah.
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:46.160
I'm not gonna sit and dog anybody, but like we know John works hard.
00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:50.960
We know other people work hard, we know what is earned versus what is you know given essentially.
00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:57.119
Um, and some people don't have the goals to work as hard as you or me or some other people do, and that's okay too.
00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:06.880
But there are ways to work within your goals, whatever your self-driven goals are annually, to be the best version of yourself in that transaction.
00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:14.400
So, say instead of doing 50 deals a year, you want to do 15 deals a year, whatever that is, be the best version of yourself in those 15 deals.
00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:18.799
And that's all the stuff we've talked about is still applicable to those 15 deals.
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:23.759
I would love to know uh like from your seat.
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:38.799
Um, you know, there was 2018 Daniel that got in spry, young buck, green, hustling, um, you know, no family or no kids, step in the picture to today.
00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.160
Like would you change anything in how you got here?
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:46.640
And uh what would today's Daniel tell 2018 Daniel?
00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:48.559
Oh man, that's a big question.
00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:55.839
Um I think that the common denominator of 2018 success and 2020 success is the work ethic.
00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:00.400
It's stuff we've already talked about kind of at length, so I'm not gonna really go down that road again.
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:07.920
But what I think that has changed is the level of focus that I have and the level of organization that I have.
00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:16.319
So, what I tell a lot of the new agents who come to our room is let me see your calendar, let me see your email inbox, um, are you working with intentionality?
00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:20.079
Um, how do you prevent anybody from sliding through the cracks?
00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:21.680
How's your CRM?
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:31.599
All those things point back to one thing, and it's like an organized daily task list that keeps you on tracks and keeps you focused to reach your goals.
00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:45.039
And so the work ethic of 2018, where I'm gonna get in the car and run out the door and be the first person to show house, the first person to write an offer, the first person to call the listing agent and figure out what it's gonna take, is the same as it was then as it is now.
00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:50.960
But I think that I've earned some respect in our industry for my phone calls to get answered.
00:27:50.960 --> 00:28:06.319
And I think I also have leveled up in my presentation, both in the way I look, act, email, talk, text, all that stuff, to um to confidently do this job at a higher level than I ever thought possible.
00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:10.640
And so I think that it goes back to like being a pros pro.
00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:12.079
So, like, how do you do that?
00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:17.039
Um it's it's hustles, hustle will get you a long way.
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:22.079
But once you like polish that hustle up with the finer points, that's when you become a professional.
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.200
How did you learn that?
00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:35.519
Uh you I mean, honestly, it's and I know that was like a one-word, like kind of a fun answer, but it's it's kind of real.
00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:38.799
Um, I think we taught each other a little bit about it, actually.
00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:48.000
You were already so entrenched in the industry, you had all the relationships that I needed, you had all the skill set that I wanted.
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:57.680
So I got to learn a lot of about how to do this and how important it was to have relationships in the industry, and I inherited a lot of them from you.
00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:20.240
And then I got to see firsthand how don't take this the wrong way, how sloppy things could get, yeah, how I thought there's got to be a better way, and you were open-minded enough to to hear that feedback, and we learned together how to how to not only level up our business, but to teach, coach, and train locative agents on how to do it the right way.
00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:21.359
Is that fair?
00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:24.240
I'll go um for the record.
00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:31.920
I used to forward DocuSign envelopes without an email that said subject line offer attached.
00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:33.599
That was how I did things.
00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:36.319
Um, so you didn't learn it all from me.
00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:44.240
But look, I think um we've talked about hey, this is what we do for lockstep agents, but I'm actually gonna take it further.
00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:46.880
I think it's a commitment of excellence for the rest of the industry.
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:54.079
And I think one of the special things is like look, preferential treatment to every single lockstep agent.
00:29:54.079 --> 00:30:00.079
Hell yeah, like they're the best, they get everything, every single thing, no holds barred.
00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:03.599
The rest of the industry, you get a whole hell of a lot from us.
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:15.759
And it's not just me, I don't that that's not what this is about, but it's like educating the person on the other end of the of the offer, it's supporting the agent to go, hey, look, here's why you didn't get the offer.
00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.480
If you're gonna write another one, this needs to get cleaned up.
00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:20.480
This would definitely help you.
00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:28.240
And I think that's something that just over time working as hard as we do in the industry, it's like this should be shared.
00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:30.319
And you do a really good job of that.
00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:40.799
Um, as you like have grown and learned and been open-minded to getting better, it's something that you bring a lot of folks along the way, and it's how you built so many great relationships in the industry as well.
00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:54.079
Would would you agree that once when you call somebody, so you call another agent who's not with our brokerage, that you've done a deal or five with, whatever it is, they get excited for that phone call.
00:30:54.079 --> 00:31:03.200
They're like, we know that we're gonna get somebody on the other side who knows what the heck they're doing, who's gonna get this all the way through, who's gonna who's gonna be the pro that we need on the other side of a deal.
00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:05.359
Because at the end of the day, this is a cooperative.
00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:13.680
Yeah, look, it's um I think years ago, real estate was pitted as a side versus side.
00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:15.839
Um, you know, buyer versus side.
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:26.720
Well, yeah, look, I I think um the COVID market changed that substantially because it was so taxing and hard on everybody emotionally.
00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:32.319
Uh, somebody's in my house, there's this crazy virus running wild, rampant across the world.
00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:33.839
How the hell are we supposed to act?
00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:36.000
But we're deemed essential, and interest rates are 2%.
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:36.720
What the hell?
00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:41.440
We need to buy a house, mask up, gloves up, teamwork lights all the house.
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:50.640
And as soon as people started working together on those things, it made the importance of working together amongst transactions, at least for me, um, more important than ever.
00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:58.720
So I think so much of that is like I think there has been a trend, and and maybe it's maybe it was always people working together.
00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:00.799
It certainly didn't feel that way for me.
00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:14.079
But uh look, I think now more than ever, there is like a substantial portion of the industry that does this job at an insanely high level with great professionalism.
00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:20.640
And then there's a smaller grouping um that gives us the bad rap that we have as realtors.
00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:23.599
Um they don't understand or they don't know.
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:30.160
And and again, it's like they support the barrier to entry being low, and they give us a black eye.
00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:34.480
And and look, it makes it easy to be excellent in this business.
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:36.960
And look, you had sent something to our team yesterday.
00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:41.519
It's like, here's all the stuff that's gone wrong for me around agency in the last week.
00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:49.920
I could sit here and piss and moan, or I can just work harder, control the things I control and and determine my own fate of what is controllable.
00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:51.759
And I look, I think that's the right way to look at it.
00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:55.359
You tell the team that message because you hope that they they can.
00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:57.440
Hey, I I'm having a rough week.
00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:06.079
Um, Daniel said last week he had a he had a rough week, and this is how he got through it, and they can apply a little bit of that mindset to what they're dealing with.
00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:18.720
Now, I'm not gonna give anybody access to our text thread on on this on this Zoom, but I I'll hit you up because I really get frustrated with some of the professionalism in our industry.
00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:41.359
And I know it's easy to like let that stuff get you down, but I think that for the most part, if you go about it the right way and you pick up the phone and call people and you have conversations, for the most part, I think you're gonna find somebody on the other side of the deal that's gonna that's gonna work it with you in as hard as you, and that's that's ultimately the goal here.
00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:50.640
Now, you're always gonna run into some knuckleheads, whether it be another agent, a goofball client, or you know, a contractor who's not fulfilling their obligation.
00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:52.319
Is that loud?
00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:53.039
No.
00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:53.920
Okay, good.
00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:56.079
I have a contractor outside right now, actually.
00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:57.039
Yeah, you're good.
00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:58.960
I apologize, it got a lot for a second.
00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:06.559
But my point in saying that is like it I mean, we've been talking for over a half hour, and the message just keeps going back to this.
00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:12.559
If you show up every day and do the job at a high level, um, you're gonna find success in a lot of different ways.
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:18.719
It might be in more real estate transactions, but it might be more in relationships and getting deals to the closing table.
00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:21.840
Because a lot of the times you can get deals under contract but can't close them.
00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:33.199
And so these are the things that you have to work towards in a room full of high-producing agents that make you that much better and um you know push you to be better.
00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:41.119
I um in 2013 I was experiencing my first level of success in the business.
00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:49.519
And uh I remember telling some folks who are like, how how are you what's going on?
00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:50.639
Like, what's changed for you?
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:54.079
And and I remember very vividly.
00:34:54.079 --> 00:34:57.039
This industry is very easy, and I remember this, you know.
00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:01.679
So I'm like this young new guy in the industry, ignorant enough to say that.
00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:04.159
I said this is really interesting, this is really easy.
00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:14.320
If you show up, if you work really, really hard, you care about people, and you smile at them, it is incredible how much success you can have.
00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:16.159
And I still believe that.
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:20.239
Are are there some ins and outs, or there's some nuances in the industry that you need to know?
00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:28.800
Yeah, but those are things that list that I gave you, showing up every day, caring about people, working really hard and smiling at people, you can control those every single day.
00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:33.920
No matter how poor of a day, no matter how shitty something is, if you do those, you control those.
00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:36.159
Those are all choices that you get to make.
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:40.079
Um like that, it success ties to so much of that.
00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:44.559
It creates ease with clients, it creates relationships with people on the other end of the deal.
00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:51.440
It keeps the main things the main things, and it keeps the emotion out of deals that oftentimes gets in the way.
00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:56.639
And wouldn't you agree that people right now in 2026 are craving positivity?
00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:04.480
Well, people need a I mean, look, we it it's because we're uh we're showered in negativity at uh at every single opportunity turn.
00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:09.760
You open up your phone, just click a news channel, get on ESPN, somebody's bitching about something.
00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:12.559
It's like, look, there's tell me about all the problems.
00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:15.920
Like, give me the story about the Good Samaritan that did something nice for somebody.
00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:24.480
Give me the story about a win where somebody did something for somebody else, or or there's something that's turned on its head that actually turned out to be better.
00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:29.119
Nobody cares, nobody gets that because it's like that's not the highlight.
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:31.679
Doom and gloom sold to us every single day.
00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:37.440
It's bullshit, and we're forced to consume it all the time if we let it be that.
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:48.719
So, yeah, dude, if you're the beacon of hope that sheds positivity and gives people a reason to smile or pats people on the back, your life and career will be nothing but a rocket ship.
00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:54.719
And and look, your internal happiness, if you're doing that for others, inherently you will be a much happier person.
00:36:54.960 --> 00:37:07.679
Yeah, and I think that I mean I mentioned earlier I'm an Innegram too, and if you know anything about that, um dangle that carrot of a smile and a happy client at the end of a transaction where they want to take a picture with the big key and write you a good review on online.
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:09.760
Man, I'll I'll show up every day.
00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:12.639
That's I'll ride that cloud all day and all night, you know.
00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:14.800
Like that's that's what I that's why I like to do this.
00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:18.239
Of course, it's there's there's you know financial benefits to this industry.
00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:24.800
The harder you work, the more clients you help, the the more success you have, the you know, the better stuff you you can have for your family.
00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:28.960
But the day-to-day stuff is what really gets you going and what's really gets you out of bed.
00:37:29.599 --> 00:37:30.960
Dude, I love that.
00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:36.559
Um where is 2026 Danny Boy headed?
00:37:36.559 --> 00:37:38.320
Like, let's hit on that a little bit.
00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:40.079
It's it's interesting you asked that.
00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:46.480
I was actually having a conversation with myself because I was at home this morning for a little bit, and I wasn't talking out a lot, I was just having some inner dialogue.
00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:52.800
But um, I I so I I created a I got into Claude.
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:54.320
I know you would love to hear me say that.
00:37:54.320 --> 00:38:12.880
I got into Claude and I had a long conversation about Dan Martell's Buy Back Your Time, you know, creating a calendar, um, all the things that I already know a lot about, but I wanted to set a schedule for myself that allowed me to work diligently in like 15 minutes or 30-minute increments on stuff that was important to me on a daily basis.
00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:23.840
So I create this calendar, and so far I've had a hard time sticking to it, not because I don't trust what I created, but because I'm then more reactionary than I normally am.
00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:28.639
So reacting to this client or reacting to this inspection response or reacting to this phone call.
00:38:28.639 --> 00:38:39.840
And um, to answer your question in a more direct way, I need to figure out now that I'm back in full-time agency shoes, um, how to maximize my day.
00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:44.000
When I was in leadership, you know this you don't have a minute to breathe.
00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:47.440
You're constantly jumping from meeting to conversation to I got to get back to that person.
00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:48.960
Oh, shoot, I gotta make this decision.
00:38:48.960 --> 00:38:50.320
Oh, you know, whatever it is.
00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:54.320
And in that, your day would go by in a in a flash.
00:38:54.320 --> 00:39:05.199
Whereas now it's up to me what my responsibilities are from the moment I get up to the time I pick up my kids from daycare, and then in the evenings after I put them down, you know, to go to sleep.
00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:08.159
And so 2026, what does it look like for me?
00:39:08.159 --> 00:39:15.199
I want to get back to what I'm good at, uh helping clients buy and sell houses, which look so far so good.
00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:26.400
Um, but also I want to get back to like creating um a plan and a schedule that is reflective of what I believe in and who I who who I taught all that stuff to.
00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:31.519
I want to be able to live the life that I was trying to teach the rest of our team on how to do that.
00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:38.079
And I think that there's some challenges with that, but I need to give myself a longer runway than like five or six weeks.
00:39:38.079 --> 00:39:44.320
And it's gonna take a little bit a while to adjust and tweak and make some changes, but guess what?
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:45.119
I just said it.
00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:55.519
I'm in a room with a bunch of people who do this, and I'm gonna ask all the right questions and have some meetings with people and ask them, hey, how can I how can I make some adjustments to what I'm doing to be more successful?
00:39:55.519 --> 00:39:59.119
And um, that's the big benefit of being still in the room with you guys.
00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:00.559
Love that, man.
00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:02.400
Um answer.
00:40:02.400 --> 00:40:07.039
Batch your calendar around specific sectors of the business.
00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:07.519
Yep.
00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:21.760
Here's when I show houses, here's when I do contracts, here's when I have calls, here's when I prospect, here's when I dad, here's when I husband, here's when I soccer, music, yada yada.
00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:22.239
Yep.
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:28.880
Batch it that way and set your phone on do not disturb and don't give in.
00:40:29.599 --> 00:40:40.079
Yeah, I I'm I'm already seeing um I think we get we talked about this, so I'm not gonna go down this again, but I think we alarm that like a client might fire us if we can't talk at 5 30 p.m.
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:42.239
That's just simply not the case.
00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:52.639
So I'm just setting boundaries and guardrails to make sure that I um don't go off the rails with my family life because it's it's why we do all this anyway.
00:40:53.039 --> 00:40:55.039
Love your recognition of that.
00:40:55.039 --> 00:40:59.280
Um we wrap this with two good questions.
00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:02.559
Uh, question number one where can folks find you online?
00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:04.400
How do people find you or connect with you?
00:41:04.719 --> 00:41:05.840
Can I give the long answer?
00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:06.559
Yeah.
00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:07.920
I'm mostly on Instagram.
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:10.320
My handle is Daniel in Midtown for a reason.
00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:12.639
Um, I live in Midtown, I love Midtown.
00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:18.079
Um, I I I just landed here 12 years ago from Fort Wayne, didn't know anything about it.
00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:22.960
Um, Broad Ripple, Mertin Kessler, um Butler Tarkton, they're a part of my identity.
00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:31.119
And so a lot of my Instagram is gonna be uh real estate, but it's also gonna be my community that I eat, breathe, and sleep and genuinely love.
00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:31.920
Love that.
00:41:31.920 --> 00:41:33.119
Daniel and Midtown.
00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:35.440
Um the last question.
00:41:35.440 --> 00:41:38.480
This podcast is called Action Solves Everything.
00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:42.480
Um, look, I'm a I'm a junkie for action.
00:41:42.480 --> 00:41:52.559
You know, it's like sometimes too much, but it's been a huge pillar of my success and and a cornerstone of how lockstep and many other things I'm a part of have been built.
00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:57.280
Um, it's fun watching you as somebody that's a killer action taker in our industry.
00:41:57.280 --> 00:42:06.000
But instead of me making the determination behind what that looks like, I would I would love to know uh what does taking action mean to you?
00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:10.480
Uh taking action to me, I think that um it goes back to goals.
00:42:10.480 --> 00:42:21.280
And if you have um if you have commitments to goals and you get up every day with diligent effort to reach those goals, that is that is action, right?
00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:30.320
But um you you should align those goals with what your what your spouse wants, what your family wants, um, how how you can get get to those goals.
00:42:30.320 --> 00:42:50.159
And I think for me, choosing to get up, choosing to have a calendar, choosing to have goals that are attainable, those are the things that require me to put focus energy into treating this as a career and not just like a day-to-day like hobby, job, whatever you want to call it.
00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:58.079
Um specific actions, I think we can create excuses for ourselves all the time to uh just take the day off.
00:42:58.079 --> 00:43:05.119
I won't I won't go to the gym as you as you as you say to me all the time, or I won't write that contract out, I won't call that client back.
00:43:05.119 --> 00:43:08.559
Um put yourself out there.
00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:17.840
You you might miss, you might not do a great job, but I think that you're always gonna learn from the effort you put into whatever you're trying to accomplish.
00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:19.519
That was awesome.
00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:24.639
I um I tell people this you will believe whatever bullshit you will tell yourself.
00:43:24.639 --> 00:43:28.400
You're gonna sell 60 houses in 2027, you'll you'll do it.
00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:29.599
Can I add one more thing?
00:43:29.599 --> 00:43:30.559
Yeah, go ahead.
00:43:30.559 --> 00:43:32.320
This has been my mantra for two years.
00:43:32.320 --> 00:43:33.199
You know what I'm gonna say.
00:43:33.199 --> 00:43:35.440
You are the people you spend your time with.
00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:40.960
So if you spend your time with people who aren't lifting you up, aren't making you better, you better believe it.
00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:42.639
You're gonna be part of that group too.
00:43:42.639 --> 00:43:58.880
The moment you realize that, and the moment you make uh the moment you make a pivot and choose action towards whatever is gonna have a positive impact on your day-to-day, the moment you choose to work with people who have your best interests in mind, it's it's something you can't describe.
00:43:58.880 --> 00:44:00.880
It will it will make you better.
00:44:01.199 --> 00:44:03.119
Dude, this was an awesome conversation.
00:44:03.119 --> 00:44:04.639
I could talk to you for hours.
00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:08.719
Um thank you so much for your time today and everything that you shared.
00:44:08.719 --> 00:44:10.079
Congrats on all your success.
00:44:10.079 --> 00:44:15.679
I'm grateful to call you a friend and somebody that's been a massive part of everything we've accomplished here at Lockstep.
00:44:15.679 --> 00:44:16.800
So thank you for that.
00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:19.360
And uh best of luck and much success ahead.
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:20.320
Thanks for joining us today.
00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:23.119
I know this is evergreen, but happy 40th birthday.
00:44:23.360 --> 00:44:24.320
Hey, thanks, brother.
00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:30.400
Thanks for listening to Action Solves Everything.
00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:38.320
If today's episode pushed you, challenged you, or helped you even take one step forward, send it to someone else who needs that same nudge.
00:44:38.320 --> 00:44:40.239
We all get better when we grow together.
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:53.920
And if you're looking for a partnership that actually believes in coaching, collaboration, accountability, and actually becoming the best version of yourself, shoot me a message online at all social handles at Alex Montagano.
00:44:53.920 --> 00:44:58.400
That's A-L-E-X-M-O-N-T-A-G-A-N-O.
00:44:58.400 --> 00:45:02.239
Remember, success rewards the ones who move.
00:45:02.239 --> 00:45:05.360
Take action, and I'll see you on the next episode.
