The Power Of Attitude: Secrets To Real Estate Success With Elizabeth Riley, eXp ICON Agent

In a world full of turmoil, despair and darkness, you need to carry the light. Season three of the Get Attitude podcast is where we will ignite your mind, your heart and your attitude. And welcome to the Gap the Get Attitude Podcast. I am your host, Glenn Bill, and I am here with my man, my main man, Jason. Jason Aaron is our producer. Jason and I just opened up our third, our third communicator award for the Get Attitude Podcast and gappers. Man, we could not do this without you. Thank you so much for all the support, all the letters of recommendation, all the votes that you've been giving us. We love what we do and our hope is that we are truly helping you find and bridge the gap from who you are to who you want to become and from where you are to where you want to go. And with that said, we have somebody that I know is going to help you with with some answers on how to bridge that gap. We have a lady who is really a leader and an innovator in the real estate space. I'm actually in her organization, which is fantastic. Her success is well known. I have a feeling she's going to be very humble and not talk about how much success she has, but as a woman, as a woman business person, as a entrepreneur, and as just a complete rock star. This is somebody. I said we have to get her in here. And guess what? She's here. Her name is Elizabeth Riley. She is with exp realty. She is an eight time, the only eight time icon award winner in a company of 88,000 people. That is about, I think 13 or 14 years old now. So. Ladies and gentlemen, gappers, trust me. Hold on to your seat. You're getting ready to talk to one of the most powerful women in real estate, Ms. Elizabeth Riley. Elizabeth, welcome to the Get Attitude Podcast.

Wow, thank you so much. What a fun introduction. I appreciate you so much for having me.

Hey, well, it's, I appreciate you for being here. We, we always love to start our interview by trying to get your definition of attitude. How do you define attitude? And, and we'd love to know who do you think is your or was your first attitude coach who gave you the drive to do what you're doing?

Oh, gosh, that's such a good question. I think attitude is everything. It's how you carry yourself, how you approach every moment of every day. And I mean, you can have a negative attitude and that's what's going to, you're going to attract or you can have a positive. And, and for me, I'm Always looking at opportunity and I want to attract that to me. And so I'm always open minded and excited to just explore and learn and, and whether it's fear or failure, I'm going to learn from that as well. So I take everything as a learning opportunity and I think, I think that really plays into what my attitude and my focus is from a day to day basis. As far as who has, has really shown me what it means to have a positive attitude. I would probably have to go back to my mom. And I'm sure a lot of people say that your parents, but my mom was the ultimate and is the ultimate servant leader. And we grew up in a family that was very, very unique. We had 140 foster children in 20 years. And so if you can imagine the struggles and the challenges that you're faced with on a day to day basis and just seeing my mom lead with grace and lead with love, I think she's really the first person that I can think of or the first person that comes to mind when addressing attitude.

140 foster children. We have had a few guests who were from the same dynamic. You were there, you saw those foster kids come through. Is that correct? Yes or no?

Oh, absolutely. I was raised in that environment and you know, it was chaos and I think that's why my life is, is as it is now. I, I say organized chaos and I thrive in chaos, which not always is good but it's never dull, that's for sure. But yes, we, I grew up, I'm the oldest of six and we grew up in a, in a family with a lot of children with a lot of needs and a lot of challenges and it really makes you grateful and especially as an older, as an adult with, with, with children. On my own, I have four children. It just really makes you appreciate life and what we have and not to take things for granted and, and just we have a lot of love to give. So there's a lot to go around.

When I think about 104, I mean obviously that's over a span of time. I'm guessing what, what year.

Yes.

And, and I am. Did you guys have a big house? Did you have a big like barracks for, for the kids? Like what, what was the fluctuation? You were one of six. But was there usually. What would you have four or five at a time or how did that work? Go ahead.

Yeah, we really grew up with nothing. We didn't have a big house, we didn't have a whole lot. I didn't understand that Growing up, you don't understand that when you're in that environment. I mean, we were all bunked up in rooms and, you know, the girls would be in one room and we'd make it a fun kind of adventure. The boys would have bunk beds in another room. And we, we lived in, in Wyoming, this was in Casper, Wyoming. And it's just one of those things you just took day by day. And we were one of the only families that would take sibling sets, right? Because in the foster care system, a lot of times, unfortunately they're. They're separating the siblings and that causes even more trauma, if you will. And so we were one of the only ones and families that would take foster, foster sibling sets, but also brand new babies and newbies. So there'd be times where we'd have a four day old baby and that was a crack baby in withdrawal, and then we'd have a set of three siblings. And so you just never knew. But it was really sad. And a lot of those memories are still with me today. And it just, it just changes how I choose to live my life and raise my children.

You know, I would say I know what you've done is a result of hard work, but I can't help but think there's some energy or some karma or some grace or some heaven dust that's been sprinkled upon you because of the giving and the ability, just like you said, from your mother to do what she did. It's so amazing. Was there a certain story or a certain foster child that came into your life that impacted you, that you said, oh my God, that maybe had a great attitude or a horrible attitude, but I'm sure there's many. But I'd like to know one or two of the foster kids that came into your life that changed it for you.

Yeah, I was one of the older ones for a while. There was this little baby and he was like six months old, and his name was Larry. And I remember I was 12 or 13 years old and I thought, what a horrible name for this precious baby. Who would name their child Larry? And so I asked my mom. I was like, mom, can I really just be in charge of this baby? So she allowed me to have the crib in my room, and I was really responsible for him. Obviously she was overseeing, but I decided Larry was horrible. So I was going to rename him Sloan. I don't know why that was much better. But I renamed his baby Sloan. But he really was where I just loved on him and, and I just had that nurturing. And I just. I don't know. He was one that was really, really special. He was a failure to thrive, baby. And so we just got to pour into him and love on him and get him back healthy and get him back to go home. And so he was one. There's other stories that are pretty hearty breaking that are seared into my mind. And I just love that my family had a lot of love to give and were able to love those children in a way that, that they didn't experience before. And hopefully they're, they're living and thriving better now because of the, the role my family played.

And so I would have to guess when it was time for them to leave your home. That had to be painful. And, and there's people that are listening to us right now that are dealing with loss, that are dealing with separation, that may be going through a divorce where dad's not going to see the kid for two months or maybe vice versa. In terms of detachment, what's your attitude about detachment? How did you, how did you make it through that, that tearing process?

I think I was just. I was still young and learning and growing. I think as adults, my parents probably had a much harder time. My mom still stays in touch with a number of them. My youngest sister was actually adopted out of the foster system. And so my mom's very, very engaged. So for me, it's just. I don't know. I don't. If I look at who I am now, I'm easily able to detach myself from situations that aren't healthy or aren't good or aren't fruitful. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. And I think that might be from some of my upbringing. But if I'm in, and I have somebody that is in my world and is supposed to be in my world, I'm going to put my all in and we're going to build together. But if, if it's something that's just not healthy, then I'm able to detach pretty quickly.

And. And so I'm one of five, you're one of six. So, you know, I get siblings. I always love to ask this question, is there one sibling in particular that you're close to or that has an attitude or a story that's worth telling on this, that you go, you know what? Yeah, my brother and my sister. Let me tell you about them. Who would that be and what's that story?

Oh, probably my brother. He's the closest one to me, he's 18 months younger than me, and my. My other siblings are a lot younger. My brother was just. We were rough with each other, all of us, and. And I would always pound on him and get on him because I'm the older one. And now he's 6 5, and he's, you know, an Air Force pilot. And.

Oh, wow.

You know, we joke about this. I still have a scar on my chin from when he got me with a belt once. And I just, you know, it's. It's fun that I talked a lot of. Of trash with him, that I was always going to be the big one and he'd always have to look up to me. And now, you know, the roles have quite reversed because he's so much bigger, but he's got a heart of gold, and he lives in Colorado, so I don't see him as much. But it's really fun to kind of see how we've both grown and evolved from where we were as siblings.

Yeah. And so is he still in the military or is he all done?

He is now a pilot with United.

Oh, cool. Awesome.

Yeah.

Has he ever flown you. Do you ever walk in like, hey, it's my bro?

No. No, that's happened with my. My dad was a pilot. My dad was a Navy pilot, and then he flew for Continental for many, many years before he was. But that has happened with my dad. When I was in Denver, I was in the middle of the Denver Airport, of all places, and I flew on passes because I could fly free. And I was in college, and I ran into my dad, and he's like, where are you going? And I said, I'm going here. I was like, where are you going? He's like, well, I'm working. So I've never had. I've had my dad flown flying the planes that I've been on, but not my brother.

Now, I always bring on a lot of our interviews. I love the, you know, the fact you can feel the family piece of this for you. I believe that great attitudes don't only come from our parents. And you're right. Many of our people go, hey, it was my mom or dad. But so many times when I dig deeper and I go, I think this can skip a generation, too. Were you able to have a relationship with any of your grandparents? And if you were, is there a story of attitude about one or two of your grandparents that, like, really hit home with you, where you went, wow, pretty awesome people.

Oh, my gosh. My grandfather, hands down. He passed away last fall. At 104.

Oh my.

And he was still living on his own and he was still driving. I think they took his car, his keys away at 102, quite frankly. But he would still drive. He would still go to the gym. And he remembered everything he was in. He was on D day. He remembered all the details. He was honored all around the state. And so he was just an amazing, amazing man that not only I got to experience and learn from, but my children were able to have a relationship. I don't think there's many people that have a, have a grandparent that's 104. That is that with it that involved. I mean, even my, my daughter's birthday was in October and that was the last card he got, he sent to her. He sent all my children handwritten cards on their birthdays. He remembered them all the time at 104 years old. So I'm so, so blessed to have the grandparents I've had. But my, my grandfather, David Fleming was incredible.

Here's to David Fleming. We'll get, we'll get that in our, we'll get that in our hyperlinks in the blog. That's awesome. And so the power of a handwritten note, I mean, it's, it's crazy, right? People say it, it's so nonchalant. It's overused. None of us do it. But here's a guy at 104 that's able to do it. My father was much the same. And it's just amazing how that hits. What else would you say? Just attitude wise, what was his attitude? What was his mantra? Just to honor him for a second. I mean, being in D day, when you think of him and you think of the people listening to this, what would he be telling them? What is his, like I said, mantra or spirit or whatever? What's the goodness that we can give people today? From him?

He always had a smile on his face and he was so funny. I would say, grandpa, what's the secret of, of living a long life? Like, tell us what your secret is. And he just smiled. He's like, well, just keep having more birthdays. I mean, he was just so funny and he's just so down to earth and witty and I just, I forget sometimes that he's still not here because he's one of those that I just thought was going to live forever. And we celebrated his 90th birthday and we're like, okay, how much time do we have? And then we celebrated his 100th birthday and just every single day that we had with him was such a gift, and we didn't take it for granted, and he taught us that.

Yeah. That's so cool. It is a gift. You're a gift. This has been fun. Thanks.

I know nothing about business, but this is fun.

Well, that's. Yeah. I mean, the bottom line is life isn't about business. Life is about the people behind the business. And that's what we try to do, is we try to get successful people like yourself. I mean, you know, every. Anybody can go to a business seminar or whatever, but it's. It's the attitude inside of the person that we try to bring out. Right. To help people. So now you're tall. Were you an athlete?

Oh, not one that I would claim to be, no. I mean, I played sports in high school, but nothing. Nothing very exciting.

I got it.

My dad. My dad was an athlete. I did not get. My dad played for Indiana State. He was a point guard, and he played football for. For college, and I just never got that type of athletic ability.

But, you know, I'm from Indianapolis.

I didn't know that. Yeah, I guess I did know that. Yes, I did. My dad tells. My dad used to. My dad passed away almost 10 years ago, but he used to tell everybody he taught Larry Bird everything he knows. That was his. His whole claim to fame.

But. But he wasn't there when Larry was there.

No, not at all.

He was. He was before, I'm guessing. So, yeah. I have a dear friend who is the head football coach at Indiana state. I don't know, 40 or 50 years ago. And I. I just wonder if he knew your dad. How crazy would that be? I'll ask him. His name was Coach Perica. So.

Okay, I'll have to give you my dad's information, and if, you know, if he knew him, that would be really, really a small world.

Have. Have you ever been to Terre Haute?

No, can't say that I have.

Okay, well, we'll get a couple people in your downline from Terre Haute, and we'll roll from there.

Do it. Let's do it. Give me an excuse to come visit.

So let's talk about this thing called business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is an extremely successful woman. I don't know that we need to go into all the numbers. I'm happy to. Some people feel uncomfortable, but what did you do before real estate?

You know, my background is marketing. I went to Texas A and M University, and I studied marketing, international marketing. And my minor was Russian, or my minor focus was going to be Russian. Because I had this big plan of doing international business. And I was. I didn't know what I was going to do until I graduated and I got a job in Austin, Texas in marketing. And so I. My background's always been marketing. And then from there it's just kind of weird how the world works and the circles that you find yourself in. And I, I went to Dell Computer and it was because of a connection there. And they said, hey, you should come work here. And so the role was fine. I was in finance, which is not really my, you know, my, My excite. That's not exciting to me, what I was doing. But when I was in finance, some people reached out and they said, you would be really great in college recruiting. And so I actually went over to the college recruiting side and that was totally my thing. And, and I was working in the product group and I would recruit for mechanical engineers and computer science and electrical engineers and everything like that. And then I. From there I went to a startup and then the dot com era. And so it's just kind of a weird. I was always in marketing, but it was just weird. Different industries. My husband and I were Transferred to Atlanta, Georgia and he. My husband was at Dell for 25 years. And when we were transferred there, I had been a marketing director for a law firm and in Austin, Texas. And I had always thought about going to law school and becoming an attorney in child protective services. Right. Obviously makes sense with my upbringing.

Right.

And when I worked as a marketing director, I realized very quickly, okay, I don't want to be a lawyer. I mean, I had fun doing what I was doing, but they saved me a lot of time and money. And so I just kind of followed that path and was doing marketing and law firms in Atlanta and then, you know, going back to the athlete thing. Do you know who Stan Smith is?

Yeah. Olive.

Famous. Okay.

Tennis ball.

So famous.

Famous tennis player has great, great shoes. White with green.

Yes. And his, his Adidas shoes. Well, he has a small company. He had a small company in Atlanta, Georgia, called Stan Smith Events. And there were about four or five of us, and we did major corporate events around major sporting events. So I worked with Stan and we were doing the Australian Open and Wimbledon and Greece Olympics and things like that. And it wasn't until my cpa, my husband and I had investment properties, and my CPA said, well, one of you needs to get your real estate license. And I was like, well, I'm. I'm not doing that. I'm going to Greece. Right. And my husband's like, well, I have the. The job with the benefits, and you're going to get your license. And so I kind of went kicking and screaming, not thinking anything more than, okay, I'm just checking a box.

Wow.

But what I realized quickly with real estate, it kind of pulled in everything I had done for so long. And I love the people. I loved helping them find, you know, meet their goals. But I really believed in the relationships because I wasn't looking at it as a business, right? I had my business. I was doing things with Stan, and we were doing other events like that. And this was my side. I don't want to say side hustle, but it kind of was, because I had to do it. And what I realized is I was never treating it like a business. I was just building relationships. And when I built the relationships, the business would come. And so for years and years and years, I just did that same thing. And my business would. My real estate business just flourished in Georgia. And then in 2008, for those that were in the market then, you know, that that was not a good time to be in real estate. The market crashed, especially in Atlanta. We were transferred to Austin, Texas. So everybody who I met here said, well, you're crazy for getting in the business here. Do you know what the market's done? This is a horrible market. And you talk about attitude, Glenn. Well, this is exactly the attitude I had. I said, well, the market I just came from was a horrible market. This is opportunity. And so I just kind of put my head down and had to meet people. I didn't know anybody here. I had one child at the time. I mean, we walked around the neighborhood and knocked on doors just to get to know our neighbors. But business would come because they'd always want to know, well, what are you doing? What. Why did you move here? Where are you going? Like, relationships matter. So I built my business just that way. And I was with one company for the first 10 years of my business. And in 2014, we had 650 people in my office, and I was number one, right? And all just because of relationships. I never followed my number. So I never treated it really like a business, because it was just like, well, when you're doing something that you love and you're having so much fun, it's not really work, right? And so I had to really get my mind right. And my mindset's straight on, okay, no, this is a business. This is what I'm doing. And I pivoted, and I made a change. And that's when I came over to the brokerage we're at now. But. And it was, it was life changing. But for me, it was just, I just want to help each person. If I can help one person or if I can treat each of my clients like they're my one and only client, then everything else falls in line. They're going to be thrilled. They're going to tell everybody about me, and then it's just much easier for me to build from there.

Yeah, I love it. You know, 2000, I have a keynote address called 10 Reasons I Hope it Gets Worse.

So interesting.

I love it when the market goes to hell. Like, I want rates. I speak to mortgage companies all over the country. I'm like, hell, I want rates to be at 10%, guys. I mean, the time to flourish is in a down market. When I was in 2008, when you mentioned I sold 238 homes by myself with one assistant in 2008, everybody else was whining and crying and I'm like, you got to be kidding me. This is awesome. Nobody's working and everybody's terrified.

Right?

So I have. I just feel what you were saying about that. So you crushed it in 2008. 9. And you didn't pay attention when it was all said and done.

The markets are always going to change. But if you're consistent and if you know who you are as a business owner or a business leader or a real estate agent or whatever market you're in, if you know who you are and you're consistent and you're authentic, like it's all going to work out fine regardless of what the market's doing, people are going to get in and out of the market all the time. And the market, especially in real estate, is going to go up and down, up and down, up and down. You can weather that storm. If you just are, are strategic and you know what you're. You're doing and you're. Whether it's knocking on doors or whether it's cold calling, whether it's building your sphere base. It doesn't matter what you're doing, but do what's authentic to you and it's going to build from there. I don't pay attention to what the market is doing. I mean, I do, but for my clients, but I don't put my head in the sand. I mean, right now, the market, it's like the last few years weren't fun, quite frankly. I mean, it was not fun for the sellers, it wasn't fun for the buyers. It Wasn't fun for the agents. And what I kept telling everybody is, we are so tired. Covid hit and everybody stopped except real estate.

You're right.

Right. Not only were we crazy busy, but we were also trying to navigate our own concerns or fears or children at home or online schooling or whatever the situation was. But we were taking on our clients stresses as well. And so I keep trying to remind people you have to give yourself grace. We never slowed down, we never stopped. And then when the market changed, because they always do, then this is the time to, okay, revisit what you were doing. Now step back and make sure you have everything in alignment of what you need to be doing. Make sure you're building those relationship. Make sure you're reaching out with the script. Hi, how are you? Like, it's not hard. This isn't rocket scientist. And I think some people overthink it. And agents, they just chase the shiny object and they compare themselves to others. So I'm always saying comparison kills joy. Focus on you. Surround yourself with the right people who are going to lift you up and elevate you. Because together it's so much better to lift others as you climb. And. And that's the right room. And if you're not in those rooms, then move rooms. It's that easy for me.

Yeah. I love it. So let's just backpedal a little bit. Did you ever meet Michael Dell and what was his attitude? What was his attitude lesson that you maybe learned from. And if it wasn't Michael, maybe just from. I mean, a very successful company a long time back. I don't know how they're doing now or whatever, but they were the rage. Dell computers. You know, I owned a Dell.

Dell computer is great.

Yeah, yeah.

No, my husband was with them for 25 years. I actually just retired my husband from Dell two years ago.

Congratulations.

Pretty cool thing to do. Yeah. And I did that for our family's sake. I did that because we have four children and they didn't have a relationship with their dad because their dad was gone all the time.

Sure.

And our family is the most important thing. And so now he's home with them and their relationships are amazing. And my family unit is together and that's really what this is all about. But I did meet Michael Dell a couple different times. He won't know who I was. I was just a little peon. But I would observe him and one of the things that he did really, really well is he knew he wasn't the smartest in the room. Like he is brilliant at what he does, and he is brilliant as at his skill set. But he also knew that he wasn't the one to do it all, and so he knew how to leverage. And he surrounded himself with people who brought different skill sets and different gifts to the table so they all would succeed together. And that was something I always observed. Observed with him and something I always respected. And that's what I try to do, and that's what I love about Glenn Sanford and our leadership team. It's there. There's not. Egos involved.

Yes.

I mean, egos get you nowhere. And so for me, I just always watched Michael Dell, one of the most successful businesses and businessmen, probably, you know, top 10 in the world, right?

Yeah.

And you didn't see an arrogance. You didn't see that he was walking around, you know, better than everybody else. He was always still engaged and still, still involved. And that's the type of leader I like to be.

I love it. Yeah.

You.

You ever heard the difference between confidence and arrogance?

I have. Not.

Likability. That's a good one.

That's good. I like that. I like that one. I'm going to have to write that down for sure.

How likable are you? And I think. And. And I. It comes out about every 10th episode. I know Jason's like, yeah, Glenn is. Are you going to use that line again? But of course, of course. Because it's so good. No. Okay. So, yeah, that likability factor is huge. It sounds like he was likable. So you also mentioned Stan Smith. Likable guy.

Oh, my gosh. Oh, he's so humble. He's so amazing. Just the sweetest man you will ever meet.

And tell us what his attitude lesson was. What did you learn from him regarding his thinking and his attitude?

You know, he just gave it his all. He didn't. He didn't make excuses. And he was a very. He's very quiet, very unassuming, and he just. I mean, I think when you're an athlete, especially at that level, and known worldwide, I mean, he had the shoes. It was so funny. We'd walk around and they'd point. When we were in Greece, they'd point to the shoes. And I'm like, yeah, because they. They knew who Stan Smith was just because of what he had done. And I just. I don't know. I think that I'm drawn to people that are humble. I'm drawn to people that can do big things that it made me realize, you don't have to be loud to Lead. Right. You can lead from behind. You can lead in a whole bunch of different ways. Leadership looks different for all sorts of people. Success looks different for all sorts of people. And in order. My dad. My dad was Navy. My dad was very intimidating. My dad was much older than my mom. But sometimes that was just scary. But that was a form of leadership, and that's what I thought leadership was. And then you have on contrast my mom, who's more of a servant leader. I didn't realize for a long time that that was leadership as well. So I had to figure out what kind of leader I wanted to be. And I learned from Stan and other people that I've been surrounded by that you don't have to be the loudest one in the room. You don't have to be the one with all the answers. There's. Leadership looks different in different ways. And that's. That's what I've learned, I think, mostly from him.

I love it. And you're listening to Elizabeth Riley. Elizabeth, how many people are in your organization?

Not one of those that really pays attention to that on a daily basis, but I'm between 11,000 and 12,000.

Right. So, ladies and gentlemen, this. This gal. This lady has 11,000 or so, plus or minus people that are contributing and participating in greatness in her organization. And she just talked to us about leadership on a couple different levels. And she has a podcast called Leadership from the Heart. It's taking a little bit of a hiatus, but if you want to check her out, it's Elizabeth Riley dot com, I'm guessing, and it's Leadership from the Heart. You can Google it.

And.

And it sounds like she's had some pretty incredible guests. I would love to know, as a podcaster, did anybody blow your mind? And what are the one or two takeaways from doing that podcast that you got as leadership? Again, the podcast is called Leadership from the Heart. I'm sure it's everywhere you'd look for a podcast.

Oh, my gosh. Thanks for asking for that. That podcast kind of organically happened during. During COVID with one of my very dear friends, Renee Funk. And what happened was Renee and I are such good friends. She's an incredible team leader in Florida. And when Covid hit, a lot of people were calling her, and a lot of people were calling me, trying to figure out, just wanted answers. And there was a lot of fear. I mean, if we look back, there was a lot of fear and uncertainty and. And questions, and we didn't know how to lead. We didn't know how to answer those questions. And so Renee and I got on a call one day and just trying to figure it out, and we said, well, who do we respect and admire? Let's reach out and ask some people and maybe interview them on a Facebook live just to see if that could be helpful. And Glenn Sanford was the first person we reached out to. Glenn is somebody I admire. I have for a very, very, very long time. I met him when his company had 400 agents. And to see you want to talk about humble and you want to talk about brilliant and a visionary and a leader. Glenn Sanford is the same person with 400 agents in his company to now a multi international company with almost 90,000. And I asked him one time, when do you just ride off into the sunset and say, oh, I've done a really good job? And he said, are you kidding? Warren Buffett still works. And I think he's in his 90s. And he's like, I love what I do. I'm a creative. I'm never going to stop. And I love that. Right? And so we got on a Facebook live with Glenn and we said, what can you tell us about leading an adversity? We don't know. And that interview was so amazing and so many people reached out. We're like, wow, what do other people think? And so we interviewed Jason Guessing and Randall Miles and all these other amazing people. We did this every single day. And we did it every single day because what was everybody doing? Sitting at home, not doing anything. Oh, there it is. Oh, my gosh.

My producer rocks.

Your producer does rock. Yes. We did this every single day because we're just like, well, what else? What can we do? We felt like we couldn't do nothing. So let me think. Some of the the people that stand out for me, oh, my gosh. Lee Cockrell was one that was amazing. He actually wasn't in real estate. He was one of the executives with Walt Disney World When 911 hit the day that happened. And so to hear how to lead in that and to learn from all of him, looking back in hindsight's 2020 and sharing with us, he was one that which is so incredibly impactful. Randall Miles was one that really stands out because as we are talking to him, he lived in New York, in the center of New York, and he's looking down and he's seeing ambulances and body bags and all these things going on during COVID And it was just very. Oh, I just don't even know the word. I just remember seeing his Face. And I will never forget that. But we have tens and hundreds of interviews, all on our podcast, just from people saying yes, saying, yes, we will get on your podcast, but we. Because we can. People that usually would cost a whole lot of money to get on a call, but they can't go anywhere. Stefan Swanopoul was one who was absolutely amazing. Yeah, he's Brad Inman, right? Yeah. It was really, really fun. And it's one of those things where then life goes back to normal, or normal, whatever normal is now.

Right, Right.

But life gets back, and kids are back in school, and we're back showing homes, and. And it's one of those things that really filled our soul, and we're restructuring it and identifying some amazing leaders that we want to talk to, and we're going to relaunch it later this fall. So I'm excited for. For you to see that as well. And I think, Glenn, we might have to have you as our guest.

Oh, I'd love to join. And Glenn Sanford is certainly a member of the Gap alumni. And Glenn, you know, as you can guess, my interview with Glenn was probably a lot different than what yours was. And he talked about his grandparents, and he talked about his childhood and. And how he started. And I'm sure you know him well enough that you know the story, but check out the Glenn Sanford Get Attitude podcast. It's. It's an eye opener, and it's really. He's just such a sweet person. I mean, when it's all said and done, it's really, really good.

I want to listen to that one, because it's funny where people just assume they know everything about you when they see you. Right. And you see Glenn doing what he's doing now, and you just. A lot of people just think it's easy, and they don't understand the challenges and the failures they had to encounter to get where they are. And Glenn's got an amazing story, and he's a very big. He's very much an open book. So I'll go back and listen to that one, because every time I hear him speak, I learned something new.

His family was from the cereal business. Did you know that?

Yeah. Yeah, I did know that.

He talked about that whole story. It was. And Brent Gove's was amazing. Like Brent.

Brent, don't you think?

What's that?

I said Brent Gove has a little bit of energy, doesn't he?

Just a little bit. But we. Brent did tear up, and I think he. He little. He choked up when we talked about his grandfather and what his grandfather meant to him, which a lot of people don't know. So that's awesome. We're surrounded by beautiful people in our company. There's, there's no doubt about that. So what I want to ask, what I, what I want to hit on very quickly is you're a successful woman, successful mom. I love what you said about you retired, your husband. I'm a father of four and a grandfather of five. And you know, there's a lot of working mothers out there that are trying to bridge the gap between being a pro and being a superstar and being what they feel. As a mother. Could you. Let's just talk directly to those moms that listen to me and you on their way to, you know, a two hour sales call or whatever. What do you wish for them? What do you, what advice would you give them as far as their attitude if they don't feel like they're enough? If they feel like they're cheating their family? I mean, I don't believe in feeling guilty. This is an attitude that a working mom has to take. What's your insight for those folks?

Love that you asked that, because mom guilt, I agree with you that it's an attitude, but mom guilt is very real. And we feel like, or I don't want to say we, but I usually feel like I'm not enough or I'm sacrificing one thing to have the other, and that's not the case. My kids, I have four children, two boys and two girls, 17, 14, 11 and nine.

You're in the middle.

Known is me in real estate. I mean, I was pregnant with my first child the month I got my first license in Georgia. So that's all my kids have known. So my oldest, Trip, who's 17, he would go to showings with me. I would have him in the Baby Bjorn. I would have him. And again, I built my business based on the people that I was surrounded by, right? So a lot of my clients were in the same stage of life that I was in. So it's like, okay, let's put the babies in the back and let's go look at homes. And what I love about my kids is they're also completely different. But I, I see this entrepreneurial spark in them. In fact, my boys created a business in the neighborhood called Rent a Kid. And they, they did door flyers, door hangers, and on the door hangers it says, you know their summary, hey, I'm an upcoming senior, yada, yada yada, I'll power Wash, we'll move furniture, we'll weed, we'll do all these different things. And on the back, it had testimonials from past clients. And my. My 11 year old got 10 cents per flyer to put them all on the doors. And so they built this little business. And I mean, this summer, that's what they're doing. They came back and they're like, oh, mom, we just got another job. We're power washing today. And so I love seeing this entrepreneurial spirit. I mean, EXP has changed my life. It is. It's allowed me to make an impact for others. It's not about income anymore. For me, it's about impact. Right. And. And I. I paid off my parents home because again, they gave me so much more. And my parents were still working because they had to, not because they wanted to. Right. And I wanted to thank them. And how do you thank them when they. When there's no real way to thank them? So that's what I've done. But I. My kids are pretty set. My kids. Colleges are fun, everything set. They don't know this, though, because I want to raise strong, productive members of society that are thinking differently, that are kind, that are responsible, that can look an adult in the eye, that can go walk up to a neighbor and say, yes, I'm here to bid, you know, this project for, you know, my mom doesn't have to be there with me. And I think that them watching me for all these years, that's instilled that in them. And by the way, they're really good negotiators. Like, where the heck. Quit negotiating with me. They're like, well, we got it from you. So I think there's just so many things by our children watching us.

Yeah.

In fact, you talk about leadership from the heart. We had all of our kids on there one day and had them all talking about it and to hear their perspective. But what I've had to realize as a mom and as parent, it's my job to raise them the best that I can. And the bet, instead of me telling them, let me show them, and they're watching me and they're learning from me. And so as moms, we have a big role to fill. But I watch my kids and I hear them speaking to adults and I hear them communicating with each other and, you know, it's okay. And I've told, I've told my kids, look, y' all are guinea pigs. I'm not perfect at this. And I ask my kids, what can I do to be A better mom or I ask my kids for grace. But I also time block. So I block after a certain time during the day, I'm like, okay, after 6 o', clock, it's family time. Because you have to have boundaries. Because in this business, you also know that if you don't have boundaries, people will run all over you. And by setting those boundaries, it allows your family to know, okay, your priority. And if there's something that comes up after those hours, then I can go ask for Grace. Hey, this came up. I need to handle this. But they know that their priority. And it's, it's, it's an exception, not a rule. And until I did that, it didn't go very well. But after I started doing that, then it just changes the dynamic and you're. Every family is going to be different. But having those family meetings and having those communications and sitting down on the couches together, I mean, my, my younger ones will say, okay, we need family meeting time. Okay, well, let's all go have a family meeting. So it's, it's not perfect, but we're all in this together and we can do it all. And we can. And we can have the best of both worlds. It's just really setting expectation and guidelines.

Yeah. And so, yeah, we're all in it together is really good. And I like the time blocking. But I think you know this, right? Because I got. Dear, I got wonderful listeners who are real estate agents and they're like, listen to this chick. If it's six o' clock and I can make a sale and I don't have money for my mortgage, I'm showing that damn home. And I know, I'm just guessing that that was probably spirit as well, right?

Oh, absolutely. But here's the difference in the conversation. Hey, guys, this, I have to go make a sale. This is great for our family. So we can keep the lights on, so we can go have dinner, so we can go to Disney, whatever it.

Is, they know, there you go.

Or set a goal. Hey, guys, if I hit my goals of whatever it is, then we'll all go to Disney or we'll all go to the coast together. So then they're invested. I mean, my kids are also part of my business.

Sure.

They help me with all of my mail outs. They all have shirts. I have the Luxe Property Group. They all have shirts that say, call my agent Lux Property Group. They're the Lux Squad. They, you know, when we do pop buys, they go put them on the doors for me and we make it A race. Now, they make me pay them, but that's fine. They're working, so I pay my kids. They put the stamps on. My little one, she puts all the stamps on all the mailers. So they're involved in my business just as much as I am.

I love it.

So then they feel like they're contributing together.

All right, lady realtors, you got the trick right there. That's some good, good stuff. We're here with Elizabeth Riley. Elizabeth, now we're going to have a little fun. This is what we do with all of our guests. It's called knowledge through the Decades. Are you ready to go?

Think so. I'm ready.

Like, what the hell is that, Glenn?

So that's what I'm thinking.

What we do is we walk you through your life and ask you what the attitude lesson is at a certain time of your life. Okay, so we're just going to walk through from 0 to 10 to 20 to 30. Are you 40 yet?

Yes, I'm 48.

Okay, so we'll only go to 40. That's all. And so when you think about birth, whether as a mom, when you saw your babies, or if you remember your birth, some people do. What do you feel the attitude lesson is of birth? Of the beginning of life.

Oh, responsibility.

That's what you felt when number one came out. You're like, oh, bae, how old were you when you had your first kid?

I was 31.

Wow. So you waited a little bit. Very interesting.

We did wait.

Yeah. You guys were. You guys were.

We were enjoying being, you know, we had. We. I had lived in Texas for a while, and he was in Georgia before we got married. And we were just enjoying being newlyweds and traveling, and we knew all that would change once we had kids.

I love it. Yeah. I had a 13 year old at 31. I had four kids at 31, actually.

Oh, my gosh. No.

That's insane. But now I'm enjoying my life now because, I mean, we enjoyed it. All right.

Yeah.

So that's good responsibility. Very, very good attitude lesson. Now I want you to go back to fourth grade. Fourth or fifth grade, you're 10 years old, and, you know, whether you were a bully or they were a bully or whatever. Was there a story in fourth or fifth grade that you can remember that you can recall that you said, yeah, you know what? That affected my attitude, that. That taught me a lesson. I'm just curious if there's anything around that time for you.

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Fourth grade. That's my. My youngest is fourth grade right now. And I was just thinking about this the other day. I was in a. We had to try out, but I was in a children's choir in Wyoming called Casper Children's Chorale, and it was a whole statewide thing. And I was so excited to that I made this choir. And they were going to be traveling. And again, we didn't have a lot growing up, and I didn't realize that because my parents didn't make it known. But I remember we were traveling to, like, Washington, D.C. or something for this performance, and we couldn't go. And we couldn't go because we didn't have the money. And the reason we didn't have the money is because my sister, who's 10 years younger than me, had leukemia. And so we had everything else going on, but my parents had all the medical bills. And I remember. I remember being angry. So angry that, you know, when you're the oldest and you have all these kids that you're. Everybody's taking care of, sometimes you get this was the attitude. Neglected?

Yeah.

Right. Because their needs are more important and like. Like Lisa, they're more important than what's going on there. But I remember being so angry and being. Feeling just neglected and that I wasn't valued.

Wow.

Yeah.

Heavy.

And so that gave me. It was negative, but I don't like being in the negative. And, you know, that was a. A time in my life where, I mean, it was rough, but now looking again as an adult and looking back and understanding everything else that was going on, I mean, it was very selfish of me, but you don't know that as a child.

Did your sister make it?

My sister did make it. She actually adds. Interesting story there. She's adopted a little boy and then adopted a little girl from birth. And her daughter Kenzie was diagnosed with the same kind of leukemia. My sister had a different strain, which is crazy. I just say God knew that she needed to be with that baby. Kenzie passed away three years ago at the age of five.

Wow.

And. But my sister has adopted another little boy since then. So, you know, they're. They're healing, they're hurting. But yes, my. My sister, she's 10 years younger than me, and she's doing well.

So again, big families are bound with. With me, and I. I do believe that the oldest one does. I was the baby, of course, so there you go. But anyway, I think there's a lot of oldest kids that feel like that. And. Did you just say, all right, I'm not going to feel like that? Move on? Or did you battle with that for a little bit? You know, like, give some advice to the 11 year old that maybe listen to this. Got three little brothers or sisters going, hey, yeah, like, what? How did I battle with that? You just.

I battled with it. I battled with it. Even. Even in adulthood.

Wow, There you go.

Right? I mean, because if you don't deal with things and again, you suppress things and you just have to be tough all the time. You don't have to be tough all the time.

Right, right.

And you. And I battled with it, not feeling like I was enough or not feeling like I was valued.

Were you?

And it's. It wasn't anybody else's fault except that, you know, I kept that within me and I let it fester over the years.

Were you a tough kid?

I. I think I was a tough kid, yeah. Yeah.

Just ask your brother. I'm sure he said you were.

I mean, I had it. Yeah. I mean, I was extremely loyal and fiercely and. And very, very protective. Very protective. I mean, I remember beating up a little girl at the bus stop because she was beating up on my brother. And so, I mean, it's one of those things where my brother and I can beat up on each other, but don't you touch him, because then, you know, then you're gonna have to deal with me. So, I mean. Yeah, I just. I'm very protective. Very, very protective.

All right, so now we're. That's past 10. That was tough, but I like it. We're at 20. You're at Texas a M, right? As a 20 year old, I want to know your attitude lesson. And did you French kiss and make out with all the other Aggies at the Texas A M Texas game? Have you ever heard about that? Or is that the Texas fans that do that?

Like, my dorm was a Mosure was Mosier, and we were called the Mosier muggers. And our T shirt said, we know what to do when the lights go out. Because Aggies, you know, at midnight, Yale practice, of course you gotta mug down with your date. So.

Yes, I love it. I love it.

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. No, Texas A and M was an amazing. An amazing time in my life. I was a bartender all through school.

Oh, no kidding.

Yeah, Dad. I mean, it was one of those things too. Dad could. Dad was paying my college. I was very blessed that he paid for that. But he. And he gave me 300 for more my rent each month. But everything else was on my own. He's like, you need to work. And so I did. And I worked in the bars and I bartended and, you know, I was in the time of my life where I knew everything.

That's so cool.

That was my attitude.

Right, so your, your attitude lesson. Lesson was full steam ahead. I'm gonna enjoy this. Right?

And I'm in college and, you know, one of the best schools in the nation. And yeah, absolutely. It was so much fun.

And so now let's go to 30. My guess is you're at Dell, you're almost pregnant, you've been married, yada, yada. What was the attitude lesson at 30?

Gosh, it's getting harder. Actually, it was easier when I was younger, of course. I was just determined and very driven. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I, I knew whatever I wanted to do, I wanted to do it well. I wanted to be successful. I didn't know what that meant at the time. I still don't know what that means. Success looks different, you know, every, every day. But I, I just was at the beginning of my career and I was just trying to figure it out. And that again, that's around 30 was when I was being told for my CPA I had to do something. And nobody likes to be told they have to do something, right? So when it was going the real estate route, I was kicking and screaming on that. So you're just trying to, you know, figuring it out, figuring out what I wanted to do. And my husband was successful and our, you know, I'm very, very independent. He will say I'm very stubborn and strong willed, but, you know, he's not on this podcast. I am. So he, you know, the goal was, and the, the plan was when we got married, when we had children, I was going to stay at home. I was going to be a stay at home mom. And I realized, well, I don't want to be a stay at home mom. And I felt guilty about that. I didn't want to be. It's not that I didn't love my kids or want to love my kids, but I had bigger plans. I didn't know what they were, but I wanted to do something different. And so even then, when we did have kids, I stayed home for like, probably six weeks. And I realized I've got to go back to work because I'm actually a better mom because I work.

Sure.

But around 30, I didn't have trip yet. And I was trying to figure it out and, um, my business was going in a couple different directions and I had to, had to make a decision. So I Think confusion and uncertainty was probably my attitude, but I still had stability, stability and security because I was married and my husband was so supportive.

Love it. All right, let's go to 40. You remember, did you have a birthday party at 40? Tell me about turning 40 and what was your attitude lesson at 40?

So I was a little worried about turning 40. My husband threw a big surprise birthday party for me, and he actually pulled it off because I had no idea. And it was so, so much fun. I wasn't excited about turning 40. I really loved my 30s, and we had. And I had a great time, and so just I felt old. And it's funny now, because now I'm 48. I'm not really looking forward to getting to the 50s at all, but I'll probably have the same attitude going, oh, it wasn't so bad, but my 40s actually have been some of my best years. Yeah, right. So it's. It's just exciting, I guess. And, you know, you now have the financial stability you're building. It's not. You're now you're not trying to figure it out. Your family's kind of in the works. And, I mean, some of the. I guess some of the attitude was more survival mode when the kids are little, but it was fun, you know, every day was an adventure.

I love it. Elizabeth Riley is who you've been listening to. Elizabeth has given us just some great insights on success, on. Some insights on leadership, some insights on being a mom, being a woman, being an entrepreneur. You've really brought the attitude today, and we appreciate that. We always like to close the Get Attitude podcast with our guests to just give a message of hope for the people that are sitting in their cars or walking on the beach. Just a real heartfelt attitude message for those people that are listening in. And we're just so grateful that you shared your time with us today. So go ahead. It's all. It's all you, Elizabeth.

I'm. I'm honored and humbled that you asked me to be here, Glenn. This is so much fun, actually. So I just would say, don't I go back to the comparison kills Joy. I think if we start looking at everybody's life, especially in the day of social media and how everybody's perceived to be, it's not reality, and it's just figure out who you want to be. Enjoy your life. Enjoy the people you're around. Take it day by day, and. And don't sweat the small stuff, because it's just. Life is too short. And. And just make each day as it comes and enjoy it.

I love it. Ladies and gentlemen, gappers, that was the great Elizabeth Riley. Check her out. Lux Property Group. She gave it all. She laid it out on the field for us. Gig Em girl, we will see you on the next Get Attitude podcast.

Thanks live.