Solving the Burnout Problem & Longer Sales Cycles | Tom ferry Podcast Experience

So here's the thing. Entrepreneurs, leaders, salespeople, we all want to create consistent, repeatable, and scalable ways to grow our business and our income. And we want to do it better, faster, and more seamlessly. Why? So we can actually enjoy our lives, take vacations, and spend the quality time we want with the people that we love. How do we do all this without spending a fortune or running ourselves ragged? That's the big question. And this show is dedicated to the answer.

So, Kate, what's up? How long have we been talking about doing this?

We've been talking about doing this for over a year, and it finally materialized in reality.

And the reason why, before we actually do your introduction, is because I screwed up and ran out of time. And I was like, you were going to be on stage. You were going to help me do something, and we ran out of time. And I was like, kate, how can I make up for this? Like, you should come be on my podcast.

I said, I'm there. Like, time to date. Let's go.

Okay, so. So the people that don't know you, obviously a lot of our community is going to go, oh, that's that gal. Like, I know her from Chicago. Give. Give my listener just a little backstory. Kate Newey, Chicago. Like, how long you been in the business? Like, just give us context.

Yeah. So I'm Kate Newey, also known as the hat and heels realtor from Chicago. I sell real estate with my kindergarten sweetheart, and we sell where we grew up. Been in the business for five years. He actually got in the business right before me. I was like, this is a terrible idea. Why would you want to get into real estate? But good luck, right? I was in the fitness industry for almost two decades.

Yes.

I sold my last gym right before COVID happened, and it was perfect timing, you know, like, everything shut down. I was like, do I keep teach fitness classes on the side? Like, remotely over zoom? Like, what do I do? And he's like, kate, like, we need some help with our marketing. Like, we still have to go sell houses. We're an essential business. So, like, come be my assistant on this team I'm at. So, like, I started off as my husband's assistant, and now I'm his boss and I run the team, and it's great.

All right, and that's a wrap. Yeah. So hold on. So you're. You're married to your kindergarten sweetheart. Did you date anybody in between?

Oh, absolutely. Separate lives in between. Yeah. We reconnected at our 10 year high school reunion, and that was history. From there.

That's crazy. That's crazy. So born in Lincoln park but now living where, like what? Like, for people? Because people, everybody goes, Chicago, Dallas. And I'm like, Dallas is like DW is like millions of people and a million little suburbs and in great little communities. So where do you actually service?

Yeah, so we service from the city to the cornfields. But my sweet spot is in the western suburbs of Chicago. Slightly north, slightly south, but we have a really good like 30 mile radius from the lake. But we live in La Grange. It's like smack dab in the middle of Chicago to Naperville. Huge, huge, huge suburb. Average sales price, Average sales price, about 500,000. And we usually do about 25 units a year. That was what was we found was sustainable for the both of us. But as you know, now we're in growth mode. So a whole different ballgame right now.

Yeah, yeah. So. So I mean, I think a thousand thoughts going through my head, but. But what I know is if you went on a site called Follow the Money, right? Or How Money Walks. How Many walks dot com. For a long time, Cook County, Illinois was the number one spot. People were leaving. And, and what's interesting now is like we were just chatting as we were kind of walk around the office. Like I wasn't shocked by hearing if you list a house now in the suburbs for five or six hundred thousand, that there's 20 offers. And as we're filming this, this is, this is not April Fool's Day, right? This, we're not joking. Like it's a crazy market right now.

Yes.

So give us, give us just a little flavor of that. And then I want to talk about this whole kind of burnout conversation. Yeah, I've been there. You've been there, right? But you've come out of it in flying colors. And yeah, I guarantee the person listening right now just, I'd be curious just in the comments. Have you experienced burnout in your business? Right. Have you experienced it and have you come out of it with flying colors? Did you come out of it and make some new decisions? I just want to see it in the comments. It'd be super interesting wherever you're, wherever you're watching this. So, so tell us about the market right now. Like, what are you, what are you guys seeing in Chicagoland? I mean, it's.

Yeah.

Is there snow on the ground? What's going on?

No snow right now.

Crazy.

Yeah. So quick snapshot is the city market's totally different from the suburb market. So let's just Talk about the suburb market. Just to dial in for the. Again, like you said, you cannot get a house without 20 to 30 offers on it. And they're going for 40, 50, $60,000 over asking. I mean, if there is a nice condo in the city, it could even go for 70,000 over asking. I mean, it is bananas, but I think what we're seeing is a lot of people right now are flocking from the city to the suburbs.

Because I was going to ask you.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, a lot of Gen Z elder millennials like myself, like, we're settling down. We're no longer just dog moms and dog dads. Like, we're ready to start families. Or, you know, we're just sick of the traffic, or we're. We're fine with reverse commuting, only go to the office one time a month. Or, you know, we found a lot of people relocating back to the Chicagoland area who grew up there, but then moved to Wyoming or moved to California or Oregon just through a referral to Marie Boatsman. Like, you know, like, it's. It's all over. People are coming back and wanting to be back by their parents and be home.

Yeah.

And so I think that's why we're seeing a lot of traffic. And your average time spending now with a client. It used to be I could get, you know, buyer consultation intake form to the closing table in 60 days.

Yes.

Average time with clients right now is eight to 10 months. It's a long time trying to find them that house because they could. You could teach them and educate them how to craft a great offer and, you know, get up there. But it's, hey, how high are you willing to go? So, yeah, I can tell you exactly how to win this house, but if you're not comfortable offering appraisal gaps and escalation clauses and going crazy and as is no inspections. It's just based off your comfort level. So it's taking a longer time to get that transaction closed.

So for my friend that's listening. And first of all, I love that we were. We were chatting earlier about this fact that, like, you know, the sand States, maybe in the US Are experiencing a different market. Right. And it feels like a lot of the North. Like, I was with Carrie Ann Carter. Big shout out. She was in my mastermind yesterday. And same thing. She's like, I'm listing these houses for like, $400,000 in Minneapolis. Or she's actually like, in a Dinah. And she's like, it's a killer house. Needs some Work, I fix it up. And we have 8 offers, 9 offers, 10 offers. And. And it's just interesting, the contrast, certainly in the US and it's market by market. Right. Like, there's places in Florida where, you know, my goodness, the prices are screaming and it's unbelievable. And you've got other places in Florida as an example right now where they're like, yeah, we're off like 20, 25%.

Yes.

On transactions.

Yes.

And prices are, you know, 8 to 10% less than what the seller expects. I'm not saying prices are falling. Very key distinction. I'm saying 8 to 10% less of what the sellers expect. You with me on that?

Yep.

So you. You've been in the inverse of that. Like when you got into the business. Well, actually, no. You got in the business of 2020.

Yeah.

You got straight into champagne and cocaine. Welcome to real estate.

Yeah.

Like, everything is crazy. Was it, Was it that crazy in Chicago during the pandemic?

It was, but we had more.

But you guys were more locked down than we were. Closer to maybe California or New York versus say, you know, Texas.

Tom. Like, the suburb market was just totally different than the city market. So, like, big condo buildings, they had stricter rules than single family homes in the suburbs. So it was just a different market. But I mean, speaking of, you know, flipping houses and like, my husband and I are doing our first flip right now. And yeah, we bought for 410. We're gonna put 180 into it. And we thought we could sell it for 650, 695, if we were lucky. We're gonna list this puppy for 799. 9. Like it has just. And we've been holding for about 10 months now. So in that 10 months, I mean, we're going to be getting $100,000 more than we anticipated. And then, you know, the goal, knock on wood, is multiple offers over asking. But, you know, I'll just throw that out there to the universe.

So for the person, I mean, it feels like 2,000, four or five, you were in the business, but you know, in four or five, six, like when the market was just screaming and like, grandmothers were buying their third house in Vegas with 3% down. And it was just crazy. Yeah, it feels like that. Are you seeing a lot of cash deals or is it still all traditional finance?

Yeah, we're seeing a lot of cash deals. So same of what we saw happening during, you know, the pandemic. A lot of, you know, kids are going to mom and dad and saying, hey, mom, and dad, can you cash out, you know, HELOC or a home equity line of credit? Or can you, you know, can you borrow money and then give me the cash? And then I could be a cash offer. We're seeing a lot of hard money loans just for that purpose of like, hey, like, I want to be able to say this is.

Close it off cash.

Yep.

Yeah, yeah. Love it. So, so we started this by saying, you know, burnout. And certainly anybody, anybody that knows you knows, like, one thing you, you nor I lack is energy. Yeah, right. And like, oh, let's go. Right. So. So you were telling me though that you experienced this sort of moment of burnout. So, so tell us, walk us back. Prior to the burnout, what led up to it? What was the experience like? And then what have you done to come out of it? Because you definitely, like, feels like you're out of it.

Oh, yeah.

So what, what brought you up to that moment?

Yeah. So starting in the industry. So 2021, I got my license October 2020. So 2021 hired a coach, told my coach, hey, coach, I want to do six figures. Like that to me was pie in the sky. Like, six figures. My coach said, well, what do you mean six figures? I was like, what do you mean? What do you mean six figures? Okay, just like, I want to clear 100,000. So we did. No problem. Easy peasy. Second year. Hey, Kate, let's double it. That's crazy. But okay, let's do it. So 200k GCI. Yeah. Meanwhile maintaining that 25 unit average per year. And as you know, there's two ways to increase your GCI. You're either going to up your average price point, A or B, you're going to charge more fees or a higher commission. And we were able to do both based off of our experience and level of service and how confident we were with our marketing and, you know, everything people was seeing on social media. So super confident. Like, yeah, we'll up our prices. Like, we're not the cheapest realtors in the area and you don't want to hire us, you know, because of our rate. You want to hire us because of your net in your pocket. So, you know, got that dialed in.

Yeah.

So now we're in year three, 2023, we're doing 300K GCI. Super happy. 2024 hits. And I am absolutely exhausted, like posting reels and making the posts. And our first hire was a videographer on retainer.

Yeah.

And so I was doing all these talking heads and, you know, we could get in the weeds. But a lot of Instagram kind of shifted from Talking heads being really popular to more hyper local content.

Yes.

And my whole soul, like, just wanted to die thinking of having to do all of this hyper local content all the time and being all over the different suburbs and. Which we do anyway. Tom. But as you know, like, when you show up on camera and you're. You're filming, you have to be just that higher level of yourself. You have to be just, you know, give a little bit more for it to translate through on camera.

For sure.

Just like, you know, I'm a fitness instructor, so when you teach fitness, you have to give more if you want your clients to give more. So it's like a performance. And I got burned out because I was pushing, I was pumping. I was in that hustle culture. I was in the, you know, work hard, like, let's go. And for me, it was just not sustainable because what burnout meant for me. And I know it's different for everybody.

Sure.

But what it meant for me was really three things. It was. I was no longer finding joy in making these videos, and it felt like work. And when that switch happened, I was like, we have a problem. Yes. Number two was I no longer had time to spend with my husband outside of work. So our business partners. But we found we were always talking about business. We got married, but we never had time to take a honeymoon.

Yeah.

So probably been married now. We got married December 2023.

Okay.

So it'll happen. We'll sell our flip, and then we'll go on the honeymoon, which is why we solved the burnout problem.

Where are you going to go?

Italy.

All right.

Yeah. Lake Como.

Oh, okay.

Then up to Switzerland a little bit.

You got to stop at Lake Lugano. That's in Switzerland. The Italian region. Yeah. You'll have a couple. We'll have an offline conversation, for sure.

I got.

I got the scoop.

But, like, the third sign where I was like, okay, this is burnout. Like, I'm just. Is. My health issues started coming back. So I had an autoimmune disease, and that started flaring up for sure. So it was like, hello, nervous system absolutely screaming like, your body is intelligent, I believe, and your body is telling you, slow down. Yeah. So that was a sign where I knew we had to shift and change what we were doing. So I said, how can we take this 25 units that we're comfortable with, be able to make more money? And the answer was just leverage. And we had a videographer. Great. I was pumping out all this content, but what I realized was the people that were stopping me in the grocery store, at the coffee shop weren't commenting on my posts. I mean, yeah, Kate, cool videos. They look professional. Awesome. Yeah, but they were commenting on my stories. Like, your workout. You started going to that new place over on, you know, York street, like, oh, my gosh. And, you know, like, I saw this book you were reading. Like, if you love that, you should read this. And so we were talking about things that had nothing to do with real estate. Nothing. And then the business started flowing in so effortlessly. And I think that is, and was just this awakening moment of, like, I still work hard, I still have a great work ethic. You know, there's. There's still, you know, days where I have 12, 13, 14 hour days, but how can I make this more effortless? And that is when the switch kind of hit and I shifted from pumping out all these reels, which I still post. But I mean, okay, it's right now April, and I've posted maybe five posts to the grid on my Instagram, but you better believe I'm posting 20 to 30 stories a day. So that's where I found the magic. That's where I found the shift. And that's where we were able to completely transform our business. And now we're in full growth mode.

So let's, let's go back though. So, yeah, I'm curious for, for my friend listening, however you're wherever, whatever device you're listening device around, whatever platform you're on, have you ever experienced that? Have you ever experienced that? Like, content for the sake of content? And you could also argue just work for the sake of work. Yeah, like, you know, like, I've been there, like, it used to be free for like, maybe the first 10 years of my career starting this company. And, you know, now you're 22, it would be October, and I'm like, okay, I've now done this seminar 65 times this year. Do you know what I mean? You hear comedians talk about, like, when you create your new, like, you know, hey, this is gonna be an HBO special or a Netflix special, whatever it is that the fun is. Like the first 15 or 20 shows, you hear a musician say the same thing. By the time you're like on your 40th gig, it's like you pop in the tape and it's. It's no longer a performance.

You're on autopilot.

It's just, you know, okay, this is now. It's this song this is where the crowd goes wild and this happens and then we go, woo. Right. So. So you lose some of the magic of it. But I want to go back to burnout. So. So tell me the lowest low. Like, at what moment did you say.

Like, this isn't worth it? Yeah, about that.

Yeah. The lowest low was my husband and I f. Well, we. We're trying to find that balance of, hey, we're a great husband, wife, team. People, like, working with us, you know, especially going to show other houses with other couples. It was great dynamic. Like, one of us would bond with one, you know, so we'd be going on showings together, and then we realized this is no longer sustainable. We have to divide and conquer. If you're on the north side, I got to be on the south side, you know, if you're west, I got to be east. So we started splitting up, and we were just showing. We used to average maybe like, four to six homes. And we'd get you under contract, but because of the market, which we just.

Spoke about, it's 10 months. Yeah.

Now, unfortunately, we're showing closer to, like, 15 to 20 homes. Some clients even 20 to 30. And then, you know, in speaking to my coach, it's like, this is not sustainable. Like, I still have to love on these clients over here, but I still have to bring in new business. But these people need so much time and attention, and I was losing my mind because we come from a place of service, not sales. And so you love these people so much, but at some point, you have to have that expectation conversation. But these. They just want a house, like, you know, and so we just couldn't do everything for everybody in, you know, the amount of time that you have, like, it just was impossible. And we were just exhausted and had no personal time. None. Like, it was just. The joy was just, like, draining.

Yeah.

And we have our systems and our processes dialed in so well now that, like, we give the same level of service to someone buying $125,000 condo to buying a $1.5 million house. So we're like, oh, my gosh, like, we're doing the same amount of work for these different price points. Like, what? Like, how can we change this? Like, what do we do?

But what was the lowest moment?

Just, I think when we'd come home from work and we were separate, and then we'd come home and we'd look at each other and we would have no words because we were just so exhausted, like, didn't want to debrief on the day, like, if I said something, it would be like, you know, oh my gosh, am I micromanaging my husband? Because we have to do this, this and this. And you know, you get home at 9:30 and you're exhausted, you haven't eaten dinner. The dog's got to go out. Like, you got to reset. I want to meditate. I mean, we had no time for the things that brought us joy.

Yeah.

None.

I think every person listening, I know, I can relate to that. My wife and I working together for as long as, like, I think everybody could relate to it. So, so what was the. What was the. You started by saying Instagram. I don't think it was Instagram. I think it was longer sales cycles.

Yeah.

I think it was the disconnect between you and your husband.

Yep.

I think it was, you know, not finding peace and time and some time off in the middle of the chaos of building your business.

Yep.

Right. And then you could put, you could put the. Oh, and now it's gonna shoot content.

Totally.

You know what I mean?

You're right. It was just a storm of everything.

Yeah. I don't think it was the content. I think the content was just another thing. Yeah, I gotta like, you know, put on smiley. Kate. Here we go.

Yeah.

So. So what did you two shift to get some peace, to get some time back, to get some connection.

Yeah.

What did you do? Yeah, walk us through that.

So we, you know, I told you we had our videographer full time retainer. That was our first hire. You know, I'd say year two in the business. We added our transaction coordinator and a listing coordinator, so we already had those in place. Right. But they were part time and we were trying to save money. We didn't want to hire somebody full time. Right. So. And then as you teach us all the time, you could be making all the GCI in the world. But if you're spending it all or you're just reinvesting all of it into your business, then and you're not being profitable. So like treat it like a business, Kate.

Right.

So I started talking to my coach and I thought, like, what do we need to do for leverage? And it was just one person and one hire that changed everything. And we identified someone who was our TC and LC listing coordinator and transaction coordinator. And I kind of. And she had a full time job, so she was doing this on the side. And I just thought one day like have her take a disc profile, just, just, you know, and she did. And it was like the perfect ops manager. Disc profile you've ever seen in your life. Like 10 out of 10. Like, chef's kiss. Beautiful.

So give us in your mind, what is that?

Yeah, so we'll definitely. You don't want to hide. No.

You don't be on the same.

You don't want to. Hi. You don't want. Someone's gonna be talking all day and, like, making friends and going out and kissing babies and shaking hands. Like, you want that sc. You want someone that can be your command center dialed in. Like, hey, Kate, like, like, I need you to go do this. Like, you know, kind of finding somebody like your Ruby, like, telling me what to do, where I need to be.

Ruby's got a lot of D. Yeah, I know.

That's true. That's true.

Ruby's like, listen, that is true.

But we realized, like, oh, my gosh. I know this is a little out of the norm, but I think we've identified this incredible human. Like, she needs to be our ops manager.

Yeah.

So we offered her a full time position. She actually quit her job. We haven't announced anything of who she is yet because we're still dialing everything in. But, you know, this is brand new as of like three months ago. Okay. Yeah. So we hired our director of operations, and it's so beautiful because she now takes the role of tc, lc, Marketing coordinator and admin wrapped up all in one. She does everything and then she'll do. She'll do it all until too much is too much. And then it's like, what's the first thing we're going to outsource? Do we bring in a tc and then, you know, like, you always teach us what's the highest and best use of her time. Maybe I think we need to outsource a TC first, but she might love that and be like, kate, I can get this done in like 20 minutes. Like, yeah, no, let's outsource something else. Where, you know, paperwork is like my seventh level of, you know what. So.

Yes.

Hiring to your opposite. Right. Like, she and I, like, we. We mesh. We. We get along, we communicate very well. But what brings her joy and her highest and best use is the complete opposite of me. Like, I need to be as, you know, going out on appointments, making sales, meeting with clients, Problems. Yes, exactly.

She's like, systems give me automation.

So, I mean, Tom, like, that was the biggest aha moment was the like, oh, my gosh. I know this is a little against the grain, but we need to hire this person, put her on salary, give her benefits, give her maternity leave if she wants to have that, you know, life balance, pay for her health care. And it was really scary. But we couldn't come from that place of scarcity. We knew and we trusted, you know, coaching, trusted you, trusted our coach. And like, I knew that when I first got into coaching and threw it all on a credit card because couldn't afford it. I had that jump and leap of faith. This was just a new pivot point and that new jump, that new leap of faith because we were so at the bottom in that burnout, we're like, we can't do it all. And my husband, God bless him again, we are the yin and the yang as well. So my husband, we found ourselves like, he would say, like, kate, I can do the TC work, let's save money. I can do this. I was like, no, I need you out there helping me make sales and the clients. Like, I know you can do this, but should you do this?

That's the key for everyone listening, you know you can. But is it the highest and best use 100 when you go from like, let's call it like a hundred, 500, a thousand dollars an hour work down to like 20, 25 dollars an hour. We know you can, but should you?

Right?

So, so I want to go back and I want to ask you this. So now if we, if we really unpack, it was, hey, we're really doing, we're doing 25 transactions, but we're doing all the work from beginning to end, plus the content. And then take the longer sales cycles now, eight to 10 months to get them under contract where it used to be, you know, weeks, as an example.

Compound that. Plus you got all the new leads coming in.

Yes.

You with me, all these new opportunities and it's like. But I haven't served them yet. Oh, but the ones I have under contract and the listing that I'm launching and I got to do the marketing and I have to shoot some Instagram and I got to be smiley and enthusiastic and say hi today. This is what's going on.

So.

So I think everybody can relate to that. So the, the director of operations, that full time person now taking on all of that work. Right. That's great. And it's huge. I'm super proud. And I think there's another role that needs to be filled in.

I think there's something else because. Because if we can't solve the eight to 10 months.

Yep.

And you're still bringing in all the clients you're still going to have. You're Gonna have a different set of problems, right? Which is now I've got just. I've got 22 buyers, couples that we're working with. I've got new ones coming in, right. And I'm closing two, three a month, whatever the number is. Y. But this, that number is just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. And it's, I think, be curious for the person watching, like, how many, how many sustainable clients can you manage at one time?

That's exactly it. And we found our number is for my husband and I, again, everybody's different because success means different to everybody. What your tolerance and your workload level means different to everybody. So what my husband and I found was 25 is like our. Our max. Like this has been a pattern now for four years. That's where we hit. And we're making more money, making more money, but it's going to ceiling. And at some point we're to need to up the transactions. So how do we do that? We bring in a buyer's agent, we grow the team, and that's where we're at.

I actually. Okay, so I. I was going to go a different direction.

Go.

What if you had like a professional showing agent?

Tell me more, Tom.

So, so it's a trend that we've.

Seen.

A lot, A lot of agents have figured out that in the, in the scenario where, hey, I've got to have. Let's say you have a bunch of listings, right? So good, good example is I've got a bunch of listings. We'll just do the inverse on the buy side. Y. I've got a bunch of listings. And, and let's say they. They're non lockbox. Non. Non. I can't talk today. Non lockbox listings. You need to have a showing agent. If you don't, you're opening the door for every agent and their buyers every time.

Yep.

So I think of like my client, Shauna Covington, who said to me once, Laguna Beach, California, no lock boxes. She's like, I can't handle more than six listings. And my response was, yeah, okay, I understand. Tell me why. And she's like, because I do every first showing. And I was like, well, why do you do every first.

Every.

Every first showing? Well, because I tell my sellers that I'm going to be the one that sell. I'm like, yeah, but it's not the highest and best use of your time. And she finally came to the realization, gosh, if I said somebody else doing every first showing, yeah, I could then go to 10 listings. Active. Or I can go to 20 listings active as an example. So now I would challenge to say, you build so much rapport. You do such a good job in the onboarding, the intake, the process. Here's what's going to happen. This is how we're going to work for you. Like, we are going to take care of you. But do you need to show them every new listing?

No.

So that. That's what I'm saying.

And I love that.

Vers like another buyer agent is. Is, I think potentially. And I'm just. We're just talking out loud. We said, like this podcast is just a conversation.

Yep, yep.

I think it actually doesn't solve your problem. It actually compounds it because now you have another agent on the team going, oh, my God, Kate. Now I've got 15 buyers I'm working with, and they all take eight to 10 months.

Sure, sure.

So. So what could get you and your husband more time back?

Yeah, so I, I love that. And. And right now, my husband is that professional showing agent. Right. Because then I'll be the one going on appointments, closing the deals, signing the contracts, and I'll be like, okay, babe, I need you to go show this in Wheaton and this in Glen Ellen and this here.

Right.

So I think that we already have that role dialed in. It's just that we need to shift my husband Danny out of it and then bring somebody else in. And I love that. And it sounds like that's a completely different avatar of a human coming into the team than bringing on a traditional agent. And I love that because that's what, you know, conversations like these are for and coaches are for just, like brainstorming these ideas that, you know, what else is out there that you. You can't think of with your narrow vision. So, like, that's so helpful.

It's.

It.

I mean, you have. You do not have a narrow vision. You have a. But we all get. But we all get stuck in the machine of the business of how we do things.

Right?

And so when she was in this conversation with my buddy Chase Hughes, which if you haven't listened to Chase Hughes on YouTube or Instagram or what, everybody should check him out. Behavioral psychologist, neurosurgeon. 20 years in the military. 10 of those years, his job was to train. If you saw the movie Jason Bourne. Yeah, his job was to train those people.

Amazing, right?

So, like, he is a really smart, really interesting guy. But we were talking about. The reality is it's hard to change behaviors. Right. It's easy to say, I know, I should go to the gym. It's hard to then create the consistency of, like, I get up early, I put my clothes out the night before. You know what I mean? Like, you know, coming from the fitness industry, you know, because how many people came to you and said, kate, in nine months, I'm getting married and I want to look great in my dress? And you're like, well, that means you're gonna have to show up and change all these. And some do, in the vast majority don't.

Yeah.

So. So really what we're talking about is a behavioral change. I'm sitting here thinking, like, I have all this, like, compassion for you because I'm like, oh, my God, like, you're going to want to start a family and it's going to be really hard to start a family.

Bingo.

If you don't buy back some time.

Time, yeah.

You with me on this? So rather than a buyer's agent, I argue you need, like, more time. That's a showing agent. Yeah, it's the same reason, like, I know agents in New York City and probably in Chicago as well that don't drive themselves anymore. They can drive. Yes, they can drive, but it's far more effective for them to sit in the car and make phone calls. And I don't mean, like, fancy pants, like Tim Smith Cola banker, Newport Beach. I think he's got a Prius. But Hunter, one of his showing agents, will drive him because it's far more effective and probably safer for everybody in Newport beach for him to just be on the phone.

Right.

Communicating with clients and doing this and not having to worry about, like, am I going the right way? Did I make a mistake? Where are we going to park?

Yeah.

Does that make sense?

No, it does.

A little buy back your freedom 100.

And that's where, again, I am lucky. I do work with my husband. So, yeah, Tom, you better believe I'm passenger princess. When we're going on a showing and we are together, he's driving, and I'm the one that. That's responding to emails and texting clients and like. So, like, it's. I kind of have that built in with my husband, which is amazing. But at some point, like, that's not even the highest and best use of his time either. So this is just, you know, like, thinking bigger and working smarter, not harder. And, like, figuring out, like, what is going to define success for you. And like you said, like, wanting to start a family and do all of these things.

Right? Yeah. Right.

So.

So do you feel you're out of the burnout.

I think that we're like 95% there. I think the director of operations has been so huge. I do have a part time assist that is like our part time assistant, part time care bear, you know, client care coordinator.

Shout out to Lisa Munoz.

Yes. I saw your podcast right here inside this right here inspired me. That's why things like this, conversations like these so important and we're just, you know, scratching the surface. Like, I just did my first giveaway on social media inspired by Faith Barrett in Reading, California, and I even texted her like, faith, like, how do I do this? What do you use to pick the winner? Like, what's the best? This process of this. And like we're shooting back and forth tax ideas and I mean just these little things that we can do to like pour back into the community too, that, you know, I've told you before on Instagram and Facebook, so active on the stories, you know, creating all this like, content again. It's like, it just, it just like kills my soul. I don't want to be that. Oh, let's, let's.

Your physicality is like, well, it's like.

You know, there are those pages where you go viral because you're like the news of that town. And like, I just don't want to do that. And I think that's okay. But then where can I shine? I mean, I'm a local expert in the fitness industry. Industry still, Tom. I still teach classes once a week. And then it's so magical because people see me as the authority when I teach class. Yeah, they know because I'm the hat and heels Realtor, even if I don't wear a real estate hat. Like, they know because they follow me on Instagram, I'll post my workout, but then that studio shares my stories. So they see I'm hat and heels Realtor. They follow me, Tom. I never tell somebody, hey, if you're thinking of buying or selling real estate, give me a call. I'd be honored to help your friends and family anytime I'm not busy.

So, like, that sounded very napal. I met that agent.

Like, my point is, I never ask for the business. I show up. I'm the authority in fitness and they trust me in real estate, naturally, without blinking an eye because I've led them through these fitness classes and they see me as the expert. Now everybody's not going to go get their fitness license and, you know, teach yoga and art classes. But, like, what are you an expert in that you can serve your community.

I think that's the key.

Is that.

What. What did you do in the past that is valuable and.

And.

Or just. Just, you know, it is. It's. It always goes back to the same thing. Like, we all want to belong to something. It's a tribe, right? Like. Like, I'm a community guy. Like, that's the whole Tom Ferry ecosystem is. Is my passion for community, big community. And then all these little sub communities of all your friends that all. All these people that you've worked with that you're. They're all your pals, like, that's what it's all about. But, like, there's a stickiness inside of a community. And if you can take, for example, your past fitness and. And show a little of that, it just expands your community. It expands your tribe. Like, people that aren't interested in real estate still love that. But sometime when they want to buy a house, two years, five years, 10 years, you built that relationship. And I think that's a good insight for everybody. So think about, like, what have you done in the past that is interesting? Have you muted that, or have you figured out a way to, I don't know, meld the two together? Maybe that's the wrong word, but, like, you know, collapse the two together to be able to showcase this other side of you. I was with a client yesterday, not to be named because she hasn't launched it yet. She's like, I love gardening. And I was like, wow. Are gardens at houses? She's like, yes. And I'm like, and is your garden at your house? I'm like, if you. If. Because she's got the full green thumb, she's done all the training. I'm like, if you do something with that, there's a population of people that are like, I love that. I love that. And I will watch that all the time. I won't watch houses all the time. I won't watch. You're on a showing all the time. But I'm obsessed with gardening.

Right.

And when it is time for me. And gardening could be Harley Davidson's, could be pickleball.

Right.

Could be whatever, you know, whatever you desire.

Yep.

So. So have you found that to be true? I mean, clearly, it seems like it's like a big part of the business.

Yes. I mean, 100. And, you know, if you're watching this and you're thinking, like, well, I'm not an expert in anything. It's not just an expert. It's, what do you love to do? What are you passionate about? What can you lead and show expertise on. And what can you teach other people how to do? Let's say you're not an expert, but let's say you just learned how to golf. I mean, teach people how to golf. Like, I know that sounds crazy. People will connect with you based off of, like, your experiences, and then they'll hire you to be your realtor.

Or how about, as you know, the average golfer doesn't shoot more than 100. Right. So, like, no, like, like, I mean, we just talked about playing with some trades. Yeah. And I think I shot like 92 the first time I played it. And it was a hard golf course. All of those golf courses are hard. My point is, I think it'd actually be more interesting to say, not, hey, I'm an expert at golf, but like. Like, how about, like, I suck at golf, but I want to get better. Follow me on the journey.

Yes.

I think about Liz Gary, Gary Vee's sister. Her first year in real estate, she was like, I'm new to real estate. I'm a great mom. I'm great at, like, you know, my relationship, and I love this town. But follow me on the journey of becoming a real estate agent.

Yes.

And like, that was a smash for her.

Yeah.

Right. So. So you don't have to basically be the expert, but.

Right.

What are you passionate about?

Right. I mean, even. Yeah. The opposite. Like the expert or the novice and take people along the journey. I think that's so key. And, and the, the missing piece that I feel like a lot of realtors miss here is like that connection between, okay, posting this stuff and then how does this translate to business? What is my actual roi? And the answer that we found is, it's in the dms. It's in the conversations. It's in. When you post a story, what do you do to react on that story? You comment on it. But where does that comment go? It goes right to the DMs. So now you're DMing with these people in your community, not about real estate, but about. About, oh my gosh, I just read this book. Or loved that margarita you posted. Or like, oof, like, that one was too spicy. We should go to this other one. The. The most trivial things that seem trivial, but you're building these little small nuggets of trust and, and humanity with, with your community and your people, and they're going to hire you because they like you. We know this, but we forget this. And I think that's a big piece.

How often do you find yourself in Your stories, doing polls, questions every day. Like, creating feedback every day. Me too. And yet I don't. It's not. I follow a lot of people and like, I'm always kind of like the people that I like or people I'm checking out, like, okay, what are they doing in their stories? And I see a lot of people that just go, hey, I'm about town. I'm doing this, I'm doing that, I'm doing this, I'm doing that, I'm doing this, I'm doing that. And I'm like, okay, like, what I got is you do a lot.

Right?

And maybe I'm entertained, maybe I'm not. Right. But if you actually said, like, what's your favorite question? Right. Just adding that question caption button. Right. Or, you know, what do you think? A, B, C or D?

Right.

Right. Multiple times creates I. I see it creating a ton. Those are the ones. When I watch my stories, if I got like, you know, a couple thousand people, that's when it goes like 3, 4, 5,000. Because all of a sudden now everybody's activating and then they're sharing that.

Right.

What do you think? Hey, Tom's talking about this, but he's really talking to us. He's really talking to you, my friend.

Yes.

And I think that's where you get more of it versus just stories for stories.

And remember, it's. It's not about you. Like, you're sharing your life and we know this, but, like, it's. It's easy to get wrapped up in. Like, I have to make content, I have to post. But remembering that it's actually not about you. You' them into your journey, and that's where the connection comes from. So it's not just me, me, me. I did this all day. It's like you said, okay, which coffee order should I try today? The lavender or the golden? Or have you had one of these yet? Or, you know, where do you think I'm at right now? And oh, my gosh, that's one of my favorite ones. I'm in the city and I show a skyline shot. And I said, what neighborhood am I in? So that engages the hyper local people. So fun, for sure.

So. So you kill on content. Content. We've kind of talked through the journey of the burnout. Yeah, clearly it was scaling. It was buying back some freedom. Any other advice for the person that is, like, I have friends that, like, literally tell me, like, no, you understand. Like, first of all, no one could do it better than me. And. And why Would I pay anybody else? And I'm so good at it. It's okay. And like some, some will say to me like, I've raised my husband, I've raised my puppies, I've raised my kids, like, I just want to do real estate 24 hours a day. I don't trust anybody. Like I know, I know, I know you had issues between 6, 7 and 8 years old and that is just manifesting now at 60. Like I know that. And you can just do a little behavioral analysis on yourself. Like it, that's the reason why. What would you say to that person to get over it? What would you say to that person to take the leap of faith, like to just hire that person or to outsource that person? Virginia part time transaction coordinator anything thing to buy back some freedom.

Yeah, well like you said, you have to delegate because you can't do it all because that is only sustainable for so long. And that's where the burnout, that's where the burnout hits. So it's, it's inevitable that you will peak and then you will fall. And when the fall happens, like it is big and it is hard to get out of and so many people can relate to that.

Right.

So what I would tell these people is you have to delegate because of the fact that your time is so valuable if you can just focus on that habu your highest and best use abuse and just trust that if I make a bad hire, hire slow, fire fast, they're outputting someone new. And I think people maybe have one or two bad experiences and then they get low on themselves like, oh, but Tom, I, you know, I hired this person, they weren't okay, fire em and move on. And so just trusting that what's the worst case scenario that could happen? The worst case scenario is they suck. I fire them, I move on. And you know, that is something that my husband Danny and I experienced all the time too because he loved going to showings, he loved going to inspections. And at some point I had to say, at what point do we actually partner with a licensed inspector so that we do not have to actually be at all the inspections. And he said, well that's going to be terrible for the client experience. I go, not if you set the expectation up front, not if you set that expectation during the buyer consultation. And you train people and real estate agents like me to focus on those things. And that's so important. So you just, you have to delegate and you don't even know what's possible until you try it Right. You know, the control freaks are real. And I think you have to ask yourself, well, why am I a control freak? And why am I actually. So asking yourself the hard questions.

Between six and eight years old, we all have a moment.

Yes.

Somewhere that shifts the trajectory, and it just manifests itself for decades.

And just getting over that fear of, well, okay, if I try this again? I. I just keep coming back to personally, like, what's the worst that could happen? And in my mind, it's just, well, you fire that person and you move on, you know?

Yeah.

You know, or what's the worst case that could happen? Often a client fires you because they don't like the process, and you know what? Then they weren't meant for you anyway. So you just have to be able to let go. And what I found was the more I let go and surrender, the more ease. And again, coming back to that word, effortless things become. And when we have ease and effortlessness in our lives, it's not that necessarily that you have to keep working harder. It's that flow, and you can really be in that flow. And that's where I think that joy and that happiness can come back to your life. And it's. Oh, I do love real estate. Like, I. I've always loved real estate. I just forgot how. How that hustle got me so deep in the trenches. I was, like, blinded by everything else. And I think the last thing for people is just, like, redefining what success looks like for you. So, like I said, Tom, like, my husband and I are doing our first flip right now, and I'll never forget it. We were sitting on the couch and we were holding hands about a year and a half ago, and we were, you know, I know, like, you're gonna make fun of me, but, like, the last thing you probably want to do is watch shows about real estate when you get home after showing real estate. But we were watching a show about real estate. It was about flipping houses. Yeah. And we were streaming it. So we were watching episode to episode, and we were watching this couple on the show, and I looked at him and I said, babe, we can do that. Like, we can. We can flip houses. Like, oh, my gosh. Like, people love watching content of you and me. Like, you know, like, I'm happy. Go Lucky. And he's like, Mr. Serious. Like, sarcasm. Like, resting, you know what face. Like, my husband has that. So we're so different. I'm like, babe, like, we could just make fun, content about. About flipping houses. I think people would just, like, Love watching that.

Yes.

And so we did. We. We bought our first property and we did it. But we were only able to manifest that because, you know, how could we have time to flip a house? We had to start leveraging. We had to start giving up control over every single aspect of our business in order to grow and scale. And then lastly, redefining success again in real estate. Tom, you know, there's so many different avenues you can go into in real estate. Like, when I first got my license, somebody called me and said, hey, do you work with buyers or sellers? Sellers. I'm like, are you an idiot? I do both, you know, but now I know, oh, there are people that specialize in A or B, like, and so finding, like, what are you actually passionate about in real estate? Like, Tom, again, my buyers are going to hear this, and it's fine. But, like, my passion is not, like, showing houses. Like, a lot of realtors come to me, oh, Kate, real estate looks so glamorous. I just want to show houses. I love watching HGTV. I'm like, that is 2% of your job.

Right?

Like, so for me, I love, you know, the connections. I love setting the expectations, like, painting the journey, being the guide, and, you know, servicing them for life. So I don't actually want to show houses anymore. Like, you know, like, call me out. Maybe in a year I'm retired from showing houses and I'll have a professional show.

I hope so. So for people watching, imagine how much time you'll save.

Oh, it's. It's a beautiful thing to imagine, and it gets me excited and I'm so grateful for you. But. But yeah, just to wrap the. Around the redefining success. There's. There's so many things in real estate you can specialize in investments, you know, building portfolios. Like, oh, my God, Elio, are you kidding me? Like, crushing it. Like, this kid is in his 20s and he's buying up 14 properties in a day. I mean, he's posting. I want to. I want to buy cash in these zip codes. Call me. I mean, like, hanging around these people that are doing these things differently with coaches like you, inspiring them and pushing them forward. I mean, it's such an inspiration of redefining success for you. Maybe I don't want to show houses forever. Maybe I do want to get into portfolios and helping and working with investors. Not saying I'm going to start a property management company, but, like, what other, you know, what other gifts? Exactly. Like, what other gifts do I have to share with the world and help people while maintaining that joy and not hitting burnout again and just learning from your past to create the future you want.

Hey, Savannah. I was texting back and forth with Elio. He's down in Houston. We need to get him on the show. He's a total love bug.

Yes.

He killed on stage, though. I'm still mad at him. If he's watching this right now, that not only did he get a Lamborghini when I told him not to, he got two. Elio, if you're watching, I love. Do not drive one of those to my office. I'm gonna punch you. I love you.

We sat next to each other on stage at Summit two years ago. Yeah. Loved him.

Yeah, he's cool. So, all right, so as we wrap this. This up, the journey of, like, passion and figuring out redefining success, going through burnout, all these are totally normal. You with me on this? Like, I'm 35 years into this, which is just. It makes me feel old when I say that, because I'm not old, but it's like, this is just all I've ever done in my life. Right. So when you do something for a long time, we all go through these journeys. I think what I. What I most admire and respect about you and your husband is that when you come out of it, it's not. Not more of the same. It's not. It's not. I'm burned out. I'm tired. And now let me just go back and keep doing it again. Right. Instead, it's. It's now, how do we reinvent? How do we solve the problem? And I think that's really the story of business. Like, how do we solve the problem? Right. I. I don't want to be burned up. I want to be passionate. It doesn't mean you're not going to have time where you're, like, you're tired.

Right?

Right. You work 70, 80 hours a week. You do that four or five weeks in a row. Like, you should be tired. Right. Like, there's a reason why professional athletes get on off season. Right. There's no off season in real estate. Right. It is 24, 7 all the time, especially when you're at your level and you're really good. So the question is, as for the person listening, you're going to go through these peaks and values. We all do. It is as human nature, as. As everything. Right. But the question is, when you come out of it, is it more of the same, just creating the same cycle? So my wish for you is A showing agent.

I love that.

Actually, my real wish for you is. Is getting pregnant.

Oh, it's so nice and so happy.

You know what I mean?

Knock on wood. Where's the wood?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's the. You know.

Yeah.

I look back at. Thank you, Savannah. Got a little knock over there. Like, that was. And, like, not everybody's gonna have kids, right? Like, I totally get that. Like, someone right now is, like, checking out, like, oh, it's not my thing.

Right?

That's cool. That's cool. But it's. But it's also a kind of a human thing. Like, it's, you know, it's a mammal thing. We all. We all do it, right? Or some of us do it, but it will. It'll change everything. And you'll. You will have. Have another down, and then you'll come out of it and say, now, now, how do I reimagine success as a mom?

Yes.

You with me on this. And I know every mom listening, by the way. Every mom listening. If you would share a comment that she could read later about one adjustment you made post children. I was talking to my client, Janelle Garonson, right now. Her kids are, like 10 and 12 years old. And I remember when she was like, okay, my mom and I, I'm running this business, her and her brother, mom kicking ass. She's like, I'm basically doing everything. Mom is like this iconic figure, but I want to have babies. Okay, so we're going to need an assistant. She basically replaced herself entirely. The business was able to maintain. She took some time off, had the baby step back in, and when she stepped back in, she didn't step back in and do the assistant's job. She stepped back in and created a new role and grew the company again. Okay, wait, now I'm going to take some more time off. Had the second baby came back in, elevated the business again versus just, oh, now that I've had the baby owner come back and can just go back to the same thing over and over again. You with me creating the same problem over and over again versus break down to true breakthrough. Like, that's. That's the thing. So if you would share that in the comments. And guys, you can share it too, right? So. So as we wrap, any final things you want to say to. To your friend listening right now?

Well, first of all, I just want to say thank you for having me on the podcast, because you're amazing. You changed my life. You changed my family's life. I adore you.

I didn't change anything, Anything.

All right.

I opened doors, you ran through.

Thank you.

You with me, Like, I appreciate it, but, like, I didn't. You made the phone calls, you hired the people. You did the checklist, you did the systems, you learned the skills. You did everything. I opened doors. And you. Right. You ran through. So I'm proud of you.

I received that. And as a true leader would say, you know, it's not me, it's you. I just, like, brought out the brilliance in you. So thank you. But, you know, final thoughts to the people listening. It's.

If you are super ambitious and you have so many goals and you don't know where to start, pick one. I, you know, I think it was at your elite retreat. It's you. You talked about decision making and how the top people are making decisions and prioritization. Right, Prioritization. And it's not, it's not a. Let me think about it. It's a, you know, it's either a yes, a no, or a by. When? I'll have an answer to you by tomorrow. And at xpm, and I think that's the big thing. A lot of people that get into real estate are, you know, drivers. They're ambitious, they're entrepreneurs. They want to be in this business for no ceiling. All the opportunity, all the freedom, which we know the joke is you lose your freedom at first to build something big. But if you want to build something big, pick a direction and go. And don't be afraid to fail and, you know, fall off course for a little bit, and then you'll just course correct. I mean, again, what's the worst that could happen? Right? And I think that when you're ambitious or have multiple things in your life like you do, that you're doing to build all these beautiful things, it's like there's only so much of your time and energy to go around, and that's where you have to delegate and find your people that can help run it with you. So I think just, just go big and, and share the love and do it with people that you love and want to grow it with you.

I love it. I love it. All right. Hey, thank you so much for watching or listening. However you're. You're checking this out, definitely follow Kate Instagram.

Kate Newey or no Instagram is as of right now, and we're filming this podcast. It's hat and heels Realtor. I'm verified. You can find me with the blue check mark. But yeah, just search Kate Newey N E W E y not oldie, but newey. And yeah, I'm around.

You know, later on it'll be not newie but oldie.

Exactly. You stole my joke for the future.

All right, hey, thank you so much for watching and make sure you follower. And hey, I appreciate you. Keep up the good work. We'll talk to you soon.

If you want more information about this episode, including my show, notes, mentions, links, and everything else, make sure you visit tomferry.com podcast that's tomferry.com podcast. Thanks again and talk to you soon.