Interview with real estate agent Justin Udy about how coaching from Lars transformed his business and personal life. Justin describes being burned out while closing ~70 transactions in a year, meeting Lars at a November seminar, and beginning coaching around February. Coaching prioritized family life over immediate production (e.g., removing his phone from the MLS, changing voicemail to stop taking calls after 6–7pm), which allowed Justin to be more present with his family while still increasing business (he reports closing 82 this year and being on track for 96 under contract). He describes learning to duplicate himself, setting life-first goals, planning to exit the agent role within ~2 years, and advising others to implement changes incrementally.
Questions this video answers
Around November (met Lars at a seminar in November).
About February, roughly 3–4 months after meeting him.
About 70 transactions (he said: 'That year I had closed me and a buyer's agent, 70 transactions').
He reports closing 82 this year and being on track for 96 under contract.
He hopes to be out of the business within two years.
Lars. That year I had closed me and a buyer's agent, 70 transactions. And I went to a seminar and I was just looking for ideas. I was just so burned out. And the biggest problem I was running into is really, I was sacrificing my family for the time that I was putting into real estate. And I was really trying to come up with a conclusion because I'm just like, I've either got to figure out a better way or I just, I have to get out of business. It's just not serving my family. And that was really important to me. And I literally was like, I was like praying in my heart, like, figure out what in the world I was going to do. And Lars actually sat next to me at that seminar. And I just started talking to him and he's like, you know, I do some coaching. And I was right where you are. It was just, I could really connect with him because I knew he was in the business, I knew he was doing it. And he just kind of was like, there's some things you can probably do a little bit different that will help you. If we're a good fit, great. Anyway, that's how it started. I think that was in November. Then it was Christmas time, whatever. And then I wrote some goals beginning of the year. And I didn't start the coach until about February. It was about three or four months after I met him. And then I kind of got things going great.
So when you did start working with him, you mentioned he noticed a few things that you could really hone in on at the beginning. What were the first things that you really worked on implementing with him?
So one of the big things is, which was totally opposite of the normal coaching, he's like, I don't care if you do any more production. You've got to get your family in line and you've got to make sure you're getting home. You can't be rolling home at 8 o' clock every night and expect to have this amazing relationship with your family and your wife and your kids. Normally, I'm coaching so that I can make more money and do better, but he made me think of things a little bit differently. And the truth is, that hit home because I was like, that is where I want to be. And I'll be honest with me. Even nine months later, I still struggle. But things are better in the fact that one just little things by me not taking phone calls anymore, I removed my number from the multiple listing service. These little teeny tiny things allowed me to leave and be Present with my family. I changed my voicemail to be able to be okay with not taking phone calls after that 6, 7 o' clock time framework. And so for me personally, it allowed me to get more present with my family. It allowed me to be. I do feel like I've done more transactions this year, so I think I've closed 82. We're on track for 96 that we have under contract. So I'm doing more business. But I don't feel as heavy and stressed like I was this time last. That was the main thing is I think a lot of items were alleviated where it was like him being able to just say, look, this can go here and this can go here and this can go here. And it just took so much off of my back. I think that was the main thing. It really gave me just a little bit of peace where I just wasn't just running around every five seconds like someone with their head cut off. A chicken with his head cut off.
Had you done any coaching in the past?
I have. I've done coaching through some different organizations. Nothing crazy. You know, they were good. Like, they helped me hone some different skills in different ways. I think it gets to the point though, where they can no longer serve you in building something that is more than you. And I think that was one of the things that I needed is I needed something to help me figure out how to duplicate myself so that I could do other things I wanted to do. Because I never. I mean, this sounds so bad because it's nothing negative against the industry, but my goal was never to be a real estate agent. Right. I wanted to be doing projects and different things. And it just kind of evolved into this thing where it's like, you start making enough money and different things, you're like, man, this is actually a pretty good gig. And it's not as much risk as doing X real estate project or doing these investment deals and so forth. So, you know, it allows me. That's the one thing that my goal is to really. I do enjoy that part of it and I really do want to step away a little bit from that business so I can focus on some of those things that I actually enjoy doing.
Okay, so obviously working on this part of your business has helped you outside of your business. Do you have any specific stories about how this has affected your personal life?
So, I mean, just little things like me being okay with like leaving my phone and you know, like even like this Saturday. And like, I don't mean to get like choked up but you just, you got to realize, like, it's been nine years of, you know, being, you know, anchored to your phone or to, you know, really saying, I gotta get this next deal. Like even just like the Saturday, just me, I went with my little six year old girl and just me and her went to an indoor pool. And then we went out, Nate. Together. I would never have before been comfortable with leaving my phone an entire Saturday with as many listings as we have. So it's just really being able to be present with your family and having some of those moments where before I wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't have felt comfortable with it because nobody else I've ever known was able to do that. So it kind of took having somebody saying you can have that and still do a lot of business until you literally hear somebody do it. It's almost like it shifts that paradigm. It shifts how you look at things where it makes things that you thought were like, it's impossible for somebody to duplicate what I'm doing. And in reality, there's a way to do it.
Great. Okay, so having been through all that, what would you say to someone who is either just starting out with Lars or is kind of in the middle of it right now? What advice would you have for them?
Take a piece at a time. Don't implement everything at first. I mean, those first two months of business I did with them, I didn't do any deals because I was like trying to implement every little thing and I wasn't producing anything. So I'd say pick your top three things and then implement them. Then you pick top three things and implement them. It's almost like you go to a circus and there's so many things happening, you don't know what to focus on really. I think you have to focus on a couple things first and then grow from there. Because you want to implement everything. You're wanting to do the 350 transactions one day a week within three months, when in reality, you know, it took him whatever, three, four, five years.
Right. Okay. So what does success ultimately look like to you with Lars and with your real estate business in general? Where do you see yourself in one year, two years, three years?
I mean, really. I mean, I think if kind of a double loaded question for me, I guess. I mean, where I see myself as I see myself essentially being. I mean, I really do want to be out of the business within two years. Within a year. I feel like I can really spend a lot more time away. I do see myself focusing more on Just things that I. A lot of things I do enjoy doing. I like interacting with people. That's what I really got me towards. More working in the real estate world rather than even the lending world was. I like that. But I think ultimate success to me is being we have, I would say me, number one, being close to my maker. Two, being super close, just my family, just an amazing relationship with my wife, and really being a best friend of my kids, working with who I want, when I want. And, you know, I expect to work hard and I expect to earn money, but I just, I think that being able to pick and choose the things that you do, opposed to really being anchored down and really feeling like you're forced to do something you don't want to do, that's really a hard thing. And I feel like I've been there and I don't want to do it again.
Okay, so what would you say to anybody who's on the fence about working with Lars right now?
I. I mean, it's definitely a commitment. Not only time, but money, you know, and, you know, I would say that if you're really wanting to. If you really are wanting to make a difference, then you have to be willing to spend the time, energy and money to really, like, move forward in a direction that you just, you got to get out. It's getting out of that comfort zone and trying on something that's totally different. I think the things that he teaches are very simple, but there is very intricate parts that have to be executed. I mean, the one thing that I never thought I'd do is I never thought there would be completely different skill sets that I'd have to learn in working with him. I thought it was just this packaged gift as opposed to. No, there's a lot of skill sets that you need to learn to implement and go to this stage, to this stage, to this stage. But yeah, I would say, yeah, it was just like me. I was never so much on the fence. I knew it was something that I had to do for me personally to have a grow personally, not only with my family, but business wise, it was just. I was so busy running around, I just never was able to quite get priority and moving forward.
Great. Okay. Is there anything else you want to add that would kind of sum up your experience working with Lars?
I think one of the biggest things that I think that he has mainly helped me with is I really never thought. I always thought of putting goals together and where you want to be and sacrificing the other things. And one of the big things that I have learned is you design the life, personal life you want to have and then design those goals around it, and you can make that happen. And even to this day, I say it to you, and it almost still is hard for me to even think that that's possible. But in putting it the way that he has implemented it, you can't sacrifice those things. Has really made such a huge difference to me. And it's making a difference as far as when I'm implementing those items with. I'm able to see those fruits of me spending time with my family and having experiences that I just haven't had. And I was having those experiences. The problem was when I was out at the park, I was on the phone. When I was out doing whatever, I was sneaking into the bathroom to take a call, it was always times where I was there, but I wasn't. And so those moments have been really good. Anyway, I love Lars, and I really appreciate him. I do feel like I was kind of, like, guided to him in some way because I just knew that if I hadn't sat next to him, I would have been living in a client hell. So I feel really fortunate. I feel really lucky. I think things that he's gone over with me, and he's been hard on me, too. He's told me flat out, what are you doing? You got to stop doing that. And I really appreciate a coach calling me out on that stuff anyway, so I think he's great.
