https://www.listennotes.com/e/34849815aecd4c41a73098b5dd203040
16 Jun 2024 · 18 min
Steve D Valentine talks with April Audie about her real estate career and move to Real Brokerage. She discusses the challenges she faced and how the brokerage's community supported her business growth and personal transformation.
Welcome to the Real Estate Revolution. I have a new real brokerage victim that has joined my network and super excited to welcome April Audis to Real Brokerage and welcome to the podcast.
Thank you.
Absolutely. Well, it's been a journey.
Yes, it has. Mr. Valentine.
The journey's been awesome but let's just talk about your who who April is.
Okay, well, I've been an agent for seven years now. It's been an incredible journey. I was in outpatient radiology for 15 years. I had an incredible career. However, I decided to resign and start my business in real estate because I was no longer willing to conform to the style of management that I was being asked to perform in. And so I came to this Kate crazy industry. so that I could love and serve people however I want.
Awesome, awesome. How about family? What's family look like?
Incredible. I've got two amazing children, 11 and almost 15, so you know what that looks like.
Yep, yep.
And you know, what I'm so grateful that I get to do is be with them, right? Make the choice of showing up at games, how I show up for them now, because I'm not, working 75 plus hours a week in an office. So being able to be with family when I choose, that's been pretty cool. And taking them along on the journey, right? Like them opening doors and teaching them the business of how you can be abundant and you can travel and be, do and have whatever you want if you choose.
There you go. That's awesome. What's You recently joined Real Brokerage. Yes.
Kicking and screaming.
Kicking and screaming originally. Let's go back to the beginning of our relationship and how we originally connected.
Well, someone told me about you and your creative ways of investing. And I had purchased a property for, what was it, Steve? It was like $100,000 under, yeah. Right.
Yep.
And so I didn't know what I didn't know. So Andrew said, Call Steve Valentine. Like, oh my gosh, he's a mastermind. I didn't know what I was doing. I think I was like four or five years into the business. Yep. And so I called you and I'm like, Hey. And, yeah, that's how we were introduced, right? So it was an investment partnership, essentially. Opportunity. Yep. Yeah.
That, that I ended up buying from you.
That you ended up buying for me.
Yep. and we renovated that house and got rid of it. That was just before the chaos.
Yep.
And then, and then what was the second occasion? This one, this one's a little different, right? We solved that problem and then what?
Well, and then what?
Your primary.
My primary property. What about it?
Well, we ended up having to buy it and sell it back to you and go through that crazy story.
You're like, go through the whole story.
Just shortly. Right? It was, I mean, yeah.
Well, you know, it's real estate. That's what I, how I'm gonna answer. It's real estate.
But it was, you came to me with a complication that we had to go through and work to solve.
And that's what I'm attempting to articulate. And that's my, my being facetious. Sometimes you don't know. Am I allowed to cuss? Shit goes sideways. Like, sometimes shit goes sideways. And so the cool thing about my, my experience with you, Dee was the problem solving. Okay, let's figure this out. Because I was ready. I don't know how many times I've been ready to throw the towel in. So we had to navigate through some problem solving and I'm abundantly grateful.
That's awesome. Recently, well recently as about four or five months ago, do you remember the call?
Yep.
Now, before then, I had invited you to come to Real many times over the last couple of years and you just weren't ready to Make the move. You did a quick move to another brokerage just for a place. And then I think it was about February when you called. And you were probably, I would say, like on the fence of jumping. I don't want to do this anymore.
Yeah.
What was that conversation?
Well, I had personally gone through some completely unexpected series of events in my life. And I think from an entire perspective, from a mental, physical, emotional, financial place, I was in scarcity, right? And so as being the breadwinner, the head of household response.
Single mom.
Right, single mom. The responsibility of that and everything that I was mitigating felt overwhelming. And so yeah, I thought, I think I'm just done. I think I'm done and I called you and said, F it, I want to sell my house. I mean, I was even, it was crazy. I'm going to move into my toy hauler. I'm done with everything. I'm done with real estate. I'm going to go back to radiology. I'm done. Steve, how can we sell this property? Because we're in partnership. So yes, I remember that phone call very well. I was going to try to enroll you into letting me jump off of the ledge. That's the conversation. I was in victim.
I wasn't holding her hand for that one. The conversation was very much about pulling you off the wall.
Yeah.
And giving you the swift kick in the ass of, I know that you're capable of this. Here's what I want you to do. And it still took a couple of months to consider real. And you were still kind of going through some things. So, you're here now.
I'm here.
You're here.
I'm so excited.
But there's also been some transformation over the last couple of months too, because after that phone call, you went head down and you just closed on how many transactions? Three, four in the last couple of weeks.
Right.
Right.
For how many millions in sales? A couple million?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
You also wanted to go get a freaking job. I'm just... I can live in my toy box.
Can we just...
The recalling the conversation was really about...
I'm getting very vulnerable.
You wanted to go get a job.
Yeah.
And I pulled you back and said, There is no other industry that you can make the money that you can to get out of the debt that you're in. So let's go head down and figure this out together and get you back on track to where you need to go. And then we finally had a little bit more conversation about the brokerage. So why? Why did you finally move to Real Brokerage?
Well, I realized that historically I've been a creature of habit in terms of being a lone ranger and doing things the hard way and remembering that who I surround myself with matters. And so I remembered how much you've shown up for me and I trust you. That's the truth. I trust you. And so I remember the conversation that you had with me and you said, let me just try this out. And if it's legit, April, come and play with me. And so why did I come? Because I was in such a, why not? I mean, why?
It's the same reason I joined.
Okay, am I gonna keep doing the same thing over and over by myself? and expect different results because I'll tell you this, it's not about the business, it's not about real estate, it's about who I am and it's about who I'm hanging out with, right? And if I don't keep, if I don't, if I'm not vulnerable like this and tell people the truth instead of like, oh my god, I'm just a successful real estate agent and I've always been successful and I, that's not authentic, that's not who I want to be. I would rather just be real and isn't that funny? To be real, no pun intended. Anyway, and in that, there was also a desire to create generational wealth. If I'm able to actually go to a brokerage where I have an ability, I have a liability, if I'm able to, if there's an investment opportunity, am I communicating?
Yes.
That produces residual income, and creates a nest egg for myself, which I never even, when I left radiology, I cashed in my 401k. All of that was gone. And now you're just, it's like you said in your book, now I'm just living for my next commission check. And so if I'm in a brokerage that has a different.
Mindset.
Mindset and structure that I can now wrap myself that I didn't, I thought I could wrap my head around because I didn't even understand, I didn't even know that was possible.
Right.
Because of all of the brokerages that I had been in the last seven years. Sure. So the conversations that I've had with you and then actually really understanding filtering out all of the noise because everybody has something to say about it because most people don't want to see you win. So if you're in, no, really, like they're like, oh, well, I don't even know if it's like they want to see you win. They don't, they don't know if how am I, how do I want to say it?
Like if it's actually... Well, if it's viable.
Yes.
Right?
So there's just a bunch of like noise. I don't, I'm not articulating...
Right, so you bring in a good point, right? I went to Real for years before I really had a lot of conversations with people like yourself. And it was because I wanted to know that it was real and what it did for me, which it wasn't sharing a pipe dream, right? So I get to show you what is possible and what Real has done for me in my life. There's proof now. Yeah.
Right.
So here's the proof. And do you want to come over? And I think one of the, the bigger reasons, which you haven't said, I think it's the, you have talked about being Lone Ranger. It's about Community.
Right.
It's about culture and it's about having that support. And that is one of those things that I see in you and the other agents that are attracted to, to being in me is that I want to help you grow faster, better, stronger than what I did.
And I'm also at my best, I find, when I am serving and helping others. And when you're living in a place of I have just enough, I actually think that's the most selfish place you can be in. Because if you're living in a space where I have just enough, then you really just have enough for yourself. And you don't have enough to give back to others, whether that be from not just a financial standpoint. But just like again, like who am I and who am I going to be?
Sure. And do you, what is, what do you believe the biggest benefit is? And I like to refer to brokerages, right? You just upgraded your car.
I did.
So what were some of the benefits in this new car you just got into that you're now driving that you're excited about?
Well, number one, I can pull the toy hauler that I was attempting to talk you into me living in. I can pull my toy hauler.
No, but I mean, the, the, the business inside real, like, real is your new vehicle. So, yeah, we're not talking about driving. I'm talking about my car. No, I'm talking about the new car you just bought or invested in in real. Like, that's your new vehicle for real estate. That's where your license is. So what are the benefits of that new car for you, for your retirement, for your future? Like, what are you excited about?
Abundance. I mean, really, just like not abundance again from a financial standpoint, but just the peace of mind. That's what I'll say. The peace of mind knowing that I'm actually building something instead of chasing my tail.
I like that. Is that, yeah. Yeah, you're building something sustainable.
Yes, that was a, right.
And when we have something sustainable, It allows us to continue to grow and move with a little less anxiety. We know we have something that's in the background that's working and that was my big reason for this is that when you come into real, I am solely focused on my business, your business. It's the real estate business. We're not recruiters, attractors, when it comes down to it. I want to attract people for what we're doing and I want you to attract people for what you're doing because of the business, because of the life you're living. because of the person that you are, not because you can go recruit other people for income.
Right.
We want to do it organically and attracted, not in, I guess, the way that I'm seeing it and have seen it of the recruiting calls from virtual assistants and things like that. I want people to naturally want to be here because they're seeing things. So you're here now. What was the attraction between Real, between myself? What was the attraction to get into this circle for you?
Beyond anything else that I've already mentioned, I would say feeling like I have a family in real estate. Maybe that's because of my relationship with, you know, with yourself and the team and the individuals that I've met thus far. Yeah, I mean, it's just, I guess, just that unity of like, it's just a different. It's just that.
It'S just a different.
I'm not, I'm struggling to articulate it here.
She's so excited she doesn't even know.
I know.
I'm so good.
And you know, it takes a lot for me to be at loss for words. Help me out here.
I know. No doubt. Audio messages 12 miles, 12 minutes long.
I know. I love them. They're my favorite. Yeah, I don't really, I'm not really sure how to answer that. It's really just the whole package of something different, something that I haven't seen before. And again, just going back to, you know, I am in a position now, instead of having the seven-year itch to leave real estate, I am committed to completely revamping my business and creating generational wealth. And I believe and I trust and I know that this is a vessel now to get me there because of the structure, because of the community. I don't know how else really- well.
The other attraction piece and being here in my ecosystem though is also because you're wanting to build wealth and generational and you know these are the things that I have done. And you want to be in this ecosystem of problem solving and the weird stuff that I do because you know it's beneficial because it has benefited you in the past with your clients. Not that we haven't not worked together when you were other brokerages and that's always been the thing. I've had relationships and I still have lots of relationships. It's not about getting to the brokers, it's about being in that ecosystem. And I think that it is important, as you said, Lone Ranger, right? And I know that I recently heard a podcast where they talk about the solo agent feels the loneliest right now, right? Because they don't feel their brokers, they think are there for like their president, their office, the brokers are there for compliance, right? They're there to keep the company safe. So who's stepping into the mold to motivate and inspire you know, the agents or the solos. And that's what I love about, you know, bringing you along alongside of me. A lot of people talk about, well, you're my downline now. And I look at it in my network and everybody's coming alongside me so that we can do more things together rather than this, oh, come be my downline. It's kind of like clients. Nobody likes to be referred to as a lead.
Right.
Right. So, I welcome you with my whole heart to Real and I'm so excited that you were finally here.
Thank you.
And I'm looking forward to you hitting your elite goal, which is set for this year. I want to see you take advantage of all of those processes and awards that we get for just producing and doing our business. And I have a feeling we'll be talking to some friends and people that are attracted to you in this business coming to real, which I'm also excited about, because that is then you building your sideline and your help and your network. And together inside that community, we're building a ladder community, which is I know that the things you have learned, you will reach down and help somebody else out. And that's where we're going and that's why this is so important. So welcome to the family and thank you for coming on and doing this podcast and letting the world know all the good stuff you have going on. And where can they follow you on Instagram?
Oh my goodness. April. Oh my goodness.
Well, it wasn't a hard catch.
Check that out. I'm not social media cool. It's April, and we're trying to remember it. April, Audie, Realtor. April, Audie, Realtor.
If you have a phone that's plugged into the wall, just give April a call. Since we're not really social over here.
I'm not.
We'll figure that out. You can follow April under my page. If you need to get ahold of April, just reach out, DM me. If you want to talk about real, we'd love to have that conversation with you. Till next time, peace out, guys.
Thank you, bye.
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