What To Look for in a Brokerage - Discussing Real Broker

Welcome. Welcome to the real estate revolution. Steve Valentine here. Thanks for joining this kind of an impromptu guest appearance. I got two today. You know, Trevor Bradley's in studio with me. He joined us for our team meeting today as we're kind of collaborating on some stuff. And Trevor is a veteran real estate agent. He's also been through some of my coaching stuff. And we really want to talk about is real brokerages. Both of us are coming up. I'm coming up on my three years. You're coming up on your two. I wasn't super vocal about this when I did it, so I kind of wanted to get your opinion and your perspective as to where you're at, what could be better and where it's going and maybe what advantages you see in it. So thanks for having me.

Thank you. I definitely impromptu didn't know I was gonna get thrown on the spot, but I like it. This is exciting.

So let's dig in for the introvert that you just explained that you are.

No, but this is what I need. I had to get out of my shell and here I am.

So let's just kind of catch everybody up. Journey. So you've been in the business 13 years. What brokers you start out at?

I started out at Ocasio Realty.

Okay.

No longer in business.

Okay.

All right. Super small. I didn't do a whole lot of interviewing a brokerage. You know, when you're in the real estate school, they have people come in and try and sell you. And the main reason I went with the company I went with was because it was a younger guy. I had. I have a baby face now. I had a real baby face then. And one of my greatest fears was, how are people going to take me seriously? I was literally 20 years old, right. And this guy was young, had to put together and I was like, I'm going to go interview that. That company. He happened to be a mile down the road from me. So it just felt serendipitous. So I was like, boom. Rolled with it. Small company, probably 20 agents total.

And.

But they had a really good emphasis on like education. Got it. So Kazi Realty no longer in business. That's where I started. And then I jumped to. I followed one of the co owners of that company to his new company.

Okay.

Stunning Homes Realty. And then I was there for a few years and then I kind of bounced around and I learned quickly in this industry that's somewhat the norm because I think, you know, so why the bounce around, though?

I mean, what were you Looking for.

I think, well, to be fair, so the first company I was with for two years and then I didn't know what I was doing. Right. It was two years in.

Right.

But then I followed one of the co owners and I was there for actually almost six. Six years. So that was a really good stretch. Great company. I think when I left, it was kind of like this. Actually more than anything, it was this intrigue of like, well, what else is out there? I've never really done this searching and interviewing process of brokerages and where and really what makes sense for me, it was always like, oh, these were good leaders. I think that I should just follow in their shadows.

Sure.

They'll steer me. Right. That was all accurate to a degree. And then it was time for me to make decisions for me and my business and like, how do I make sure that I get returns on all the things that I'm building and all the value that I'm bringing to the company.

Right.

Because I was at the point where I was kind of advocating for these companies and there was really no benefit other than I got to bring some people I liked into the ecosystem. Got it. So you asked what was I looking for? Right. I think that was to trace us back. I mean, I think community was always key, of course, because this is a hard business and you do need to have, you know, feedback loops and people to be around to kind of hold accountable as well as make sure you're growing in the right direction, I feel.

Right.

Like it's really easy to get lost in sales and the egos and, you know, the hierarchy that our industry.

Yeah. We can chase a lot of shiny objects in our ecosystem.

Absolutely. So I guess just to add clarity, you were asking what. What was I looking for way before I came to real. Right.

Yeah. I mean, you. You switched a bunch of different brokerages. Right. So it's like every time you switched, what were you not getting at the previous one that you thought you were going to get at the next one? And what did you find out?

Yeah, I think the opportunities that I think were kind of put before me at the. At the initial, you know, kind of consultation evaluation of those companies kind of fell a little flat. Like it wasn't as. As I thought it would be or as it was sold. So I think, you know, once I got in the organization, tried everything on for size, kind of worked through some of the kinks, it just wasn't everything that I was kind of expecting or sold that it would be. So I think I was just looking for, you know, real great, great transparency in where the opportunities lied, as well as what are the upsides and opportunities for somebody like me who believes when I bring my whole client base and network to a company, you know, where are the opportunities for me? Because technically, you know, I could operate my own ship on my own little island. Pretty autonomous at this stage of my business. I got my own platforms, my employees, all these things. I didn't need the printer or the office supplies. The office space is nice, but I don't need it. I can meet people at coffee shops, you know, so.

So in that. So what I'm hearing you say is that when you started in the business, it was kind of like I didn't know enough about it, so I just went, yeah, right. And it felt okay for a little while, and then this happened. Right. But you was never direction. But then when you're later in your career, you start to be the business owner, you start to go, well, what do I want now and what are my options that are out there? So you're doing more of the interviewing process to see what your benefit is going to value there and what you're going to get in return in the energy exchange versus earlier on. I just need to learn the business and figure out how to make a little bit of money. But you weren't too concerned about where you landed at the time, right?

Yeah, no, exactly.

Okay. And then so we ended up at a brokerage together at my home group. Great company. Really long time, I was there and, you know, we moved on. Make a decision. Right. Mine was pretty simple because of my life coach, Kim Ryan, and our relationship, and she had vetted things and I was like, all right, where do I sign up? Right. I'll take. I'll try anything once. Right. And so the way it was presented in the investment side of things and the long term, from a real estate agent and watching somebody whose dad died early on, I'm like, this is an added bonus and just something that I'm still going to do. And the way it broke down, it's like, what do I pay to my previous brokerage and what am I paying here and what am I getting in return from each? And there's a stage in our careers where the brick and mortar, the software, the things, the training, the brokerage support no longer hold the value it once did. And now you're looking for the ROI on the community, the company, the growth, the other things. And I think that's why I made the decision was where am I going next and what are some other levers that are possible. So what was your journey in that? What appeal to you to go to Real Broker when you started having those conversations?

Yeah, I mean, I think to your point, like, you get to a point not to say that this company is always built, only built for the veterans who have, you know, all these things already accessible to them. But you do get to a point where I think you mature enough in the space and you recognize that your value you bring to a company, you know, unlike that, it's. Yeah, like the office space, the office supplies, all those things just, they're not a real value exchange for us as business owners. And so I think that's where I was like, well, how do I. How do I get to the point where I'm then being rewarded for buying into the culture and the community and if people do want to come work with me? I had also gone through, you know, the growth process of, like, trying to build a team. And I was like, oh, that's pretty tough. You can do it. But, like, keeping people and training them is a lot of work. And so I was like, well, how do I align with a company that provides a lot of, like, the training, the education, the ongoing stuff that isn't going to be solely on me to wear that hat. Sure, I can lean on the company to provide a lot of great value and resources, and they can also come align with me and not necessarily have to join my team or I don't have to be their boss, because I think that's the thing I ran into with teams is like, you know, generally we get in this business, a lot of us like freedom, and we. A lot of us have a hard time.

Some of us really like freedom. Really, we forget to do the work part.

Yeah, agreed. So it's tough, and it's tough for us to sometimes answer to people as like, our team leader, our boss. You know, I see value in that. But it is tough for a lot of people within this industry. And so I think it's cool when you can go align with, like, multiple people that are operating at a high level and you don't have to, you know, have this, like, team lead or boss relationship. And so I think that's what I love is that it cultivated that. It cultivated that collaboration, not even just in Arizona, but like some of the top producers in California or Vegas or wherever you. If you want to go tap into them, they're likely teaching something on the platform and you don't have to go join their team or there's not like this expertise, you got to send me referrals if you want my value.

Yep.

And so I, I kind of feel like it was like a lot of the good things from all the different brokerages I'd been at, but now packaged into one. And I think that's what REAL did do well is they, they paid attention over the years to the market and what things were great about exp, what things were great about the smaller brokerage, the local brokerages, what's were great about the, the technology brokerages. And they kind of said, how do we, how do we put them all in one, you know, mold? And 18 months in, I'm, I'm stoked. I still dig it. Obviously they still have to prove themselves for longer, you know.

Sure.

But for now I'm like, this feels like the best formula of all the ones that I've landed on.

Yeah, let's, let's talk about some of the negatives. How important do you feel like when you joined and we're not going to talk about names and things like that because I don't think, I think we're all learning. Right. How important do you think your down, your upline and downline is for supporting that collaboration? Because I know that REAL talks about like we're one company, we're one real, which is true, and we can go into the workspace and we can be connected with other people and find different groups and things, which is great. But I also think there's things where, you know, our up and down lines, you know, as we're having conversations, what is the support going to be provided and do you feel that, you know, and I'm asking for my own benefit, what kind of support would have helped you transition better from one brokerage to the next? I know there's a lot of questions there, so we'll just kind of unpackage that a little bit at a time.

I mean, I think the first thing you said was like, how important is it for like our downline? Upline, these, these terms that were frankly new to me before. I just. This model, like, you know, I'd heard of exp, they had done that pretty well, you know, extremely well. REAL was kind of like, I think an involvement of that, in my opinion. And I think the upline is, I think it's pretty critical because they're generally the person that gets to influence you the most on how the, like the bent, the opportunities within the company. And so if it's not there, the chance of that you succeeding within that company or really Maximizing what they do have to offer is not. You're not getting the most out of it.

Sure.

So, you know, I think it is somewhat critical on who you choose as your. Because the way I was understood is like, it's kind of like your mentor, the person that you decide to hang your license.

That's what it should be considered.

Yeah. So they're not, you know, your boss. They're not financially responsible for you, but they are committing. It's like the. Each one teach one. So we're all kind of committing to the people that come in after us that we're going to help you get the most out of this company, just like we are. And how. And also be a resource without the expectation of, like, you got to join my team.

Yeah.

You know.

Yeah. And I. That's what I'm loving is, you know, my feelings on building teams. I think there's a place for it. I think there's people for it. So far, it's not really my thing, but when I do, you know, talk to other agents about being in the culture but not having to do the splits and the things, there's an exchange of energy there where you can work with that person. Right. Like, I can go and refer somebody else in my network for this, that and the other, or get somebody to do something. And so it builds this collaboration piece. As collaborative as you will be, though. Right. So it depends on how involved and engaged in the community you want to be in all of that. Yeah, I've enjoyed it, being in it. You know, we teach once a month in it. And so those are all the things that I've enjoyed. Let's talk about. Did you do the investment route as far as buying the stocks and all the pieces? Did you take advantage of all those things?

Nope. What I know. So I know I'm kicking myself in the ass, of course, because when. When you were coaching me, you know, we crossed on your investing program.

Right.

You, of course, that was the mindset set you were instilling in me. And you know, just, again, what. Like, if we can really. If we really want, like a company that we can be proud of and we're happy, like, happy to bring people into that network, like, investing in is really one of the best ways to really, like, have ownership and stake in the game and get those rewards. And I think I was of the same mindset. I was pretty skeptical at first just because of my recent, like, I kind of bounced around and through some of my own lack of clarity, but. But I had. I was skeptical I was like, ah. Cause you know, the way I understood is it does have to be vested, you know, for you to be able to pull it. And I was like, I don't know, I think I'll give it a year. See if this company is actually what I think it is before I tie money up. And I don't, I'm not going to really get the returns because what if I have to leave in a year? So that was a lot of my own question marks and I think that was, you know, not giving the model a fair shake. Obviously now seeing what has happened in a year with that stock, I really do wish I would have just taking the leap and not been so scared on that. But I was also going from coming from a model that was so much cheaper to be fair transaction based. And so it seemed like a lot to, you know, have like a cap and then also be giving a portion of that away to stock, which. So I think you have to be in the position where you're willing and able to give away some of that now income for the later reward. Yeah. And I think I was just not sure.

Yeah, I think the thing that I saw on it, which you do need to go back and do that.

Right.

I know part of it is, is just the free money aspect. Right. So if we agree, you know, before our cap to invest 5% of our commission to buy, they're also giving a percentage match towards what we, what we bought. Now that stock that you buy only has to stay vested for 12 months. You have access to your money after 12 months if you did the buy because they are doing some matching. So they do require 12 months. Your stock awards that you're getting are awarded that do have to be vested three years. So I'm coming up on my three years to date. I think there are, I think to date I'm at 38,000 shares in the company with what I've been awarded in my stock and my production and the different things. So it's something that I never would have experienced at my previous brokerage.

Right.

And a lot of people are like, well, what if it goes to zero? This is my only thing. It's really fun to see all the things that are happening. Would I be really upset if I went to zero tomorrow? 100%. Here's what I can tell you though. I would get over it. And I would also know that, you know what, this was the risk that I took. I was going to pay this money into a company one way or another. In real estate, this one Just gave me more upside, never gave me a downside. So that's the way I looked. I'm like, there's zero downside to this because I'm going to pay this one way or another. But I want the upside of if it does happen, this is where it's going to go.

I know. You know, I think you said it. You're like, lightning strikes twice. I want to be there. Right? It's like we're talking about the pre. The. The alternative model of EXP that has ex. That stock exploded. And people that got in early and took the risk got to reap those rewards.

I had a great lunch with Kevin Kaufman and Fred Weaver a couple of weeks ago, Right. They approached me early on on EXP and we laughed about it at lunch. And I left crying because of what they've built and what the levers they pulled. And I'm like, I could have done that, but I also left knowing what's possible. And you know what? The one thing that they said is that the one thing we regret the most is how we explained what this model was early on. He said we didn't do a good job of training people that this is about their real estate business. And if you ever desire to pull these other levers, you can. We were so entrenched on building people that we forgot about the real estate business. It still has to work for your model. Right. Not everybody wants to go from real estate agent to recruiter, right. So when I was here, I'm like, okay, so does it work for my investment space? Does it work for the wholesaling? Right. Does it work for all these things? Can I still pull all my levers? Right. And what I factored in was. Which also works on your end and anybody's doing the investment side. I started factoring in well because of the amount of investments and flips and things that we own. I can also hit my production quicker by paying myself higher commissions because I'm going to get taxed the same. There's nothing that says I can't pay myself more money to sell a house. So I do that to get to my production rewards faster, which I'm getting the stock and the other. So it's just a game in looking at what is truly possible with all that they have to offer. And so those are some of the things. Have you started. Have you started doing any of the agent attraction or talking to agents about it? And how do you feel about that?

Yeah, I mean, it's definitely. Yeah. To be fair, I was. I was Apprehensive because, you know, exp who, you know, has obviously made their name in the industry, made their mark. You know, if you're an agent, you've been hit. Hit by their. Their squads.

Yep.

And some of them do it well and some of them just totally turn you off. Right. Just like anything else. So I'd say, like, I had those people that turned me off in my mind. Kind of like, man, when you really don't want to be sold on a brokerage, it can be super annoying, you know. And so those were limiting beliefs. But what I'd say is pretty quickly, once I got into the ecosystem and I realized, well, I can utilize. I can leverage and utilize my upline and their skills and talents and their resources, as well as what value I believe that I can bring to other agents if they want my help and, you know, basically align all the stars. It became a lot easier because I was like, oh, I don't have to sell them entirely on myself. It's like, well, hey, real has an education platform.

Also.

My. My sponsor, as we call them. Right? That's what we call them.

Right. Yeah, yeah. We. We graduate from real estate agent to a. Yeah.

So my.

My sponsor, you just have to clarify when you tell somebody. So my sponsor, right.

I know they better be in the space or they're going to think look at you sideways. Right.

I'm an R.A. real Estate Anonymous.

So I'd say, yeah, I was apprehensive. But quickly I was like, oh, wait, this is actually what I've been looking for. Because I can now, when I see talent or I see like, you know, another agent that I really vibe with or connect with, I can try and bring them into the equation without being responsible as their team leader. And so that was liberating to me. Once I realized that, I'm like, oh, wow. I've had actually a lot of people that maybe wanted some advice or maybe wanted a little bit of coaching from me on in my own areas of expertise. And I didn't know how to place them because I was like, hey, I'm not hiring a team. I'm not building a team right now. Or I'm actually at capacity, but. But I was like, wait, I can bring these people into my world, still help them take a mentor, coaching type role when they want it, but not have to be their team leader and responsible for all the things that comes with that.

Yeah, you get to coach a little bit. Right. Which I think we're all kind of passionate about sharing and my visual always in My up and down line is a ladder. Right. If I'm here on the ladder, I'm always reaching down to pull you up. And I brought you into my ecosystem because I believe that you also reached out and bring somebody else up. Right. And I know that Kim Ryan is pulling me up. Right. And so I think that's the visual in that ability of helping people. People pull forward. And I think when you do see talent and you're like, hey, why don't you come over here, Let me work with you. You know, you can partner with agents. Right. You can do referral fees. You can co list. You can. And again, it doesn't have to be this team thing where you're giving somebody a bit like, I can work with you until you're ready to just jump out on your own.

Yeah, Right.

Which is awesome because it's. You get to learn from your mentor. You get to do those different things, and it's all different depending on how you want to structure with that person. But it's a great experience where, again, you're not being responsible for somebody. You get to help them succeed and move forward. And it also is rewarding you as well in the long term.

Yeah. No, I mean, it hits on all cylinders when I think when you take advantage of all that. But like you said, the point is you have to be in that space where you want to pull those levers. But at least they're there, you know? At least they're there. If you're just focused on a traditional real estate business and you're not at all in that stage, I'm like, it still is one of the cheaper models that has upside and I would say is just ahead of the curve in the way that they're the vision and the way they're operating their leadership. Yes, it's very.

Oh, God, we can talk about their leadership. I mean, Sharon wasn't there when I started. Sharon is a mega bonus for me. It's like, I definitely landed where I need to and having conversations with the president of the company, getting text messages in the middle of the night from him. Right. Like, I video chatted with him.

Right.

Which was weird, but it's like, super cool. But I also love that he's in the weeds with us every freaking day. Like, when he explained the NIR settlement the other day, it's just amazing to have that leadership. So the more it grows and goes through it, the more confident I am that the decision I made was really good. And now I'm so confident that I am talking to more people. And I do want to bring more people into my ecosystem because there's so many goals and things that I want to share, and it gives me that platform to bring that to fruition and help other people be successful without the whole coaching, trading time for money thing.

Yeah, well, and to your point, like, you've always been a giver with your knowledge and you try to find different conduits. From my perspective of how do I give this to the agents, that's been your mission from the day I met you is like, oh, I, you know, your story with your dad and not. Not passing the torch down in the way that you had hoped. And so, you know, with the education piece, I'm like, this platform rewards people like you that are giving their time. Like, it's not your sole intent to go get on there just so that you can recruit agents, but it's like, hey, I'm going to give either way. Now you guys have a platform. You're giving me eyeballs to share that with, and I can be rewarded, as you should be for the time and energy you put into it. You know, like, that's just a ancillary benefit because you're giving this stuff away. Right? And, you know, so I, I see it as. It's awesome for anybody that has that desire to teach and share and give.

What's also awesome about it, though, is think about this. If you're here and you may be newer in the business, think about either one of us, right? Ten years ago, I didn't have the desire to speak and teach and do the things. You may be coming up on a point in your career where you're like, I have some value to give, and guess what? Your career shifted and evolved, but at least you're at a place that gives you the ability to go, yep, I'm ready to pull that lever and give back now. Right. I'm ready to grow into that, or I'm ready to start doing the investing piece, or I'm ready to start talking to agents about coming over here. And so you start to think like, well, I'm at a place and this is always a question, like, is there a lid on your growth? And I'm not just talking about in your sales, I'm talking about in your life.

Right?

Because you could come to a point, you know, you're what, 33? You come to the point when you're 50 that you're like, you have this great network of agency, you have this great referral business. Some of your referral business is being handled by your network. So you don't have to do the work. You don't have a team. You can operate pretty much solo.

Yeah.

And then maybe you are just helping agents determine which brokers they go to down the road because it's a lever you can pull because of the life that you built.

Yeah. Yeah, that's a great point. I mean, I think it is usually a natural season in a career for most people. You just kind of look back of usually do get to the point where you want to be an educator because you see that it would be selfish to hoard all of this knowledge, especially when a lot of that knowledge has set you free and created a life that you want. You know, So I agree. It's like it's just that that ladder or, you know, that tier is there if you want it when you.

When you choose. Yeah, right. So when you choose to do that, you then have this ability to crush it and create other streams, from education to referrals to, you know, and again, that network, you know, talking about the other stream is just connecting with that network and figuring out where do I create referrals in other parts of the country? Can I. This is one of the big things that I think, you know, when. When Fred and Kevin realized, like the expansion model, remember the Kello Williams expansion model, Multiple market centers and different. And then exp came was like, I can expand into any market this way. So this is also something for the bigger people. Like, you know what, you can structure a team in Vegas with a partner. You can structure your system in Tampa, Florida with a partner. Right. So you can do that if you're that adventurous. Or the other part is you can sell in multiple markets. Right. Some of my. My downline, they have license in multiple markets and they pay one cap.

Yeah.

So when you have licenses in multiple markets, that's fantastic. Right?

Wow.

So that. That was one of the big game changers, because at Keller Williams, they were paying caps in every market.

Oh, yeah.

So it was like a lot of, like I opened up here and I had to pay a cap, and then I opened up here and had to pay a cap. It wasn't a one thing because all of those were franchise opportunities from other people that allowed them to come in and expand their business and their market.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, one thing just popped to my mind. If we can, like, backtrack a little bit. You said kind of where are some of the challenges or, you know, downsides? I think for say, a newer agent, if they're like intrigued by real. Right. I'd say, you know, if you do still need the office space or you do still want some of those traditional kind of, you know, structures or accountability pieces. Because I know for me early on when I was building, my career was so critical. I go in the office every day. But a lot of us seasons people, we can, we kind of are on the, on the move and we also get to the point where we maybe have home offices or that it's easy for us to operate, you know, a little bit more freely. But that was what built my, my work ethic within this business was like, how do I actually create a business that doesn't have a lot of required structure and make it structured every day? And so anyways, real being a tech brokerage that doesn't, they're not focused on brick and mortar.

Yep.

I'd say that is one downside that it would be nice if there was some hubs where they could even further intensify this community element of. Even if it was like just a white labeled real brokerage meeting place hub, I think that would be really neat.

And that's, I mean you bring that up. But here's the cool thing. The opportunity would be for a group of agents to get together and go, you know what, we're going to buy an investment property and we're going to make it an event space and a real hub and blah blah, blah. And it's going to be this long term investment. That's the cool part about the collaboration is like, hey, you know, these are the things where when we had lunch last week, my brain is like a hundred miles down the road at all the things that are possible. And I'm like, I want a real barndominium that has office spaces on one side is a big event space in the middle. Yeah, right. So you start dreaming about things and going, okay, who can help with this? Who wants to collab? Who would use this? Right. So you start thinking like it's an investment property.

Right.

Well, how many agents do I know that have that investment mindset that we can pull money together and go what does this look like? How do we operate this as a business? Right. It's another way of collaboration and talking about, look, that's exactly how we ended up in this office building. You know, I got a buddy, ran his own team, we got together, we bought a building together. He rents one side, I rent the other from us personally. And it's worked flawlessly ever since. Right. Had nothing to do with competition and everything. Do about collaboration.

Right? Yeah. Right.

And we did more business together by doing that.

I mean, that's a great idea.

So there is ways to look at that. So I understand what you're saying about the island. That was one of the reasons I reached out to you is like, hey, dude, we haven't coached, like, what are you doing? Right, let's. Are you still breathing? You look a little pale. Let's get you some sun. Right. So I do think it's important to be intentional if you're here.

Yeah. Agree. Yeah. I mean, I'd say that's the one thing that they can maybe work on is like, when you are new to the company, just making sure that even if it's not your sponsor, you know that they have somebody representing REAL as a whole that's checking in and making sure that you're. You're actually aware of all the different avenues. Because I think that's even like the thing that I'm still learning is like, there's other avenues that I haven't even been fully versed on. I'm like, oh, wow. There's like, there is layers to this and there is other opportunity. Not saying that's where my folks are right now, but like, once that awareness is there, I can start figuring out how do I further, you know, invest into something I maybe have stock in.

Right.

You know, and that I actually believe is a company I'm staying with for the long haul. Yeah. So, yeah, I think that that would be helpful a little bit more of like.

Yeah, there's. There's so much opportunity. And I think that that real's core slogan of work hard, be kind is so amazing in our today culture because, you know, you start thinking about, I go down the rabbit trail of all the ideas that I just don't have time for. Right. But I've seen a lot of the agents doing it.

Right.

You've got collabs from, like, you know, where a really big second home market is, where they're collabing with an agent down here and doing a cross collab on social media. Right. And doing some different things. We're like, hey, we're going to build an ecosystem to feed people.

Yeah. Right.

And that's. That's really what it looks like. And that's. That's kind of the goal in being here is like, well, who can reach.

Out and collab with. Right.

Which is exactly where it brought us to. Right. It's like, hey, I have some great ideas. These are some things.

But.

Cause one of the conversations that we Had, I think is interesting was, well, I built a brand and a thing. I don't want to disrupt your business. I want your business to keep going. But I think there's some internal collaboration or system building that can be beneficial to both of us going forward that doesn't disrupt the business. Right. But there's some other things that we're going to keep talking about. Right. And I think that that's where it kind of becomes fun. Right. It's like the kid stuff, building a clubhouse.

Yeah. I mean, like you said earlier, you gamified it. I mean, you gamified in a lot of ways. And there's. Anything we know about our personality types within this sales space. We like gamify stuff and we like, you know, that just motivates us incentivize.

Yeah. And the thing about it is, like from our early careers, you know, this is where I'm at, like with the newer agents is just to see what's.

Possible.

And to know when it's possible. Right. So there's this path of, hey, if you want to invest, there's a couple of questions I want to ask you. Number one, are you invested in your brokerage? Tell me how that's paying out. Because if you're not, you're not doing the little things that can be done. If you're at real, are you doing the stock thing? Like, those are little. I want to go through and turn on every dripping faucet possible that's putting drops in a bucket.

Right.

And we have that ability here, we have that ability to do it with people that are at the same brokerage. We have the ability to coach and mentor and do. And so that's where I'm like, kid in a candy score, right? It's like, hey, we have opportunity to do all this and when we look at it as an opportunity to impact people on a regular basis and you know, my goal is always like, I gotta get agents to not end up like my dad, even if it's a little bit better, but at least have the mindset because, man, even my dad in his 40s, like I told you, right. We were talking about generationally, our generational is just a little cooler than our parents were. Right. My dad was never had the thought process of the little things that would add up for retirement. And it's these little mind muscles. And I think our industry is terrible at the financial memory part of it.

Yeah. I mean, you. I think about like, you know, I see this and as a ticket to your point, you know, agents who are trying to convince clients to invest in real estate and. But they're not investing first and foremost in their self, their education, their health, their fitness. They don't own investment properties. It's like they just, through you know, assimilation of being around it, they, they, yeah, they think that that's the right move to advise somebody. But I'm like, really, when you flip the mirror around, are you developing these little muscle memories around this investment mindset? Like it's. Investment investing is not just a financial term, I think is what I realized. It's like, it's like you're investing like you're just making sure that your efforts and your, your mind, your body, all these things have a return. And as the return makes sense, you know, and so.

Well, there's just, there's two different returns, right? There's a return on life or return on investment.

Right, right.

Your return on life by spending the time in your health, in your fitness, in your spiritual, in your mind. The return on that is going to show in your income, in your family, in those things. If you're not doing it, it's also going to show up negatively. Right. In your business, same thing. If you're not doing the things that you're supposed to be doing, it's going to show up negative or positive.

Right.

In all of those aspects.

I mean, it's an interesting career field to be in, I would say, because it is so reflective of the way we take care of ourselves and all these things, how you perform. And not to say there's not people that have just figured out their angle and can crush it and not be great people or not be, but I just think more common than not, the general population of, you know, people in the industry, it's pretty reflective of like what they got, how they take care of themselves at home kind of translate to like their productivity and their priorities.

I think we're also, a lot of us are a product of our environment and how we grew up. And we either adapt to it or we go that we run the opposite direction. Right. And I ran the other direction because my, my dad was a workaholic. I think bad to my dad in his 40s, I mean, 20 hours a day, smoked, 100 pounds overweight, all the things he just worked. And part of it was, is my dad loved to work, but more important, he loved to take care of people. Like his problem solving addiction. He would just do it for free. Like the guy should have been a pastor, to be honest with you. Right. And I think that mine was to Run the other way of. I'm not going to allow the business to steal my life. As much as I love all these people, I still have a life that I have to leave live. My dad was trying to make up for so much lost time. And so when I look at my dad passed at 63, I'm 46. The things that I'm doing right now in the brokerage and the little faucets that I'm turning on all make that age completely different, which my dad never had those opportunities.

Yeah.

So, you know, when we look at this, I think it actually, I want to ask you a question. Do you think when we're newer, do you think we don't spend enough time asking and interviewing what this process should look like because we don't know what we want and we make poor decisions going in.

It's tough when you're newer because you, as we've talked about, you don't know what you don't know and where your needs are gonna be, I guess within this industry. But I would say where I think people spend a little bit too much time focused on in that is like, you know, the splits. Is that because, let's be real, no pun intended, not. It's not the cheapest brokerage out there.

Yeah.

Now, if you're looking for the cheapest brokerage, there's transaction fee basis or there's just monthly desk fee. Yeah. But I'm like, there's literally nothing exchanged other than, yeah, you can come in and be under our umbrella, our roof. Right. But so I think it is the key is to focus on.

Who are.

The people you're going to get to be surrounded by. What is that community going to be like to support you through the tough times in this industry? Because we have a lot of them, you know, a lot of different ups and downs, involvements and tough things that are trying to disrupt this. And so I don't know how to, I guess exactly answer that question. But I guess for me the key is just like, you have to just kind of not be focused on like the splits and all these things, but more about like, what are you really, Is it a place where you can see yourself in the long haul and what are you getting out of the that environment? And because you're never giving yourself a chance to even succeed in this business, if you just go to the cheapest place with the wrong environment, you'll end up being ad 100% versus saying, well, who has the best education, who has the best community, who has the best return on my efforts, I don't know.

So would you consider early on to pay more attention to what training you're getting? Your mentor, the time that you're getting, that should be your split, should be considered what you're investing into the company for your on a job training?

Yeah, absolutely. Because you don't have a lot of money to throw in anyways.

You don't have a business when you start. Right. So somebody's gonna pay you on the job, you're gonna have to earn it, but you're gonna pay part of that for the on the job training.

Yeah.

It's always fascinating, right, just to look at those conversations and help you people see things and like, oh, the splits. Yeah. And I do think it just comes down to no matter where you're at in the industry, you need to go through, ask yourself the questions that we talked about earlier. Right. Does it bring you joy? Does it allow you to grow? Is there a cap on my growth? What are the other levers that I can pull down the road? Or is this where I need to be for the next two years? That's what I'm committed to, to learning this part of the business. And then I'll look at the other opportunity opportunities. And I think that is really important in that growth trajectory with people that they take the time to figure out what do I need in the business right now.

Right.

That I can learn and not focus. Do not focus on your branding up front.

Yeah.

Focus on getting in. Getting in front of people. The branding stuff comes later when you have that experience and you know what you want. Because none of us knew what we wanted.

Right.

When I was 20, like you, I'm like, yeah, look at my brand and my cartoon character. And like, pretty soon I'm like, I don't want my face on any. Anything.

Right. No. Yeah. I think those are just like, they're honestly distractions a lot of times.

Yeah.

When you get a little bored, you know, with like the tough part of the businesses, the business. And also, you know, you. There's a little, you know, this is. Business allows the ego to creep pretty easily. You know, you start doing well and you start feeling like, well, I deserve credit for this or that. And I mean, I don't know, I had to go through those and check that at various times and just say, well, does it really matter? Like, you know, because to be frank, the companies I was at before, it never made more business for me. And then once I added a logo, it didn't. If I felt more legitimate, maybe felt A little more rewarding for me to get, you know, that out there, but it didn't give me more business. Now, some people would argue that maybe they're better at branding all that, but like, for me, the logo, all that stuff, it really, what got me more business was, to your point, going to places that really hone my skills. Before I did anything, I just became really freaking good at being a traditional realtor and just first and foremost, just focusing on the person in front of me, you know?

Yeah. It's the businessman before the business plan.

Right.

And there's a lot of skill sets and a lot of things that have to be learned. I can't imagine not having my mom and dad as a mentor in this business. There's no way I would have jumped in this business. Yeah, I want to go sell real estate and go and learn it. I mean, I grew up in it. Right. So it's a little different. Yeah, I think it's really important for people to just look at, you know, who, who they're surrounded with. Right. That your network, you know, equals your net worth. And I think that's one thing is where the agents are going to need to have more spaces that they can collab together and more conversations, some in person, some online.

Right.

But it just kind of keeps that movement flowing in that. Yeah, I think it also keeps the ideas flowing.

Right. Yeah, couldn't agree more.

So, you know, like, nothing happens at home if you're not talking to people. I mean, you know, the ideas don't happen, the sparks don't happen. So yeah, you do have to be intentional when you come to a cloud based brokerage of who you're going to surround yourself with. And I think that was the original question is, you know, how important is that when you come to cloud based of who you're surrounding yourself, who your upline downline is and who's going to support you and getting you plugged into, all the places you need to be plugged into.

Yeah, for sure.

Because I think some people approach this a little bit differently, which is like, oh, you're breathing, dude, you should be here. And you're like, thanks for coming. And then they're like, well, now what? And I've kind of approached a little bit different is that I want to build this on a one by one basis and I want people to really understand what they're doing and why they're doing it.

Right.

Because if they understand why, it creates a whole nother level of excitement rather than having this scared of, like, I really don't know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. Because I believe that if we would have sat down and explained some of the stocks, some of the different things because of my investment mindset, you would have had no problems checking those boxes.

Yeah. It was just a lack of like a. I didn't have full comprehension of it.

Right.

Yeah.

And that's, that's okay. So it's, it's one of those things like we're going through and changing that experience. When I talk to agents because I want them to see like these are the real. We're not just. We want to get the business working.

Yeah.

But that's not the only reason. There's these other things that are all the benefits that we want to take advantage of pulling, even if there's no effort in them. Right. And the stock thing is zero effort. It's just living on 5% less for a little while.

Right. Yeah. Which, let's be real, we all need those measures in our lives anyways because it's not, you know, it's not a system. You know, we find other ways to spend it, usually not productively.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It ends up with more cars in the garage and. Right. With more tires and it's like dollar cost averaging.

Right. That's why they, they encourage that because, like, if it's on automation and it's just happening, you don't really have a choice. That's your best chance to success with it. If left our own temptation or advices like, we probably won't do it. Yeah. You know, and I, and I get that, like It's. Yeah, yeah.

100%. Dude, this was such a good conversation. Congratulations on almost two years and your success in 13 years. And I think we got some good stuff. Yeah. There's going to be some fun collaboration stuff. So stay tuned. Follow me on Instagram. Steve D. Valentine. Trevor, where are you at?

On Instagram, Trev Bradley.

All right. And if you want to talk about real brokers, the links below would love to have that conversation, help you make some decisions. Maybe real brokerage isn't for you and maybe you don't know that, but we're going to break that down and see what's best and try to connect you with the right people. Peace out. Till next time.