https://www.listennotes.com/e/20f7802662374bdab07293f276b52cf5

Okay, see, you can hold me down, but you can't get rid of me. I'm just saying, okay? So listen. So I don't know where I left off, but the moral of the story is don't worry about the person with all the certifications and the designation. And you look at them, be like, they're not doing any business. That's because they're just going to be entertained, right? Education without action is just entertainment. They have it all. They're just entertained and they're not applying that action. So if you, as you know, the trained realtor is going to go take those classes. Now put that into action and actually demonstrate that knowledge and demonstrate how that sets you apart from the competitors that go up for those listings or buyers.

Welcome to the Leading Lane podcast for real estate pros by real estate pros with your hosts, Ashley Frederick and Stephen Burch. If you're looking for an honest, authentic and raw perspective You found it.

Welcome, everyone, back to our Leading Lane podcast. And today we are very excited to have a special guest, my friend Ant, who I actually met at a Lee Brown speaker boot camp. Is it like four years ago now, maybe? I don't know where the time has gone. Right, it flies. But Ant is joining us. He's doing a lot of amazing things, has a fantastic background. Doing some teaching, some mentoring, some speaking, all kinds of great things. So we thought that it'd be a great opportunity to have you come on, tell us a little bit about what you're doing and just see where we go.

Yeah, thank you for having me. I definitely appreciate it. And attending that Lee Brown Speaker Bootcamp changed my life in more than one ways and created opportunities that I never thought I would have. So here I am on your podcast, like, oh, wow.

Yeah, we're excited to have you.

Thank you.

So tell us a little bit about.

Oh go ahead, students.

I'm gonna interrupt. I don't know anything about, I've never met Ant. I'm excited to have you. I appreciate you being here. Ashley has spoken extremely highly of you and I appreciate you taking the time to be here with us. So I'm so stoked to hear your story and yeah, then I'll shut up. You know how to say something at first.

So yeah, it's pleasure to meet you, Steven, and I look forward to connecting with you and just, you know, again, building the same kind of relationship that I have with Ashley, although she will always be number one. But, you know, I look forward to building that relationship.

Steven already knows that.

And we're not competitive at all here.

Not at all.

Perfect. So go ahead and give me a rundown of your your story. Who are you?

Okay. That's, you know, do we, is this the Oprah Winfrey Show? Do we have time for an Oprah moment? Just kidding. But no, my name is Ann Stratton. I always tell people I am the hot mess who found success. And I just believe in, you know, trying to come from a place of authenticity. And where that stemmed from was just my past, right? We all have one. So I don't know why we always try to hide it in a sense. And we always, you know, try to, throw that, those skeletons in the closet when sometimes, you know, skeletons want to come out and party too, you know? So let's just have a good time and be who we truly are so that way we're not building these fake relationships. And specifically in our industry, you know, it's all about, you know, it's realtor about being real, right? We have to come from a genuine place of heart. So I started, I'm 16 years in the United States Navy. I did nine years active duty. I currently am in my seventh year as a reservist. And so I have three more years to retirement. so that's kind of my professional start, although I did some stuff before that. And then I went really broke back in 2016 and really in debt. And I had just bought, like, our house, and it was, like, two years into it. My wife just had a kid, and she was pregnant again. You know, at six months old, my son was six months old, and she's like, babe, can you go get his blanket from the crib? And there was another positive pregnancy test. So now I have another baby on the way, and, yeah. and so my realtor at the time, you know, I was like, Hey, I can't afford anything in life, like how, you know, and she was just there to listen to me. She always was a part of my life even after the transaction. And so she was the one who was like, Hey, I think you would be an amazing realtor. You can work as hard as you want and reap the benefits of that, plus the way you care about people, you'll just be an amazing realtor. And so I trusted her and I was like, Peace out, Navy, and that started my real estate journey. so that's the beginning and then I don't know where you wanna go from there, but that's how I got started in real estate.

It's funny 'cause my realtor at the time is also how I got into real estate. So my realtor, I thought I wasn't happy where I was, also said, I think you'd be great at real estate. And here we are and he's in my office and it's just a full circle. So thank you for your service, obviously, with the Navy. You know, Stephen is actually located in a military town. So they do a ton of military in Kansas, relocation, all that type of stuff. Oh, nice. As far as the Navy is concerned, two questions with that. One, how do you think that some of that experience has played into real estate? But also, I think there are a lot of people that are kind of looking to move from service to something else and don't know how to make that transition. So any suggestions you'd have for that?

Yeah, definitely. So first up, I think that in the Navy, we're stuck there. Like you sign a contract and I don't care really what happens unless, you know, it's serious. Like you're going to work every day. You don't get to put in your two weeks notice. Like you have to be there and there's certain mission requirements we have to do. And so it doesn't matter how you feel about somebody you're working with because we don't always get along and we fight, like physically fight too, you know, like it's just, We fight and guess what? The mission has to go on. So I think that being a realtor, like as far as I'm concerned, you know, we're transaction brokers, we're presumed transaction brokers here in Florida. So I don't care how I feel about what the buyer or the seller said. I don't care how that realtor may or may not know anything and I have to extend grace or even do the dang job just to get to the closing table. But like at the end of the day, we need to put people into these homes and or help them sell their home. So whatever we bring in the process of that, we're gonna get to that table. And I take that with me and I learned that from the military aspect. And now I just refine it to where I don't get charged with anything. So I say it nicer, but you guys make it work. So that's kind of what I took from that with the Navy thing. And then the second question was, oh, transitioning. So my first broker, he actually was in the service for a little bit, just did four years, and he me when I got on, he's like, I usually, you know, veterans have a hard time. And I was like, why does, why, why do you say that? You know, we're really hard workers. He's like, yes, hard working, but do you have the initiative to do what's not being told or to do what's not being forced? Again, in the military, everything's forced. You have to do what the chain of command says. Well, in real estate, you got to get up and you got to make those phone calls. You got to get up and you have to send those emails in a timely manner otherwise, deadlines missed and stuff like that. So you have to really self-regulate where in the military, somebody's regulating you. So for anybody who's thinking about transitioning and making that transition, it starts with you, your core, your why. You always hear about your why, but it really does. You have to motivate yourself. There's nobody going to be there screaming in your ear to do 50 more push-ups right? So you, that's what I would recommend to people. I mean, there's a slew of things, but. The core of it all has to be, you have to regulate yourself. And honestly, and I don't want to make it sound about money, but if you financially don't need to do this, it's going to be harder for you because you're always going to think, I don't need to do this. And you can go do something else. But the grind comes when this is what you have. You have to make this work. So just those two things I would keep in mind for transitioning members.

So have a question. You obviously structure in the service, right? Like you've already identified that and you have go to almost a complete opposite of the spectrum of the complete flexibility. So really my question is what would you tell somebody? Yes, it's core, like you have to find it within, but how do you continue to hold yourself accountable is the one aspect of that. But the follow up with that too is in the service, everything is black white, right? It's yes, no. And I don't know about in real estate in Florida, but real estate in Kansas is not so black white. There's so much gray area. How do you transition to that mindset of getting out of that? Like, everything's not what it is, you know, on the contract.

Definitely. I think with the Navy, we kind of go to our a school and our C schools. That's when we, those, like, I do a medical, so I do everything that's medical. So I learned how to do medical stuff in the very beginning. And then we have refresher courses throughout. So but that's where you get your foundation from. So for those of us who are transitioning and it's not the black and the white as it is as it says, yes, it's on paper black and white, but there's a lot of waivers, there's a lot of options, you know, and it's our job as the professionals. Our job is not to say, yes, you can do this or no, you can't do this. Our job is to say, here are your options. What do you want to do?

Right?

So it's important as a realtor to understand all your options. And that comes with education, right? That comes with the competence which will then build your confidence. So I would highly recommend that, yes, it comes from you, but you just have to want to set up that time management schedule. You have to want to go seek the education you need. Luckily, before I left the military, I had two years still on active duty. So I really wasn't worried who's paying my bills. Granted, the Navy still wasn't paying my bills, but I focused on education because I knew the day would come where the Navy was no longer giving me any money. And I did, I wanted to make sure I was competent enough to succeed and build my confidence to go out there and say, Hey, let's do this. Can I help you buy or sell whatever, you know, or just how can I help? So I really think if you seek time management calendars and schedules and stick to that and understand working on your business versus working in your business, and then you'll be good to go.

And then, Ann, did you have a mentor in real estate fairly soon?

Oh, I was very spoiled. I'm not gonna lie. Like, I think that that set me up for Success so much faster. But, yes, I did not go into this thing. I'm gonna do this. I know everything. I went into this saying, I know nothing. Let me see where the people are who know some things. Right. And even if it was fake until you make it, well, you're looking good, so let me follow you.

Right.

So I think that Finding those mentors on different avenues, right? So when I wanted to be a top producer, I have and had a mentor who was to help me become a top producer. And by the way, I want to tell the word out there. Don't get hung up on that top producer word, okay? Just like statistics and data, you can spin it till you want, okay? So don't focus on that, right? But that's all I knew. I wanted to be a top producer. So I found a top producer mentor, right? And then when it was time for me to level up, I found that next mentor. So I had several mentors. You know, I talked to Lee Brown all the time when I have something something going on that is related to, like, speaking or Keno speaking or facilitating the bar camps and all that stuff. I do all that. So when I, she's my Mentor for that, right? Even you, Ashley and Crystal, like, I reach out to y'all a couple times and say, like, hey, this, this. So I think finding that Mentor is going to be crucial. And you need to understand, do you want to Mentor or do you want to coach? Because they're very two different things. And I didn't want a coach. That's not what I wanted. I didn't want somebody to keep me accountable. I wanted to to throw my ideas at somebody and then just get feedback and then run with that. So understand what you want because a coach is gonna tell you what to do. They're gonna hold you accountable. You have to answer to them in a sense. And obviously coming from military, I was like, I don't answer to nobody right now. I just want the information and go with it. So yes, I did and I would preach that no matter what level you are, you always have a mentor and a coach if that's what you were looking for along the way.

So just met you. Your energy is wild, right? It's contagious. It is great.

How can you not just be like, how can you just not be attracted to them? We just were, like, attracted to nation.

So that obviously has to help you in this industry of being, you know, setting yourself apart from the competition. Do you feel that? Not do you feel what other qualities do you feel that you can set yourself aside from your competition? and how can others mirror or mimic what you're doing as well?

Yeah, so I have a love-hate relationship with people who say this, but they're always like, the alphabet soup, right? It bothers the soul out of me because I always give this analogy. And for those of you who are watching, you don't know alphabet soup, it's the designations and certifications, like, oh, I don't need that. That's just nobody cares about that. The consumer doesn't know that. And it bothers me because you're assuming the consumer is stupid. And as you can, It is what it is, okay? That's what you're saying, whether you wanna believe it or not. So I always give this analogy. Like if you, you know, I come from the hood, you know what I'm saying? And if, you know, if I got shot, you know, you know what I'm saying? So I gotta go to the hospital. So if I'm laying there on the lobby floor bleeding out and a CNA runs up to me, she's like, I can perform surgery on you. I'm good to go. Would you let a CNA perform surgery on you? And the answer is no, because we all know a CNA is a certified nursing assistant. Then an RN runs up to you and she's like, I'm an RN, I can perform surgery on you. Like I can do it, I can do it right. And you're not gonna let an RN perform surgery on you either, 'cause they're not a surgeon, right? But if an MD runs up to you and I'm assuming an MD is a, you know, I know they're a doctor, but I don't know whatever their acronym is. I just know it's a doctor, right? So they're like, hey, I'm a surgical doctor, I'm an MD. I'm like, oh good, because we know MD means medical doctor. So you're telling me that the medical field has controlled their narrative and has allowed the consumers to know what their acronyms are. But us as realtors, we think they're too stupid to understand what a CRS agent is, what a SRS agent is, what an ABR agent is. No, that's laziness on our part. And we're the ones that are allowing that narrative to control. So everybody says, ant, I can't do it like you do it. I can't, I'm not asking you to. And I don't want you to, trust me. If there was more ants in the world, it'd be a crazy place, okay? Craziness, okay? So what I tell people is just be your authentic self. But again, competence builds confidence. And you get the competence from the education. So go get your SRS, go get your ABR. And when you do it, Talk about it in your consultations. Talk about CRS, which is a certified residential specialist, which is my number one favorite. So we'll get there later, hopefully one day or land anyways. But yeah, so just talk about your education, which would build your confidence. And then that way nobody questions you whether you do one deal, two deals, five thousand deals, you know, doesn't matter because you are confident, because you have the competence and you get that from education by earning your designations and certifications. Okay, I'm off the high horse.

Back to you. I can't agree more on the education piece. You know, I think that we, we have a director of training here in our office, which we talk about a lot, and he does weekly training with all of our agents. And what I tell people is that my newbie agents that are like two or three years into the business are correcting 25 year agents, right? So when people say like, I'm new in the business, I can't do it, et cetera, I think you're right. It's the competence. equals the confidence. If you go into these listing presentations or these buyer consults and you have ran the script, you've talked, you've talked about what can be things that come up. Like that's how you win listings. It's how you win buyers is by pouring all of yourself into the knowledge to make you that confident.

Absolutely. Stating facts.

You know, and I think you made a fantastic point. Like, and I, Ashley and I are laughing. I don't know if you read my email this morning. Okay. And I used the It's phrase alphabet soup.

He literally used it in any conversation.

How did you see it? But I think the difference of my, I do agree on every single thing, every aspect you said. I do believe in education. I do believe in the designations and the certifications. I think that there are two sides to this though. There are the people that go and just go to the class and get it, but never truly apply that into their daily practice and don't sell, right? and then there are other people that you actually see them implement it like yourself and run with it. I believe in the designations and certifications so much that with Leading Lane, we're a provider under the CRD. So that I'm 100% on board with that. I just think it's funny that you brought that up today. So believe in it, yes.

And for sure. You see those people, well, two things. When Ashley mentioned those 15-25 year you know, agents, whatever, when they tell me, oh, I've been in the business 25 years, I was like, okay, when's the last time you took a contract class?

Right?

Right. Like, I don't care how long you've been in, when's the next time you took a contract class? Because they change all the time. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, clearly, because you ain't been to a contract class. So I do agree with you on that, Ashley. And then for, you know, for those, the people who go out there and you see them and they go to every single designation and every single, you know, certification class there is, they don't pay them no mind anyway because they're not doing business, so they're not even on your level. Right. So what I'm asking you to do is take that knowledge and apply buy it. Okay, see? You can hold me down, but you can't get rid of me. I'm just saying. Okay, so listen. So I don't know where I left off, but the moral story is, don't worry about the person with all the certifications in the designation. You look at them, be like, they're not doing any business. That's because they're just going to be entertained.

Right?

Education without action is just entertainment. They have it all. They're just entertained, and they're not applying that action. So if you, as you know, the trained realtor is going to go take those classes now, put that into action and actually demonstrate that knowledge and demonstrate how that that sets you apart from the competitors that go up for those listings or buyers.

Well said. Like that should legitimize the face of Marshall right there.

Yeah, we're gonna cut that little piece out for our reels for sure.

Sounds good.

And obviously I work with, you met Ben, I work with Ben obviously not in real estate but basically between us.

We love Ben.

Yeah, he's a handful. Steven also worked with his husband as well. And then Aunt, you recently joined your wife or had your wife join your team. So tell us what kind of got you to that and what that's looked like.

Absolutely. So I am so proud of my wife. I love her to pieces. And I will tell you like relate, and I've been married for 15 years. So like relationships, you know, everybody knows they have been flowing everything, but watching her through this process of obtaining her real estate license just like, raise the, I don't know what the love, I guess. I don't know. It just, you know, it just put a whole new, like, light in my eyes, right? So I'm so proud of her and everything she's accomplished, 'cause that's her story to tell. But it, I'm very proud of her. So how we got to that point was I, you know, I teach ABR, S.R. Like, I teach all the time, right? And so I got to the point where I was being asked to keynote speech, to MC, to teach, and it was just pulling me away from the city. Um, where I service and I, I am not a commission chaser. I am a service provider. And so when I felt like the service I was providing was almost half-ass in a sense, I don't like that because that's my name, that's my reputation. And honestly, I believe the consumer deserves a full-time realtor and I am a full-time realtor, but I, I'm also the speaker and instructor. So I didn't like that. So what I started doing was I started in my brokerage, like, Hey, let's partner here, let's, but just randomly giving them all out. and I looked at my wife and I looked at my bank account and I was like, I'm not liking this too much. So here's what's up. How do you feel about getting your license? And so it was perfect timing because she wanted to stay at home with our kids. And that was one thing we talked about because we were very much a broke two-income household before we had kids. And then when we did bring the kids on, she felt some kind of way by dropping them off at daycare. And I said, you know what? My whole thing is not about regrets and I feel like if anything would ever happen you would regret dropping them off and not creating that those moments with them and I would never want that for you so it's up to you if you want to stop working I'll figure it out. I'll take on two jobs like I did it whatever I needed to do for my wife to have the experience she needed with our children and so she decided to be a stay-at-home parent until they were in kindergarten so my daughter just went to kindergarten this year so that is the whole transition and worked out perfectly and so literally she was calling me this morning. She's like, okay, so we she did her she got somebody under contract last night for the first buyer She got them under contract yesterday and so I'm walking her through the steps and everything. So it's great. And that's how it all came about. My bank account was low. My wife put both their kids back in school, so she wanted to do something. And honestly, I just love, when I would refer out, I would not want to step on that agent's toes, even though they were not doing anything wrong. It's just a different process. And obviously, you can see I'm a very, when people call me, they're like, We want Aunt Annie. Everybody wants Aunt Annie, right? So how do you partner with somebody who's not Aunt Annie? And it's more acceptable if it's my wife, because we're complete opposites, so they'll deal, you know, they're fine with me. my wife because of my wife. But when they get other agents who aren't liking it, I just, you know, that's why she joined. So I will leave it there. But they were great. Everybody, all the agents, they did what they did. You know, they were good.

Do you, do you find, I mean, I know it's early on ish, right? How do you like, what kind of. suggestions do you have for other people that do work with their spouse or their significant other on, you know, in real estate or in other industries? Like, you are very powerful and you know exactly the way you want things. So how do you make sure that you don't cross that line in the delivery to then affect the personal side of things?

So lucky for me, me and my wife are complete opposites. I'm, you know, the Limelight is me. when it needs to be, right? And then my wife is not that at all. So I think understanding who you are, and this really comes into play, don't try to hold your spouse to the level of what you do. And that's just in life, right? Like, I clean the dishes one way, she cleans the dishes one way, you know? So you can't expect it to be even. So what we did was, hey, what excites you about this industry? What excites you about this job? Because she doesn't really know everything yet. So I'm like, what are you excited to do? So she'll tell me. And so her roles fall more with the detailed contracts, supporting roles. You know, she still shows houses and stuff, but, you know, my job is the lovey, feely, energy, get them excited to be part of the family, because my tagline is always family, never customers. So I don't ever call them clients or customers. They're always family members to me. So that's my job, right? You know, Maya Angelo always said her favorite quote is, well, not her favorite quote, my favorite quote by her is, it doesn't matter what you say, it doesn't matter what you did, but it matters how you feel. That's what they remember in something of that sense. And so I always just remember, okay, I messed up. You know, I didn't get to that appointment on time or I forgot to send that email, but I step up, I own it, and I make them feel like I will do better, and I make them feel like we're still in this together. And so it's okay, we get through the transaction. I'm not worried if I mess up, they're gonna fire me. No, because we're we create that energy. So I take the energy and all that and my wife comes back with the support and we got a whole team going. So understanding what the strengths are of your spouse and knowing that they're not you and playing that that would really help spouses.

I think that's a really good point as far as I think, you know, the three of us are obviously high performers, high producers, you know, high impact, right? And I think with spouses, I think all of us are our spouses are somewhat opposite of who we are. and it's hard not to hold them to those same expectations of the way that you do it. But it is just a matter of as long as you like, I think we said it's, it's done, not necessarily perfect, as long as it's done, right? So, like, trying to get to that point of maybe it didn't get done the way you wanted done, but it was still done and it will suffice. So I think you make a great point there. The funny thing is my, like, with.

My wife learning, she's like, okay, what do I say? So I'm literally telling her what to say in a text. But of course, I'm like, yeah, tell them like, fix this and like, it was great, you know, thanks, see you later, bye, bye love, you know, bye boo. And Mars is like, no, we're not saying that. And I'm like, okay. Hey, say it all you want to say it, you know, so that's just funny.

So I'm gonna go back to your personality for a second. Like, do you feel that, or are you this energy 24/7?

No, not at all. Not even the slightest.

When did you learn or did you learn of when the. I call it like the stage light, right? The stage light comes on and then when to flip it off. Have you, have you learned that aspect?

Yes, absolutely. Like I said, like I just, like, I've been up since 4 30 this morning because I had to drive because I'm teaching as soon as I jump off this and I to drive here. So I've been up since 4 30 this morning, right? So that was, I don't know, six hours ago or something like that, right? Internally, I'm dying, you know? But again, we have a job to do. You asked me to be on your podcast and I'm not gonna be like, yeah, you know, so, you know, and also, I think what you guys are asking me and where your platform lies, that's my fuel, right? So when I jump on here, yes, I was tired a second ago, but this is fueling me. because I know where this is reaching and who it's reaching and the benefit it's reaching to. Right. So I think when you find your strengths, your strengths, your strengths, it, it comes naturally. But I will tell you, there are times when, because, again, people come to ant and they want ant. And if I have a down day, even if I just, like, need my charging, like, something's wrong and it brings the entire mood down. And so I learned that my I impact people in that way. And it's because they care about me, right? That they care about me and what's wrong with you. So now they want to focus on me because I do focus on a lot of people sometimes. So I learned that, yes, I need to be charged, but there's a moment for that. And it's not that moment now. So I know how to push it from me and push it out of me, in a sense.

And, I mean, kudos to you, because I think that people see the energy, they see the, you know, the the externals of everything and they always, oh my God, like always on, always doing this, always, but not realizing that we do need that recharge, right? I call it potency. You need to show up and I need to, when I'm not showing up, I'm going to be very potent, I'm going to be very powerful. And then when I turn the light off, like, I'm going to go crawl back into bed and take a nap maybe, right? And that's okay and it's realizing that.

So I appreciate you sharing that. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. So, and I remember when we were in class and I pulled up your social media page and I was like, so when's the last time you posted on social media and you're like, oh, like social media is nothing. I don't need to be posting on social media. And then I feel like shortly after that things might have changed. So talk to us a little bit about, like, content and what that has meant for you and what you're enjoying or what you're seeing.

Yeah, definitely.

So.

I have a really big referral network. So, what I kind of realized quickly is I had brought a group on, you know, and so then I have to post more and social media is the first stop. It's the first, you know, selling point of view. But also, like, this can be a very lonely life. Like, we're constantly working with transactions and then that's done and now we're on the other person. Take necessary time for ourselves. And people want to follow, they're trying to call you and I'm like, Hey, I gotta negotiate a deal. So I realized that social media was a way for me to still connect with people on a personal level and just keep them involved with my life so I could get my time back from those phone calls and all that stuff. So I did transition into social media and then even with social media, I volunteer a lot. I sit on my local board, state board, all that stuff. I'm that one. And so I post about that. People are like, well, people are thinking you're not going to sell real estate, right? So I was doing a buyer consultation one time and they said, I see you on social media, but I see you like you're away a lot or you're doing things a lot and you're doing all this stuff. And I said, oh, thanks for stalking me. I appreciate that. That tells me you're a serious buyer and you still gave me the interview. So thank you, right? So I said, Can I ask you a question? When you said you're interested in, you know, purchasing them, I said, We need to do a consultation. What was the next words I said? And he said, he started to think about it and he was like, what day works for you? I said, and when you told me what day works for you, did I have any issues with that date? And he said, no, we booked it. I said, Exactly, because you matter to me. And so, yes, I am busy with other things and yes, I do other things, but when you call me, how can I help you? Does that day work? And I didn't give you another date. And he was like, ah, very true, right? So again, what we portray on social media might not always be, or you might think, Somebody interprets it a different way. But again, what does your action say? And because my action said, you told me the day I made time, right? So, no, I'm not too busy for you. You are my priority, right? So I think when our actions match social media, when the matches our words, you know, it all just becomes a big picture. And I will also tell you, for agents who are listening that are trying to level up, and you know, once you work on your sphere, now you need to work on your agent sphere, right? How do we get those referrals? And by me being a part of the associations and the councils and going to something like Lee Brown Speaker Bootcamp, it connects me with agents agents all across the country. And that brings in, you know, Revenue. And what I will tell people is that I've gotten more calls from agents saying, should they be an agent? And then, or what brokerage should they go to? Or in other states, like, hey, I know you're in Florida, but I'm in Seattle. Like, what? I see you are this in, in the industry. What should I do? So again, just because I'm not posting the just sold in one day or just closed in one day, all that bull junkie junkie. You know, people see value in what you do. So I'll shut up now.

No, no, this is great. I think a huge perspective, like, and people think that we're too busy and we've talked about this multiple times. And, you know, perception is reality sometimes, but I think it is putting that reality in check and calling it what it is versus just allowing it to slide. and I think another thing, too, that earlier when you were talking, you were talking that, you know, you're not really, you felt as you were doing these other things within the industry, you're no longer, quote unquote, a full-time realtor. And I was going to challenge you and come back to that. And this is just a great segue for it is really. I, I don't, you are a full-time you're probably double time, right? You're probably triple time of a, truly a realtor. And so my challenge to you is changing your terminology that you instead of calling it time, are you committed or are you a non-committed agent? And to me, you are an extremely committed man in this industry that loves this industry and loves to service for people and making sure that you're the best one for them and the team is the best one there to be able to service properly for your clients and customers, your family. And so I think it's just making sure that saying these different things and how we say things and how we structure things and making sure that we portray it to our client, our families that are out there that we're trying to help is a totally different wave dynamic and how you can control the narrative a little bit better to win more deals and to help more people.

I love that. Goosebumps, as we say in Hawaiian, we say chicken skin. so, you know, that was awesome.

Yeah. I mean, you make a. It's a, you know, it's interesting. Like, there's this battle with social media, right? And these algorithms are changing all the time. But, you know, I talk about, like, just repetition so that people. It's just awareness, right? Like, at the top of mind, so that they see that you're out and that you're doing things so that when that time does come, you're seen as the expert. But I did actually do, like, a clip maybe, like, six months ago about. how I hate when people say like, well, I didn't call you because I thought you were too busy. And it's like it nails on a chalkboard for me. And, you know, I think it is about perception. And, you know, there's 24 hours in a day. We all choose how we spend those differently. But I also feel like those of us that are going to national conventions, that are going to training, they're going to boot camps, you know, Lee Brown, whatever that might be like, we're trying to change the narrative of what real estate looks like. And we can't do that sitting behind a desk in our hometown. So I think by portraying that that's the case, I think other people will start to understand. And as long as you said, I mean, like, yeah, we might be away for, you know, three or four days, but guess what? I'm still responding to every single text message. I'm hopping out on breaks to make phone calls. We have teams here in place to help out when we can't. So I think that as long as you can have those conversations like you did with that client that was very clear to them, like, I showed up when you wanted me to show up. I think that that will help show people that there is a balance that we can have.

Definitely. And I think that realtors need to understand there's a difference between a top producer and there's a difference between an industry leader. I was doing a keynote one time for an association and I was like, all right, where are all my industry leaders at? And they were like, right here, yeah. Yeah, mm-. I said, okay, great. I said, okay. So if you've never stepped foot in your association and never volunteered on a committee, task force or anything, put your hand down. And then like, they dropped. And I said, you know, if you've never went to a convention or anything like they dropped. And I said, you guys can be top producers selling millions and millions of dollars. And that is great. Like that is how we pay our bills. But you are not an industry leader if you're not participating in your associations, if you're not going to these conventions because that is where the industry is being changed. Our forms are changed there, our ethics are changed there, the rules we have changed there, all that happens at the industry level in the association. So yes, I always tell people like be a top producer, pay your bills, but don't let somebody else dictate your business. Be the one at the table, change your industry and be that person. So I always try to differentiate between an industry leader and a top producer and neither one is bad. but again, somebody's going to change your business. Don't you want to say on how that's done?

Well, I think you make a great point with all the changes that have happened in real estate in the last 12 months. Right. So much fun between, you know, buyer compensation and between clear cooperation. You know, it's been had. We've had to have those discussions at Association levels and at local levels and even in your, your city and you know, we always talk about how still in our market, there are people that do not understand what happened on August 17th. They don't understand clear cooperation, but they're out practicing every day. And then it falls on us, you know, right? Like, I try to teach other brokers. I try to teach other agents when I get a, an offer, I'm like, so you can't do that, you know, and like, you try to explain it to them. So, you know, it's still, you know, it's opening yourself up to that education and, you know, even webinars that your Association might offer or your franchise or anything like that. It goes back to the education piece that you're talking about. And really, to be industry leaders, it's, you know, not just your local Association, it's throughout, you know, the US, because there's so many people, like you mentioned, it's just you can meet one person that can change the trajectory of what you're doing by just getting outside of what you're seeing every day or learning a new way. Like, I never thought about it that way. Right. So by always wanting more or always looking for different people to fill in those gaps is where you can really start to change your industry at, at your local level and National levels.

Absolutely. And if I could give any advice to any realtor about, you know, the clear cooperation and compensation, just stop calling the listing agent and asking them. is their compensation. Does not matter. I do not care. Do what you got to do, handle your business, put your professional fee where you got to put it. Listing agent, the seller, nothing to do with it. Put it where you need to put it and go from there. So stop calling them. Thanks.

Well, I don't know if you guys saw there was a recent article out that said something about like buyer's agent commissions didn't actually decrease with with the, you know, with regulations. And I say that that's true here. Like, we're making, you know, more on transactions as buyers agents because it wasn't negotiable before. We were stuck with whatever the selling agent ended up offering us. So when you do have the ability to articulate your value, that is where you can really make gains. You know, Steven has a great presentation about, you know, how you can change your income by half percentages or just the way that you're, you know, negotiating and I think you're right. If people would just focus on how they practice business, they wouldn't have to worry about all of that. They would just know that they know what they're doing. Their clients are going to take care of them and get us to the closing table.

Absolutely.

So what's next for you? What are you working on? What's the big picture? What are you asking? Tell me more.

So I I like to say I come from a place of abundance. And I started a company called Agent From Abundance. And Ashley was at the table when I actually came up with the entire thing. So I give her and Crystal and then like love them to pieces because they helped me do that. And there's a funny story, but I'm not sure it's fit for camera. But you know, when we made up Savo, we'll give you the story. So my company, Agent From Abundance, is not a brokerage. That is not my calling under any circumstances. It is an education resource tool provider in a sense. And so what we are launching with very, very soon, I'm super excited, we preach professionalism, right? So what does that look like? We're in a profession. There's so many realtors out there that don't even have a resume. They don't even know how to write a resume, right? So I created a class that I stole, of course, from another person who had a resume. And I was like, oh, I like that resume. I'm gonna steal it and now I'm just gonna make a class about it. So I go to different brokerages and stuff like that teaching about resumes. With Agent From Abundance, we have a tool that will help you build your resume. We also, bios are really important because again, it's all about how we can be more personal with those that we serve and personalize it to them. So I have a bio builder that is incorporated with AI and we ask you specific questions. And then the last two questions are, is this for a buyer? Is this for a seller? Because again, your bio should tailor to that person. So now we tailor it to a buyer or seller and then tell me about the client, the family member, the customer. are they luxury, are they military, are they first time, all that stuff. Put as much that you know about these family members of yours, put it in there, and then we generate a bio and you can print that off and put it in your consultation packets. Also, if you're doing it for a website, tell it what website it is. The AI will track whatever algorithm it has and try to create keywords and all that stuff, and you can post it to your website. So we do that. We also have a transaction Tracker in there as well. But the big thing is when you create an account, we ask you what your goals for 2025 is. So on your dashboard, it will say, Hey, your goal, you said you wanted this many transactions, you want this much in commission, and you want this much volume. So that's number one. And as it adds your transactions, it says goal, and it says reach. So you see both numbers, and it visually gives you that, Hey, I need to pick it up. Because what a lot of people like to do is they do their business planning, and then they forget about it. They don't even know where the form is. They meet with their broker, and nothing ever happens. They can't tell you about the quarter. They can't tell you about half the year. So we want to make that front and center so you can track your progress. And then also we're creating the vendor roster. So in my mind, I found that some brokerages do the pay to play, which is fine, you know, and they have their preferred vendors who are willing to be their, their vendors. And that's great. But the agents who don't have that and don't have that support system, or some of them only have one recommendation as a company, like there should be three. We should be giving three recommendations. There should not be my brokerage paid. These people pay billions of dollars. thousands of dollars to be my broker's only one vendor. Like we should be covering our tails and giving more than one. So I'm creating a vendor roster and you will be able to go in there, select whatever service category, pools, lenders, title companies, all that stuff. You click that and on there will be a roster of all the vendors in your area. You will select those that you partner with and you have to do three of them and then you will be able to print custom branded flyers for that. And that way it really takes away and helps those top producers and new agents helps them shine because we're the ones that they call after closing. Hey, I need a title, you know, I need a lawn care. I need a pool person. Do you know any? And we're trying to search Google's half the time because we don't have anybody, but we don't want to say we don't have nobody. Right. So again, it's allowing the realtor to still be that main source for them as a resource. And so we are creating that within there. And there's a bunch more stuff I'm not going to talk about, but that's what we're launching with here in a couple of weeks. I'm really excited. But, yeah, I just love coming from a place of abundance and, and providing a one stop stop shop thing for that. And that's what Agent From Abundance is, and will be.

I'm stoked for that. And I have stuff that I think that we can definitely take offline as much as I hate that line. I think we can talk. So I think that's beautiful. And I, and I just have to commend you on the, the constant give back to the entire industry. And I think that sometimes in this industry, we look at everybody. too much as competitors instead of trying to lift each other up and help one another and celebrate one another versus trying to slash them down. So I commend you on being a role model in that aspect and truly what a realtor should be and aspiring to be.

Well, and, Anne, you mentioned, you mentioned CRS, so I know that that's important to you. So if you want to give us a little bit of, of what that is, because I know that, like, speaking and CRS, then celebrate, the fellow Celebration. Yeah, that those are big things. So tell us just a little bit about that.

Okay. So CRS, in my opinion, is the PhD of designations. It's certified residential specialist. And remember when you said, did you find a mentor? Well, my very first mentor, I like, I was brand stinking new. She said, you want to be a top producer, you want to be a professional in this industry, get your CRS designation. And so that was the very first destination I sought after. I went towards, and a lot of people don't know that you can actually be an RRC member, which is a residential real estate council, and CRS is the designation that the residential real estate council has. So, if you don't qualify quite yet for your CRS designation, get involved with RRC and we will get you there. But to me, it was CRS was the way that it was two reasons I got my first million dollar property. I had my resume because they flat out said, Hey, the husband loved me, the wife loved me, they were military, the wife goes, Aunt, we love you, but we looked you up, you don't do million dollar properties and you don't even sell by the beaches. So why should we hire you? And I said, thank you so much for, you know, saying that because again, that tells me you're committed sellers. I said, I may have not had the opportunity to sell a property like this, but let me tell you why I'm ready for an opportunity like this. And I whipped out my resume and I said, the first thing on there was a CRS. Let me tell you what CRS is. Only 2% in the entire nation have this designation. And I just went down the list of what that meant to me and honestly what that meant for them. And so I was able to secure that listing and sell that listing because I was able to talk about being a CRS designation. Plus they have so much education and I am currently the, I'm the finance leader for the state of Florida's RRC and I am also the national RRC's next generation chair. So my goal is to bring all the new people there because I do see the benefit of having that. So anyways, I'll stop talking about that, but get your CRS designation. If you have questions, hit me up.

So, Ann, I have some rapid fire questions for you. Okay, you just tell me your first reaction. All right. Buying lead. Yes and no. If you are brand new, you ain't.

Got no money, you ain't got no money to buy leads. Stop worrying about it. Go. Go knock on some doors and do some cold calling. If you have a team. Yes, absolutely. Because they're gonna want leads. Brokerages. Sure. They want leads. Also, if you five streams of income. so if you are, you got money, you're doing your SOI. How else can you get leads? Go buy them. Sure. Go ahead.

Knock yourself out. Perfect.

Tick Tock versus Instagram. Oh, I'm gonna love me some techy talky. Okay, I'm all about the ticky talky. I don't even know how to do Instagram.

My wife's all about Instagram.

That's my response. Open houses.

Yeah.

Oh, absolutely. Hold. I ain't never sold nothing from an open house, and I ain't never got a buyer from an open. But when I first started, I was doing open houses every weekend and the consumer saw that I was a realtor. My family members saw that I was a realtor doing open houses, not even my listings. So yes, go do them. Don't worry about if you ain't get nobody.

Show the world you're a realtor and that's how you do it on a budget.

The future of agent commissions. That's up to you, baby.

I'm a CEO.

I make my own.

Ain't nobody telling me what I'm gonna do. So I'm gonna get my money. There we go. Perfect. And I just want to tell you how extremely proud I am of you, especially from when we first met and everything that you're doing, like Steven said, for the industry, for you and your family. It blows my mind. I am excited we talked about, I'm positive that you will be on the N-MEN stage very soon, and I think that we will have an opportunity to work together in the future as well. So we super enjoyed all of your energy and taking the time to come on our podcast.

Thank you so much. I loved and miss you Ashley. Steven is great to meet you and I look forward to anything the world has. It's full of abundance and let's all be amazing realtors.

Love that. And Ant, if the listeners want to get a hold of you or look you up, how do they find you?

You can find me at agentfromabundance.com if you're sending referrals, antstroudgroup.com, you know, the fun stuff. anywhere. I'm out there. Google answer. You'll find me.

Perfect. I greatly appreciate you taking the time. I know you have a class to go teach. I appreciate everything that you're doing for this industry, and I look forward to us connecting later on as well. So thank you to everybody that is out there listening. And as always, if you have any topics or questions or guests that you'd like to be on our podcast, please reach out to us.

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