#696: The CEO Standard: How Great Leaders Drive Results With Accountability with Blake Sloan

Episode Overview:

In this episode, we are joined by real estate leader Blake Sloan for a raw, unfiltered conversation on how to lead through chaos, build a culture of daily accountability, and scale with systems—especially when most agents are frozen in fear.

Blake breaks down how he’s turning resistance into results, how his team books 60+ appointments in a single day, and the exact cadence that keeps his agents producing—even when the market’s brutal. He reveals the real reason most agents are stuck (hint: it’s not the market), how to attract high-level talent, and why personal discipline is the only path to power right now.

If you’re trying to grow your team, recruit better people, or just get your energy back—this is the episode to plug into.

Don’t just survive the market. Dominate it—one daily win at a time.

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Key Topics Covered

Leading Through Market Resistance

• Why so many agents are frozen by fear and paralyzed by change.

• The shift in buyer/seller behavior—and how most agents are failing to adapt.

• The connection between personal development and consistent action in uncertain markets.
  
  

The Power of Daily Wins and Huddle Culture

• How Blake’s “daily wins” ritual transformed his team’s performance and mindset.

• The cadence of accountability: morning huddles, leader rotation, and check-ins.

• Building a culture where wins are declared publicly and failure becomes a lesson.
  
  

Recruiting Level 8 Talent from Level 2 Opportunities

• How to spot agents who are hungry but stuck in low-support environments.

• What Blake listens for in interviews to uncover grit, drive, and emotional maturity.

• Why leading from the front and asking the right second-level questions creates trust.
  
  

Macros for Business Growth

• How Blake uses fitness analogies (like dialing in macros) to teach business structure.

• Why most agents are “working out” hard but not seeing results—because their strategy is off.

• What to track weekly: dials, connections, appointments, conversions, and personal growth.
  
  

Shifting Buyer Behavior with Leadership

• How Blake’s team overcame flaky buyers and cold leads by setting strong deadlines.

• Pre-framing expectations with buyers and lenders to eliminate ghosting and delays.

• Why speed and certainty win the client relationship before it even begins.
  
  

Content, Consistency, and Social Proof

• Why Blake documents his personal routines publicly (and how it builds culture).

• How his agents are now mimicking the same routines—without being told.

• Using social media to attract agents, inspire clients, and leave a legacy for his kids.
  
  

Building Leaders from Within

• How assig

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Seven figure success starts whenyou start thinking like a CEO.
Welcome to the JohnKitchens Coach Podcast.
Experience is your host, John Kitchens.
Get ready to think bigger andtransform your business into
a path to lasting freedom.
Joel, Joel and I were chatting asBlake jumped in and we were like,
man, like getting people to attendto show up to anything these days

(00:24):
is, is, it's a heavy, heavy lift.
Um, and, and Blake was like, yeah, wehad six interviews scheduled yesterday
and only two people showed up.
So it was like, you know, what'shappening out there And, uh, you know,
Blake just, just love kind of, maybekind of open up that a little bit.
Before we, we dive in, see if anybodyelse is gonna jump in here with

(00:46):
us, but, um, is it just absolutefear that's paralyzing people?
Like what, like what is kind of yourperspective, especially the leadership
groups and things that you're a partof, like the conversations and, and
the observation that people are having?
I spend a lot of time on thislately, just we've been started like
recruiting, uh, pretty strong in thepast, you know, four or five months.

(01:07):
And, uh.
Just people I'm talking to, peopleI've seen, I've been teaching my team.
So I think you've seen themarketplace change, right?
With resistance, with headwinds,with buyer resistance, where
they're much more resistant toactually, you know, take action.
So you're seeing this massiveresistance in the marketplace from
both sellers who are obviously wantingmore money than it's worth, right?
They bought a couple years agoand the virus went a little bit.

(01:29):
So you're seeing this massive resistance,and so in my opinion, I've seen the
industry change, but what you'reseeing is a lot of agents are refusing.
To develop personally, to, to beable to overcome a lot of that.
And it does bring a lot of fear,uh, a lot of paralysis, and I
just can see it in people's eyes.
I can hear it in their voice.
I can see that.
Where they're not doubling downon personal development right now.
They're not pushing through in termsof action, where unfortunately it

(01:52):
takes more phone calls to get moreconversations, to get more people.
And I'm just seeing thatacross the board, right?
Where anybody that was in the businessfor a while who had things and it
was a little bit easier, um, is justnot keeping up with the change that
we're seeing in the industry and iscreating that resistance right now.
And you're just seeing it be very,very, very painful for a lot of people.
Yeah.
And it, it, it is, I mean, it's somethingthat I, I, I've seen, you know, just.

(02:18):
Definitely across the, the, thecountry definitely up in Canada.
Um, just a lot of people and, and the onesthat are, that have had momentum, that
have stayed consistent with something.
Um, and, and really even more so the, thedeep dive in the personal development.
They haven't stopped reading, theyhaven't stopped doing, you know, the
daily things within their control.

(02:39):
Um, the ones that are,are navigating through it.
Even, even if it is, you know.
It is rough, right?
It is a lot of whitewater.
It, it's, you know, buckle up for sure.
I was, uh, kind of poked my head in,obviously hanging out here in Matt
and DJ's office here in Pittsburgh.
And, uh, they were on, you know,they're part of place, so they
have a, they have a Monday call.
I was here Monday afternoon andI kind of stuck my head into DJ's

(03:01):
office and kind of for a second, andthen he came out and talked to me.
But Ben, so being a part ofplace, they have that Monday
call with, with Ben Kenny.
And, and Ben.
Ben basically said,listen, y'all buckle up.
He said, just buckle up.
It's gonna be, uh, it's gonna bea ride, uh, the rest of this year.
But Blake, brother, I appreciate you, youknow, jumping in here and, um, you know,

(03:22):
kind of diving into this month's topicand really around what I. There's, there's
really nobody that I, I look up to.
Um, that's I believe, navigatingand leading at the level
that, that you have been.
And, um, I wanna take us back a littlebit, and I know Kev and, and Renee and,
and Joel for sure have heard the storyand, you know, we were trying to es

(03:44):
escape, escape what was happening in 20.
And, uh, I remember, you know, you and Iended up in, in Key West, I remember it.
Vividly to even this day.
Um, the conversation, we were justkind of killing some time before we,
we took off, uh, that last day wewere there and we were sitting over
at our, uh, a little hideout, uh, thathave the, the big old buckets Yeah.
And conversation.

(04:05):
You and I, you know, had, and, andI just, I had asked you, I said,
you know, what's the, you know.
The greatest thing that youguys have done this year and you
like, you didn't even hesitate.
You're like daily, daily accountability.
Daily, daily wins.
Yeah.
And just being able to look back on itand, and everybody that I've, I've shared
that with and told that story to, thathave actually gone on and implemented it,

(04:26):
have seen dramatic increase in productionand that have really ran it to the t.
Um, and, and try to emulatewhat you guys have done.
The one thing though, that, thatI noticed it, it did, right?
Because we look at culture as just ourcore values plus the way we behave.
And that really is the culture.
And, and what I saw, just kind of from anobservation, you know, us running it, you

(04:50):
know, more internally, not with so muchsales, but with, you know, support and
administrative, seeing what you've done.
But those that have, have.
You know, implemented that as well.
I'm like, damn man.
That created a cultureof, of accountability.
It created a culture of winning.
It created a culture ofleadership just by one simple act.

(05:11):
And you know, here we are five,almost five years, whatever,
later since that's been it.
What has, has changed?
Like what has thatdone, you know, for you?
What has that done for your organizationas, as you, you know, really
cultivated and created that culture?
Yeah, I mean that was by far oneof the most valuable things we did.

(05:33):
And it was during the struggle andI'm like, man, what do you have to do?
And so it is one of those things that.
We obviously morning huddle everymorning, but the key part is
having a weekly leader that runsthe, the huddle that entire week.
And that was 'cause I was having troubleat the time, developing more leaders
and having them be able to be leadersbecause it's easy to watch and kind of
judge, but, but once you're there andyou're trying to herd ka sometimes, right?
And make sure people get their win.

(05:54):
And so we win and loseas a, as a, as a team.
And so everybody that morningshares a positive from yesterday
in their the morning huddle, right?
Get their mind right and frameit up and then they have a very
specific clear win for that day.
And, um, everybody doesn't, westill do the same exact way.
Like I'm, I'm actually leadingthis week and, uh, just through
the rotation I stepped up.
We did Monday, mayhem onMonday, which is crazy.

(06:15):
We did a lot of, we booked 60 appointmentsin one day, um, which was awesome.
But like, um, I still jump inand leave from the front with
it, but, um, it's powerful andlike we actually lost one day.
Um.
Tuesday as an organization andI, I went back and reflected what
I could have done differently.
I was just doing it.
I was in there 12 hours just in theoffice back to back to back, and I
got behind a little bit of pushing.

(06:37):
The one person that I knew was probablybehind and they didn't get their win.
And so we, we lost as a group.
We, the next morning reflected on it.
The agent reflected on it what theycould have done differently, which was
time management getting ahead of it.
And so allows us to extract alesson on whatever the issue is.
At the same time, you know, holdourselves accountable and be.
Real and live by a code whereif we don't, we don't hit it.
We know, we admit it,we don't lie about it.

(06:58):
And, um, it's just powerful.
So we haven't changeda whole lot since then.
Uh, it's a, it's a grind sometimes, butit, it is one of those things that we
create this environment where peopleplug in and anybody comes to different
brokerage is like blown away becausethey're like looking around the first
couple days, like trying to figure outwhat's going on and everybody goes around
and sets their win, put all the win in thegroup and ask each person, it's their win.
We used to put up on our board witha, a sticky note, but now we just do

(07:21):
it in like our, our, our Slack group.
And, um, it's powerful man.
And so we watch each person godown a couple nights this week.
We haven't got our team winninguntil like nine o'clock, but uh,
that's just how it, how it goes.
And we don't give up until we hit it.
But it's been powerful for us,especially in this marketplace
where action matters, right?
Picking up the phones matter,follow through matters.
And, uh, that's how we're kindof making a difference as a team.

(07:43):
What does that cadence look like inthe calendar for you guys right now?
I mean, you, you have the huddle andthen throughout the day, and then
where else are you guys checking in?
And Joel and I, um, he, yeah, Imean, I hadn't even thought about
it since like 20 12, 20 13 was,was the four Ds of execution.
And we talked about that cominginto this year and I'm like, damn
man, that framework is spot on.

(08:05):
Right.
You know, two wildly important goals.
What's the one thing thatwe're rallying the metric?
Um, you know, uh, you know, the, theclear visibility, the scoreboard that
really, you know, compelling thatdrives behavior and drives action.
And then, you know, thatcadence of accountability.
So what is, what is that cadence thateverybody's committed to and bought into

(08:25):
on a weekly, daily basis for you guys?
Yeah, so same way, obviouslyMonday through Friday we have
the morning huddle, daily wins.
Um.
In Mondays, the people turn in it, it isbasically a, a weekly plan that they have.
It's a one key, basicallyone thing, and four keys.
So what's the one thing mostimportant they're gonna hit that week?
They have four keys that are, get it.
They, it is one pager.
Take a picture of it post in ourgroup, and then each person posts it on

(08:47):
Monday and you kind of base it around.
So it's like how many, the one thingis obviously you get a contract in,
in most cases for, for like generalbrokerage or buyer's agents, listing
partners or to get two contracts is kindof their, their goal under contract.
And we ba break that down by.
How many dials they need for the week.
Typically it's been 500.
Now with connection rates being a littlebit less, you'd probably need to push that
closer to 800 to a thousand, dependingon marketplace, who they are, how many

(09:12):
appointments they've booked, how manypeople are signed, and there's a free one.
Number four for the fourth key is like,what do I need to do to develop personally
for me to help move that that along sothey can really change the fourth one.
And so that sets thetone for the whole week.
And so basically then your daily winis kind of broken down based on what
your four keys for the week are.
And, um, the cadence of the leaderkind of leads the morning huddle.

(09:35):
Lunchtime, check-in, afternoon,check-in, end of day check-in.
And then typically there'supdates to the night.
And so what, what most leaders learn whenthey do it is that they'll always try
to start to lead in the group, right?
Lead as a whole.
And if they realize is it takes a lotmore one-on-one touches a lot more
reaching out via phone call, via textmessage via instant messenger through
Google, uh, to make sure you canstay on top of who's falling behind.

(09:59):
Who's getting caught up and who'sbehind on their, their, their
win, ak their dials in most cases.
And, uh, as they learn, thatmakes a much better leader.
'cause now they're reachingout individually faster.
You know what to look for.
And then obviously give an updateat the end of the night typically,
but at or before nine o'clock.
That's, that's, uh, that's wild.
How are they from, froma leadership perspective?

(10:19):
I mean, still leading at the front, doingwhat they say they're gonna do as well.
Um, oh yeah.
On what their commitment is.
And that's what's coolest part about it,is you watch people kind of level up.
They, I don't think I've ever seen theleader not hit theirs, um, which has been.
Interesting.
'cause it kind of makesthem be the example.
We all kind of talk about that andthen at the end of each week, we
kind of go back the next Monday andask that leader, Hey, what was the

(10:42):
biggest lesson you learned about?
Two things.
Number one, what's the biggest lessonyou learned about you as a leader
and what you could do different?
And then number two, what's the biggestthing you learned about other people?
And that typically is.
They learn like, man, you gotta bea lot more interactive, a lot more
one-on-one with them, which is a lessonthat goes back to lead, follow up.
'cause people try to think linear, right?

(11:02):
They just try to think like,get X amount of calls, X amount
of text messages, versus how doI go deeper, not wide, right?
And go deeper with the, the potentialleads and connect with them and get
a better relationship with them andhave a, a, the ability to figure out
where they're at and what's going on.
So it bleeds over into follow up too.
And so that's been reallypowerful for us as, as a whole.
Are you guys like, um, you know,everything collectively together?

(11:25):
I mean, how often, I mean, are you pushingev everybody to, to, to get in the office?
Are you getting them to, toget in and make the calls?
Yes.
Our huddle, the calls together, ourhuddle is, is in person in the office.
And so the majority of people are there.
Um, we track huddle at attendants,you know, some people have other
stuff come up here and there.
Um, but to maintain leads, they needto have a, a certain, uh, huddle,
attendance and, uh, we don't do virtualwith it just based on structure.

(11:48):
We thought about if we get bigger and.
Maybe get, you know, really big.
We can do that virtually, butfor now it's just in person.
I noticed that we didthat kind of during COVID.
After COVID, there's alittle bit of a hangover.
People just call in and you could justfeel the energy wasn't quite there.
They were kind of calling in theirwind, but I. They weren't following
through, and there's just a, an energyabout being around other people, being

(12:08):
around winners upstairs we have likemusic playing people on the phone,
which you can hear so and so talk.
And so it's kind of uncomfortableto not be on the phones when
everyone else is on the phones.
And so we obviously make our callsnine to 11, some people nine to
12 based on what their target is.
And then that's in the morningand the afternoon, they're,
they're doing appointments.
Yeah, I love that.
And I mean, I, I do, I love the, youknow, bringing them in together, right?

(12:31):
It's just that forced accountability.
You gotta step it up.
There was nowhere to hide and, well,that's the one thing I'm, I'm hearing
right now, um, with so many agentsas we've started this outreach and
recruiting, because I'm telling there'sa massive shuffling the deck right now.
You're seeing just agentsacross the country.
Um, I see a lot more headwinds.
Even me, I'm seeing agents.
In the marketplace that are othercompanies been here for 10, 15 years,
or their business is down like 50%, 60%.

(12:52):
They can't figure out what's going on.
But the big thing I'mhearing are two main things.
Number one, they feel alone, right?
They're not sure what to do, what'sgoing on, how to, to adjust, and, and
number two, the environment that they'rearound hasn't really been conducive
for them to, to be able to plug into.
And so.
They need the energy to feed off of,they need the environment to feed off of.
And so that's what we've been providingand creating as a part of our culture

(13:14):
to really, um, you know, help, help pushthrough it and help push the resistance.
Yeah, and man, I. Renee even messagedme about this and just like, have
you seen Sloan's social media?
And, and I'm like, yeah.
He's like, it's, I mean, I, I love it.
It's, it's definitely, you know, thelanguage where, you know, are you, and

(13:34):
I just, I know all the work that you'vedone personally, and then just, you know,
how that's just become who you are andthen just carries off into, into your
organization and, you know, are, isthere a certain kind of, kind of mantra?
I mean, what are you starting to see thelanguage that even, you know, you're.
Your agents that are coming in,obviously that have been there.
I mean, is it a lot of you, youknow, finally getting that everybody

(13:54):
pulsing together, uh, speakingthe same language, saying the
same thing, thinking the same way?
Yeah.
And I, I made a, um, a conscious decision,I don't know, however months it was
maybe January, February, uh, like due to.
You know, I'm, I'm leaning fromthe front during this 'cause
I could just feel it, right?
You could feel the resistance.
I'm like, something's just going on.
Something's different, right?
With the, the industry and things goingon and deals and, and, and just, so I'm

(14:15):
like, dude, I'm leaning from the front.
I'm leading by example.
Uh, and I'm just like, I'm just put it outthere and you gotta see my stuff, right?
I'm up early, I'm doing my morningjournal by five 20, usually
every single morning gym by six.
Uh, and just all this stuff.
And I just, here's the key thingthat, and I wanted to share.
And you see with me, a lot of times mystories be the same thing every day.
And the reason is, and most peoplestruggle with consistency, and so

(14:37):
I'm just being the example, right?
And I'm living from the front and showingmy team that a lot of people have done it.
Some of the guys on my team starteddoing, which is super cool, right?
So you're, you're seeing 'em do thatand they're starting post in the morning
and they're doing their, their stackand they're, they're, they're reading.
And so, um, and here's what I told them,like, dude, even if nobody does it,
I'm still doing the same exact thing.
Mark's up, great.
I'm doing the same thing.
Mark's down doing the same thing.
People in my team doingthe same exact thing.
People join my team.

(14:58):
Same exact thing.
Why?
Because I'm gonna control.
The controllables and I'm leaning fromthe front and that's the key part of what,
what's been in, and it's given me so muchmore power and certainty what I'm doing,
um, in a time where it's been difficult.
But I, I think that what people aremissing right now in many cases is
that power of consistency, right?
Yeah.
The boring work that has you work on you,but that's the only thing that brings

(15:20):
you certainty and power, which is what'sneeded right now to get through this
resistance place market that we're in.
I love it, man.
And uh, no, it is, it is the boringand it is, it is the consistency
and being able to, to do that andobviously lead, lead from the front.
And it's, it's really cool when youstart to see it, like you said, right?
They're doing, they'restarting to do the same thing.

(15:40):
Yeah.
I saw Kobe actually, I, I smiled real big.
I'm like, ah, there we go.
You know?
And it's just cool to see that they kindof pick it and they're doing it, and,
and I didn't even, you know, I, I don'ttalk about too much, but I'm just saying,
I told 'em I'm leaning for the front.
I'm never asking you guysto do something I don't do.
And, uh, that's the onething that, that we're, uh.
We're kinda living by, like yousaid, as a, as a pulse, as a culture.
We've had some people lately and, um,churned out some of the people that have

(16:01):
been here for a while that just don'twanna make the adjustments and you're
kind of feeling that energy of it.
But, um, I, I'm kind of told, look man,you're gonna have to change your habits.
You're gonna change the, the waysto dominate through this right now.
And anybody that does, that's gonna beable to capture so much market share.
Right?
I was told my some guys this morning,like, look, um, listings right now in our
marketplace, like 120 days on market, uh.

(16:24):
I think there's, we were lookingyesterday, only 10% of listings are
actually pending, which is crazy.
If you look at the whole MLS, so likeit's d quite that I'm like, man, but
I was telling him like, dude, thisis a time when you're doubling down.
You're doubling on person development,doubling down your development,
and uh, you're pushing through.
This is like that stormand forests Gump, right?
The shrimp boats are getting pushedaround, but as soon as that storm's gone.

(16:44):
It's wide open and we're justscooping up all the shrimp, right?
And that's kind of where we're at.
I feel like you mentioned that whitewater,but it takes doubling down on you.
Doubling down as a leader, doubling downon you know, your health and physicality
and your energy and the ability to sustainthrough what's going on and be able
to dominate when most people, like yousaid, our frozen, their paralyzed, or not
showing up, they're not sure what to do.

(17:06):
And that's when you need that certaintyand clarity to help push you through.
What, what are, what habitsare you like, Hey man, you need
to prioritize these habits.
And if you, if you give 'em kind of a,a sequence, I mean, I know it's a kind
of a, a melting pot, but it's like,listen, I mean, obviously consistency,
but like, Hey, focus on this.
Don't even give any energy to this.
Like, what are, what are, what'sthat mantra that you're, you're
constantly repeating to them?
We're kind of always, I mean,we've always been seeing that body

(17:26):
being balanced of business, right?
It's number one power.
You have to have powerright now in your body.
I'm down 20.
20 pounds, uh, this year, brother,which is, you know, to, and that's
d dialed in, macros are dialed in.
And that was a massive lesson for mewhere, um, I, I worked at this, this gym
for this gym six days a week for nineyears and just kind of hovered the same

(17:46):
place and finally made the investment intoa. I BBB pro, you know, bodybuilding coach
who got my macros dialed in workouts.
I'm working out less time-wise,less intense, but the
results are off the chain.
Why?
Because my macros are dialed in.
And that's a great examplefor business right now.
And I tell my team, like there're macrosof business that I. People are just off.
You can do the same thing fornine years and not get results.

(18:08):
Or you can find somebody who's doingwhat you need to do and what your goals
are and have them dial your macros infor you and hold you accountable and get
massive results in a short period of time.
But right, but right nowbody's a huge And why?
'cause you need energy sustained.
Number two, obviously you're being, whichis a mental piece, which is why I should,
every morning I'm doing my journal.
Why is that?
Because we, it's amental battle right now.

(18:28):
It's a long-term marathon of the mindsetswho can push through just constant.
Resistance, constant setbacks,constant challenges, right?
Your team leader, especiallyteam leaders, are very difficult.
As I'm hearing right now,I'm seeing a lot of it.
Um, it, you gotta make surethat you have a clear mind to
help push you through that.
And so that's throughpersonal development.
And number two, dealingwith your own shit, right?

(18:49):
Your stories and the things that you run.
And so part of that, my morningjournal routine is to call
myself out on my bullshit andmake sure all my story's real.
And, uh, that, that's been superpowerful and at the same time.
Relationships, right?
With those that matter in your life.
'cause you can't neglect that tohelp manage the business part.
But, um, that's really been,obviously Keith got two kids, two
and a half year old, 10 month old.

(19:10):
So that's a lot andthat's chaos in itself.
And then obviously the businessis what matters the most.
But all that together bringsthe power to push through.
And most people right now are kindof running for the hills or they're
paralyzed and not really sure what to do.
What are, what are the macrosthat you're having on the
business side to focus on that?
You're, you're saying, Hey, youknow, hit these critical metrics.
This is like, you, you know, greatexample, like you said, right?

(19:32):
Six days a week, the gym likehovering around the same thing, right?
And, and you know, what has tochange and so loving, dialing
in, dialing in those macros.
But what's the, so.
The macro business.
We've been, there's a lot of differentpieces, so we really kind of, obviously
dial's number one, um, outbound andI, I like really kind of what, um,
Dustin and Ran said lately too aboutconnections is super important.
'cause I think you've seen connectionrate go down a little bit lately.

(19:55):
So we kind of bumped that.
We used to be a hundred dials a day, whichwould be, you know, 10 to 20 connections.
But now we're seeing aboutan answer rate about 10%.
So it really needs to be $200.
And so a lot of peopleare kind of pushing that.
But ideally, like, you know, 20conversations a day is really
the target you're seeing.
A lot of people have.
Uh, number two appointments, eitherbuyer appointments or listing
appointments depending on what sideof they're on, or you know, what
your business model looks like.

(20:16):
Um, overall, and then the onething we've been really huge on
right now against resistance.
So what would happen is we'd sign buyers.
They go cold, right sign buyers.
They won't reach out to the lender.
Lender.
They won't answer to the lender.
Um, the same thing with listings.
We kind of, we'd list them andthey had to do a few things.
So we've been really big onsetting deadlines for the
client as soon as we sign 'em.
So we sign the client.

(20:37):
I told my team, Hey look,here's what's gonna happen.
We have to, we're gonna go look atproperties in 48 hours, whatever.
If they're local, eitherpick 48 or 72 hours.
Let's say I sign 'em on Monday, right?
I'm gonna say, Hey John, here's the dealon Wednesday, we're gonna look at houses.
We're gonna pick your top five.
I need you to get those to me bytomorrow from the list I send you
so we can have the top five lookat, I'll book them tomorrow night.
We're looking at 'em on Wednesday,and what we're doing there is

(20:58):
still trying to push them throughwhy they're still hot, right?
Because she knows they gets superhot, they warm up and they get cold,
they get hot, and they get cold.
And so we're seeing that a lot.
With people are getting frustrated, um,because the buyers are hot and cold again.
Why is that?
'cause there's resistanceto the marketplace, right?
Higher interest rates.
Um, you're seeing, you know, agap between affordability for a
lot of people, what they want.
And so we've been really bigat setting deadlines for them.

(21:19):
And so once I set the 48 hour deadlinefor the buyers, then we set the 24
hour deadline for the, the lender.
Hey, look, my lender's gonna call.
We need to make sure thatpre-approval handled by tomorrow.
Evening.
So my lender XY Z's gonna call youtonight or tomorrow, whatever the day is.
We wanna have that by tomorrow so we cango look at properties on Wednesday and
we'll have all that lined up, uh, for you.
And so what we found was when webooked the, the win, the four, eight

(21:41):
hour meeting, it encouraged themto make sure they actually answered
for the lender to get pre-approved.
And that was just a majorbreakthrough for us, uh, that we
figured out a couple months ago.
I love that taking, really taking theleadership role in, navigating the
conversation, really navigating, youknow, um, not, not letting it just
kind of linger out there, like yousaid, really taking control and, and

(22:02):
driving, you know, uh, the situation.
I, I mean, I love that.
That's been a, and here's the otherthing that we found that's been
a big breakthrough for us is, um.
A lot of agents were taking thepath lease resistance, right?
So we, we, um, follow a lot of leads.
We're a vacation destination.
So, uh, a lot of our, you know,80% of our buyers are not from,
they're not, they're not here, right?
So what we are doing is anybodylocal, we've always booked

(22:24):
appointments with face to face.
Met, met 'em, signed them, youknow, that process, whatever.
Uh, but we were finding a lot ofnon-locals, or even agents were just
getting very soft and just trying toget their criteria and be like the
nice guy and, you know, be their buddy.
But they're gettingsmoked in the long run.
So we've really, really,really, really pushed.
And I, I think that in any location,the country right now, the, the new

(22:45):
currency is appointments, right?
Appointments, appointments,appointments, appointments.
You have to push.
And so we prove that.
You know, when we just did that MondayMayhem, we went for a huge push.
We gave cash awards for whoever gotthe first person to 20 connections,
and then whoever had the mostappointments at the end of the day.
And what we found was, um, peoplewere like, realize that one of the
biggest lessons when we went backand debriefed here, I was like, man,

(23:06):
I. I didn't realize how much I wasnot pushing for appointments when I
could have, and, um, even our insideTEALS guy, this is a funny story.
I I, I ain't cussing here, right?
Or no?
Uh, yeah, you can, you can damn sure cuss.
So the, the, uh, the insidete guy is awesome, right?
So he has this lead, he calls thislead, and the guy, it was like a cash
offer lead from one of our stuff.
And, uh, the guy goes, uh, he said, well,how much you looking for your house?

(23:26):
And he said, the guy says, fuck you.
And he's like, whoa.
He said, man, I've beendoing this for a long time.
I haven't got that one in a while.
And he is like, what do you mean?
And, uh, long story short, he goes backand asks him a few questions and books
the fucking appointment with the guy.
But he said the major lesson wasthat if it wasn't such a focus on
appointments, he would've got triggered.
Given the guy some shit back andhe would've basically blown that

(23:48):
lead and blown that opportunity.
But just having that laser focus on theappointment allowed him to save him.
We met with the guy, I'mpretty sure we got him listed.
I, I haven't gone through the wholelist yet, but I was just going through
some stuff this morning that theappointment was met Pointment was held
by our listing partner, but I do That'sout with his first word as fuck you.
Which is crazy.
Yeah.
That, that's, that's wild.
And, and, and I think, you know,just the conversations we've had

(24:09):
with, with folks and kind of thedirection, and especially with, with.
The ai, you know, um, you know, crazeand, and just everything that's happening.
I mean, it still has to be, you know,from the forefront, from a mindset,
you know, perspective and understand.
You know, it's, it's, it goesback to even Chris Voss, right.
Tactical, empathy and, and really beingable to, to understand and, you know,

(24:32):
you and I have talked a lot about thisand just definitely, you know, my coach
Matt, you know, his whole smoke andfire and it's like, listen, you know,
there's that, you know, that triggerthat that fuck you is just smoke, right?
Yeah.
Like, and, and don't get choked up init and get triggered, like you said, and
get down to, okay, let me explore what'sgoing on here, where's the fire at?
Yeah.
And a great question and great.

(24:53):
Uh.
Runway of emotions, right?
Where most people are so wound upright now, they're so reactive.
And that's why those mourning, you know,dealing with your stuff and dealing with
your stories and getting your mind rightand having that, that all dialed in helps
you because it gives you the capacityand, and the runway to help basically
observe 'em instead of react to them.
And so at that pointyou're just immovable.

(25:14):
Right?
Hey, no problem.
I appreciate that.
What makes you say that?
You know, and the guyended up saying like.
Oh, you know, you guys just wannatake my money for your cash offer,
whatever it was, and, and, and we'dback and just ask you questions,
explain that wasn't the case.
Explain to our track recordwho we are, what we do.
Boom point, miss book, which is awesome.
I. Yeah, that is freaking awesome.
What I know for you, you know, obviouslya lot into, you know, the kind of the

(25:35):
warrior and the stack do, what do yougive, do you provide that for your team?
Do you give them thatframework if they want it?
Or like how do you, how do yougo about kind of distributing
the stuff that you're consuming,the stuff that's working for you?
Um, I, I, I share my stuff.
I share by example.
There's a, a few of them that I'vehad them, they just sign up for their,
their own account with that too.
But we built out over the years.

(25:56):
Um, Google Sheets and GoogleForms where they can go into this
kind of stack and ask questions.
We've had to simplify it, uh, inmany cases for a larger adoption.
Right.
But, um, we just wanna get themto, to really do two things.
Number one, question their stories, right?
Most people are just.
Emotional pinballs that arebouncing around on everything
that's happening all around them.
And so part of that's like,man, how do we just help you get

(26:17):
your, your stories in control?
And that's the first step.
And that's what everybody saysonce they come here're like,
man, it's like being the matrix.
All of a sudden you're watchingeveryone around, you be triggered all
the time and have issues and be suchemotional, you know, roller coasters.
And so with that, it's like, what?
Why Lessonly?
Right?
What happened?
Why is that actually a positiveand instead a negative, right?
What's a lesson behind that that Ican learn from and get better from?

(26:39):
Then how do I apply that toall four areas of my life?
And that's been very powerful, um, for us.
And we kind of that simplifiedversion, but then there's
also some, some large ones.
But yeah, so we, we have, um, thesoftware they can get from obviously
Warrior, we have kind of some selfbuilt out for them, which has really
helpful and, um, half, half probablychoose to use it and do it, but whenever
somebody gets, you know, trigger or hasissues, they kind of go through that.

(26:59):
But it's funny.
Our team will kind of go throughand they'll have something to
go, I know what you're gonna say.
I'm like, what's that?
But it's a great story.
But you know, and ideally they alreadyknow 'cause they're questioning them
stories and they're understanding beforelike, look, the narrative I'm running
in my head may not necessarily be fact,but in my head I feel that it's true.
And so the reality is once you startquestioning your story, you start

(27:20):
looking at the world a lot differently.
Hmm.
I love that.
How are you, so, I mean, obviouslybeing able to break through,
you've, you've established thetrust with the agents on the team.
How's, how's the conversationswith the agents in the marketplace?
I mean, I know you said like a lot ofthem are, are, you know, given some
of that feedback, they're, they're nothaving opportunities, accountability,
environment, um, there's just a lot of.

(27:42):
Not being provided whatthey need out there.
So, you know, what are they,are they gravitating to you just
through content, social media?
I mean, are you being aggressiveputting some ads out there?
Are you cold calling out agents?
Like how are youconnecting with the agents?
Yeah, it's been a greatinteresting journey.
I, I've had this like, um, uh, journeywhere I was like in my bubble for so long.
We just attracted people.

(28:03):
Um, I didn't do anyoutbound recruiting myself.
We had a sales manager thatwas supposed to be doing it.
He was not.
Was not doing it effectively.
Um, we replaced him at the end of Q1and, um, have some guy in there doing
it now, but I basically stepped updoing it too 'cause I, I wanted to
get my, again, leave from the frontand it's just been so eyeopening,
uh, the past few months of just.
What people are experiencing out there.

(28:23):
And I find that most people justdon't have great leadership.
They don't have great guidance,they don't have great, um,
targets or tools or anything.
I'm asking, Hey, whatscripts you guys got?
They don't really have much.
What presentations you guys?
They don't have much.
What's your, your, yourself-development look like?
They don't really have much.
Right?
And so I feel like they're just kindof feeling like they're in treading
water right now in so many cases.
Seeking leadership, lookingfor leadership, looking for

(28:43):
people that can guide them.
And uh, it's been eye opening.
Like, man, holy.
And that's what even our sales manager,and we got a recruiter now too.
Is like, dude, it is crazy how no onereally has anything like this out there.
And so I think that's a big gapthat can be filled very easily
by people wanting lead right now.
And yeah, wanna lead by exampleand willing to lead out loud.

(29:05):
What are you, you know,besides the, you know.
Just making the calls.
Making the calls, making the calls.
Like what else are you kind ofpushing on them to, to kind of
put some more, you know, stabilityinto their, their business model.
You know, be it, focus on these twothings, focus on these three things.
Like are you, you know,pushing 'em with open houses?
Are you pushing 'em with,you know, social media?

(29:27):
Like, where else are you?
Kind of, you know, like, Hey,we're seeing traction here.
You need to, you know, take ahard look at this for team agents.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The number one struggle with any agent,if I've found, is just consistency, right?
They, they'd ride rollercoaster, theyget a lot of deals, and except for your
top producers that you have, there areconsistent, you know, animals that, you
know, you kind of just keep developingthem based on what they have, but
for the most part, it's just massive.

(29:47):
They need consistency and so weprovide that structure, but then
mean there's a lot of pieces to it.
Right now.
It's like right now I've justkind of been talking a lot.
Like I mentioned earlier, we're seeingjust a lot of resistance, right?
So how do I help them overcome that?
Um, we're, we're doing obviouslyopen houses, people that work
really well, we've helpedthem get their social game up.
Uh, that's a lot of thingspeople are struggling with too.
As I've had these outreaches,I'm like, I look up their stuff.
They haven't posted this in20 22, 20 23 and what we are.

(30:10):
I taught my teammates on Tuesday,like 90% of buyers and sellers,
once you call, call 'em as a lead,look you up immediately on Facebook.
And so if you're a secret agent orif you don't have anything on there
that's inspiring or really showsthat you're an expert in what you do,
they're looking at somebody else or.
Their perception of you is alreadyin a negative light where they
don't see you as the expert.

(30:31):
And so part of that, we just kind ofbroke down, um, this kind of 2025 social
media triangle where you have to haveenough business stuff out there to
show, look, I'm an expert at what I do.
I'm very good at what I do.
But then you see that alot of agents that post.
They're like only business.
Right?
And that just, you cantell it's not believable.
It doesn't look genuine.
Doesn't look real.
And so any of your clients and pastclients that are family will unfriend you.

(30:52):
Unfollow you, but anybody that looksyou up, they know it's total bullshit.
So you have to have that second piece,which is, which is personal, right?
How they connect with you as a person.
How do I know who John Kitchen's truly is?
And we just talk about, you know,things to share with that family.
Dogs if they have dogs, right?
People connect with dog people,people connect with people like them.
Uh, what about the lifestyle?

(31:12):
Like what type of thingsare you passionate about?
What do you do in the community?
Those type of thingsmake a big difference.
Then obviously, um, the third partof the triangle we taught and had
was just about being an ambassador.
And so we're in Myrtle Beach and we'relike, Hey, how are you an ambassador
about Myrtle Beach sharing things thatyou're doing that people are seeing and
liking for, for example, a lot of ourclients are from up north, and so they're.
Up north in Pittsburgh, right?

(31:33):
Thinking about, man, I want to beat the beach and all this stuff.
And so we kind of hit that part about it.
We're just hitting all those man, I mean,we're hitting all that stuff really.
'cause it's a, it's a verycomplex marketplace right now.
It is.
That's, uh, no, I, I, I love that.
And you know, I mean,guilty of it as well.
Right.
Kind of, you know, fallen, you know,stagnant, kinda getting paralyzed
for you, you know, just evenmentioning what, what Renee had,

(31:55):
had pointed out earlier in the year.
Do, does a lot of your, your contentcome from that morning journaling?
The morning reflection?
Yeah.
I mean, so it's just askmyself questions and, uh.
Get myself lessons, man.
I had one this morning I was gonna share.
I haven't had time to share ityet, but it's like It's so true.
Like it is just, yeah,I have so many lessons.
I'll just show you likethe one I just had.

(32:16):
I mean, it is powerful tojust look at, but it's like.
Um, I, I, I screenshot it, so I was gonnashare it later, but it's just, this is my
lesson from, you know, the stack before,but it just says all the shit you're
worried about and stressed about rightnow, you won't remember in a year or two.
Quit worrying and stayfocused on the solution.
It's not emotional, it's just takingthe right amount of action needed.
You'll be fine, right?
And you just look at it.
So it's a matter of reframingthe brain going through that.

(32:37):
But, um, I made a decision just tostart living out loud a little bit.
I could be much better at it.
Um, but the second thing toois like, after having children.
I look at my social as a way forthem to know who their dad is, right?
Mm-hmm.
And so many people just kind of live like.
This quiet desperation or they'rescared to post stuff out there and
like they have so many memories andoptions and, and, and things about their

(32:58):
voice and things about who they are.
They just let die on their phone.
And so, like you've seen someof my stuff, we travel a lot,
post some of that stuff with it.
And, um, at the end of every year we,there's a software and service that'll
print all your best photos out for you.
The most liked photos.
It has an algorithm for it, and it'llprint it and put it in a hardcover
book and just send it to you.
And so that's been my twoways of looking at it.
Number one, obviouslyattracting the right people.

(33:19):
Um, living out loud and just living fromthe front, from my own team of people.
But number two, um, my children,knowing who I am as, as a father
and as a man and as a businessman.
It might be one of the, the bestnuggets I've gotten all year.
So I appreciate that, that thatis, uh, that, that's awesome.
Um, and it goes back to exactlywhat, you know, I've learned a
ton from you, but that being, itis just constantly reframing it

(33:41):
into the, the, to what's right.
Right into, you know, the realtruth and, and being able to be
like, listen man, you know, there'sa lot of things, you know, but.
Leaving that for the kids Right.
To really see, okay, all right,this is who my dad really is.
That's, um, yeah, man, that's awesome.
Intellectual levels oflike, how did my dad think?

(34:01):
Right?
How did my dad, like, you know,for me, like I think I maybe have,
my dad died like 12, 13 years ago.
I have like six pictures of my dad, right?
Like, there's, there's that,but like how much cool.
It may not be a big difference, youknow, like, I don't know how long I'll
be here, obviously, but the realityis I wanted to be able look back 15,
20 years from now on that timeline.
And he'd be like, dude, this is crazy.
I wanna be looking able from, to lookand watch some videos or watch some of

(34:24):
the things that I, that's my thoughts.
And I don't really give a shit whatpeople think that like it don't like it.
My friends, my aunt, my peopleI went to high school with.
Right?
I care about two things, peoplewho are my avatar, right?
Who as an agent that maypotentially be a part of our team.
But number two, my children, when theylook at that and read that down the
line, like, man, my dad was a badass.
That's who he was and that's what he did.

(34:45):
I love that.
I love that.
Well, Kev, Renee, Joel, um, since youguys, uh, you know, carved out the time
and jumped in here, I mean, I, I mean,shit, I could sit here and talk to, to
Blake all day, but, um, I just wannaopen it up to, to you guys, whatever,
whatever questions, you know, being ableto pick, uh, Blake's brain a little bit.

(35:05):
Yeah.
You, you talked about kinda what, whatthe marketplace is looking for right now.
What are you looking for with the agency?
Recruiting, you know, being a, beinga, a leader is keeping the, you know,
I. Who, who, who you're allowinginto the team and into the circle.
Like what, what doesthat look like for you?
Yeah, we've really talkedabout that a lot lately.
Lead, um, number one, peoplewanna do the work, right?

(35:27):
I, I think that that getsexposed very, very quickly.
Everybody talks great game.
Everybody has, you know,reasons why they don't.
And that's been an interestingprocess for us to identify agents
that are just a level eight or nine,you know, talent, but in a level
two or three opportunity, right?
And, and so I'm trying to find thosepeople like who's a eight or nine.

(35:47):
Or even at seven, you know,seven, eight, or nine talent.
But they're in a leveltwo or three opportunity.
'cause all of 'em in atwo or three opportunity.
What, what I've talked to so far, likeno one has any stuff that we have or
the, the, the self-development or thetools or the process or the support.
And so I'm trying to find those peoplelike who is out there praying right
now for some type of breakthrough ofsomebody like me to reach out to them.

(36:08):
Right.
Uh, and number two, people thatare from other industries, we're
getting, a lot of people still comein, but right now it's a heavy lift.
Right?
It's a heavy lift forpeople that are brand new.
Outside industry.
And so I want somebody who'shungry, who has something to prove.
And, and that's the, thetwo main things, right?
I find the pattern is that thepeople I'm talking to that are
making it have something to prove.
And typically I'll come up and.

(36:29):
Something happened in their childhood,something that happened with their,
their parents, or they were, you know,parents got divorced, parent died.
Um, they have somebody who told me itwould ever be anything, whatever it
is, I'm looking for that edge rightnow and that chip on their shoulder
that can take them, put them inpower and give them right tools and
they're absolutely gonna run with it.
Because I do find that suicide rightnow in business is trying to push a

(36:50):
bunch of people who don't wanna dothe work and who aren't motivated.
Right.
That's the hardest thing, I think is,is very difficult for a lot of people.
How, how are you pulling that out of them?
I mean, how, what, what'sthe, what's the dialogue?
What's that conversation?
How are you trying to, you know,uncover and pull that, that hunger
and, and that, you know, they, theydo have that chip on their shoulder.
They're wanting to prove something.
Yeah.
That's one thing I've alwaysbeen teaching our, our, um.

(37:11):
Our recruiter and our sales manager,and they've been watching me and he's
like, dude, watch you do interviews.
Way different than youknow, that they got before.
'cause I'm, I'm going deep about themand who they are and, and what they do.
And, and I'm, I'm looking for thesecond and third level questions
about their story and why, like,they'll gimme one or two things that
I can go down the rabbit hole withand I'll be tell you more about that.

(37:33):
And I'm looking for like.
What motivates you?
Where do you think that comes from?
Where does that comefrom in your childhood?
What was your childhood like?
Did you play sports growing up?
What was it like when you lost?
What was it like when you won?
Right.
I want the guy who hates to lose.
I don't really care about theone who just likes to win.
When it's convenient, I wantthe one that hates to lose.
'cause me, I'm gonna fight wayharder not to lose than am to win.
Dude, dude, I, I, I can'tagree with you more.

(37:54):
Like literally I'll assess the, thesedays, like probably over the last 10, 10
years, I've real, I really assess becauseI, I, I'm like you, I hate to lose.
So I really assess the probability of meplaying that game based upon my skillset.
And if the probability that Ican't win, I won't even play.
Right?
Just because I know how, how ittriggers me, and I know how like

(38:15):
it'll, like, it'll, like it'll eatat me and like I, like, I, I will
back away from a Monopoly game.
That's how, that's how bad if I,if I don't have the time to sit
and win, like I just won't play.
And.
And man, I just think that's, but I lovehow you can pull that outta people and
being able to go and why that's important.
That, that's, I'd say the one thing that,the, one of the biggest lessons I gave
Ryan, our, our sales manager, and hewas like, man, he just had this big aha

(38:38):
after, like, sit with me a few times.
He's like, you go sodeep with these people.
I'm like, yeah, 'cause I, I care.
Right?
And, and I'm, I'm tryingto connect with them at.
A soul level.
I don't give up.
I don't care about yourbullshit interview answers.
Right?
And I'll tell 'em that,look, just be real.
Like open real.
This is a real open conversation.
You don't feel like you gotta gimmethe, you know, the interview answers.
I wanna know who thereal John Kitchens is.
And I kind of give 'em the opportunityand the openness to, to be themselves,

(39:01):
and they can feel that with me.
And then I, I obviously am able justto kind of go deeper, but I'm just
flowing in a state of flow of what,what I feel from them and what they're
kind of guiding me based on theirstory, based on where they come from,
based on what they like and don't like.
And sometimes I don't get 'em, Hey.
What really motivates you right now,John, to be successful in this business?
And they'll gimme one or two things.
Like I interviewed this girl, uh,yesterday and, um, she was kind of

(39:23):
like guarded, guarded, guarded atanother brokerage, new home sales.
I finally got her opened up whenshe finally came that hey, my mom
was a single mom and there was fourkids and my mom never had money
for us and we struggled and I hadto get my first job when I was 13.
And all of a sudden, boom, now westart getting to, and now I start
getting to who the core of that personreally is and what really drives him.

(39:46):
And then that led to, that'swhy I worked two jobs myself
through college and get a degree.
And then I went back, got my MBA.
And so all that stuff kind of startedstacking up and it really came to
the ultimate driver was that momentwhen she was obviously didn't have
the dad around, single mom wasfighting, saw mom fighting, and did
not want to be in that same situation.
Ugh, dude.
That's so good.

(40:06):
And does that allow you to kind ofanchor into that, even if they do come
on board, you, you still have that asthat kind of, that motivational trigger
that you can push on when I Absolutely.
And, uh, again, it is in a,in a positive light, right.
And I just know like.
People that win like thathave something to prove.
And it's just for me, like I've beenon my own since I was 17, right?
I don't ever wanna go back tozero, I'll fucking do anything.

(40:26):
Not to go back to zero and have thatpain and eat at Walmart on $30 a week.
Dude, I'm never doing that again.
Right?
And so that's the thingthat I'm looking for.
Who will be willing to, 'cause youknow, like it's, it's a painful
process to get good at real estate.
It's a painful processto get good at sales.
It's a painful process tobecome elite in this business.
And you need someone whohas that why behind them.

(40:47):
To push through that fight.
Yeah.
That's so good.
Kev, what you got?
I know you, you got some questions there.
Well, you know, it's, I just look backand, you know, and you know, Blake, you
talk about consistency and I met you andit was 2009 or 10, you were in a five
piece suit and they, they did the KingKong award with Mike and Jay and you

(41:09):
come walking up in the slicked back hairand I'm like going, who is this kid?
And, and it's, and it's like.
But you've, from that day forward,it's like you, you are, you, you
walk, you walk the walk, like, Imean, and it's, and you're very
consistent and I admire you for that.
And I mean, I have a page full of notesand we've had so many conversations

(41:30):
and I, every, every time we talk it'ssomething different, but it's still.
You're so clear on your path and whatyou believe and, and you can see that,
and, you know, you can see it when you,when you became a dad and how you speak.
And, and you know, again, I goback to, you know, your words of
wanting your kids to, to understandtheir dad and who you are as a man.

(41:51):
I mean, that's, that's veryimpactful and it's powerful.
So I really appreciate that.
Yeah.
Thank you.
I appreciate that, man.
Yeah.
So good.
I have a question.
Sure.
So you, you said you're, you know, you'relooking for level eight or nine talent
in a level two or three opportunity.
Are you specifically targetingindividuals that recognize that they're

(42:14):
any, a level two or three opportunity?
I mean, I would, I would imagine throughyour, um, transactions, you know,
your, your, your cobras, you see peoplethat like have some amazing talent.
You're like, man, I just can'tbelieve they're over there.
That with that company.
Um, are you, are you going after thosepeople that may not know they're in
a level two or three opportunity?

(42:34):
Are you looking for people thatare more self-aware that they're in
that level two or three opportunity?
I'm looking for people in pain.
I. So like, and I can see it, and wehave some software, you know, that
shows like their, their business,um, being down or what's going on,
or we have like a, an avatar of thetransactions they fit for like a team.
Right now, if I'm recruiting for likea, you know, exp exp or something

(42:57):
like that, it'd be a different, youknow, we can recruit any level there.
But the, the reality is for myteam, at least, I'm looking,
people are, are in pain.
But what I'm finding is they're, theyall, they don't realize they're in
a level two or three opportunity.
They just think that's howall real estate places are.
Right.
And that has been a big aha for me, like.
I don't think, I thought theywould all just like be blown away
once we start talking about this.
'cause they'd never seen anything like it.
They never had this type of support, thistype of help, this type of leadership.

(43:19):
But they've been, um, I. Soused to mediocrity like that,
it's hard for them to believe.
And like I talked to, to somebodyjust last week, it was like hard for
them to even believe that it was real.
And this one lady, I'm like,you know what's, what's been the
biggest thing that, you know?
Was, was what's the biggestthing for you to, to really, I.
They like about what we have.
And she's like, I just don'tknow if I, I can believe it.

(43:40):
'cause I had a lot person lie to me,lie to me, lie, lie to me after, lie to
me, basically three different brokeragesthat she was, I think I posted about
the other day, um, where they promisedher everything, deliver nothing.
And, uh, that was like just thebiggest aha to me of like, man,
the, the hardest thing for me toget past is just like, there, there.
Consistency of being let down andhaving to help build that trust of

(44:02):
like, Hey, there is actually a realthing out there that can help you.
Um, and, and to build that trust for them.
But yeah, I'm looking atpeople who are in pain.
They, they were successful, they hadstuff going on and the business has
gone backwards or they're brand new andthey're very hungry and they can make it.
Um, they just wanted theright support around them.
And so we, we hired another agent, uh,a month ago, a month and a half ago.
She was a different brokeragestartup brokerage had no support.

(44:25):
Uh, it was an independent brokerage.
She had no guidance.
The lady didn't even helpher write her first contract.
She ended up buying her own Zillowleads, kind of figuring it out
and, um, brought her onto us.
She's got four in a contracts inlike a month and month and a half.
I mean, it's one of those things that,um, they were just amazing skills person,
lots of talent in the wrong opportunity.
And so obviously you gotta siftthrough a lot of people that aren't.

(44:47):
Um.
That good or that talk the goodgame or, and I look for things
like victim language, right?
There's a lot of victim language there.
Then typically that's gonna be someone whodoesn't take ownership of what they have.
Mm-hmm.
Um, or the results.
And so I look at people like, man,I'm working my ass off right now.
I'm not getting the support Ineed, but I know I can do this.
I've been trying to this.
I'm like, well, I. What have you done?
And I usually for two things,if they go on YouTube and try to

(45:07):
figure stuff out, they're probablyself-starters, which means like, okay,
they're, they're pretty good at, attrying to figure things out, right?
Or they bought their own zuo leads orthey did something else, or whatever.
And so I can take people likethat, who are self-starters,
plug them into our system andthey'll be massively successful.
That's been very powerful.
What do you do?
I think a lot, a lot of us, Blakerun into where we want them to be.
We want them to be more, wewant success for them more than

(45:31):
they want it for themselves.
Yeah.
And you know, and I think that'sprobably personally been one of my
biggest challenges the last severalyears, especially with the market.
The way it was, is, you know,you try everything to make them
successful and they're just, itjust seems like they're like.
You know, they just don't get it.
And they, you know, and they're,and they're just flat ass lazy

(45:51):
and they just, they won't do it.
Like, what is your, when youbring somebody on, what is that?
What is that first, how do you entrenchthem into the belief of, of believing
in you and the system, or I guess,or those qualifying questions to
know that you got the right person.
That's a great question andit's, it's difficult, man.

(46:13):
I'm not gonna lie about that.
Right.
But, so we, we do two things andI've just worked with my leadership
team, my, my, basically my salesmanager recruiter lately about this,
and I've screwed up on this before.
The key part is once bringing'em over, a hiring em is having
that pre-frame conversation oflike, look, here's the deal.
Let's talk.
Let's have a conversation about thereality of the market, is what I call it.

(46:33):
And so it is super tough.
It's very difficult right now,but you can be very successful.
It's gonna take a lot of work.
It's not gonna be easy.
And you're gonna have to makesure that you push through
this and you develop yourself.
And then I talk about two things.
Number one, trust the process.
Number two, don't quitover and over and over.
Number one, trust the process.
Number two, don't quit overand over and over when that we
have a successful brand new.
And hey, here's the deal.

(46:53):
Trust the process.
Don't quit.
Because I find that the twomain reasons people fail is they
wanna do their own thing, right?
It's perfect.
They have everything andwe're all guilty of this.
I'll never forget, uh, what that thatbodybuilding coach guy had, right?
He had this weird like.
Diet.
My diet was kinda weird, my macros,and it just didn't make sense.
I feel like I was like.
Overeating a couple things.

(47:14):
And I ask him, and he, he goes,man, hey, how about just follow the
process exactly and shut the fuck up.
And I was like, okay.
And, uh, I did it and it workedexactly how it's supposed to.
And I was just such, it's apowerful lesson, you know?
And I'm like, dude, you know,just why, why, why that?
You know, like, this dude's aprofessional bodybuilder here.
I'm questioning this stuff 'cause Ithink I know what I'm talking about.

(47:34):
And her agents do it the same way.
And so it was just sopowerful to say that.
And thankfully.
He had the results and the frame on mefor him to be able to tell me that and,
and listen and me not get, you know,obviously I'll get triggered with that,
but I was like, yeah, you're right.
And I said, I think I wrote,uh, uh, what I wrote back.
I said, uh, like, not check,but I basically said, got it,
confirm, you know, whatever.
And then, and he's like told you andit worked exactly how it's supposed to.

(47:56):
But the key thing I do think thatpeople miss on, I missed on a lot, and I
screwed this up a lot, is, uh, I didn'tpre-frame him so hard between the higher.
And the coming on andthe start date, right?
It's like the morning of the dayof here's the outline, here's the
plan, here's what we're doing.
And that needs to be a, like asit down meeting for a while and
just say, look, here's the deal.

(48:16):
And tell 'em, Hey, here's the deal, Kevin.
Like the last thing I want from youto want your success more than you
do, and I'm gonna lead you throughthis, but I'm not gonna save you.
And you have to do the work that's,you be willing to do the work.
But if you're willing to do the work,I'll guarantee you one thing, you won't
outwork me, I'll lead you from the front.
And I'm never gonna ask youdo anything that I don't do.
And the two rules we live by,number one, trust the process.
Number two, don't quit.
And they say it over andover and over and over.

(48:37):
'cause we have to be reminded.
They have to be reminded.
And I think that's something that's,that's a big lesson that, that I would
go back and do a lot differently.
That's great.
Thank I'm gonna lead you.
I'm not gonna save you.
That's, uh, I, I love that.
Yeah, that's, that's, that's way powerful.
Way powerful becauseyou have to save them.
They'll crucify you atthe end every time, right?

(48:58):
You'll be the one they blame.
You'll be the one thatthey, they try to place.
But, and here's the deal.
You, there's gonna be some thatdon't do the work and they all,
you know, may look like they do it,some don't, some will, some won't.
You know, so what?
But you just gotta makesure that you have enough.
Coming on that they cankind of sort themselves out.
And that's been a lessonI've learned too, right?
The Navy SEAL stuff is hardto do in this marketplace.

(49:19):
You gotta have to seek out,find the right ones, you know,
half may make it, and they do.
Then I want the ones that wannarun with me, and that's it.
Yeah.
That's so good.
I love that, brother.
You're absolutely amazing, man.
Um, I, I can't thank you enough forjumping in here, just like Kev, man.
I've got two pages of notes,and, and as, as always, it's, uh.

(49:39):
Man, can't, can't say how much, uh, Iappreciate you and even more so, you
know, just being an, an incredible human,amazing friend, and so proud of you.
Just even like Calvinknow, I love you, brother.
Love you guys, man.
Appreciate you, you all.
Thanks for having me, man.
Anything I ever do let me know.
Hey, you guys, man, y'all have allhelped me in some way, in some form
and I'm very grateful for that.
And, uh, most of it man, justknow we're not alone, right?

(50:00):
We're out here fighting the fight, doingour thing and uh, just one step after
another as most people kind of give up.
Yeah.
For sure, brother.
Appreciate you guys.
Thank you and uh, love you guys.
See you guys soon.
Love you.
Bye bye.
That's a wrap for today.
I hope you got somethingvaluable from this episode.

(50:21):
If you did, hit follow andvisit John kitchens.coach for
more ways we can work together.
See you on the next episode.