#710: Riches in the Niches: Building a Real Estate Brand Around What You Love with Stacey Lambright

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Seven figure success starts whenyou start thinking like a CEO.
Welcome to the John Kitchens Coach podcastexperience as your host, John Kitchens.
Get ready to think bigger andtransform your business into
a path to lasting freedom.
What is up everybody?
Man, I am excited for today's conversationand it is one that we, we've been trying

(00:24):
to have for, for quite some time, but.
You know, definitely gettinginto, um, kind of what's happening
in the market, what's going on.
But I I, I really want tojump into, to, to your niche.
And here's, here's the thing thatlike made me like, holy smokes, in
just a short period of time whatyou can, what you can do, right.

(00:46):
So, um, you know, one, I I wouldlove for you to kind of, kind of
tell us the, the backstory of, of.
The bourbon fascination and,and kind of where things have
come for you in, in the niche.
And what was really cool, Stacy, when wewere kind of working through your story,
especially your story since coming to expand, and as we were building out the, the

(01:09):
presentation for the rally earlier thisyear, and looking at what, what I love
with, sometimes we have to take on sometype of lead source that doesn't pay us.
That much on the front end, right?
Because of the, the customer acquisitioncost being either a paid at closing or
it's a little bit higher cost, cost perlead, but understanding lifetime value.

(01:30):
That was, that was one reallycool thing from your story.
But the other was the fascinationand the niche and, and the community
that you've really latched onto.
And that's the bourbon community.
Um, I, you know, I just, I, I, bourbonfan, I love bourbon as well, but.
To build an amass collection like youhave in such a short period of time.

(01:51):
Like when you told me like it reallydidn't become a thing for you until
during the pandemic, I was like, what?
That's even more fascinating.
So like, tell me about that story.
So, you know, it's actually even tiedto real estate because it was late,
probably like in October of 2020 whenI had a closing and the seller was,

(02:12):
uh, a big bourbon guy and so I wantedto give him a special closing gift.
So I blocked him on Facebook, wentout there and said, Hey, I need help.
I need to get a bourbon gift for thisseller, knowing nothing about bourbon.
Um, and it, it's funny too becauseif you know me as I'm a, a very
social, like casual drinker, Idrink beer as light as they come.

(02:32):
It's like water.
And so I knew nothing about thishard liquor world, nothing like that.
And someone said, well,you gotta get him a blands.
No clue what it was.
And so I just, I started talking to 'em.
I was like, where do I get it?
They're like, well,it's really hard to get.
I'm like, that's okay.
It can be costly.
I'm like, that's okay.
When's the closing?
I was like, tomorrow.
They said, that'll never happen,and I was like, what do you

(02:52):
mean that'll never happen?
They said, well, it's really, it'slike you've gotta go underground.
You can.
Can't get it in the stores.
People drive states away to get it.
And I was like, and this was duringthe pandemic and I had a really good
friend, he was, um, here in Columbus.
We had a restaurant, it didn'tmake it through the pandemic,
unfortunately, really high end.
It was called the m and hewas the head chef there.

(03:12):
And I was like, well, if anybodyknows how to get this over him.
So I call him, he's, and I, I, I wouldtry to do his accent, but he can't.
He's, I get that for you.
I get that for you.
Makes, you know, a couple hours later.
Okay, meet me here.
And so we're meeting in like a parkinglot, like in the middle of nowhere.
Like I'm like this, what is this?
This is crazy.
She's like, I got you four bottles.

(03:33):
I'm like, no, I only need one.
No, you take four.
I'm like, okay, I'll takefour bottles of plants bottom.
Paid crazy price for 'em.
Now I know that that's a crazy price,so I'm pretty sure my first bottle of
bourbon came from the Russian Mafia.
But that, that whole process intrigued me.
I was like, what is this?

(03:53):
What is this world?
You know, what is bourbon?
And what's interesting for me is I thinkthe reason it becomes such a passion
versus just a hobby time or a socialthing, is I started things backwards.
'cause I started digging inand I started looking out.
Like the, just thehistory, the distilleries.
I started reading up on thefamilies and I didn't even like it.
Like when I firststarted, I didn't like it.

(04:14):
I tried to like it 'cause Iloved the American spirit,
like just everything behind it.
Um, and so it was a world that I immersedmyself in, not even really liking
the bourbon yet, which now I love.
Um, and it was a process.
I think that's what's really neat forme too, is the community I'm in and
the fact of the way that I started.
I love and it ties into my real estate.

(04:35):
I love educating people and helpingthem because there is a process to
loving bourbon and getting to knowbourbon and to really enjoying bourbon.
Um, and a lot of people thatstart with a nope, hate it.
I can really take them through thesteps to where they turn into really
being a, a bourbon kind of store, which.
Yeah, it is.
It's, it's just, it's crazy once we findsomething that just absolutely fascinates

(04:59):
us and just the rabbit holes that wego down to learn so much about it.
Right.
You, you didn't even realize it's, it'sessentially a passion until you actually,
you know, days, weeks, months laterand you're still doing the research.
You just can't get enough of that.
And we've all had that in.
You know, in some aspect of our livesand hearing me talk about it, right?

(05:22):
Like you got the s go around the s andyou know, you really took that concept
of, with the urban and have reallybuilt just the incredible business
model for, for yourself and Jim around.
That, that community and that fascinationof, of the bourbon world, what was,

(05:44):
you know, I, 'cause I'm just intriguedjust, just to, you know, uh, as much as
you, and it's funny now I, 'cause I toldyou, um, I had a, a really good friend
client, um, as a, as a couple thank yous.
Uh, I've got two bottlesof, of, of Blands, right.
You know, at the, at the house.
And I'm like, you know, didn'teven think anything about it.
And.

(06:04):
Yeah, the process he had to go through, hewas in a bourbon club, and every time they
meet, every, it's, you know, everybodybrings a bottle, a different bottle.
And, you know, they sit around andyou know, this, they, they have this
collection and, and part of the group, andhe was just telling me, yeah, you know,
some of the guys live on the road, so asthey're, as they're, you know, traveling,
they know the little ins and outs andthe places to stop, to pick up, you know,

(06:25):
bottles that you can't find anywhere.
It's like, it's like, listen, youknow, I think my, my go-to is, um.
Buffalo Trace, you can't findit anywhere, but you go into any
restaurant, they've got dozens ofbottles of, of buffalo trace everywhere.
So, yeah.
For you, what was the thing that, like,you know, that fascinated you the most?
So, I'm, I'm a little competitive,so the fact that they told me I

(06:49):
couldn't get it by tomorrow was one.
But then that just the, the, uh.
The collection part of it, it's, it'shard to describe because once I realized
that these were so, um, sought after itbecame something that I just, and it's.
I immerse myself in quickly.
All the bottles I have are very rare.
I take pride in that.

(07:09):
The community that's surrounding that,it's, you know, they say with real estate,
you think know there's riches and niches.
You hear, you hear that all the time.
But I think more is linked to, to passion.
You know, when I talk to, we, we workwith a lot of our younger agents.
I'm like, when you're passionateabout someone and you.
Go into their community, whether it's achurch, whether it's a nonprofit, whether

(07:30):
it's a charity, something that you'rereally, truly, genuinely passionate
about and, and you're in all the time.
Those people become clients becausethey wanna do, they wanna work with
people that they know, like, and trust.
Sorry.
Um, yeah.
It is real, right?
Real life.
Um, and I find that to be true because.
That community that Ivery fastly got immersed.

(07:52):
It became a very valuablesource of real estate for me.
So I used my example, but yetturn it into people's, their life.
You know what I mean?
If we're working with someone andthey go to church every Sunday, I'm
like, that is a, that is a placethat you have earned the right to ask
for business and to be they, becausepeople wanna do business with they
know, like, and trust and so, mm-hmm.
Um, yeah, the bourbon world andthe bourbon community just turned

(08:14):
into a huge, like a, a, a snowball.
And now, you know, we're workingobviously on our big project together.
I just see it taking off.
It's, um, been awesome.
I do, I do too.
And, you know, with the, with thatfascination, you know, the end of
20 into 21 and, and really startingto now we're starting to see, right.
And that's what a lot of people don'tunderstand, you know, it takes time.

(08:34):
Right.
And.
You know, we've, we've heard it, you know,anything worth building takes, takes time,
takes decades, and you look at it evenfrom a real estate perspective getting
in you, that's why you start to see newagents really start to gain momentum,
your three, four, and five, because that'swhen the people that they helped early on.

(08:56):
Now the referrals, or maybe they'recoming back around life life's happened.
They're starting to to, you know, uh,make another move or do something.
And it's, it's no differentin, in the niches.
Right?
And being able to get in, it takes time.
When, when I look at the two thingsin my life that I feel, not only am
I passionate about, but I considermyself very educated on, um, it's

(09:18):
the bourbon and the real estate.
And even though they're totally different,the whole process with them is the same.
Whether it's a young couple, a firsttime home buyer that I'm helping
with real estate, and I think it'sa, it's a disservice if you have
knowledge on something to not share it.
Like, and I think the more thatyou share, the more that people
trust you, and that just, that'screating that circle of a sphere.
That you can draw from in all avenues.

(09:39):
Um, yeah.
Like it's, it's allabout the, the knowledge.
And I, I was talking to a girlyesterday, I said, and in fact I'm
always learning on both avenues.
Like still in real estate andbourbon, I'm getting ready to go down.
Um, I'm now the, I'm the Ohio Ambassadorfor the National Women's Bourbon Council.
Um, but we're all meeting, allthe states are meeting in Kentucky
this month, in August, and we'reliterally from sun up to sundown.

(10:02):
We're in every, we're in it is basically.
A bourbon university from the architects.
We're gonna be learning from thearchitects on just, you know, how they
design the distillery from the grain,the soil to the glass, to the process.
And it's just, I'm alwayslearning and I'm always learning.
And when you can pass that on in a genuineway, and you're people, I mean, people
automatically trust you and you canmerge those two worlds very, very easily.

(10:26):
How have you know,studying and then studying?
Um.
The business side of bourbon, have youbeen able to take and apply into what
you're doing with the real estate clients?
So it's interesting because, well, I thinkfor one, obviously a whole new sphere.
Anytime I think that you reinventyourself or if you need, if you
need that new source of leads,like we were just talking about.

(10:50):
That's one way, but I, I found too,even a, a third way to bridge the
two is with charity, like, you know,with the ver the bourbon world.
One thing that we did this past year,which opened up a whole new, a whole
nother lead source that's, I, I hatecalling it that because the relationships,
like we talked about with that, youknow, when we were putting our slide
deck together, it is all about buildingrelationships and that has to be genuine.

(11:13):
So instead of leads, I don't wannacall 'em leads or transactions or.
Listings and buyers, but those, I had awhole nother third tier of relationships
open because I joined my two.
I took my real estate clients, mybourbon world, my connections, and
we opened up, um, and sponsored acharity last year, which was Leukemia
Lymphoma Society, and we raised 51,000.

(11:35):
And by merging those, that's so awesome.
Adding that third tier of relationshipsand, um, our business has just boomed.
And I think, you know, it, itshows, uh, uh, you know, in 2024,
that was our biggest year ever.
And uh mm-hmm.
You know, we took three months off in theCaribbean and, and we raised the 51,000
and it was all these new, I literally, mybook of business just grew organically,

(12:00):
not pay, I didn't pay for one.
Lead one relationship, onesale, anything that whole year.
Yeah.
It was just sort, it's just gettingconnected with the like-minded
individuals and no, no matter what,like you said, no matter what it is,
if it, if it, if it's your church,if it's your golf community, like
whatever it is there, there's, there's acommunity there, and it's just by being,
being active and being a part of it.

(12:21):
And so I, you know, I, I, I love that.
And, you know, you can, you justpick up certain things, right?
And it comes back, like down to yousaid, is just really connecting with
people and building a relationshipand leads to conversations and,
you know, just asking questions.
Being genuinely interested in, in whatit is, you know, why they're a part of
this community allows you to, to connectas well, which is really, really cool.

(12:46):
So I think like real and authenticwith people, like they know you and
they know you're not just showing up.
That also gives you a, I. Not theright to ask, but I, in a, in a
very non casuals way in all of myforums, 'cause the bourbon community
here in central Ohio is very tight.
I'm always making the jokeslike, Hey, you know, remember
me, I'm your bourbon realtor.
Like, uh, give the best, like, youknow, I give the best closing gifts.

(13:07):
And, uh, a lot of, there'sa lot of in-person events.
Which is always helpful.
And, uh, you know, my, my license plateis, is always this conversation starter.
Um, it was real estate, which we'll seehow I'm gonna, I'm gonna gauge which
one caused, you know, has the most, um,you know, has the most conversations
with the last in-person that I wentto, we were talking about my, my

(13:30):
license plate and being a realtor.
And I literally, like, I had like 10people around me in a very, you know.
Engaged conversation and everyone of 'em, I said, listen, I'm,
you know, I'm a full-time realtor.
I'm here for business.
I got your, you know, it was, it'svery easy to ask for business when
you're in that environment that you'vecreated, that you're genuinely about.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's so cool.

(13:50):
And we know, you know, the drivingcourse with anything is, is
always, is always content, right.
Being able to, you know, create, becausethat allows us to, to connect with.
One to many in the social and theorganic social side of things.
And so talk to me a little bit about,you know, this awesome project that,
uh, that is just unfolding and reallywhere, where that came from and how

(14:15):
you were able to bring the real estateworld in together with your bourbon.
So I think it was even a little bitof us going back and forth in some
of our, our, our coaching sessionsthat we came up with the idea and
that it just started going forward.
But it was an idea to blend my twoworlds because, uh, new bills especially,
you know, I come from that backgroundbeing a new bill rep for nine years.

(14:37):
I know.
Construction no matter what part, whetherit's, you know, custom and raw land.
I know it, like I knew bourbon from theground up and so I was like, I wonder
if there's a way we can like blend this.
And I think we spitballed and we came upwith that idea and then it just rolled.
So yeah, I'm excited 'causethe first episode is, is
rolling out probably Thursday.
Oh yes.
It.
It went really, really well.

(14:58):
I wasn't sure, you know, inmy head I'm like, this sounds
like a good idea, but how I go.
Okay.
'cause we really, we had a very vaguescript, but we just rolled with it.
And what we did was we, it's apodcast and we started at a, I decided
to do high-end custom builders.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you know, and I would blend itwith local speakeasies or bourbons

(15:18):
and bring everybody together and,and it sounds like it would never
mesh and it just really, really did.
Um, yeah.
The builder we picked was great.
She was, uh, their representative hadnever tried bourbon, so it was so easy
to keep, you know, to, to blend it.
Where we were talking with her atthe model and their gorgeous, you
know, you know, million plus homehere in Columbus, that's a big house.

(15:39):
Um, we talked about her quality,the passion of the builder, and
then we rolled that right into the.
Story we chose, which was BuffaloTrace, the iconic Buffalo trace,
their history, their generationalhistory, the products, the passion.
Um, she educated us on the build process.
We educated her on the bourbon process.
So just, it was, and it was very organic.
Everybody was laughing,everybody was having fun.

(16:00):
We didn't have too muchto drink, which was good.
A little more interesting.
That would've been fun.
Yeah.
But, uh, yeah, so it just,it really worked well.
It, it came together well for especially.
There's so many like similarities, right?
Like you were just talking right there.
Like when you, when you truly understandeven from, you know, where the, the

(16:24):
development, where, where, wherethe vision really comes from, right?
And what you can envisionwith the finished product.
And a lot of people can'tsee finished product.
Right?
But, you know, that's the beautykind of with developers and builders.
They, they, they have thisvision to be able to, to go.
What it takes to the whole processthat it takes to, you know, produce
this final result and then you'reable to take the similarities.

(16:46):
It's the same, you know, my understandinghere, kind of listening to you and, and,
and being able to talk to you through,through this whole journey, um, that
it takes in the bourbon world, right?
And the complexities and everythingand, and the vision that they have
for that finished product to come out.
So there's so many similaritiesand that's why I feel it.

(17:07):
It's just a perfect match.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it, it flowed very well.
It's, I think where I, my hope is, isthat as it grows, the content is so,
is so easy that anybody, no matterwhat world they're coming into, you
know what I mean, they can mm-hmm.
They can watch, they'll findsomething interesting with it.
Each one's gonna have some good tid.

(17:27):
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And it's, it's just socool to understand, right?
Even, you know, how, how, you know,taking pride in making anything right,
that's, that's just worth making, right?
Everything that has to go into it and,and the time that it takes and just the
level of detail that it takes, especiallyon the high end custom world, right?
On the, on the custom build side ofthings, and especially the higher end,

(17:48):
higher price points, because we'veall seen the mass builders and, and.
You know, you walk in, youcan, you can tell, right?
And like we've, we've all, you know,if, if you, if you like bourbon,
we've all had the bourbon too.
It is like, okay, and then,but you get a good one.
We even had a chance to talk aboutthat because this particular builder,
they are local to Columbus, but verywell three decades they've been here.

(18:11):
In fact, he started, I started two years.
After him.
He started, you know, hewas also in the 19 hundreds.
Um, so he started in 1995.
I started in 1997.
I actually sold against him.
You know, we were telling these oldwartime stories between the two of us.
Um, but I've see I've had a chance to seehim grow and what we, what we dialed it

(18:32):
into and even some of our conversations iswhat we're experiencing now in the market.
'cause they actuallyweathered the recession.
We talked about BuffaloChase with the, you know.
With prohibition and just thesimilarities also of exactly
what the builders had to do.
And, and they had, and thedistilleries had to do dur
during prohibition to survive.
And that's the type of PIL peoplethat come out on the other side.

(18:54):
The distillery came out on the other side,three pillars came out on the other side.
Um, so it's, it's crazy how itall links together sometimes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What, what's the biggest thingon, on the real estate side, you
know, as you kind of go down?
That reflective mode and, and talkinghistory with history, um, you know,

(19:16):
Hey, Jim, will, Jim will cover the rest.
Yeah, there he comes.
I hear you.
I hear you going after him.
So, so what is, so, so like 90, 90, 97,getting in, like over that time period,
you know, what is still the same, butwhat are some of the biggest changes that,
that you've seen throughout that journey?
So I got in.

(19:37):
Um, and it's, and my experience hasbeen very helpful with our, just by
like you, people you're mentoring rightnow, but when I got in the wave was
going like this, you know, they werecoming off of what had been a crazy
ride for them in the early 1990s.
So I knew nothing but thatride until about 2005.
'cause here in our market, thenew build market crashed quicker

(20:00):
than the existing market did.
And that's the market I was in.
Sure.
Um.
And I, we, I like to say that welearned our lesson the hard way.
That's one thing I always say aboutcoaching and having mentors, and you
can relate to this with anybody we workwith, what our bumps and bruises and
our, you know, the, the punches thatwe took learned from, because that was
rough and there was very few, I knowhere personally, we had 10,000 and

(20:21):
some agents, and by the time we gotout of, like, during that four year
period, we went down to like 3000.
There was not a lot of people that rodethat storm and came out on the other side.
Um.
But coming out on the other side was awhole new wild, wild west of real estate,
which I think is what helped us withthe last couple of years we've been in.
Mm-hmm.
Um, it's, it's very similar.

(20:43):
I don't think, and I, and I thinkeverybody agrees we're not gonna have
another recession, but I do think,and I see some similarities with some
stuff starting where the last couple ofyears, just like when I sold new build.
You know, when we were on that crazywave, there was people buying houses that
they probably shouldn't have with thethree one arms, the two one buy downs.
You know, in our market thatwas really, CRE was really big.

(21:04):
And what I'm starting to see here nowis in 2020 2021, in our market, we had
20, 20%, 20 plus percent appreciation.
Those two years back to back.
And it was on paper for a lot ofpeople, I feel right, because we had
people paying 50,000 over a list.
They were appraisal gapsand stuff like that.
And we're starting to see some of thatcome back into the market where now

(21:25):
they've had that crisis, whether it was adivorce, job loss, or something like that.
They have to sell and they can't'cause the market's correcting
itself a little bit here.
So this house, you know, and sowe're seeing some similarities.
I don't think it's gonna be the crazy,crazy dip that we obviously saw in oh
eight and the crash we saw, but we'reseeing some similarities in our market.
Seeing those similarities, like and,and being able to draw from that.

(21:47):
Right.
And that experience, how areyou communicating that with,
with buyers and how are youcommunicating that with sellers?
Key is upfront.
Upfront and understanding the market.
Um, because now when we set and we lookat numbers, I am no longer talking about,
I always used to use a swinging pendulum.
Mm-hmm.
When, you know, in the last few years wecould price a little bit above and you

(22:10):
always, the market caught up with it.
By the time, I mean, we hadno problem getting that price.
We had no problem getting that appraisal.
'cause that's what we're seeinghere too, is our appraisals are
coming in short, left and right.
Um, and now when I talk to sellers,if our data says We're here, we
might wanna price right here.
Because our inventory's up appraisersare getting really stingy with numbers.
And I always tell 'em too, ifyou're gonna get in our market,

(22:32):
one plus that we have is it's stilltechnically a seller's market.
Obviously real estate's veryhyper-local, even communities.
But overall it's still a seller's market.
So if we happen, I, you know,if I have them pray smart.
If they're gonna get more than that,they're still gonna get more than that.
There's still buyers out there.
They're still, and you know,there's still pent up demand where

(22:52):
they've got saved searches waiting.
You know, one example, we just hadthe number shows 360, we priced
it three 50 and he got the 360.
'cause if the market's gonna take itthere, it's still gonna take it there.
The the, the buyer's not gonnasay, oh, 'cause you priced at
three 50, that's all I'm paying.
You know, if it's priced right and it'spriced good, they're still gonna get it.
You just can't be cra Yeah.
And you've gotta reactto the market quick.

(23:14):
Um, I have some sellers thatare still not listening to me.
I, if they're within reason, a decentreason, I still take the listing,
but I set the expectations up front.
Listen, I'm willing to swing for thehome defense for you, the home run.
If we don't get it in thefirst two weekends of having
grand opening mass marketing.
We need to adjust.
We need to adjust quickly.
So I get that commitment upfrontand I educate 'em upfront.

(23:37):
'cause if you tried to havethat conversation after you
listed too high, now you looklike you're just backpedaling.
'cause you couldn't get the number thatyou allowed them to put on the listing.
Yeah.
Are you seeing, like you said, youknow, when we, we used to look and the
data just quite, mine hasn't caughtup with what we're, what we know,
you know, just, just from experience,you know, it's kind of the top,

(23:59):
middle, bottom of the market I think.
Positioning kind of in thatmiddle of the market is really
the new top of the market.
Is that kind of how you're looking at it?
For sure.
We're, uh, we're going back to,uh, something we haven't had to use
in a while, a long time, which isjust the supply and demand chart.
Kinda like if no one else lists,it's gonna, I just had this
conversation with someone yesterdayand it was very eyeopening for them.

(24:21):
And if no one else list, we stillhave, we have seven months worth
of inventory in this particulararea, being very hyper-local.
It was a buyer's market.
You know, anytime you get past, inmy experience, anytime you get past
that three, four month thresholdthat's turning into a buyer's market
and that's if nobody else lists.
So we're really dialing down back intodata data's gotta be in, and when you have

(24:42):
these conversations, this is not, um, youknow, we're having that hard conversation.
It doesn't matter what you needor what you think, you need
to move on to the next step.
It is.
And, and I'm, I'm not, thisisn't my number, it's the
da, I'm interpreting data.
And I, I rely wholly on that.
I don't pull 12 months of data.
I start with six.
If I have more than four solid, if Ihave four solid comps, I'll even dial

(25:05):
it down into three months increments.
Like the last three months.
And, and then I do take intoconsideration, I have 'em look at pending.
If pending has a big days on marketlook where that, you know what I mean?
Like I'm showing them thenumbers every which way.
You can see the shift happeningright here, even in the last
three months that you know Yes.
Quote, sorry.
That's a new building to bypass,to bypass my silent thing.

(25:28):
Um, but.
Sold might show, you know, Xprice per, per square foot,
but it was moving in 10 days.
Now this pending took 30 days andit's less price per square foot.
That shows me it's gonnaclose out less than these.
So you're, you're really payingattention to, to the pending all the
pending data, the pending information.
Yeah, absolutely.
That we haven't been active.
'cause our actives, we haven'tseen some of the active lists we're

(25:50):
getting now where you have sevencompetitors in the, we haven't seen
those kind of numbers in a long time.
Yeah.
We used to be so short on inventory thatwe didn't, you know, you'd be, have one
or two actives maybe to compete against.
Right, right.
Yeah.
That was the big data.
That was the big number for us.
Right.
We always look at the pendingratio, kind of what, what
that is, what's that showing?
And then we would also look at kindof what's that average like you

(26:11):
said, on the pendings, because that'sgonna kind of tell the story of.
Where, where things are goingand really, really getting a
good grasp and understanding,and a way to articulate that too.
Buyers, obviously sellers aswell, but you've gotta educate
everybody so that, that's, that wasalways the number for us, right?
It's not just having that number, butbeing able to, what does that number mean?

(26:33):
And, and it is time to get creative too.
Uh, you, we are still in asituation where a lot of sellers
have equity because of that.
Those few years that went crazy,not a lot of 'em have cash.
So one of the things that we've beenteaching our mentees is that listen,
make the connections with contractorsand stuff, because now too, not
only do you have to be priced in themiddle, we have to look the best.

(26:53):
Mm-hmm.
You know, before we used to tell'em, you don't have to paint,
don't worry about carpeting.
You're gonna have multipleoffers, dah, dah, dah da.
And that's not the case now.
So if you go in and you see that theyneed paint carpeting, and it it, that's.
If they can do it, great.
If they can't have those connectionswhere you know your contractors
will do it and get paid on thesettlement statement, um, it's time.
That skill, it's coming back to beingskill-based and really educating

(27:16):
yourself and finding, being verycreative to get your listings sold.
'cause if you can get yourlisting sold, you get listings.
Yeah, that's what we fighting for.
Yeah.
Yeah.
People, I mean, just, it'sthat social proof, right?
You know, other sellers wanna see thatyou can actually demonstrate and do what
it is that, that you need to do whenlooking for, you know, 'cause, 'cause this
is also a big, a big challenge, right?

(27:37):
Especially on the listing side ofthings or just, just an agent in general
is being able to have good people,good contractors, kind of what is
that vetting process for you to find,you know, good trades, good skill,
good, good help that you can rely on.
Look in your market.
If you have it, awesome.
If you don't have it, create it.
And what we did in our local marketwas the top agents, you know, probably

(28:00):
about the top 5% of agents all gottogether and we created a private
Facebook group that started out withus and then we allowed to, they had
to be vetted by one of the top agents.
Contractors.
Hard money.
Lenders.
Investors, anybody that had todo with our real estate forum.
But it's a very tight knit group.
If you're in that group, you're vetted.

(28:20):
If you screw up, you're out.
So that's a great source to start.
Um, I don't, and I never, uh, wheneverI ask for referrals, anybody that
refers themself goes out the door.
Um, I, I, that's not what I'm looking for.
I want referrals from someonethat has used them, trusted them,
they had good customer experience.
Pricing's good.
And that's what that, so that group,and it's been a very, it's a good way
for us also to stay in front of agents.

(28:41):
If, if building agents is importantto you, if you can control that group,
it's a really, it's a solid source of,of, you know, good info, good people.
Yeah.
Yeah, it is.
I think people that, like yousaid, are gonna do a great job,
do what they say they're gonna do,they're gonna show up, get it done.
Um, and they're vetted.
And they're vetted.
Yeah.
That's super, super important.
But it's super importantto have, have those people.

(29:03):
Um, and, and sometimes you gottakind of, you, you get, you get some
good, you get some good people.
Like it's, it's hard to wanna pushthem out to anybody else as well.
Yeah.
It's, it's, uh, it's, it's,it's a bit of a challenge, so.
Stacy on, you know, the other, youknow, the kind of thing we alluded to
before we, we jumped into the, you know,bourbon talk and, and bringing the two

(29:25):
with new construction together with,you know, uh, the bourbon and builds
content and podcast and direction that,that you're going, we, we talked about
early on that, that I really loved and.
Coming first into exp, you tookadvantage of everything exp had
to offer from a lead standpoint.
This is what I alwaystell agents too, right?

(29:45):
If you're, if you're struggling, getaccess to everything that you can, that.
Where you're at, the company that'sproviding that value and just being a part
of the revenue stuff, like you did somedeals that actually cost you money to do,
however, the lifetime value of that leadsource and that opportunity, sometimes you

(30:06):
just, you, you, you can't even get yourhead around, you know, what that, what
that whole lifetime value is gonna be.
So looking, looking at that.
You know, working, you know, for youthat story, but also with the mentees,
how important is that to have sometype of lead source constantly coming
in that potentially is gonna maybe.

(30:28):
Cost you a little bit more on the, youknow, at closing, but understanding
the importance of lifetime value.
It's huge.
You know, when I joined exp in 2018,I think I had consistently done
my, I was an independent agent.
We were a small brokerage.
We had done the re max KellerWilliams route, but we were at
a boutique brokerage and I had.
Had had a few years of justhovering around that 10
million mark, which was good.
I was happy, I was content.

(30:48):
I didn't even realize there was amuch, you know, you don't, when you're
in the, what's that saying about, youcan't see the trees for the forest.
Yeah.
You know, I was just, everyday it was just the same.
Um, and when I joined exp and we,when we joined DX exp in late 2018.
It took about a year for meto really start listening.
'cause one thing that all of a sudden Iwent from where it was just me out there,

(31:09):
you know, by myself to, I was immersedinto people that were doing not only
more than me, but they were sharing.
And so when you just start getting inthat environment where you're hearing
it and seeing it and stuff like that,I started really buying into it and
realize that for one, I think I want more.
I seen, I seen the lifestyles theywere living and some of the stuff
they were doing and they were,you know, you would expect as.

(31:30):
Them to be doing less than me because theywere never here, never, always traveling.
And here they are going way more.
Um, so I totally bought into the revenuesand I revenues was a lead source.
And I, and you can take that to anytype of lead source if it's, you know,
redfin op city realtor.com out there.
And I really just startedbuilding relationships.
I stopped looking atwhat, it didn't matter.

(31:51):
I signed up for everything.
I got certified for everything.
Each time they rolled something out.
I started, I got certified for it, and,and there's some, I got on my own, you
know, veterans United and stuff like that.
And I didn't, I stopped lookingat what I was paying out.
I stopped looking atwhat the price point was.
I stopped looking at scenarios.
The only thing that I bound myself by,which I even stretched occasionally,

(32:13):
was an hour, an hour and 20 drive time.
That was kinda like I, Ikind of had my boundaries on.
I would take anything that, ifit was within this timeframe.
And I just started working thoserelationships and, and I, I
retaught myself and then within,you know, it was something that,
it was a mind shift for me.
And when it started snowballing, it tookme about two or three years of having
to take every one of those to startbuilding a snowball That kind of like, I

(32:37):
pushed up the hill and it started goingand I went in five years, I went from.
You know that 10 million mark to27 million and it was literally
built off of relationships.
I paid referral fees at closing, butI didn't pay, I wasn't doing Zillow
leaves, I wasn't doing anything up front.
Um, and when I started looking atpeople as a long life term relationship,

(32:58):
like, you know what I mean?
Like just an example, youknow, one that we talked about.
By the time I got doing it was shewas an hour and eight minutes away.
I remember it exactly.
'cause I, I teach this nowto my, my, my, my kiddos.
I call 'em my real estate kiddos.
Um, it was an hour, one hourand eight minutes each way.
And the sales price was really low.
The seller only wanted to do 2% and bythe time I was done, I got paid $908 and

(33:20):
I had drove, I had made that drive an hourand something each way numerous times.
Um, but she immediately.
Uh, you know, her mom, who I'd metduring the process, turned around
and gave me $1.5 million in businesswith three different deals that I
didn't know the referral fee on.
And so that's the example I always use.
And they're still avid fans.
I'm still getting, you know,uh, referrals from them.

(33:42):
So it's just when you stop lookingat the person as a paycheck mm-hmm.
And start about them as a lifelongrelationship because for one, and,
and I got, I had to get better andexp obviously made it easier with
our, our CRMs and stuff like that, of.
One thing I got good at was taking themand putting them into something that
I was consistent on with touches andinviting them to our, our parties and

(34:04):
sending them and making sure, and if Icould find them, I would ask if I could
follow 'em on social media and vice versa.
Um, 'cause we just do alot with even social media,
staying in touch with people.
And when I started actuallyworking relationship.
That's the one thing I wish I could goback and tell myself in 1997 is to save
all that information, save my card.
Once a year you'll be, yeah.
Um, but I got really good at thatand I had to draw a line in the sand.

(34:26):
'cause it can be a little overwhelming ifyou think about the business you've lost.
And we decided, you know, we've gotall the info from 2018 and on and
that business has just started going.
It's, yeah, it just, I couldn't stopit if I want to, you know, and that's,
that's allowed us to open up doors wherethey trust and know us too, where we
can travel and do a lot of our business.
You know, over Zoom.
Yeah.
Virtually.
Virtually.

(34:47):
Yeah.
Yeah.
'cause you have built so muchtrust and you've, you've made trust
in the people they refer over.
They already trust you because theywere referred over to you by somebody
that, you know, you've, you've donea great job, great experience and,
and just help them get the resultthat they, that they really want.
Um, yeah, we've dealt with a coupleof agents recently too, because
you'd be surprised agents thathave been in the business for a

(35:08):
while, and I'm guilty of this.
They get a little stubborn,you know what I mean?
That I need more, I want more,or I'm not making as much.
But yet they don't wanna goback to like kind of said,
drawing that line in the sand.
'cause that first three or four yearsof, you know, probably three years of
taking all those leads, that was likesomeone brand new in the business.
I had to act like someonebrand new in the business.

(35:30):
Yes, I'll take that a hundredthousand dollars leave.
Yes, I'll take that.
$150,000 leave.
Yes, I'll make that dry.
That's an hour away for it.
But when you do that, youdon't have to do that forever.
Like that's what I, my, I, thatwas my mindset to go back, draw
a line, rebuild, and focus on it.
And once about that three year where thatsnowball started going, now I, obviously
the freedom has come back a little bit.

(35:50):
I've built a solid foundation,which is what I lacked.
I was busier doing the 10 million.
'cause I had no solid foundation.
I was just always, I was 80hours a week working reactive.
Yeah.
And now I stopped and did a rebuild,literally starting from scratch
as if I was a brand new agent.
I built a solid foundation thatI'm still keeping up with, and now

(36:11):
I can relax more and do, and, butyet my business is still growing.
Right?
Yeah, it's such a great point.
And, you know, the, um, the, the,the, the king of, uh, shaking
hands and kissing babies, AndrewGado, he, um, you know, built his
business on relationships as well.
And what he did in Lock and Grin andthen, you know, in Dayton at Yankee

(36:32):
Trace and just what he's kind ofthe whole neighborhood mayor program
and everything he's been able to do.
But that was the one thing thathe always just hammered home,
that the CRM, the database.
The database, the database,and he still uses and.
Antiquated, you would say outdated, CRM.
But he uses it and it's, it'sjust really works for him.

(36:54):
And, but he always stresses that, right?
Like, you know, you just gottahave something where you're
putting these contacts becauseit is a relationship game.
Yep.
It is literally the one thing,'cause you get asked that question
a lot, what would you do different?
Or what would you tell yourself?
You know?
And that is probably the one thing.
And uh, it's, it's just worth millionsthat, that your past database and your
past really, if you keep up with them.

(37:16):
Mm-hmm.
That's the thing too, is, you know whatI mean, you've gotta do the right stuff.
And I think times have changed,you know, back then we were
literally handwriting stuff.
It's, I think it's so easy now to trulystay in touch and in front of 'em with
a genuine, a genuine touch, even thoughit's automated, if that makes sense.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And especially as, as things are evolvingfast with, with different AI and different
AI apps and, you know, just being able tohave all of those contacts in one place,

(37:41):
to be able to just, just start havinga conversation now with, you know, with
the AI to help you identify, you know,if you have those past clients, it's
like, Hey, you know, who, who haven'tI talked to in a while that I need to
reach out to and, and help me connectwith them on a, on a personal level of.
Of what to say and what to do.
It's the holy grail, right?
It's the, like you said, we hadto, you know, hand write cards.

(38:01):
You can only do a few a day andjust try to stay consistent with it.
But where, where tech is at,we're able to have that one-on-one
personal touch at scale, whichis just wild to to think about.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think, and two, I think if youkeep it, uh, you know, with me I
do cheat, uh, with social media.
You know, if I'm getting ready tomake a, a reach out, I go back and

(38:22):
spend a couple of minutes gettingcaught up on kids' names, pet's names.
Mm-hmm.
What they're doing, bigmoves, you know, stuff.
And that way when you're talkingto 'em, it's like, oh yeah, I saw
that, I saw that you ditched moveto here, or you just had a baby.
Yeah, it is, it's, it, it,it's so important, right.
To be able to have that and,you know, just, just to have
that personal relevance, to beable to, to connect with them.

(38:43):
You know, right away reconnectwith them right away.
So it is, and keep themindset, that relationship.
They, they may only have thoughtself statistically well every
five to seven years, but if you,if you keep those touches up,
the referrals come in like easy.
Yeah.
You know, just, it was, it wasinteresting what you just said, right.
You know, you were, you were busier andmore reactive, spending more time doing
10 million in production versus, you know,to where, where we're at today and, um.

(39:09):
That's where the burnout comes in.
Mm-hmm.
And I think it's just doing a bunchof stuff that you don't even love and
when you can find the niche and beingable to, to carry that over into kind
of, you know, how we get paid andhow we're able to carry that over.
There's just really no burnout there.
You just, you absolutelyjust, just love it.
Yeah.

(39:29):
And I do, you know, we, Jim talksall the time 'cause he is like, you
know, let's just go into like, youknow, attraction and rev sharing.
I'm like, I still like selling.
Like, I'm still genuinely like, andI still am drawn to the first time
home buyer, which automatically alot of times has a lower price point.
And I don't even focus on that.
I just, I enjoy it.
I like it.
There might be a point thatI don't, but not right now.
Yeah, I think it's the correlation,just like what we were talking about

(39:51):
earlier with the bourbon, right?
Just the fascination, the educationalside of things and, and you know,
first time home buyers, there's alot of education, a lot of like,
you know, walking them through theprocess and really understanding it.
So, you know, I can see, you know,the passion in one is the passion
in the other, it's the how we doanything, how is how we do everything.
And, and that's so awesome to lean into.

(40:13):
Yeah.
Yep.
I agree.
Hundred percent.
Stacy, I appreciate you.
Uh, the, the, the bourbonfascination is fascinating to me.
And, and, and I think what's evenmore fascinating is, is how fast.
That can be built, right?
I mean, we're talking really, you know,really towards the end of 20, into 21.

(40:33):
So we're, you know, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
I mean, we're not even a, maybe now, good.
Five full years into this, thispassion and this, you know, hobby
and collection and just everything.
Um.
And just how that carries over.
So it's, it's really fascinatingto start and that's what I

(40:54):
would always tell anybody else.
You know, if there's, ifthere's true passion there,
um, it's the question, right?
You know, what do you study,what do you study when you don't
have to, what are you studying?
Yep.
Yep.
And definitely blending the twoworlds for realtors for sure.
Yeah.
It's so good.
Stacy, thank you so much.
And, um, I cannot wait to see the new,uh, the new podcast and the new series.

(41:18):
Uh, bourbon and Build.
And where is that gonna be dropping at?
Where are we gonna be able to, to geta hold of that for Bourbon and Builds?
Yep.
So everything will be over on YouTube.
Yep.
Um, bourbon and Builds is the channel.
Mm-hmm.
Bourbon and Build.
Cool.
Well, fantastic Stacy, thank you so much.
Looking forward to it.
And uh, you guys make sure you tune in.
Go check out an episode ofBourbon Builds as we get, uh,

(41:41):
get that launched here this week.
I love it.
Awesome.
Thank you.
We'll see you guys.
Bye.
Thanks for tuning in.
If you're done guessing and ready tolead like a real CEO with a custom
strategy, real accountability andproven systems, check out my executive
one-on-one coaching@johnkitchens.coach.

(42:02):
Fill out the application and bookyour one-on-one call with me.
Be sure to hit follow soyou never miss an episode.
Catch you on the next one.

All Episodes

Episode Overview

Key Topics Covered

Turning Passion Into Profit

Niching Down Without Limiting Growth

Building a Brand with Bourbon & Builds

Relationship Marketing Done Right

Leveraging Lead Sources Without Burnout

Surviving Market Shifts Like a Pro

Elevating Listing Prep & Vendor Networks

Resources & Tools Mentioned

Episode Transcript

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#710: Riches in the Niches: Building a Real Estate Brand Around What You Love with Stacey Lambright