April 17, 2025 • 42 mins
What separates long-term success from fleeting achievement in real estate? The answer might surprise you. In this raw and revealing conversation, powerhouse agent Tina Caul pulls back the curtain on her 25-year journey from struggling beginner to thriving team leader.
Tina's childhood mantra—"figure it out"—became the foundation of her business philosophy. Growing up with working-class parents who couldn't attend her sporting events, she developed resilience that would later fuel her willingness to take risks, including relocating her entire business 700 miles from Michigan to Raleigh, North Carolina.
The most counterintuitive insight? Passion doesn't lead—it follows. Tina outlines the "Six P's" of professional development: Process, Practice, Patience, Power, Passion, and Purpose. Most agents quit during the uncomfortable Practice phase, never experiencing the Passion that comes with mastery. "When you first pick up a golf club, it's not fun. You suck," Tina explains candidly. This applies to prospecting calls, scripts, and every other real estate skill.
Both Tina and host Maria Quattrone acknowledge the persistent challenge of imposter syndrome, even decades into their careers. The difference? Top producers use discomfort as a growth signal rather than a stop sign. "When we feel discomfort, we go 'yes, now I know I'm onto something,'" Tina explains.
The conversation delves into practical strategies for success, including adapting communication styles to different personality types, discovering your "Working Genius," and why consistent conversations remain the bedrock of business building. Despite the allure of social media and reality TV shows, the quiet millionaires in real estate still focus on fundamentals and human connection.
💡 Key Takeaways:
- “Passion doesn’t lead — it follows mastery.” Get good first. The fire comes later.
- “It’s not about who you think you are. It’s about who you’re afraid to become.” Watch out for self-sabotage as you get closer to your goals.
- The six P’s to mastery: Process, Practice, Patience, Power, Passion, Purpose.
- The power of adapting to client communication styles: "Be who they need you to be."
- Why the fastest way to grow your business is by talking to people — not tweaking your logo.
- How to build a business around your working genius (take the test at workinggenius.com).
📚 Books Mentioned:
- Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
- The Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni
- The Passion of the Christ (reference to passion = suffering)
🗣️ Quotes to Share:
- Tina Caul: “You’re not passionate when you start. You’re scared. Passion follows the art of mastery.”
- Maria Quattrone: “Don’t stop when momentum is behind you. That’s when you double down.”
- Maria Quattrone: “It’s not a script. It’s a skill — and it takes time to master.”
- Tina Caul: “The fear of succes
Connect with Maria Quattrone:
Facebook: Maria Quattrone
Facebook Page: REMAX at Home Facebook
Facebook Page: Rise in Real Estate Facebook
LinkedIn: Maria Quattrone
YouTube: Maria Quattrone
Instagram: @maria_quattrone
TikTok: mariaquattronereale
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Maria Quattrone and this is the Be the Solution
podcast, and this morning I amvery excited to have my guest,
tina Cole from AXP Realty inRaleigh, north Carolina, join us
.
Tina is a powerhouse.
She has been in this industryfor a couple decades now and has
(00:20):
built her business to a wholenother level that I know that
everybody here listening wouldlove to be at.
But it didn't start that way,tina.
It started with an idea, withan idea that you had and you
entered the industry and youwere in one market and moved to
(00:41):
another.
Not many people do that.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
No, no, they don't.
It's scary, it's scary.
So I yeah, I've been doing this25 years.
I started up in Michigan, so alittle closer to you, and I
remember the first seven yearsof my career were more like you
know, just figure it out.
And that takes me back to mychildhood, my mother and my
(01:06):
father.
They never came to any of mygames, my soccer games, my track
meets, and I remember feelingso mad that they wouldn't come.
But when I would ask them, hey,can you just come to my game
today?
And they'd say you know wecan't do it.
Your dad works all day.
He was a short order cook.
My mom watched handicapped kidsthat had special needs through
the foster care system.
So she'd say you know we can'tdo it.
(01:26):
Your dad works all day.
He was a short order cook.
My mom watched handicapped kidsthat had special needs through
the foster care system.
So she'd say I can't bring themall in the car, so you've got
to figure it out.
And I have a t-shirt now thatsays figure it out.
I didn't realize those wordswould shape my entire life, and
so the reason I share that isbecause I think sometimes you
know when we're growing andwe're doing something scary.
(01:47):
We all feel like imposters andI always say that I've never
been.
I've never been ready for anyof the roles that I've ever had
in life being a mother, being awife, being a realtor, being a
team leader.
But I just figured it out.
I just stepped in with faith tosay you know what, let's just
try.
And so, um so, moving across,you know, down, 700 miles away,
(02:11):
uh, in 20, 2010,.
I knew I had to figure it out,and so um, yeah, you said
something, tina.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
You said let's just try.
And I want to touch on that fora minute, because I think
people think they try but Idon't really think they try.
Yeah, I had a conversationyears ago, I remember, with
Michelle Saber and we weretalking about and we were
(02:46):
talking about prospecting andlisting appointments and he said
, oh, I'm going to try, I'mgoing to actually try, because I
think a lot of times we just gowith what we know.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
And are we really trying to level up or are we
just being?
I think most of the time we'rejust being or we're trying at a
level that doesn't move theneedle, if that makes sense,
Like just trying.
I remember when I just startedcalling expireds, you know I
could have just tried to calltwo and gave up, or just tried
to call a few Fizbo's and gaveup, and that when I look at
agents that and I know you're abeast when it comes to calling
(03:31):
you know expireds and Fizbo'sand being on the phones, If you
just tried to call a few, howare the first few that you
called when you first startedtrying?
They're not fun, they'rehanging up on you.
You feel dumb because you'renot really that good at the
objection handlers, You're notseasoned enough, and so what
people think is and I always saythis in my presentations
(03:54):
passion doesn't lead, it followsMeaning.
When you start something you'retrying, it's hard.
I always say there's theselevels.
The first level is you have tolearn a process.
It's the six P's.
So you're learning the process.
Well, that's not fun.
When you first pick up a golfclub, it's not fun.
You suck.
(04:14):
The second P is practice.
You have to stay in practicemode a long time and pick up the
club and do it over and overagain and it's boring.
The third P is patience.
So you have to have patience inthe process and the practice.
And usually that's year three.
You're like okay, is this evenworking when I'm doing my new
venture?
(04:35):
Finally, by year four, you'rein power mode.
You feel empowered to do thething.
You're like man, I've done alot of expired calls, I'm
getting pretty good, I'm gettingtraction.
By year five you finally havepassion, because you're like
damn, I'm good at this, Nowyou're masterful.
So you have some passion there.
And finally you have purpose.
Okay, Now I have passion and Ifound purpose.
(04:58):
What could I do with this newfound thing that I have?
And so, because agents wantthings, overnight, they do it
five times.
It doesn't work.
And they're like I tried, no,you didn't try.
And so exactly that they don'ttry for a long time and they
give up.
And then they just say I didn'thave a passion for it.
(05:18):
Well, you can't be passionateabout a golf club that you can't
swing or a phone that you can'tmaster or a script.
You know what I mean.
So passion follows the art ofmastery.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Passion follows the art of mastery, and indeed it
does.
Because what I found is thatwhen you're really good at
something and you know you canimpact others, you want to reach
as many people as you can.
Yes, whether it's leading ateam or it's working with
(05:54):
sellers or buyers, or whateverit is that you do, you want to
be able to impact as many peopleas you can.
Especially like we'll just takelike Expires, for example, can,
especially like we'll just takelike expireds, for example, if
you you know that if they don'tlist with you the next time,
they may have a bad experienceagain and they may not get sold
again.
So it's almost like this I haveto get to them, I have to reach
(06:18):
them so I can show them howthis can be done.
And their house really?
Yes, because, let's face it,selling a house sucks.
Yes, I don't know anybodythat's excited to actually go
through the process of sellingtheir house, right, right.
So it's like helping them asmuch as you can to walk through
(06:41):
that process with the least painas possible, and that starts
with really working withsomebody who really knows what
they're doing.
In that example but youmentioned something and it
reminds me of my childhood it'slike figure it out and
everything is figureoutable,figureoutable, right?
(07:03):
Marie Forleo says thatEverything is figureoutable,
figureoutable, right?
Marie Forleo says thatEverything is figureoutable.
I don't know if you follow her,but she's an interesting woman
and so you had to figure thisout.
So what did you do?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, well, I think also what I wanted to say too,
because this brought up athought in my mind.
As you're going into that newprocess and you finally go
through process and practice andpatience and power and passion,
you still wake up every day,and this is what I want people
to really hear.
I've been in the business 25years.
I still get imposter syndromesometimes I think we all do when
(07:41):
we go into some new venture orwe meet new people or we walk
into a room.
I mean, maria, you went and seta hundred appointments this
month.
When I first met you, you'relike I'm going to set a hundred
appointments.
I'm like what she's crazy, youdid it, you did it.
You set out to do something big.
And I think everybody when theystart something new, can feel
(08:01):
like that imposter.
But you've got to work throughthose feelings and you said my
way I figured it out was movingforward, into pain, into action,
into the unknown, into what ifthis could fail?
(08:22):
What if this could be great.
You have to go into an unknownterritory because everything
that's in front of you is thefuture, and so when people can't
control the outcome and theycan't shape the future to
exactly how they want it.
They're nervous.
And what do they do?
They stay in the same place,doing the same thing, getting
the same result, because thesame result is duplicatable,
(08:42):
it's safe, it's comfortable.
And the people that I know likeyou, maria, which I get excited
because it's like oh, she'sdoing something so amazing.
We're okay with theuncomfortable.
In fact, you thrive inuncomfortable.
When we feel top producers,when we feel discomfort, we go
yes, now I know I'm ontosomething, because I know I'm
going to grow here.
(09:02):
Yes, it's scary, yes, I feellike an imposter, yes, I may
fail, but damn, I need to goexplore this.
So we're like the explorers oflife.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
We just go.
So you know it's interesting.
And I remember back in and youwere Mike Ferry, so you may
remember this story Mike told along time ago there was an agent
who said this is a story likeit happens all the time.
I'm going to do X and let'sjust say X was 15 sales in the
(09:36):
month of June.
We'll just say that's what X is.
And it's June 26th and they did13 sales and it's there.
Sometimes what happens is thatpeople get scared and they stop
right when they're at the goaland this will manifest in
(10:00):
sickness.
All of a sudden they're sickAll of a sudden.
It usually manifests in somekind of sickness or something.
They put this out there and Ihad this experience and they
bring this up because I reallythink this is really important
for people to realize.
You'll be like oh my god, thisis happening.
And then you manifest somehowthis made up sickness.
(10:26):
I don't know, I don't know itwasn't really made up for me on
Monday.
I finally ill on Monday morningwhere I got sick at the office
and I left.
Now I'm so close at that timeto meeting where I needed to be
and I'm like am I selfsabotaging myself?
Did I just manifest all thesickness.
(10:47):
I never throw up, never unlessI have a norovirus.
I couldn't understand what wasgoing on.
So now I'm home and I said,okay, lay down, take a nap, get
it together, get your together,because the imposter system, no
(11:07):
matter how it comes in, that's agood example of it, is it there
?
And, and it could have beenlike oh, sick, sick, sick,
exactly.
I'm not going to keep doing this.
I'm exhausted.
I had to take three naps overthe weekend.
No, I'm not going to do that.
I'm not going to do it thistime.
(11:28):
And I have seen this happen topeople over and over and over
again and they quit right whenthey're at the goal, and I think
it goes back to this impostersyndrome.
Who do I think I am Well, whodo I think I'm not?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yes, yes, yeah, or that.
That too which is so hard toyou compare yourself to
everybody.
And you know I think it's hardbecause you know you see people
doing all these things.
But what I want everyone tounderstand is you can compare
yourself to anybody out there.
You will never be them.
(12:04):
They will never be you becauseyou are perfectly perfect the
way that you are, imperfectlyperfect.
We're all imperfect, but at theend of the day, everyone's so
dynamic in their makeup, intheir history, in their belief
system, and so it's how yourfamily shaped you, your tribe
shaped you.
They gave you your first tasteof life, your first ideals, your
(12:27):
first religion, your firstwhatever.
Your first ideals, your firstreligion, your first whatever.
Then it's up to you to say do Ibelieve?
That?
Is that sit with my soul?
Because sometimes our parentsdidn't tell us the right things,
they just had it brought downfrom generation to generation.
And so sometimes it's rewiringthe wiring of your brain and to
say this is not for me or thisis not how I believe.
(12:50):
And I think it's the comparisontrap, it's imposter syndrome,
like you said, and it'sself-sabotaging.
And I think it all stems fromfear.
Fear, failure, fear of caringwhat other people think, oh God,
if I start this and people seeme pick up the phone and call
and expired and I don't get it,oh, I'm a failure, who cares?
(13:12):
And so do you feel that way,like when you were first
starting?
You know your ventures, maria.
Do you feel like you cared whatother people think?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
No, not really.
That's not really.
I think I had, early on,probably.
I remember 2010-ish comparisonis a thief of joy.
Yes, comparing myself to otherpeople, where I never would be
(13:41):
able to do that, I didn't havethe same.
You can't compare yourself toothers.
We're all running our own race.
Yeah, and the day that Irealized that we were all
running our own race and theonly one that you're competing
against is yourself, my life wasa lot better.
Yes, yes, and the brokerage Iwas at the time.
(14:05):
It was a competition internallyagainst each other and that
created anxiety, which createdother things that weren't good.
Yeah, yeah, and that was a longtime ago.
But you know, I think there'sanother thing too, tina the fear
(14:38):
of success.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yes, the fear of success or the fear of failure?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Yeah, yeah.
And the thing, too, to thinkabout is you know, I always
think in my mind there's alwayssomeone faster, smarter,
skinnier, richer, always If youlook around, you will never win
the game of comparison ever.
And you know rich people lookat, you know, even rich
(15:05):
millionaires.
Deca millionaires, decamillionaires are looking at
billionaires, Like there'salways somebody with more, and
so that is a life of failurecomparing, because you will fail
at winning that game.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It's no win situation for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yes, yes, we could be number one one year.
Guess what.
You could try to strive to benumber one.
But I think, with competitivepeople, what's beyond the win,
what's beyond high performance,because we're both very high
performers, we want to win, wewant to go, we're old enough now
to know that it doesn't matterwhat people think, the game is
against ourselves.
(15:43):
But what is beyond highperformance?
Because I think everyone youknow, they try to get to the
thing right.
They're getting hits, gettingthem to the thing, they get the
thing, and then there's crashand burn mode and then they need
a new toy to get, right to get,and then there's crash and burn
.
And so when you think aboutlife, the life of a high
performer, it's a lot of this.
But I think, for me personally,now that I'm safe as far as
(16:08):
financially safe, which a lot ofpeople need to get to and now
that I'm safe as far asfinancially safe, which a lot of
people need to get to, now Ijust go.
I just love the process.
I fell in love with the processof real estate, the process of
meeting new agents, the processof getting them onboarded onto
my team and helping them throughthis life, this crazy life of
real estate and it satiates me.
It makes me happy that I justgo.
(16:29):
Okay, I can give this gift toother high performers.
Help them through it and letthem see that it's them against
them, there is a light at theend.
They can achieve a goal.
And it's not all for nothingand they are going to feel like
imposters throughout, but that'sokay too, as long as they're
moving forward.
(16:49):
But at the end, know that thereis no finish line.
You don't just wake up and gooh, I made it.
No, you're always going to movethat finish line.
But you don't have to have thedesperation of like the gap, oh
my God, I'm not there yet.
I'm desperate for it.
Just enjoy the ride every day.
Plant you know, be where yourfeet are and just enjoy the
(17:09):
moment of the day and theprocess that you're in, and I
think it's going to be an easierride.
That's why it took me 10 yearsto build what we built here in
North Carolina and I went.
I have a 10-year goal.
I'm just enjoying the rideevery day, so don't try to make
it the next day.
I think the younger generationwants it now.
I want it now, but, maria, ittook you how many years to get
(17:38):
to where you are 25 years, 20years, 21 years.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
There you go 25 for me.
So I would hope, after 20 and25 years, that we would have
some sort of success in our life.
Yeah, I think it takes a lotlonger than people think.
Yes, you know.
Now it's how, how do you?
Why is it that I was able tomake all those appointments?
Well, it's the planting of theseeds for so long.
It's the relationships thatI've had for 20 years.
(18:02):
It's the people that haveentrusted me with their real
estate as a real estate advisor,as investors who own millions.
I mean, I have, I own hundredsof millions of real estate and
I've sold them a bunch of it.
So, when you're surrounded by,you know these types of of
(18:24):
individuals and they trust you.
It brings level.
You're at another, a differentlevel.
I did a role play for a fellowand they asked me why your voice
is different than when youregularly talk.
(18:44):
I said yes, because if I spokehow I usually speak to everybody
.
I said yes Because if I spokehow I usually speak to everybody
, as a DI, a driver, right, yeah, and expressive people would
probably hang up on me, I'd belike let's go, come on, got to
go, let's go.
Yeah, if I was on the podcastlike this right now, who the
(19:05):
heck would want to listen to me?
Go on, yeah, no, no.
That's how we present.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
We mirror and match the people we're speaking to.
We know who they want to bespoken to.
It's a level of skill thattakes a long time to understand.
There's no script around it,right?
You should know the questionsto ask at this juncture.
Yes, you shouldn't.
(19:45):
It should be an easy ebb andflow of a conversation where
they're like they reached out.
I'm so glad you're calledbecause I'm thinking of buying a
place in Puerto Rico and I wantto sell my duplex in
Philadelphia.
And then four or five yearspeople in there, 10 years, it
all comes together.
I think people give up tooquickly in the industry and they
(20:08):
look around.
Look in your market.
How many people are still inthe game that were in it when
you entered?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's so much less, but you hit it right on the head
.
You know it's what I, what Iabout you and listening to you
is.
I know that you fell in lovewith your craft along the way.
I can sense it.
You know that when you talkabout being masterful and it's
you know it's.
It's been your tonality, likeI've.
I've talked to you off cameraand it's different than when I
(20:41):
you're on the phones or even nowyou're the show, because when
you're in presentation mode,that is a skill and I think a
lot of agents they go.
Well, I just want to be me.
This is who I am.
Okay, well, you're going topotentially turn off a three
quarters of the public becauseof being you.
(21:01):
So be you, boo, but just knowthat if you can't be adaptable,
if you can't be who the clientneeds you to be, if you, if
you're high, high expressive,you can't be who the client
needs you to be.
If you're high, high expressive, you can't tone your shit down
for a hot minute to get inrapport with these people,
you're missing out on money andyou're missing out on service
(21:22):
and future customers.
Because, again, adaptability andversatility is what we were
taught by our coaches Be whothey need you to be, so that way
you can help them.
And I truly wanted to helppeople.
I know you do too, and so I'mokay being uncomfortable being
the one that has to adapt.
Change versus thinking.
My client has to accept me howI am.
(21:43):
This is who I am.
A lot of these young generationagents well, this is who I am.
They don't want to wear suitsanymore.
They don't want to wear suitsanymore.
They don't want to lookpresentable because this is who
they are and you go.
Okay, I appreciate that, butyou're probably not going to
rise to the level that you wantbecause your versatility is
lacking.
Can you speak on that a littlebit?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, that is if you do not learn how to talk to people
, you know, you have to knowyour customer.
You have to know your client.
If you're not learn how to talkto people, you know, you have
to know your customer.
You have to know your client.
If you're on the phone withsomebody who's a high level D
and their power right, theirwhole thing is their power.
D is power that's only 7% ofthe population, right, you need
(22:30):
to know who that person is andyou better be quick and you
better be succinct and youbetter be to the point and that
conversation better be less thantwo minutes.
Yep, there is no two minutes ormore follow-up boss in that
conversation.
That's right and I can attestto it because I've scheduled
appointments with these peoplein less than two minutes, yep
and personally, I don't like tobe on the phone for more than a
couple minutes.
Yeah, that's my personality.
(22:50):
However, some people it's 11minutes on the phone.
I track it all, but then you'rewith the expressive.
They just want to tell you howthey're doing right.
You have to be able to listento them and can only connect
with you.
75%, like you said, is gone.
(23:10):
And when you learn the masteryof being able to connect with
all personality types anddeliver them what they need, you
know you can't just talk to ananalytical on the phone.
They need to see facts andfigures.
They want to know data.
You have to go into that,knowing ahead of time and
present that the market is andpresent statistics.
(23:33):
If not, you lose.
You don't have even anopportunity.
You're not getting up to bat.
They're not even going to giveyou an opportunity to get up to
bat.
And I look back on many listingappointments, say 10, 15 years
ago, and I can think about someof them because I was very.
(23:55):
I either was bringing out the Dor the I.
That's right.
I talked myself out of so manylistings because I wouldn't shut
up.
Now it takes a lot of time andskill to master any business and
I think that you know for me, Iwas in sales for 32 years, so I
(24:18):
had a little leg up when Ientered the industry because I
sold to businesses.
I was I wasn't, you knowconsumer based and that's why I
ended up acclimating more todevelopers, investors, people, a
little bit more on the businessside.
(24:38):
It was easier.
I learned to usually start theopposite way more residential,
regular people.
I learned how to be better forthem.
I just wanted to be, but howmuch business and opportunity
was lost.
And I always say trust theprocess, trust the process,
(25:01):
follow the cadence, becausethere's a cadence to the
business and when you do this somany times, you develop
something.
I just heard Gary Keller say ityesterday.
I have to look up the wordbecause I never heard the word
before.
But it's something internallyin your brain that you develop
(25:23):
that it's not even you're in it.
I'm not thinking about how I'mgoing to talk to somebody.
Maybe it's competence, it'sanother level of that.
It's really interesting and Icaught yesterday in a brief
(25:45):
moment and I haven't had anopportunity yet to really look
up the word and understand it atanother level, but it made me
think.
I was like, wow, that makes alot of sense.
So you know, it goes back, tina,to we always have to be
learning, we always have to begrowing and you know I want to
(26:07):
go back to when you went andmoved to North Carolina.
You started all over again andyou started a team and now, for
those of you that do not knowthis, tina has somebody that
runs her organization, tina'sjob.
She's in the real estate worldfor like 10 hours a week doing
her thing, but she has people.
(26:28):
Now she built this whole systemand now she teaches other
people how to become theirgenius.
What does that mean and how doyou use that at the highest
level?
Because when you're in that, inyour genius this is what I
(26:49):
heard you say the other daysky's the limit.
There's no stopping you.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we talk about everybodyhas.
There are six geniuses, thereare six letters in work, and
anytime you have work, you wantto have those geniuses all
together, those six, and whathappens is I have two, you.
So if we're working together ona project, maria, and we have
(27:15):
four geniuses, there's two thatare going to be missing, or we
could share one, you know where.
Now we only have three geniusesof the six.
So what I share with people isyou need to know what your
genius is, where your strengthzone is, so you can stay in that
zone for 80% of the day, or 80%of the time where you have most
(27:35):
joy and fulfillment.
Because if there's joy andfulfillment, you're going to
want to leap out of bed everyday, you're going to want to do
the work, but if you're in yourfrustration for most of your
career, you're going to bemiserable.
That's where the body breaksdown.
That's where you know diseasedevelops, that's where
(27:59):
crankiness is.
We've all had a cranky employee.
Probably they're workingoutside of their genius and
they're wishing they were overhere and they're over here.
I think it's important to takethe test.
There's a go totheworkinggeniuscom, take your
test, see where that sweet zoneis.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
I saw that there was a test and that was in the
missing lane on the couch afterthe throwing up.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, take your test, maria, but yeah, I will be
taking my test after next.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
after, that's right.
Because, you know you don'tstop when you're doing, when
you're, when you're on a roll,you keep going.
Don't stop.
You have the wind behind yourback, you have momentum.
It's pushing you forward.
(28:45):
So you know it's.
The other thing is be chasingbusiness.
Attract attracted in and I meanlike okay, so you do the
appointment right and thenyou'll see people call.
I'm just following up.
Yeah, no, keep, keep givingthem items, value, so that when
(29:07):
they are ready, that you're thenatural choice and there's
nobody else that they're goingto go to.
So it's just like you knowyou're the natural choice and
there's nobody else that they'regoing to go to so true.
It's just like you know you'rebuilding your, you're building
the XP or wherever, in your case, the XP giving people enough
value.
So when it's they have a choicewhere to go, who do they go?
Exactly, it's the same thing.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
No matter what industry you're in, if you build
and you be in contribution andyou offer them enough value,
make it so.
It's so easy that it doesn'tfeel like they're calling saying
, hey, sign me up.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I just went there with the mentality that I'm
their agent, it didn't matterbecause I was going to give them
so much value, I was going tocome with so much information
and just inundate them with it.
Where they asked me to be theirrealtor, and I would say 90% of
the time people ask me, can yoube our realtor?
I'm like, absolutely.
I never had to say do you havean agent?
(30:08):
Did you sign a contract?
Sure, we crossed that bridgethere.
Agent, did you sign a contract?
Sure, we, we crossed thatbridge.
There was an issue, or they.
They said but just comeempowered with knowledge.
You purposely gain thatknowledge and then you deliver
it to the customer and boom,they're yours.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
And I think it's, you know, it's also the power of
assumption.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, power of assumption.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
I assume that if you're calling me to list your
property, that you're going tolist your property with me,
right, right, the power ofassumption.
So meaning I have someone thatcalled yesterday.
They're in the database,they're a past client.
I didn't ask them.
So are you interviewing otheragents, right?
(30:51):
I said do you know how muchlike I was?
Just like Greg, do you knowwhat you want for the property?
He's like blah, blah, blah.
I said Greg, that's a bit high,I know.
I said, okay, greg, we're goingto play this dancing game.
So I'm going to call you andsay we don't have any showings,
you've got to reduce.
Anyway, it's commercialbusiness, so it's a little bit
different, but you've got tohave the power of assumption.
(31:15):
And what do you think today,tina, people, agents, if they
would do this, their life wouldbe so much better.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Well, one of my guys always said, well, which I think
you've coached for them toolittle hinges swing big doors
and so the little hinge.
The secret of real estate is ifthey would, if they get in
their head which I had to get inmy head years ago the one
action that moves the needleevery day is talking to people,
(31:47):
and so they want to come intothe office and do busy work and
emails and create their flyer orwhatever they're doing, fix
their database.
Okay, great, how many peopledid you talk to today about real
estate?
And so the power is in thetelephone, the cell phone, the
whatever phone.
Get in the room and talk topeople.
(32:07):
If you move to any town USA Idon't want a CRM.
I don't have any clients.
I don't want marketing budgetM.
I don't have any clients.
I don't want marketing budgetbecause, great, I could spend
$100,000 a month and put my faceon every billboard in town and
I still can't control whensomebody is going to call me.
So I don't want your marketingdollars.
I want a phone and I want alist of people and then I'm
(32:28):
going to go and attack that listand see if I can be of service.
I can control that every day.
The agents that don't get thatare not going to be in the
business very long and we'veseen them 70% lead.
Why?
Because they won't do that.
One action that gets them theresult as.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
I always bring up.
I never went to a settlement orclosing that didn't first start
with a conversation, Absolutely.
How can you have a paycheck ifyou're not going to talk to
people?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Exactly, exactly, and three of them.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
The millionaire real estate whatever it's called.
Show, really messed up whatpeople think the business is.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
A thousand percent.
You see it's funny.
You know you watch Ryan Serhantand these are shows and people
didn't see Ryan when he wasleasing properties.
He was a nobody, he wasgrinding every day and he will
share, picking up the phone andcalling people like a crazy
person.
And he got lucky to get on TVand that catapulted his business
(33:37):
.
That's one in a million.
Not everyone's getting a showand so he is an actor who has a
business now and he's leveragingthat business.
That is not a duplicatable path.
But put an agent in front of meand let me show them scripts
and dialogue, let me bring theminto that activity every day of
talking to people.
They're going to get betterevery day as long as they're
(33:59):
patient and they do the activityand they're going to get
business.
But again, agents will not dothat one activity.
They're leaving the business indroves.
So I agree with I think it's.
You know, we know it becausewe've lived it.
We're proof.
And how many of us exist?
A lot of us.
We're all in a group, we allfollowed each other, we're in
(34:20):
masterminds together and thattribe of agents is my tribe.
You know.
They're very successful.
They're quiet, they're not evenon social media.
These people aremultimillionaires because
they've done the craft and soit's my to teach people that
same craft so that fire doesn'tdie in the industry and everyone
(34:40):
thinks they have to be a socialmedia star.
It helps and it's wonderful.
We're prospecting basedmarketing enhanced.
But you can't start with socialmedia and have it be
duplicatable fast.
It takes time.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
It takes time.
You started with it and, askingme about the podcast, I said
I've been doing it since 2020.
Exactly, does it work?
I don't know it works.
People watch it.
They have clients that say Isee your podcast.
I send out at least two emails aweek, sometimes three, and
(35:16):
they're mostly nothing to dowith real estate and I have a
Monday morning motivation thatgoes out.
So it's a little picture andthen it's me speaking in
verbiage, written word, and thenyou could click if you want to
watch the video and all I havepeople look at me at a party.
(35:37):
I love your stuff, I love yourMonday.
So I do motivation, inspiration, aspiration.
I love it.
And I do it with real estate.
I love it.
So it makes it easier when youmake the call because they've
already consumed your content.
But you can't just start withthat.
You have to start with thebasics of having a conversation
(35:59):
with people and I think for anew agent or somebody who's been
in the business, who doesn'thave the amount of business that
they want, I think joining ateam, picking the right team and
joining a team that hasopportunity, that you can just
sit and call their database, Ithink is one of the quickest
(36:21):
ways to build your business,because now you don't have to
worry about hunting for thebusiness.
Now that Rainmaker has broughtin that business, you just have
to follow up and service it.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah, yeah, I always share with agents joining our
team.
The first thing I care about ifI think about a pie on one side
of the pie is let's build yoursphere business.
I know our team.
With the support and leveragethat they give the agent, we can
double their business.
So if we sell five, I know wecan do 10 in that bucket.
(36:57):
We can add one a month.
So that's 12 deals on theirsphere side.
So we focus heavily on theirsphere.
On the other side of the pie isour leads and the icing on the
cake all the things that we doto give them more business.
So we know we can add anotherdeal a month there.
So between both sides, with ourleverage, we can add 24 deals.
What can they bring to thetable?
(37:18):
And so when they see that theycan go from what two deals a
year is the average agent inmost markets, and then 36, and
then 40 plus.
Yes, they might be paying acommission, but, my God, their
business is now growing.
They're a volume-based businessand Mike always taught us that
(37:40):
Don't worry about the pricepoints, don't worry about volume
.
Worry about your units how manyunits can you sell?
How many people can you serve?
Don't worry about anything else, but hit your unit's goal, and
I always focused on that withMike.
I didn't care if I wasservicing $150,000 client.
Which one of those clientsbought $150,000 house from me
(38:01):
and ended up being the owner ofCarhartt Jeans in Carhartt and I
served them multiple, multipletimes.
She bought so many homes fromme and I didn't care because I
treated everybody equally, andso I think that's where a lot of
agents get stuck.
It's like, well, I want to be adollar luxury, great, but when
(38:22):
the market crashes, those arethe first to crash.
Just be an agent that servespeople.
How about that?
And then all of the beautifulreferrals stem from every single
human in every single deal andyou never know who you're
dealing with.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
So I wasn't focused on just serving whoever was in
every single deal, and you neverknow who you're dealing with,
so so I wasn't focused on justserving whoever was in front of
me.
I wholeheartedly agree, andthat's something that was
instilled with me by goingcoaching with Mike over the
years and it's been a whilesince I've coached with that
(38:55):
outfit.
But that focus on units, focuson how many people can act,
because those people arereferrals.
They give you.
You do a great job and you getreferrals.
The more transactions you do,the more referrals you get.
The more signs you have on thestreet, the more you can build
your brand.
I was never about volume,always about Unicount, yeah, and
(39:17):
you can figure out how to makethat work for your business.
Like, we have a minimum youknow fee we charge.
So even if it's a price that'sreally low in our market, we
still make X.
And if people don't pay, that'sfine, no problem.
You can move on to the nextperson.
I'm good, Exactly, you have tohave that attitude.
(39:40):
So, tina, I have a question foryou.
What's your guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Guilty pleasure.
I love to play golf.
I love it, love it, love it.
So I have not made time for itlately, but usually I would get
out and play three times a weekand it takes five hours.
So it's definitely it makes mefeel guilty sometimes when I do
it.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
My husband and I aspire to be golf players, maybe
in five years.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
There you go.
I love it.
We'll start now, so you're goodin five years.
Well.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
I have to make the time for that, tina, and right
now I don't know, we'll see.
Maybe we'll go hit some golfballs this weekend.
So my other question personallywhat are you most excited about
for your future?
Speaker 2 (40:31):
Oh, my goodness, what I think I'm most excited about
right now is I know the work andthe effort and the sacrifice
and the suffering that I put inall these years to do my passion
, because if you look up passionin the dictionary, it is a form
of suffering, life is suffering, but what's so beautiful is I
(40:52):
know what's on the other side,and the other side is freedom.
Beautiful is I know what's onthe other side, and the other
side is freedom.
It's financial freedom.
It's able, uh the ability to myparents' homes and visit them
and take vacations with myhusband where I don't have my
phone attached to me, servicingclients.
Um, I know that, uh, the nextphase of my life God willing
that I'm here is going to beabout travel and pouring into
(41:15):
others, that I'm here is goingto be about travel and pouring
into others, helping agents,have and feel the life that I
have now.
That is, that's the next phaseof my life.
It's the purpose phase, thelive to give back phase, versus
the.
You know, try to survive andyou know the survival.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Oh, so different.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
So different yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
There are two different things.
And yeah, passion.
I mean, if you think of thepassion of Christ, it's the
suffering of Christ, that's it.
You know that's what it's about.
Like, think about that passionof Christ.
Why do they say that it's thesuffering of Christ?
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Life is suffering, you know, and so you have to
embrace it.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
We'll just keep on life school.
We're just here in life school.
We're here to learn, that'sright.
That's right and be incontribution, be a good human.
I just want more people to begood humans, agreed.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Agreed.
Well, you're a human and I'm soglad we met.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Oh, you too.
I'm so glad we met too.
Well, this has been an honor tohave you on today, tina.
I'm very excited.
I'm right, journey, and it'sbeen really great that we
finally, after two decades, havefinally met and we know all the
same people and it's so crazythat we haven't met before.
(42:30):
I love it Until a couple ofweeks ago, so that's right.
Well, more fun things to come.
Couple weeks ago, so that'sright.
Well, more fun things to come,great things to come.
I'm excited to have had you onthe show today and many, many,
many more.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Thanks for having me on.
Thanks, everybody.
I'm Maria Quattrone and this is the Be the Solution
podcast, and this morning I amvery excited to have my guest,
tina Cole from AXP Realty inRaleigh, north Carolina, join us
.
Tina is a powerhouse.
She has been in this industryfor a couple decades now and has
(00:20):
built her business to a wholenother level that I know that
everybody here listening wouldlove to be at.
But it didn't start that way,tina.
It started with an idea, withan idea that you had and you
entered the industry and youwere in one market and moved to
(00:41):
another.
Not many people do that.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
No, no, they don't.
It's scary, it's scary.
So I yeah, I've been doing this25 years.
I started up in Michigan, so alittle closer to you, and I
remember the first seven yearsof my career were more like you
know, just figure it out.
And that takes me back to mychildhood, my mother and my
(01:06):
father.
They never came to any of mygames, my soccer games, my track
meets, and I remember feelingso mad that they wouldn't come.
But when I would ask them, hey,can you just come to my game
today?
And they'd say you know wecan't do it.
Your dad works all day.
He was a short order cook.
My mom watched handicapped kidsthat had special needs through
the foster care system.
So she'd say you know we can'tdo it.
(01:26):
Your dad works all day.
He was a short order cook.
My mom watched handicapped kidsthat had special needs through
the foster care system.
So she'd say I can't bring themall in the car, so you've got
to figure it out.
And I have a t-shirt now thatsays figure it out.
I didn't realize those wordswould shape my entire life, and
so the reason I share that isbecause I think sometimes you
know when we're growing andwe're doing something scary.
(01:47):
We all feel like imposters andI always say that I've never
been.
I've never been ready for anyof the roles that I've ever had
in life being a mother, being awife, being a realtor, being a
team leader.
But I just figured it out.
I just stepped in with faith tosay you know what, let's just
try.
And so, um so, moving across,you know, down, 700 miles away,
(02:11):
uh, in 20, 2010,.
I knew I had to figure it out,and so um, yeah, you said
something, tina.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
You said let's just try.
And I want to touch on that fora minute, because I think
people think they try but Idon't really think they try.
Yeah, I had a conversationyears ago, I remember, with
Michelle Saber and we weretalking about and we were
(02:46):
talking about prospecting andlisting appointments and he said
, oh, I'm going to try, I'mgoing to actually try, because I
think a lot of times we just gowith what we know.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
And are we really trying to level up or are we
just being?
I think most of the time we'rejust being or we're trying at a
level that doesn't move theneedle, if that makes sense,
Like just trying.
I remember when I just startedcalling expireds, you know I
could have just tried to calltwo and gave up, or just tried
to call a few Fizbo's and gaveup, and that when I look at
agents that and I know you're abeast when it comes to calling
(03:31):
you know expireds and Fizbo'sand being on the phones, If you
just tried to call a few, howare the first few that you
called when you first startedtrying?
They're not fun, they'rehanging up on you.
You feel dumb because you'renot really that good at the
objection handlers, You're notseasoned enough, and so what
people think is and I always saythis in my presentations
(03:54):
passion doesn't lead, it followsMeaning.
When you start something you'retrying, it's hard.
I always say there's theselevels.
The first level is you have tolearn a process.
It's the six P's.
So you're learning the process.
Well, that's not fun.
When you first pick up a golfclub, it's not fun.
You suck.
(04:14):
The second P is practice.
You have to stay in practicemode a long time and pick up the
club and do it over and overagain and it's boring.
The third P is patience.
So you have to have patience inthe process and the practice.
And usually that's year three.
You're like okay, is this evenworking when I'm doing my new
venture?
(04:35):
Finally, by year four, you'rein power mode.
You feel empowered to do thething.
You're like man, I've done alot of expired calls, I'm
getting pretty good, I'm gettingtraction.
By year five you finally havepassion, because you're like
damn, I'm good at this, Nowyou're masterful.
So you have some passion there.
And finally you have purpose.
Okay, Now I have passion and Ifound purpose.
(04:58):
What could I do with this newfound thing that I have?
And so, because agents wantthings, overnight, they do it
five times.
It doesn't work.
And they're like I tried, no,you didn't try.
And so exactly that they don'ttry for a long time and they
give up.
And then they just say I didn'thave a passion for it.
(05:18):
Well, you can't be passionateabout a golf club that you can't
swing or a phone that you can'tmaster or a script.
You know what I mean.
So passion follows the art ofmastery.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Passion follows the art of mastery, and indeed it
does.
Because what I found is thatwhen you're really good at
something and you know you canimpact others, you want to reach
as many people as you can.
Yes, whether it's leading ateam or it's working with
(05:54):
sellers or buyers, or whateverit is that you do, you want to
be able to impact as many peopleas you can.
Especially like we'll just takelike Expires, for example, can,
especially like we'll just takelike expireds, for example, if
you you know that if they don'tlist with you the next time,
they may have a bad experienceagain and they may not get sold
again.
So it's almost like this I haveto get to them, I have to reach
(06:18):
them so I can show them howthis can be done.
And their house really?
Yes, because, let's face it,selling a house sucks.
Yes, I don't know anybodythat's excited to actually go
through the process of sellingtheir house, right, right.
So it's like helping them asmuch as you can to walk through
(06:41):
that process with the least painas possible, and that starts
with really working withsomebody who really knows what
they're doing.
In that example but youmentioned something and it
reminds me of my childhood it'slike figure it out and
everything is figureoutable,figureoutable, right?
(07:03):
Marie Forleo says thatEverything is figureoutable,
figureoutable, right?
Marie Forleo says thatEverything is figureoutable.
I don't know if you follow her,but she's an interesting woman
and so you had to figure thisout.
So what did you do?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, well, I think also what I wanted to say too,
because this brought up athought in my mind.
As you're going into that newprocess and you finally go
through process and practice andpatience and power and passion,
you still wake up every day,and this is what I want people
to really hear.
I've been in the business 25years.
I still get imposter syndromesometimes I think we all do when
(07:41):
we go into some new venture orwe meet new people or we walk
into a room.
I mean, maria, you went and seta hundred appointments this
month.
When I first met you, you'relike I'm going to set a hundred
appointments.
I'm like what she's crazy, youdid it, you did it.
You set out to do something big.
And I think everybody when theystart something new, can feel
(08:01):
like that imposter.
But you've got to work throughthose feelings and you said my
way I figured it out was movingforward, into pain, into action,
into the unknown, into what ifthis could fail?
(08:22):
What if this could be great.
You have to go into an unknownterritory because everything
that's in front of you is thefuture, and so when people can't
control the outcome and theycan't shape the future to
exactly how they want it.
They're nervous.
And what do they do?
They stay in the same place,doing the same thing, getting
the same result, because thesame result is duplicatable,
(08:42):
it's safe, it's comfortable.
And the people that I know likeyou, maria, which I get excited
because it's like oh, she'sdoing something so amazing.
We're okay with theuncomfortable.
In fact, you thrive inuncomfortable.
When we feel top producers,when we feel discomfort, we go
yes, now I know I'm ontosomething, because I know I'm
going to grow here.
(09:02):
Yes, it's scary, yes, I feellike an imposter, yes, I may
fail, but damn, I need to goexplore this.
So we're like the explorers oflife.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
We just go.
So you know it's interesting.
And I remember back in and youwere Mike Ferry, so you may
remember this story Mike told along time ago there was an agent
who said this is a story likeit happens all the time.
I'm going to do X and let'sjust say X was 15 sales in the
(09:36):
month of June.
We'll just say that's what X is.
And it's June 26th and they did13 sales and it's there.
Sometimes what happens is thatpeople get scared and they stop
right when they're at the goaland this will manifest in
(10:00):
sickness.
All of a sudden they're sickAll of a sudden.
It usually manifests in somekind of sickness or something.
They put this out there and Ihad this experience and they
bring this up because I reallythink this is really important
for people to realize.
You'll be like oh my god, thisis happening.
And then you manifest somehowthis made up sickness.
(10:26):
I don't know, I don't know itwasn't really made up for me on
Monday.
I finally ill on Monday morningwhere I got sick at the office
and I left.
Now I'm so close at that timeto meeting where I needed to be
and I'm like am I selfsabotaging myself?
Did I just manifest all thesickness.
(10:47):
I never throw up, never unlessI have a norovirus.
I couldn't understand what wasgoing on.
So now I'm home and I said,okay, lay down, take a nap, get
it together, get your together,because the imposter system, no
(11:07):
matter how it comes in, that's agood example of it, is it there
?
And, and it could have beenlike oh, sick, sick, sick,
exactly.
I'm not going to keep doing this.
I'm exhausted.
I had to take three naps overthe weekend.
No, I'm not going to do that.
I'm not going to do it thistime.
(11:28):
And I have seen this happen topeople over and over and over
again and they quit right whenthey're at the goal, and I think
it goes back to this impostersyndrome.
Who do I think I am Well, whodo I think I'm not?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Yes, yes, yeah, or that.
That too which is so hard toyou compare yourself to
everybody.
And you know I think it's hardbecause you know you see people
doing all these things.
But what I want everyone tounderstand is you can compare
yourself to anybody out there.
You will never be them.
(12:04):
They will never be you becauseyou are perfectly perfect the
way that you are, imperfectlyperfect.
We're all imperfect, but at theend of the day, everyone's so
dynamic in their makeup, intheir history, in their belief
system, and so it's how yourfamily shaped you, your tribe
shaped you.
They gave you your first tasteof life, your first ideals, your
(12:27):
first religion, your firstwhatever.
Your first ideals, your firstreligion, your first whatever.
Then it's up to you to say do Ibelieve?
That?
Is that sit with my soul?
Because sometimes our parentsdidn't tell us the right things,
they just had it brought downfrom generation to generation.
And so sometimes it's rewiringthe wiring of your brain and to
say this is not for me or thisis not how I believe.
(12:50):
And I think it's the comparisontrap, it's imposter syndrome,
like you said, and it'sself-sabotaging.
And I think it all stems fromfear.
Fear, failure, fear of caringwhat other people think, oh God,
if I start this and people seeme pick up the phone and call
and expired and I don't get it,oh, I'm a failure, who cares?
(13:12):
And so do you feel that way,like when you were first
starting?
You know your ventures, maria.
Do you feel like you cared whatother people think?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
No, not really.
That's not really.
I think I had, early on,probably.
I remember 2010-ish comparisonis a thief of joy.
Yes, comparing myself to otherpeople, where I never would be
(13:41):
able to do that, I didn't havethe same.
You can't compare yourself toothers.
We're all running our own race.
Yeah, and the day that Irealized that we were all
running our own race and theonly one that you're competing
against is yourself, my life wasa lot better.
Yes, yes, and the brokerage Iwas at the time.
(14:05):
It was a competition internallyagainst each other and that
created anxiety, which createdother things that weren't good.
Yeah, yeah, and that was a longtime ago.
But you know, I think there'sanother thing too, tina the fear
(14:38):
of success.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yes, the fear of success or the fear of failure?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Yeah, yeah.
And the thing, too, to thinkabout is you know, I always
think in my mind there's alwayssomeone faster, smarter,
skinnier, richer, always If youlook around, you will never win
the game of comparison ever.
And you know rich people lookat, you know, even rich
(15:05):
millionaires.
Deca millionaires, decamillionaires are looking at
billionaires, Like there'salways somebody with more, and
so that is a life of failurecomparing, because you will fail
at winning that game.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It's no win situation for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yes, yes, we could be number one one year.
Guess what.
You could try to strive to benumber one.
But I think, with competitivepeople, what's beyond the win,
what's beyond high performance,because we're both very high
performers, we want to win, wewant to go, we're old enough now
to know that it doesn't matterwhat people think, the game is
against ourselves.
(15:43):
But what is beyond highperformance?
Because I think everyone youknow, they try to get to the
thing right.
They're getting hits, gettingthem to the thing, they get the
thing, and then there's crashand burn mode and then they need
a new toy to get, right to get,and then there's crash and burn
.
And so when you think aboutlife, the life of a high
performer, it's a lot of this.
But I think, for me personally,now that I'm safe as far as
(16:08):
financially safe, which a lot ofpeople need to get to and now
that I'm safe as far asfinancially safe, which a lot of
people need to get to, now Ijust go.
I just love the process.
I fell in love with the processof real estate, the process of
meeting new agents, the processof getting them onboarded onto
my team and helping them throughthis life, this crazy life of
real estate and it satiates me.
It makes me happy that I justgo.
(16:29):
Okay, I can give this gift toother high performers.
Help them through it and letthem see that it's them against
them, there is a light at theend.
They can achieve a goal.
And it's not all for nothingand they are going to feel like
imposters throughout, but that'sokay too, as long as they're
moving forward.
(16:49):
But at the end, know that thereis no finish line.
You don't just wake up and gooh, I made it.
No, you're always going to movethat finish line.
But you don't have to have thedesperation of like the gap, oh
my God, I'm not there yet.
I'm desperate for it.
Just enjoy the ride every day.
Plant you know, be where yourfeet are and just enjoy the
(17:09):
moment of the day and theprocess that you're in, and I
think it's going to be an easierride.
That's why it took me 10 yearsto build what we built here in
North Carolina and I went.
I have a 10-year goal.
I'm just enjoying the rideevery day, so don't try to make
it the next day.
I think the younger generationwants it now.
I want it now, but, maria, ittook you how many years to get
(17:38):
to where you are 25 years, 20years, 21 years.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
There you go 25 for me.
So I would hope, after 20 and25 years, that we would have
some sort of success in our life.
Yeah, I think it takes a lotlonger than people think.
Yes, you know.
Now it's how, how do you?
Why is it that I was able tomake all those appointments?
Well, it's the planting of theseeds for so long.
It's the relationships thatI've had for 20 years.
(18:02):
It's the people that haveentrusted me with their real
estate as a real estate advisor,as investors who own millions.
I mean, I have, I own hundredsof millions of real estate and
I've sold them a bunch of it.
So, when you're surrounded by,you know these types of of
(18:24):
individuals and they trust you.
It brings level.
You're at another, a differentlevel.
I did a role play for a fellowand they asked me why your voice
is different than when youregularly talk.
(18:44):
I said yes, because if I spokehow I usually speak to everybody
.
I said yes Because if I spokehow I usually speak to everybody
, as a DI, a driver, right, yeah, and expressive people would
probably hang up on me, I'd belike let's go, come on, got to
go, let's go.
Yeah, if I was on the podcastlike this right now, who the
(19:05):
heck would want to listen to me?
Go on, yeah, no, no.
That's how we present.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
We mirror and match the people we're speaking to.
We know who they want to bespoken to.
It's a level of skill thattakes a long time to understand.
There's no script around it,right?
You should know the questionsto ask at this juncture.
Yes, you shouldn't.
(19:45):
It should be an easy ebb andflow of a conversation where
they're like they reached out.
I'm so glad you're calledbecause I'm thinking of buying a
place in Puerto Rico and I wantto sell my duplex in
Philadelphia.
And then four or five yearspeople in there, 10 years, it
all comes together.
I think people give up tooquickly in the industry and they
(20:08):
look around.
Look in your market.
How many people are still inthe game that were in it when
you entered?
Speaker 2 (20:17):
It's so much less, but you hit it right on the head
.
You know it's what I, what Iabout you and listening to you
is.
I know that you fell in lovewith your craft along the way.
I can sense it.
You know that when you talkabout being masterful and it's
you know it's.
It's been your tonality, likeI've.
I've talked to you off cameraand it's different than when I
(20:41):
you're on the phones or even nowyou're the show, because when
you're in presentation mode,that is a skill and I think a
lot of agents they go.
Well, I just want to be me.
This is who I am.
Okay, well, you're going topotentially turn off a three
quarters of the public becauseof being you.
(21:01):
So be you, boo, but just knowthat if you can't be adaptable,
if you can't be who the clientneeds you to be, if you, if
you're high, high expressive,you can't be who the client
needs you to be.
If you're high, high expressive, you can't tone your shit down
for a hot minute to get inrapport with these people,
you're missing out on money andyou're missing out on service
(21:22):
and future customers.
Because, again, adaptability andversatility is what we were
taught by our coaches Be whothey need you to be, so that way
you can help them.
And I truly wanted to helppeople.
I know you do too, and so I'mokay being uncomfortable being
the one that has to adapt.
Change versus thinking.
My client has to accept me howI am.
(21:43):
This is who I am.
A lot of these young generationagents well, this is who I am.
They don't want to wear suitsanymore.
They don't want to wear suitsanymore.
They don't want to lookpresentable because this is who
they are and you go.
Okay, I appreciate that, butyou're probably not going to
rise to the level that you wantbecause your versatility is
lacking.
Can you speak on that a littlebit?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, that is if you do not learn how to talk to people
, you know, you have to knowyour customer.
You have to know your client.
If you're not learn how to talkto people, you know, you have
to know your customer.
You have to know your client.
If you're on the phone withsomebody who's a high level D
and their power right, theirwhole thing is their power.
D is power that's only 7% ofthe population, right, you need
(22:30):
to know who that person is andyou better be quick and you
better be succinct and youbetter be to the point and that
conversation better be less thantwo minutes.
Yep, there is no two minutes ormore follow-up boss in that
conversation.
That's right and I can attestto it because I've scheduled
appointments with these peoplein less than two minutes, yep
and personally, I don't like tobe on the phone for more than a
couple minutes.
Yeah, that's my personality.
(22:50):
However, some people it's 11minutes on the phone.
I track it all, but then you'rewith the expressive.
They just want to tell you howthey're doing right.
You have to be able to listento them and can only connect
with you.
75%, like you said, is gone.
(23:10):
And when you learn the masteryof being able to connect with
all personality types anddeliver them what they need, you
know you can't just talk to ananalytical on the phone.
They need to see facts andfigures.
They want to know data.
You have to go into that,knowing ahead of time and
present that the market is andpresent statistics.
(23:33):
If not, you lose.
You don't have even anopportunity.
You're not getting up to bat.
They're not even going to giveyou an opportunity to get up to
bat.
And I look back on many listingappointments, say 10, 15 years
ago, and I can think about someof them because I was very.
(23:55):
I either was bringing out the Dor the I.
That's right.
I talked myself out of so manylistings because I wouldn't shut
up.
Now it takes a lot of time andskill to master any business and
I think that you know for me, Iwas in sales for 32 years, so I
(24:18):
had a little leg up when Ientered the industry because I
sold to businesses.
I was I wasn't, you knowconsumer based and that's why I
ended up acclimating more todevelopers, investors, people, a
little bit more on the businessside.
(24:38):
It was easier.
I learned to usually start theopposite way more residential,
regular people.
I learned how to be better forthem.
I just wanted to be, but howmuch business and opportunity
was lost.
And I always say trust theprocess, trust the process,
(25:01):
follow the cadence, becausethere's a cadence to the
business and when you do this somany times, you develop
something.
I just heard Gary Keller say ityesterday.
I have to look up the wordbecause I never heard the word
before.
But it's something internallyin your brain that you develop
(25:23):
that it's not even you're in it.
I'm not thinking about how I'mgoing to talk to somebody.
Maybe it's competence, it'sanother level of that.
It's really interesting and Icaught yesterday in a brief
(25:45):
moment and I haven't had anopportunity yet to really look
up the word and understand it atanother level, but it made me
think.
I was like, wow, that makes alot of sense.
So you know, it goes back, tina,to we always have to be
learning, we always have to begrowing and you know I want to
(26:07):
go back to when you went andmoved to North Carolina.
You started all over again andyou started a team and now, for
those of you that do not knowthis, tina has somebody that
runs her organization, tina'sjob.
She's in the real estate worldfor like 10 hours a week doing
her thing, but she has people.
(26:28):
Now she built this whole systemand now she teaches other
people how to become theirgenius.
What does that mean and how doyou use that at the highest
level?
Because when you're in that, inyour genius this is what I
(26:49):
heard you say the other daysky's the limit.
There's no stopping you.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, we talk about everybodyhas.
There are six geniuses, thereare six letters in work, and
anytime you have work, you wantto have those geniuses all
together, those six, and whathappens is I have two, you.
So if we're working together ona project, maria, and we have
(27:15):
four geniuses, there's two thatare going to be missing, or we
could share one, you know where.
Now we only have three geniusesof the six.
So what I share with people isyou need to know what your
genius is, where your strengthzone is, so you can stay in that
zone for 80% of the day, or 80%of the time where you have most
(27:35):
joy and fulfillment.
Because if there's joy andfulfillment, you're going to
want to leap out of bed everyday, you're going to want to do
the work, but if you're in yourfrustration for most of your
career, you're going to bemiserable.
That's where the body breaksdown.
That's where you know diseasedevelops, that's where
(27:59):
crankiness is.
We've all had a cranky employee.
Probably they're workingoutside of their genius and
they're wishing they were overhere and they're over here.
I think it's important to takethe test.
There's a go totheworkinggeniuscom, take your
test, see where that sweet zoneis.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
I saw that there was a test and that was in the
missing lane on the couch afterthe throwing up.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, take your test, maria, but yeah, I will be
taking my test after next.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
after, that's right.
Because, you know you don'tstop when you're doing, when
you're, when you're on a roll,you keep going.
Don't stop.
You have the wind behind yourback, you have momentum.
It's pushing you forward.
(28:45):
So you know it's.
The other thing is be chasingbusiness.
Attract attracted in and I meanlike okay, so you do the
appointment right and thenyou'll see people call.
I'm just following up.
Yeah, no, keep, keep givingthem items, value, so that when
(29:07):
they are ready, that you're thenatural choice and there's
nobody else that they're goingto go to.
So it's just like you knowyou're the natural choice and
there's nobody else that they'regoing to go to so true.
It's just like you know you'rebuilding your, you're building
the XP or wherever, in your case, the XP giving people enough
value.
So when it's they have a choicewhere to go, who do they go?
Exactly, it's the same thing.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
No matter what industry you're in, if you build
and you be in contribution andyou offer them enough value,
make it so.
It's so easy that it doesn'tfeel like they're calling saying
, hey, sign me up.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
I just went there with the mentality that I'm
their agent, it didn't matterbecause I was going to give them
so much value, I was going tocome with so much information
and just inundate them with it.
Where they asked me to be theirrealtor, and I would say 90% of
the time people ask me, can yoube our realtor?
I'm like, absolutely.
I never had to say do you havean agent?
(30:08):
Did you sign a contract?
Sure, we crossed that bridgethere.
Agent, did you sign a contract?
Sure, we, we crossed thatbridge.
There was an issue, or they.
They said but just comeempowered with knowledge.
You purposely gain thatknowledge and then you deliver
it to the customer and boom,they're yours.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
And I think it's, you know, it's also the power of
assumption.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, power of assumption.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
I assume that if you're calling me to list your
property, that you're going tolist your property with me,
right, right, the power ofassumption.
So meaning I have someone thatcalled yesterday.
They're in the database,they're a past client.
I didn't ask them.
So are you interviewing otheragents, right?
(30:51):
I said do you know how muchlike I was?
Just like Greg, do you knowwhat you want for the property?
He's like blah, blah, blah.
I said Greg, that's a bit high,I know.
I said, okay, greg, we're goingto play this dancing game.
So I'm going to call you andsay we don't have any showings,
you've got to reduce.
Anyway, it's commercialbusiness, so it's a little bit
different, but you've got tohave the power of assumption.
(31:15):
And what do you think today,tina, people, agents, if they
would do this, their life wouldbe so much better.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Well, one of my guys always said, well, which I think
you've coached for them toolittle hinges swing big doors
and so the little hinge.
The secret of real estate is ifthey would, if they get in
their head which I had to get inmy head years ago the one
action that moves the needleevery day is talking to people,
(31:47):
and so they want to come intothe office and do busy work and
emails and create their flyer orwhatever they're doing, fix
their database.
Okay, great, how many peopledid you talk to today about real
estate?
And so the power is in thetelephone, the cell phone, the
whatever phone.
Get in the room and talk topeople.
(32:07):
If you move to any town USA Idon't want a CRM.
I don't have any clients.
I don't want marketing budgetM.
I don't have any clients.
I don't want marketing budgetbecause, great, I could spend
$100,000 a month and put my faceon every billboard in town and
I still can't control whensomebody is going to call me.
So I don't want your marketingdollars.
I want a phone and I want alist of people and then I'm
(32:28):
going to go and attack that listand see if I can be of service.
I can control that every day.
The agents that don't get thatare not going to be in the
business very long and we'veseen them 70% lead.
Why?
Because they won't do that.
One action that gets them theresult as.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
I always bring up.
I never went to a settlement orclosing that didn't first start
with a conversation, Absolutely.
How can you have a paycheck ifyou're not going to talk to
people?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Exactly, exactly, and three of them.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
The millionaire real estate whatever it's called.
Show, really messed up whatpeople think the business is.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
A thousand percent.
You see it's funny.
You know you watch Ryan Serhantand these are shows and people
didn't see Ryan when he wasleasing properties.
He was a nobody, he wasgrinding every day and he will
share, picking up the phone andcalling people like a crazy
person.
And he got lucky to get on TVand that catapulted his business
(33:37):
.
That's one in a million.
Not everyone's getting a showand so he is an actor who has a
business now and he's leveragingthat business.
That is not a duplicatable path.
But put an agent in front of meand let me show them scripts
and dialogue, let me bring theminto that activity every day of
talking to people.
They're going to get betterevery day as long as they're
(33:59):
patient and they do the activityand they're going to get
business.
But again, agents will not dothat one activity.
They're leaving the business indroves.
So I agree with I think it's.
You know, we know it becausewe've lived it.
We're proof.
And how many of us exist?
A lot of us.
We're all in a group, we allfollowed each other, we're in
(34:20):
masterminds together and thattribe of agents is my tribe.
You know.
They're very successful.
They're quiet, they're not evenon social media.
These people aremultimillionaires because
they've done the craft and soit's my to teach people that
same craft so that fire doesn'tdie in the industry and everyone
(34:40):
thinks they have to be a socialmedia star.
It helps and it's wonderful.
We're prospecting basedmarketing enhanced.
But you can't start with socialmedia and have it be
duplicatable fast.
It takes time.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
It takes time.
You started with it and, askingme about the podcast, I said
I've been doing it since 2020.
Exactly, does it work?
I don't know it works.
People watch it.
They have clients that say Isee your podcast.
I send out at least two emails aweek, sometimes three, and
(35:16):
they're mostly nothing to dowith real estate and I have a
Monday morning motivation thatgoes out.
So it's a little picture andthen it's me speaking in
verbiage, written word, and thenyou could click if you want to
watch the video and all I havepeople look at me at a party.
(35:37):
I love your stuff, I love yourMonday.
So I do motivation, inspiration, aspiration.
I love it.
And I do it with real estate.
I love it.
So it makes it easier when youmake the call because they've
already consumed your content.
But you can't just start withthat.
You have to start with thebasics of having a conversation
(35:59):
with people and I think for anew agent or somebody who's been
in the business, who doesn'thave the amount of business that
they want, I think joining ateam, picking the right team and
joining a team that hasopportunity, that you can just
sit and call their database, Ithink is one of the quickest
(36:21):
ways to build your business,because now you don't have to
worry about hunting for thebusiness.
Now that Rainmaker has broughtin that business, you just have
to follow up and service it.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah, yeah, I always share with agents joining our
team.
The first thing I care about ifI think about a pie on one side
of the pie is let's build yoursphere business.
I know our team.
With the support and leveragethat they give the agent, we can
double their business.
So if we sell five, I know wecan do 10 in that bucket.
(36:57):
We can add one a month.
So that's 12 deals on theirsphere side.
So we focus heavily on theirsphere.
On the other side of the pie isour leads and the icing on the
cake all the things that we doto give them more business.
So we know we can add anotherdeal a month there.
So between both sides, with ourleverage, we can add 24 deals.
What can they bring to thetable?
(37:18):
And so when they see that theycan go from what two deals a
year is the average agent inmost markets, and then 36, and
then 40 plus.
Yes, they might be paying acommission, but, my God, their
business is now growing.
They're a volume-based businessand Mike always taught us that
(37:40):
Don't worry about the pricepoints, don't worry about volume
.
Worry about your units how manyunits can you sell?
How many people can you serve?
Don't worry about anything else, but hit your unit's goal, and
I always focused on that withMike.
I didn't care if I wasservicing $150,000 client.
Which one of those clientsbought $150,000 house from me
(38:01):
and ended up being the owner ofCarhartt Jeans in Carhartt and I
served them multiple, multipletimes.
She bought so many homes fromme and I didn't care because I
treated everybody equally, andso I think that's where a lot of
agents get stuck.
It's like, well, I want to be adollar luxury, great, but when
(38:22):
the market crashes, those arethe first to crash.
Just be an agent that servespeople.
How about that?
And then all of the beautifulreferrals stem from every single
human in every single deal andyou never know who you're
dealing with.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
So I wasn't focused on just serving whoever was in
every single deal, and you neverknow who you're dealing with,
so so I wasn't focused on justserving whoever was in front of
me.
I wholeheartedly agree, andthat's something that was
instilled with me by goingcoaching with Mike over the
years and it's been a whilesince I've coached with that
(38:55):
outfit.
But that focus on units, focuson how many people can act,
because those people arereferrals.
They give you.
You do a great job and you getreferrals.
The more transactions you do,the more referrals you get.
The more signs you have on thestreet, the more you can build
your brand.
I was never about volume,always about Unicount, yeah, and
(39:17):
you can figure out how to makethat work for your business.
Like, we have a minimum youknow fee we charge.
So even if it's a price that'sreally low in our market, we
still make X.
And if people don't pay, that'sfine, no problem.
You can move on to the nextperson.
I'm good, Exactly, you have tohave that attitude.
(39:40):
So, tina, I have a question foryou.
What's your guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Guilty pleasure.
I love to play golf.
I love it, love it, love it.
So I have not made time for itlately, but usually I would get
out and play three times a weekand it takes five hours.
So it's definitely it makes mefeel guilty sometimes when I do
it.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
My husband and I aspire to be golf players, maybe
in five years.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
There you go.
I love it.
We'll start now, so you're goodin five years.
Well.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
I have to make the time for that, tina, and right
now I don't know, we'll see.
Maybe we'll go hit some golfballs this weekend.
So my other question personallywhat are you most excited about
for your future?
Speaker 2 (40:31):
Oh, my goodness, what I think I'm most excited about
right now is I know the work andthe effort and the sacrifice
and the suffering that I put inall these years to do my passion
, because if you look up passionin the dictionary, it is a form
of suffering, life is suffering, but what's so beautiful is I
(40:52):
know what's on the other side,and the other side is freedom.
Beautiful is I know what's onthe other side, and the other
side is freedom.
It's financial freedom.
It's able, uh the ability to myparents' homes and visit them
and take vacations with myhusband where I don't have my
phone attached to me, servicingclients.
Um, I know that, uh, the nextphase of my life God willing
that I'm here is going to beabout travel and pouring into
(41:15):
others, that I'm here is goingto be about travel and pouring
into others, helping agents,have and feel the life that I
have now.
That is, that's the next phaseof my life.
It's the purpose phase, thelive to give back phase, versus
the.
You know, try to survive andyou know the survival.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Oh, so different.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
So different yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
There are two different things.
And yeah, passion.
I mean, if you think of thepassion of Christ, it's the
suffering of Christ, that's it.
You know that's what it's about.
Like, think about that passionof Christ.
Why do they say that it's thesuffering of Christ?
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Life is suffering, you know, and so you have to
embrace it.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
We'll just keep on life school.
We're just here in life school.
We're here to learn, that'sright.
That's right and be incontribution, be a good human.
I just want more people to begood humans, agreed.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Agreed.
Well, you're a human and I'm soglad we met.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Oh, you too.
I'm so glad we met too.
Well, this has been an honor tohave you on today, tina.
I'm very excited.
I'm right, journey, and it'sbeen really great that we
finally, after two decades, havefinally met and we know all the
same people and it's so crazythat we haven't met before.
(42:30):
I love it Until a couple ofweeks ago, so that's right.
Well, more fun things to come.
Couple weeks ago, so that'sright.
Well, more fun things to come,great things to come.
I'm excited to have had you onthe show today and many, many,
many more.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:45):
Thanks for having me on.
Thanks, everybody.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.