October 14, 2025 • 41 mins
In this dynamic episode of Be the Solution, host Maria Quattrone sits down with powerhouse real estate leader Kevelyn Guzman, a woman who's not only reshaped how brokerages operate—but how leaders lead.
As Regional Vice President at Coldwell Banker Warburg, Kevelyn has spent more than two decades building innovative, people-first solutions for New York City’s most competitive real estate environment. She played a pivotal role in the firm’s 2021 acquisition by Coldwell Banker and has since redefined agent support by treating agents as clients—championing their growth with technology, strategic positioning, and mentorship across generations.
Kevelyn’s leadership philosophy is rooted in empowerment, honesty, and impact. From launching the NYC chapter of What Moves Her, to being named a 2025 Inman Power Player, she has shown what it means to lead with heart and results. In this conversation, Kevelyn and Maria get real about what it takes to grow a business, empower teams, and stay relevant in an industry constantly in flux.
If you’re ready to future-proof your business and lead with purpose, this episode is your roadmap.
💡 Key Discussion Points:
- Why Q1 starts NOW: Planning forward like a true operator
- Smashing the traditional model: Agents are clients, not subordinates
- Leadership without ego: The power of listening and humility
- How to scale your personal brand—with boundaries and clarity
- Daily productivity tips: handwritten lists, calendar blocking, and weekly resets
- Real talk on AI tools: ChatGPT, CapCut, CRM automation
- Growing as a Latina in real estate: Representation, responsibility, and resilience
- Navigating multi-generational teams with grace and structure
- Setting boundaries as a leader—why saying “no” unlocks greater “yeses”
🗣️ Featured Quotes:
“Everything you’re doing—or not doing—right now is a direct reflection of your Q1.”
— Kevelyn Guzman
“You never turn it off. You’re always a realtor. You’re always building relationships.”
— Kevelyn Guzman
“I’m not suggesting you just copy/paste ChatGPT outputs—but it’s an incredible draft tool that saves hours.”
— Maria Quattrone
“You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room to prove you’re smart.”
— Kevelyn Guzman
“Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching. That’s what builds trust.”
— Kevelyn Guzman
“Video is scary at first, but with reps, it becomes your biggest brand asset. Start now.”
— Maria Quattrone
“Sometimes, your mentors teach you what not to do—and that’s just as powerful.”
— Kevelyn Guzman
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: mariaquattronerealestate
Website: MQrealesate.com
Office number: 215- 607-3535
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maria Quattrone (00:01):
So this morning I am excited to have Kavilyn
Guzman on the Be the Solutionpodcast, where we are going to
talk about many, many things.
One of which we're going todive into is 2026.
And 2026 has already started.
(00:22):
Also, today we're going to talkabout women in lead in real
estate and leadership.
And we're going to touch on thecompass acquisition of Anywhere
real estate.
So welcome, Kevin.
I'm excited to talk with youtoday.
Kevelyn Guzman (00:39):
Thank you, Maria.
I'm excited to be here.
Thank you for having me.
Maria Quattrone (00:43):
Yes, my pleasure.
My pleasure.
So one of the things, you know,we we talk about, I had a sales
meeting yesterday, is abouteverything that you're doing now
or not doing is a directreflection of Q1.
Kevelyn Guzman (01:03):
100%.
So I I wrote about thisrecently.
I'm an inmin contributor.
And I wrote about, you know,that you're essentially working
right now towards your Q1.
All of the initiatives, all theseeds that you're planting,
it's all for a strong Q1.
If you are starting to do thatin Q1, you are behind.
(01:25):
And so I always say to myagents, you know, there's a
couple of things you need to befocused on right now.
Your marketing strategy overthe summer, I always advise our
agents.
Sometimes it's a little slow,but I always advise them look at
your strategy, look at yourmarketing strategy.
What has been working, whathasn't been working?
And the fall market is when youpivot and do the things that
(01:49):
you know didn't work, but thenalso be a little bit more
aggressive, right?
Because everything, Q1 tends tobe slow.
So you want to throw everythingat the wall and hoping that a
bunch of things stick for Q1.
Maria Quattrone (02:04):
Yeah, absolutely.
And one of the things we talkabout a lot is conversations and
having as many um worthwhileconversations with people about
real estate.
And so people would say, youknow, connects, but I say
conversations because therenever was a closing that didn't
(02:30):
start with a conversation.
Kevelyn Guzman (02:32):
Absolutely.
Maria Quattrone (02:33):
Absolutely.
And looking at the day, I said,this is work.
People say, work, well, my dayis over.
I said, well, the day is overwhen the day is over, when the
work is done.
And it takes what it takes.
So I think it's going to take alittle bit more this time, this
(02:54):
year, than in past, uh, basedon everything that's happening
in locally, in our markets, butalso in the world.
And it does have a directimpact on real estate because we
don't live in a vacuum andwe're emotional people.
Kevelyn Guzman (03:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
I and so I always say you neverturn it off, right?
So if you're at your kids'school, if you are at a
networking event, if you'rehosting a community event, you
never turn it off.
You're always a realtor.
And so you walk in, and yes,look, it's a turnoff to be
(03:34):
always talking about propertiesin the market, right?
But you always have to figureout a way to get that
conversation going.
I'm really big on networkingevents in New York City.
This is the time of year wherethere's a lot of holiday
parties.
There's, you know, a gatheringeverywhere you go.
And so this is a critical timeto be putting yourself out
(03:58):
there.
And we're in a relationshipsbusiness, right?
So you're buildingrelationships with people and
you're connecting with them on adeeper level.
Sometimes that relationshipthat you meet that might seem
like it won't turn into businesscould potentially turn into
that.
So you're always cultivatingrelationships everywhere you go.
Maria Quattrone (04:19):
Everywhere you go.
And your relationships are whatyour life's about, really.
Kevelyn Guzman (04:26):
Right.
Is it right?
It life is about, you know,cultivating relationships.
And, you know, you never knowwhere that business is going to
come from.
And so it's important that youare really just nurturing your
relationships.
Maria Quattrone (04:43):
100%.
So you had mentioned to me thatyou prior to getting into real
estate, you were you wereworking on Wall Street.
What made you pivot and getinto the residential commercial
real estate business, Kevlin?
Kevelyn Guzman (04:57):
So numbers are fun, but I am I realized um
early on that I like people.
And so I like people, I likeum, I'm a bit of an extrovert,
and I love socializing.
And just being in front of acomputer all day looking at
numbers, I was like, well, maybethis is not quite what I ought
(05:19):
to be doing.
And so I then said, well, maybeit's real estate, because real
estate, you know, I get to seeuh properties in New York City,
I get to build relationships, Iget to network.
And what started off as let mejust, you know, see how it goes,
I ended up loving it.
Maria Quattrone (05:41):
And it was just really easy when you started,
right?
Kevelyn Guzman (05:45):
It was okay.
It was okay because it wasokay.
I wasn't, I wasn't selling oranything like that.
Um, I was more on theoperations side.
Um, and you know, it was it wasuh eye-opening because the
company that I was first withended up closing their doors,
right?
So I had this great experience,but then suddenly, oh wow,
(06:08):
there's this side of thebusiness that you have to be
producing on a regular basisbecause if not, that can happen.
And so I learned a lot aboutthe business side of it.
And then I figured, you know,if I'm gonna go to a larger
firm, which was still boutique,by the way, I figured, you know,
(06:29):
I'm gonna go into operationsand then I'm gonna learn
everything else in between.
And that's exactly whathappened.
And I have to say I learned in18 years, I not only know every
all the aspects of the businessground up, but I help the agents
today with their strategy, withbuilding their business.
And New York City is a verycompetitive market.
(06:51):
We have over 10,000 agents, andso you kind of figure you're at
a dinner, somebody else is areal estate agent.
And so really, it's justhelping our agents get those
properties out there, get themsold, creating their strategy,
but also pushing the brandforward in New York City.
Maria Quattrone (07:12):
What do you think allows an agent to stand
out in your marketplace?
Kevelyn Guzman (07:18):
So it is not um having the listing.
People think that, oh, you havethe listing, you stand out.
You do a video, you post it onsocial media, and that's it.
But that's not that's not allof it.
You know, you have to stand forsomething.
People want to follow and buyand sell from people that are
actually doing more than justthe business.
(07:40):
It shouldn't be about thetransaction, it should be about
caring about the people thatyou're working with, and that
shows in everything you do.
So for an agent for you tostand out, you have to be doing
more than just listing.
And that more is being involvedin your community, right?
Maria Quattrone (08:00):
So there's the creating a movement, so that's
one of the reasons why I createdthis movement, the Be the
Solution movement, because Ibelieve that we are our own
solution.
As humans, we have the answerwithin us, right?
It's just getting out of ourown way and allowing it to
(08:25):
happen.
And it doesn't happen when wewant it to happen, it happens
when it's supposed to happen.
Divine timing.
Kevelyn Guzman (08:34):
I I truly believe in that.
I believe in divine timing.
I believe that everythinghappens for a reason, and
sometimes that fear that keepsyou from you know propelling or
growing comes from within.
And so you're right in that youhave to look deep and say to
yourself, what are the thingsthat are holding me back?
(08:56):
And it might not just happentoday, but you have to keep, you
have to be consistent, you haveto keep working at it until you
get to where you want to.
Maria Quattrone (09:05):
And an everyday thing.
I said, I said, well, how didyou do what you do?
I said, the question is, whowhat did you have to go through
to get where you are?
It's not how you did it, whatyou had to go through to get
where you are.
Kevelyn Guzman (09:21):
You know, it's not, it's not easy um being a
Latina and a woman in New YorkCity in this business.
And so you find yourself havingto dig really deep and find the
strength in places that younever even thought was possible
or that you even had it, right?
(09:41):
Because oftentimes you have thenaysayers and you have people
that, you know, sometimes don'tagree with your approach, but it
actually does work.
And and so it's not alwayseasy, but you have to find the
strength in you to be able tomove forward.
Maria Quattrone (10:00):
And that's on a daily basis sometimes, because
we go through seasons, you know,just like the rain and the snow
and the sun.
It's not always sunny out.
No, that's why when it'sraining, we appreciate it's the
sun.
And I think that sometimes inlife, you know, I don't my
(10:20):
belief of real estate is just avehicle to live the life of our
dreams, but to get better at it,you have to get better at you.
Who do you need to become to goto the next level?
What do you need to remove fromyour life?
What do you need to workthrough?
What trauma?
(10:42):
You know, like you said, you'rea woman, a Latino woman in New
York.
But I am definitely um inPhiladelphia, it's definitely
very much more male-dominated indevelopment, and which is a big
area which I worked in andstill working and investing.
(11:03):
And it's no, it's not easy.
And you gotta have a lot ofstrength and grit, perseverance,
and I think one of the mostimportant things is your
integrity.
Kevelyn Guzman (11:20):
Absolutely.
It's what you do behind coldstores when no one is watching.
And if you do the right thingwhen no one's looking, then
you're you're you're you haveintegrity.
Maria Quattrone (11:34):
That's what it's really comes to because you
know, I call it anybody can buya listing.
Oh yeah, we can get you amillion dollars, and it's like
right, it's 700.
Right.
You know, I see it all thetime.
I say to people, uh it's justlike you watch like for us, I
could just go in the MLS andsay, oh, it's still there, not
(11:58):
sold, it's not going to be sold.
I'll just call them back whenit expires off the market.
Kevelyn Guzman (12:03):
And I I always say to our agents, you present
the facts.
And if that seller wants to gowith another agent because they
are promising to get them moremoney, let them go because I
promise you, after it sits inthe market for six months, they
will be back and they will bereaching out to you.
Maria Quattrone (12:23):
Exactly.
So who are some of the peoplethat you follow and that you
look up to and that are yourmentors?
Kevelyn Guzman (12:32):
So it's interesting because we always
think about mentors, and umsometimes your mentor doesn't do
the right things, but but theyshow you the things that you
don't want to do in the future.
And so you take the things thatperhaps you feel as a leader, I
(12:55):
would never do that.
And that's still positivebecause you're still learning
from them, right?
So, like some of the thingsthat I lead with today, that I
learned from mentors in thepast, are you know, the fastest
way to ruin a business and todestroy morale at a company is
with a big ego.
(13:17):
If the person in charge has abig ego, you can you can trust
and believe that it will destroymorale with your agents, with
the community, withrelationships.
And so I've always said tomyself, these are the three
things that I would never do.
(13:37):
And I learned those things frommentors.
And the one thing that I wouldsay, I don't have a big ego,
right?
Being having humility, beinghumble, it's something that I
keep at the forefront.
And also, you don't have to bethe loudest person in the room
to show that you're smart.
And that is another thing thatI lead with, right?
(14:00):
You have to listen.
The most important thingleading or in anything you do,
when you walk into a pitch andyou're talking the entire time
and you're not listening to whatthe seller is saying, then you
have a problem because you mightbe missing things that are
important to that seller.
So listening for me is alsokey.
(14:23):
And then the the third one isleading with integrity and
making sure that, you know, it'seasy to look at something and
say, well, we could cut cornershere, but is that the right
thing to do?
And I always say to people,what you don't, what you do in
(14:44):
our will come to light.
And so I've the mentors thatI've had, I've learned the
things, what not to do, and I'vetaken note of it and I've led
with that.
Maria Quattrone (14:56):
So good.
Really important.
It's like also you look atthat, and it's what not to do,
what to say no to, so that youcan say yes to something else.
You know, so often we just wantto, and I see this with agents
(15:18):
and not just agents, people.
We want to make sure our daysare filled and busy.
Busy, doing busy things.
Kevelyn Guzman (15:28):
Well, most people like being bit everybody
likes to be a busybody.
Maria Quattrone (15:32):
Right.
But what are the most importantthings to to get done?
And sometimes you don't need,you know, uh 10 hours in a day
to do it.
Sometimes you might have itdone in four hours.
Sometimes, though, it may takea lot more time than you
(15:53):
thought, and so I think also inthe market that we're in, it
really just kind of takes whatit takes, and it may be more
than you're accustomed to doing,right?
In the past.
At least that's what I see inour marketplace.
(16:14):
We have a lot of things thatare kind of um inventory that's
sitting, it's taking much longerto sell.
There's less buyers, you know.
In the in all of the UnitedStates, we'll have the least
amount of home sales ever thisyear.
(16:35):
Ever.
Which means that's lessbusiness, which means, and
that's why we're also seeingpeople exiting our industry.
Kevelyn Guzman (16:49):
Um and I feel like the the industry is always
under attack.
I feel like every time weblink, there's a new lawsuit,
there's a new somethinghappening, there's a new change
to agreements.
And so the industry as a wholehas been changing.
(17:09):
And so you add to that themarket, um, interest rates and
everything else, it's it's it'sbeen almost a recipe for
disaster.
Maria Quattrone (17:21):
Yeah.
This is why, and this is whywe're talking about this today,
about the fourth quarter.
We know that it's gonna be, itis what it is, we're in it, and
doing everything.
And and I and I talkedyesterday in our meeting about
doubling down right now.
Doubling down, like you said,I'm a networker when I'm feeling
(17:48):
my best self.
I'm I love I go to everyholiday party that I can go to
in Philadelphia.
All the top, you know, attorneyfor law firms, right?
They have these big events, andlike our Building Industry
Association, the Union League ofPhiladelphia, all these things,
you know.
You can if you're not part ofgroups, you should be part of
(18:10):
groups, different groups.
What things you love to do?
Be around things that you loveto do so you can connect with
people organically.
Kevelyn Guzman (18:23):
And and in authenticity, right?
Right.
So it I always say to ouragents, do you like playing
pickleball, tennis, join theclub, right?
Join your the the favorite, youhave to be passionate about it
because then it's gonna, it'snot gonna, it's gonna come
across as disingenuous.
So you have to make sure thatwhatever you're doing and
(18:46):
connecting, that you choose todo and connect with people, you
have to be passionate about itbecause then you won't show up.
There's no point in signing upfor tennis if you dread it and
you're forcing yourself to go.
So you have to do things thatyou are passionate about.
And look at those clubs, likewhether it's, you know, maybe
(19:07):
even a cooking class, maybe youlike to cook or want to get
better, but you now join a groupof you know people that cook
every other week, right?
So it's finding the things thatyou like to do and then joining
that.
It's a perfect way to network.
Maria Quattrone (19:25):
We love doing things.
And if you go to something thatyou love to do, you're gonna go
to it.
It's not gonna feel forced,it's not gonna feel like this is
work.
Kevelyn Guzman (19:40):
Agree.
Maria Quattrone (19:41):
You're not the other side.
No, go ahead, Kevin.
Kevelyn Guzman (19:45):
I I I also say the same thing is true for
social media, right?
With social media, you alsoshould be, I mean, it's free
marketing.
You should be joining thosegroups on social media, you
should be um adding value tosome of those conversations.
So you're doing in-person,you're doing social media, like
(20:06):
those are some of the keystrategies that you should be
working on.
You know, you join the clubs,whether that be tennis, cooking,
whatever you're passionateabout.
But then you also do the samething in social media.
You are consistently posting inon group chats that it could
(20:26):
get your information out therefurther.
I always say to people, if youuse social media strategically,
then you will benefit from it.
We I am consistent with oursocial media and we get business
from social media.
We've had sales uh through oursocial media platforms.
(20:49):
And so if done correctly, itcould it could be great.
Absolutely.
Maria Quattrone (20:54):
It's all about though, the end of the day, I
believe, being your true self.
People want to know who youare, they want to know who
they're working with, they wantto know what you believe in.
And I do believe that somethingshould be left unsaid.
Absolutely, absolutely.
The negativity that is beingposted today, the no one cares,
(21:20):
right?
All these things, it's notreally anybody's business until
you make it their business, andthen you become you will be
attacked 100%.
And so why put yourself in thatposition?
It's almost like I believe it'slike a self-destruction.
Kevelyn Guzman (21:45):
Agree.
So I always say when you'reabout to post, ask yourself, is
this adding value?
Is this going to make adifference today?
Or do I am I looking for anoutlet to, you know, just rant?
Because if that's what you'relooking for, call call your
(22:06):
sister, your mom, or yourfriend, right?
Right?
But don't, you know, don't usesocial media for for that.
Ask yourself, am I addingvalue?
You know, how do I want toconnect with people?
How do I want people to see me?
Do they want me to see me as areal estate professional that
(22:27):
can add value about myneighborhood, about the best
restaurants, you know, how areyou adding value?
And so I you can't control whatpeople do, right?
And and some people have baddays and they like to go to
social media and and share thatexperience of theirs.
But I always caution that onceyou post something out there,
(22:52):
it's in that, it's in thatether, right?
You can't take it back.
You can't, you know, someone'sgonna forward it to someone, and
you can't take it back.
So just be mindful before youeven post something.
Maria Quattrone (23:07):
Yeah, that's it's so true.
You really, really have to payattention to what you're doing,
and you know, we need more lightin the world, we need more
hope, we need more love.
Uh I think people are afraid toshow that, to be vulnerable, to
have sadness.
(23:28):
Everybody wants to paint thateverything's great all the time.
It's not.
Kevelyn Guzman (23:36):
I can't tell you the the times that I hear
agents say, or even people ingeneral, they'll say things
like, you know, I'm gonna workwith this agent because it seems
like she has the same circle asI do, she has the same
lifestyle, or um, you know, I Ilike her values, I like that
(23:56):
she's part of this organization.
And so people want to connectwith you on a deeper level.
They want to know who you are,they want to know what you stand
for, they want to know if youare, if they feel that you're an
honest person they can dobusiness with.
And so that's why it'simportant that what you're
putting out there is not onlyprofessional, but can add value
(24:20):
to someone's life.
That's how they connect withpeople today.
It is by seeing your lifestyleand see if there's a common
ground between you.
Maria Quattrone (24:32):
And I think video is something that you
really can take advantage of ifyou can get behind it and be
okay with seeing yourself andlistening to yourself, you know,
one screen.
Kevelyn Guzman (24:48):
It's not an easy thing to do.
It is not an easy thing to do.
And I I it's the hardest thingfor most agents to do.
They're like, I don't like myvoice, I don't like the way I
look, and you know, it's it'sit's hard.
It's hard.
So, but I always say to people,you just have to go out there
(25:09):
and just do it.
Maria Quattrone (25:11):
Once you do it and you do it again, you do it
again, it's just like anythingelse, you get raps behind it,
you get repetition, you know.
And I will say by having thepodcast and interviewing over
300 and some people, and youknow this because I didn't send
(25:32):
you any questions, because it'san organic conversation which
requires me to listen, which hasmade me a better listener,
which has in turn made me abetter leader, absolutely, and
probably made me a better wife,etc.
(25:56):
There are it's all tiedtogether.
There was a day I never did apodcast, there was a day I never
did a video, but in now there'slike 2,000 videos or something.
I don't a lot of videos, but itdoes allow you to grow when you
(26:18):
step out of your comfort zoneand become vulnerable.
You know, I've done videos withmy hair, you know, like up in a
pebbles thing.
I'm on the beach, I'm in mybathing suit, I'm walking in the
water.
Kevelyn Guzman (26:35):
And those probably end up being some of
the best videos.
Maria Quattrone (26:38):
People love it.
They're like, yeah, and I'mtalking about life, and I don't
even most of the time I'm noteven totally talking about real
estate.
Because if you think about it,there's maybe five percent of
people in your in your circle ofpeople or in your world or in
your social that maybe have someinterest at this time.
(27:00):
So it's like 10 posts to everyone or two that are real estate
related.
Kevelyn Guzman (27:10):
Yeah, and and to be honest with you, I mean, it
happens to us all the time.
Sometimes I'm scrolling, and ifI find a page that it's all
about properties, it's not it'snot that interesting.
Like people want a little bitmore.
Uh, and not just stillpictures.
We want, we want the videos, wewant to hear your take on the
market.
We don't just want you to postthe market report.
(27:33):
We want to hear what you thinkof the market.
Maria Quattrone (27:37):
One of the things I think it's great for
real estate agents to do, forrealtors to do, is do a um a
monthly market update onwhatever market they work in.
You do it on video, you do itonce a month, you setting down
to your database, you post it onsocial, and then you can have
it cut up in clips if you wantto.
It's really easy today.
(27:57):
I mean, there's Opus, you canuse Cap Cut, you know, these
it's a lot simpler, or you canhire a VA and you can have AI do
it for you as well.
Yeah, AI.
The Cap Cut is great.
I was just playing with it theother day, and uh now with you
know Chat GPT, I have the onethat has the assistant version.
(28:20):
My my chat, my AI is their nameis Closer.
They name that so what happenedis they gave me three names
based upon what they know.
So basically, it's named afteryou, and you have they gave us
(28:44):
me three names to choose from.
One was Momentum, one wascloser, and I forget what the
other one was, it was likesomething weird.
So I picked closer, but Italked to closer every day,
multiple times a day, and afteryou're doing this over and over
again, your AI gets to know youand your voice.
Kevelyn Guzman (29:04):
It's it's fascinating because I saw that
there is a new app where it'sit's not the actual person in
the video, it's your AI.
So you upload a photo and thenthey make it live, and then it's
not you doing the video.
Yes, it's fascinating, but alsocreepy at the same time.
Maria Quattrone (29:26):
It is creepy because what if somebody takes
you, Kevlin, and starts doingyour videos?
Right.
But it's super cool.
I think Genesis does somethingsimilar to that, but I haven't
played around with that.
I mean, I have as you probablydo, we have limited time.
So I'm like doing my, you know,it's like 7 a.m.
(29:50):
and I'm on chat, and I'm sayingI'm saying, okay, Miss, here's
my thoughts today, and then Iget something back, and I'm
like, oh, that makes sense.
A lot of sense.
Thank you for clarifying thatfor me.
Kevelyn Guzman (30:03):
Yeah, no, I think you know, there's been so
many people against AI, butwe've embraced it and we all
think it's wonderful.
It is that one more thing thatkind of helps you get stuff out.
I mean, look, I'm notsuggesting that you use it and
then you don't check what it'swriting or that you just take it
(30:25):
word by word, right?
Because I don't think it'salways right.
Like 90% of the time it'spretty accurate, but you also
have to check what it's doing.
You can't just like takeeverything it says, like we have
people run propertydescriptions through there.
And but you you still, it's adraft, you have to then go in
(30:46):
the front.
Right.
It's not just okay.
Well, ChatGPT said this is whatthe property description should
be, and that should not be usedthat way, but it is a wonderful
tool to have.
Maria Quattrone (31:02):
It's it's really interesting uh in regards
to if you want to analyzesomething.
I'm not talking about aproperty, uh, maybe different.
Should I use this CRM, thisCRM, or this CRM?
Or should I invest uh in thisplatform, this one, or this one?
It will take them and outlineeverything, and then make you
(31:24):
can actually have it make craftsfor you.
And uh it's it's prettyfascinating.
It really breaks it down and itsaves so much time for you to
do that research because we haveto spend the time
client-facing, interacting withour clients, with our agents.
Since I'm also, you know, I'm aum uh a coach and I'm a
(31:50):
producer, so I have like a dualrole, which you know is
interesting and uh challengingat times, but as you're doing
this, you know, you only have somuch time in the day, is my
point.
Kevelyn Guzman (32:05):
Right.
Maria Quattrone (32:06):
And you have to like, you know, I run off of a
calendar.
I'm sure you do the same.
Like everything is blocked out,and I look at my calendar on
Sunday, and I re-evalue the weekbefore, and then I look at my
calendar for the week ahead, andI see where what times is it
(32:28):
that do I have open?
I have to place in my calendarmy time.
I'm gonna do my outreach intothe community, gonna do my
outreach into for callingsellers.
I'm gonna have my my trainingsare already always, always
booked.
So, you know, making sureeverything that I have to get
(32:50):
done is calendared.
I even write down what we'rehaving for dinner in advance.
Kevelyn Guzman (32:57):
That's I mean, that look, that that's great.
I have to say that um I as muchas technology is great, I like
to, I still old school style, Ilike to handwrite, and I have my
to-do list, I have my calendar,my outlook calendar, but I also
have my my book.
(33:18):
Then I like to writeeverything.
I like to, it feels good tocross things off the list as I'm
doing that.
Maria Quattrone (33:25):
Don't worry.
I have that too.
Kevelyn Guzman (33:27):
I have a composition notebook.
I think it's it's it'swonderful.
It works for me.
And and just like you, onSundays, I look at my week ahead
and uh I tend to do two thingsduring the week.
I block time and I dohandwritten notes, and it's part
of my recruiting strategy.
(33:48):
So I do handwritten notes, I umI create strategies in terms of
uh events that we're doing.
I've created a bunch of thingsto connect to the COW Banker
Network, and so I host a lot ofevents, I write for Inmin.
And so I in my calendar, Iblock times so that I can get
(34:11):
all of this done.
Maria Quattrone (34:14):
And I I think that's something that uh would
help a lot of agents.
You know, a lot of people wantto have a a little bit more of a
free-flowing schedule, but thenyou can't accomplish all the
things that you really want toaccomplish with the free flowing
schedule.
Kevelyn Guzman (34:30):
Right.
Maria Quattrone (34:31):
Right.
You I know you see it, I seeit.
And you know, training oncalendar management, you know,
is should be a training.
It should be because Irecognize how many people still
don't really use that feature,and it's a great thing to have
to do because it keeps youorganized.
(34:52):
And once you're organized, yourbrain is organized.
Kevelyn Guzman (34:55):
I absolutely I also like to look back at my
week and see if I'veaccomplished everything I set
out to do.
And the only way to do that isif you write it down and you're
crossing it out.
And then I say to myself, okay,I had a productive week, right,
based on everything I was ableto do.
But it's important to write itdown, get your tasks done, and
(35:17):
then look back.
Look back and see why youcouldn't get some stuff done,
figure that out so that you canget it done the next week.
Sometimes it's, you know, youget interrupted in the office,
um, and and it's hard to getcertain things done, or you have
a lot of meetings on yourcalendar, and then you can't get
(35:37):
to some of the other things,but you have to go back and see
the reasons why and say, okay,well, maybe this time of the day
is not the time to get thisdone.
Maria Quattrone (35:47):
The most important things I always try to
accomplish in the morningbefore the day gets crazy with
people calling, and and I, youknow, I don't know if uh a lot
of people do this, but in ourCRM, we can schedule our emails
(36:08):
and schedule our text messages.
So like at 7 a.m., I'll besending messages out and then
scheduling them for like nine,10 o'clock.
So that and then by that timeI'm doing other work.
So then when I'm done withthat, I can go back, take a look
if I've got responses fromagents from sellers.
And this way I'm not botheringthem at some crazy hour when
(36:32):
they're not up, but I'm gettingit off my plate.
You could do it even at night,you're sitting there.
Well, waste a lot of timewatching TV.
You could be like schedulingyour messages.
I don't know.
Kevelyn Guzman (36:44):
Yeah, I tend to do that at night.
Um, I have two kids, and sowhen I put them to bed, that's
when I catch up, right?
And catch up could be, youknow, let me send that email
that I should have sent earliertoday, or let me just go through
my emails and see if I missedanything.
And so once I put them to bed,that is my catch up time.
(37:05):
And and then I just Ioftentimes I schedule things, or
sometimes I'm just like, look,that person's probably sleeping
right now, so they won't see ituntil the next day.
Um, but either way, atnighttime, I try to get the
things done that I wasn't ableto get to during the day.
Maria Quattrone (37:22):
Yeah, Kevin, you know it's it's really
important.
I think sometimes we look forshiny objects that are going to
change our world, our business.
And it really is about the tinyhinges that swing big doors.
And the things that we'retalking about, they're tiny
things, but they change yourbusiness in ways you wouldn't
(37:46):
even understand by taking careof these little things that
doesn't seem like they're big,but it's the tiniest things that
make all the difference in theworld.
Kevelyn Guzman (38:00):
That is true.
It's like um it's like when youhave an issue in the office and
you sweep it under the rug andyou just cross your fingers and
hope for it to go away becauseyou think it's small, it's
insignificant, but then it blowsup and it turns out to be
something bigger than youthought.
Yeah, those little things canturn into bigger things.
(38:21):
And so even though it soundslike, oh, you know, keeping your
track of what you're doing,your to-do list and crossing it
out, but oftentimes you hearpeople say, I feel like I'm
spinning my wheels and I'm notmoving.
Right?
Because you're they feel likethey're so busy.
But if you were organizingyourself and keeping track of
(38:42):
what you're doing, then perhapsyou would figure out why it is
that you're spinning your wheelsand not moving.
What are the important, urgentthings that you should be
focusing on?
You know, sometimes it feelslike everything is urgent.
You get that call, you get thatemail, and you're sort of like,
everything is urgent, but is itreally?
Right?
(39:02):
So it's also figuring out whatis important and what should be
taken care of this second andthe other tomorrow.
The only way to do that is ifyou're organized.
Maria Quattrone (39:13):
The only way to do it, organization.
So before we wrap up, I justwant to touch on the
acquisition.
The compass is acquiringAnywhere Real Estate, which is
your parent company, and yourviewpoint on that.
Kevelyn Guzman (39:35):
So, you know, it it's it's been like with
everything, the first 48 hours,it's news, but then it kind of
the dust settles, and everyonethen just kind of moves on.
I think for us, it's going tobe a phenomenal opportunity uh
for many reasons, but here'swhat I'd say to my agents.
(39:57):
And I and so it the timing isperfect because I just wrote an
article for Inmin on this.
How to not focus on real estatesoap operas.
Oftentimes agents are, well,this person just jumped and went
to this company, and they mustbe getting this split.
(40:18):
And they got, you know,everyone is always so focused on
what's happening in otherfirms, and it's all noise, all
noise.
And I say to our agents all thetime, stay focused on your
business.
You're an independentcontractor, and at the end of
the day, whether or not compassis acquiring anywhere is not
(40:39):
going to affect your business,right?
Because why?
At the end, it's you're gonnaget more.
So always see the glass halffull and not half empty, right?
Focus on your business,continue to push forward because
if you lose those 48 hours,that is it could be detrimental
(41:00):
to your business.
And so, in my opinion, and I'min, I'm in it, I can say I can
give you maybe a hundred reasonswhy this is a good thing and
why it's not a bad thing,because I will never focus on
the negative, focus on theopportunity.
And I think that there is a bigopportunity here for us with
(41:23):
this merger.
Maria Quattrone (41:25):
Oh, excellent.
You put that very well, veryeloquent.
Thank you.
It has been you're you'regreat.
I love your energy.
Um, I love the way that youthink, and it is it's
refreshing.
And it has been my pleasure tohave you on the Be the Solution
podcast, Kevin.
(41:45):
And thank you for having me.
Kevelyn Guzman (41:48):
You are great.
Maria Quattrone (41:50):
Yeah, my you are so welcome.
So this morning I am excited to have Kavilyn
Guzman on the Be the Solutionpodcast, where we are going to
talk about many, many things.
One of which we're going todive into is 2026.
And 2026 has already started.
(00:22):
Also, today we're going to talkabout women in lead in real
estate and leadership.
And we're going to touch on thecompass acquisition of Anywhere
real estate.
So welcome, Kevin.
I'm excited to talk with youtoday.
Kevelyn Guzman (00:39):
Thank you, Maria.
I'm excited to be here.
Thank you for having me.
Maria Quattrone (00:43):
Yes, my pleasure.
My pleasure.
So one of the things, you know,we we talk about, I had a sales
meeting yesterday, is abouteverything that you're doing now
or not doing is a directreflection of Q1.
Kevelyn Guzman (01:03):
100%.
So I I wrote about thisrecently.
I'm an inmin contributor.
And I wrote about, you know,that you're essentially working
right now towards your Q1.
All of the initiatives, all theseeds that you're planting,
it's all for a strong Q1.
If you are starting to do thatin Q1, you are behind.
(01:25):
And so I always say to myagents, you know, there's a
couple of things you need to befocused on right now.
Your marketing strategy overthe summer, I always advise our
agents.
Sometimes it's a little slow,but I always advise them look at
your strategy, look at yourmarketing strategy.
What has been working, whathasn't been working?
And the fall market is when youpivot and do the things that
(01:49):
you know didn't work, but thenalso be a little bit more
aggressive, right?
Because everything, Q1 tends tobe slow.
So you want to throw everythingat the wall and hoping that a
bunch of things stick for Q1.
Maria Quattrone (02:04):
Yeah, absolutely.
And one of the things we talkabout a lot is conversations and
having as many um worthwhileconversations with people about
real estate.
And so people would say, youknow, connects, but I say
conversations because therenever was a closing that didn't
(02:30):
start with a conversation.
Kevelyn Guzman (02:32):
Absolutely.
Maria Quattrone (02:33):
Absolutely.
And looking at the day, I said,this is work.
People say, work, well, my dayis over.
I said, well, the day is overwhen the day is over, when the
work is done.
And it takes what it takes.
So I think it's going to take alittle bit more this time, this
(02:54):
year, than in past, uh, basedon everything that's happening
in locally, in our markets, butalso in the world.
And it does have a directimpact on real estate because we
don't live in a vacuum andwe're emotional people.
Kevelyn Guzman (03:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
I and so I always say you neverturn it off, right?
So if you're at your kids'school, if you are at a
networking event, if you'rehosting a community event, you
never turn it off.
You're always a realtor.
And so you walk in, and yes,look, it's a turnoff to be
(03:34):
always talking about propertiesin the market, right?
But you always have to figureout a way to get that
conversation going.
I'm really big on networkingevents in New York City.
This is the time of year wherethere's a lot of holiday
parties.
There's, you know, a gatheringeverywhere you go.
And so this is a critical timeto be putting yourself out
(03:58):
there.
And we're in a relationshipsbusiness, right?
So you're buildingrelationships with people and
you're connecting with them on adeeper level.
Sometimes that relationshipthat you meet that might seem
like it won't turn into businesscould potentially turn into
that.
So you're always cultivatingrelationships everywhere you go.
Maria Quattrone (04:19):
Everywhere you go.
And your relationships are whatyour life's about, really.
Kevelyn Guzman (04:26):
Right.
Is it right?
It life is about, you know,cultivating relationships.
And, you know, you never knowwhere that business is going to
come from.
And so it's important that youare really just nurturing your
relationships.
Maria Quattrone (04:43):
100%.
So you had mentioned to me thatyou prior to getting into real
estate, you were you wereworking on Wall Street.
What made you pivot and getinto the residential commercial
real estate business, Kevlin?
Kevelyn Guzman (04:57):
So numbers are fun, but I am I realized um
early on that I like people.
And so I like people, I likeum, I'm a bit of an extrovert,
and I love socializing.
And just being in front of acomputer all day looking at
numbers, I was like, well, maybethis is not quite what I ought
(05:19):
to be doing.
And so I then said, well, maybeit's real estate, because real
estate, you know, I get to seeuh properties in New York City,
I get to build relationships, Iget to network.
And what started off as let mejust, you know, see how it goes,
I ended up loving it.
Maria Quattrone (05:41):
And it was just really easy when you started,
right?
Kevelyn Guzman (05:45):
It was okay.
It was okay because it wasokay.
I wasn't, I wasn't selling oranything like that.
Um, I was more on theoperations side.
Um, and you know, it was it wasuh eye-opening because the
company that I was first withended up closing their doors,
right?
So I had this great experience,but then suddenly, oh wow,
(06:08):
there's this side of thebusiness that you have to be
producing on a regular basisbecause if not, that can happen.
And so I learned a lot aboutthe business side of it.
And then I figured, you know,if I'm gonna go to a larger
firm, which was still boutique,by the way, I figured, you know,
(06:29):
I'm gonna go into operationsand then I'm gonna learn
everything else in between.
And that's exactly whathappened.
And I have to say I learned in18 years, I not only know every
all the aspects of the businessground up, but I help the agents
today with their strategy, withbuilding their business.
And New York City is a verycompetitive market.
(06:51):
We have over 10,000 agents, andso you kind of figure you're at
a dinner, somebody else is areal estate agent.
And so really, it's justhelping our agents get those
properties out there, get themsold, creating their strategy,
but also pushing the brandforward in New York City.
Maria Quattrone (07:12):
What do you think allows an agent to stand
out in your marketplace?
Kevelyn Guzman (07:18):
So it is not um having the listing.
People think that, oh, you havethe listing, you stand out.
You do a video, you post it onsocial media, and that's it.
But that's not that's not allof it.
You know, you have to stand forsomething.
People want to follow and buyand sell from people that are
actually doing more than justthe business.
(07:40):
It shouldn't be about thetransaction, it should be about
caring about the people thatyou're working with, and that
shows in everything you do.
So for an agent for you tostand out, you have to be doing
more than just listing.
And that more is being involvedin your community, right?
Maria Quattrone (08:00):
So there's the creating a movement, so that's
one of the reasons why I createdthis movement, the Be the
Solution movement, because Ibelieve that we are our own
solution.
As humans, we have the answerwithin us, right?
It's just getting out of ourown way and allowing it to
(08:25):
happen.
And it doesn't happen when wewant it to happen, it happens
when it's supposed to happen.
Divine timing.
Kevelyn Guzman (08:34):
I I truly believe in that.
I believe in divine timing.
I believe that everythinghappens for a reason, and
sometimes that fear that keepsyou from you know propelling or
growing comes from within.
And so you're right in that youhave to look deep and say to
yourself, what are the thingsthat are holding me back?
(08:56):
And it might not just happentoday, but you have to keep, you
have to be consistent, you haveto keep working at it until you
get to where you want to.
Maria Quattrone (09:05):
And an everyday thing.
I said, I said, well, how didyou do what you do?
I said, the question is, whowhat did you have to go through
to get where you are?
It's not how you did it, whatyou had to go through to get
where you are.
Kevelyn Guzman (09:21):
You know, it's not, it's not easy um being a
Latina and a woman in New YorkCity in this business.
And so you find yourself havingto dig really deep and find the
strength in places that younever even thought was possible
or that you even had it, right?
(09:41):
Because oftentimes you have thenaysayers and you have people
that, you know, sometimes don'tagree with your approach, but it
actually does work.
And and so it's not alwayseasy, but you have to find the
strength in you to be able tomove forward.
Maria Quattrone (10:00):
And that's on a daily basis sometimes, because
we go through seasons, you know,just like the rain and the snow
and the sun.
It's not always sunny out.
No, that's why when it'sraining, we appreciate it's the
sun.
And I think that sometimes inlife, you know, I don't my
(10:20):
belief of real estate is just avehicle to live the life of our
dreams, but to get better at it,you have to get better at you.
Who do you need to become to goto the next level?
What do you need to remove fromyour life?
What do you need to workthrough?
What trauma?
(10:42):
You know, like you said, you'rea woman, a Latino woman in New
York.
But I am definitely um inPhiladelphia, it's definitely
very much more male-dominated indevelopment, and which is a big
area which I worked in andstill working and investing.
(11:03):
And it's no, it's not easy.
And you gotta have a lot ofstrength and grit, perseverance,
and I think one of the mostimportant things is your
integrity.
Kevelyn Guzman (11:20):
Absolutely.
It's what you do behind coldstores when no one is watching.
And if you do the right thingwhen no one's looking, then
you're you're you're you haveintegrity.
Maria Quattrone (11:34):
That's what it's really comes to because you
know, I call it anybody can buya listing.
Oh yeah, we can get you amillion dollars, and it's like
right, it's 700.
Right.
You know, I see it all thetime.
I say to people, uh it's justlike you watch like for us, I
could just go in the MLS andsay, oh, it's still there, not
(11:58):
sold, it's not going to be sold.
I'll just call them back whenit expires off the market.
Kevelyn Guzman (12:03):
And I I always say to our agents, you present
the facts.
And if that seller wants to gowith another agent because they
are promising to get them moremoney, let them go because I
promise you, after it sits inthe market for six months, they
will be back and they will bereaching out to you.
Maria Quattrone (12:23):
Exactly.
So who are some of the peoplethat you follow and that you
look up to and that are yourmentors?
Kevelyn Guzman (12:32):
So it's interesting because we always
think about mentors, and umsometimes your mentor doesn't do
the right things, but but theyshow you the things that you
don't want to do in the future.
And so you take the things thatperhaps you feel as a leader, I
(12:55):
would never do that.
And that's still positivebecause you're still learning
from them, right?
So, like some of the thingsthat I lead with today, that I
learned from mentors in thepast, are you know, the fastest
way to ruin a business and todestroy morale at a company is
with a big ego.
(13:17):
If the person in charge has abig ego, you can you can trust
and believe that it will destroymorale with your agents, with
the community, withrelationships.
And so I've always said tomyself, these are the three
things that I would never do.
(13:37):
And I learned those things frommentors.
And the one thing that I wouldsay, I don't have a big ego,
right?
Being having humility, beinghumble, it's something that I
keep at the forefront.
And also, you don't have to bethe loudest person in the room
to show that you're smart.
And that is another thing thatI lead with, right?
(14:00):
You have to listen.
The most important thingleading or in anything you do,
when you walk into a pitch andyou're talking the entire time
and you're not listening to whatthe seller is saying, then you
have a problem because you mightbe missing things that are
important to that seller.
So listening for me is alsokey.
(14:23):
And then the the third one isleading with integrity and
making sure that, you know, it'seasy to look at something and
say, well, we could cut cornershere, but is that the right
thing to do?
And I always say to people,what you don't, what you do in
(14:44):
our will come to light.
And so I've the mentors thatI've had, I've learned the
things, what not to do, and I'vetaken note of it and I've led
with that.
Maria Quattrone (14:56):
So good.
Really important.
It's like also you look atthat, and it's what not to do,
what to say no to, so that youcan say yes to something else.
You know, so often we just wantto, and I see this with agents
(15:18):
and not just agents, people.
We want to make sure our daysare filled and busy.
Busy, doing busy things.
Kevelyn Guzman (15:28):
Well, most people like being bit everybody
likes to be a busybody.
Maria Quattrone (15:32):
Right.
But what are the most importantthings to to get done?
And sometimes you don't need,you know, uh 10 hours in a day
to do it.
Sometimes you might have itdone in four hours.
Sometimes, though, it may takea lot more time than you
(15:53):
thought, and so I think also inthe market that we're in, it
really just kind of takes whatit takes, and it may be more
than you're accustomed to doing,right?
In the past.
At least that's what I see inour marketplace.
(16:14):
We have a lot of things thatare kind of um inventory that's
sitting, it's taking much longerto sell.
There's less buyers, you know.
In the in all of the UnitedStates, we'll have the least
amount of home sales ever thisyear.
(16:35):
Ever.
Which means that's lessbusiness, which means, and
that's why we're also seeingpeople exiting our industry.
Kevelyn Guzman (16:49):
Um and I feel like the the industry is always
under attack.
I feel like every time weblink, there's a new lawsuit,
there's a new somethinghappening, there's a new change
to agreements.
And so the industry as a wholehas been changing.
(17:09):
And so you add to that themarket, um, interest rates and
everything else, it's it's it'sbeen almost a recipe for
disaster.
Maria Quattrone (17:21):
Yeah.
This is why, and this is whywe're talking about this today,
about the fourth quarter.
We know that it's gonna be, itis what it is, we're in it, and
doing everything.
And and I and I talkedyesterday in our meeting about
doubling down right now.
Doubling down, like you said,I'm a networker when I'm feeling
(17:48):
my best self.
I'm I love I go to everyholiday party that I can go to
in Philadelphia.
All the top, you know, attorneyfor law firms, right?
They have these big events, andlike our Building Industry
Association, the Union League ofPhiladelphia, all these things,
you know.
You can if you're not part ofgroups, you should be part of
(18:10):
groups, different groups.
What things you love to do?
Be around things that you loveto do so you can connect with
people organically.
Kevelyn Guzman (18:23):
And and in authenticity, right?
Right.
So it I always say to ouragents, do you like playing
pickleball, tennis, join theclub, right?
Join your the the favorite, youhave to be passionate about it
because then it's gonna, it'snot gonna, it's gonna come
across as disingenuous.
So you have to make sure thatwhatever you're doing and
(18:46):
connecting, that you choose todo and connect with people, you
have to be passionate about itbecause then you won't show up.
There's no point in signing upfor tennis if you dread it and
you're forcing yourself to go.
So you have to do things thatyou are passionate about.
And look at those clubs, likewhether it's, you know, maybe
(19:07):
even a cooking class, maybe youlike to cook or want to get
better, but you now join a groupof you know people that cook
every other week, right?
So it's finding the things thatyou like to do and then joining
that.
It's a perfect way to network.
Maria Quattrone (19:25):
We love doing things.
And if you go to something thatyou love to do, you're gonna go
to it.
It's not gonna feel forced,it's not gonna feel like this is
work.
Kevelyn Guzman (19:40):
Agree.
Maria Quattrone (19:41):
You're not the other side.
No, go ahead, Kevin.
Kevelyn Guzman (19:45):
I I I also say the same thing is true for
social media, right?
With social media, you alsoshould be, I mean, it's free
marketing.
You should be joining thosegroups on social media, you
should be um adding value tosome of those conversations.
So you're doing in-person,you're doing social media, like
(20:06):
those are some of the keystrategies that you should be
working on.
You know, you join the clubs,whether that be tennis, cooking,
whatever you're passionateabout.
But then you also do the samething in social media.
You are consistently posting inon group chats that it could
(20:26):
get your information out therefurther.
I always say to people, if youuse social media strategically,
then you will benefit from it.
We I am consistent with oursocial media and we get business
from social media.
We've had sales uh through oursocial media platforms.
(20:49):
And so if done correctly, itcould it could be great.
Absolutely.
Maria Quattrone (20:54):
It's all about though, the end of the day, I
believe, being your true self.
People want to know who youare, they want to know who
they're working with, they wantto know what you believe in.
And I do believe that somethingshould be left unsaid.
Absolutely, absolutely.
The negativity that is beingposted today, the no one cares,
(21:20):
right?
All these things, it's notreally anybody's business until
you make it their business, andthen you become you will be
attacked 100%.
And so why put yourself in thatposition?
It's almost like I believe it'slike a self-destruction.
Kevelyn Guzman (21:45):
Agree.
So I always say when you'reabout to post, ask yourself, is
this adding value?
Is this going to make adifference today?
Or do I am I looking for anoutlet to, you know, just rant?
Because if that's what you'relooking for, call call your
(22:06):
sister, your mom, or yourfriend, right?
Right?
But don't, you know, don't usesocial media for for that.
Ask yourself, am I addingvalue?
You know, how do I want toconnect with people?
How do I want people to see me?
Do they want me to see me as areal estate professional that
(22:27):
can add value about myneighborhood, about the best
restaurants, you know, how areyou adding value?
And so I you can't control whatpeople do, right?
And and some people have baddays and they like to go to
social media and and share thatexperience of theirs.
But I always caution that onceyou post something out there,
(22:52):
it's in that, it's in thatether, right?
You can't take it back.
You can't, you know, someone'sgonna forward it to someone, and
you can't take it back.
So just be mindful before youeven post something.
Maria Quattrone (23:07):
Yeah, that's it's so true.
You really, really have to payattention to what you're doing,
and you know, we need more lightin the world, we need more
hope, we need more love.
Uh I think people are afraid toshow that, to be vulnerable, to
have sadness.
(23:28):
Everybody wants to paint thateverything's great all the time.
It's not.
Kevelyn Guzman (23:36):
I can't tell you the the times that I hear
agents say, or even people ingeneral, they'll say things
like, you know, I'm gonna workwith this agent because it seems
like she has the same circle asI do, she has the same
lifestyle, or um, you know, I Ilike her values, I like that
(23:56):
she's part of this organization.
And so people want to connectwith you on a deeper level.
They want to know who you are,they want to know what you stand
for, they want to know if youare, if they feel that you're an
honest person they can dobusiness with.
And so that's why it'simportant that what you're
putting out there is not onlyprofessional, but can add value
(24:20):
to someone's life.
That's how they connect withpeople today.
It is by seeing your lifestyleand see if there's a common
ground between you.
Maria Quattrone (24:32):
And I think video is something that you
really can take advantage of ifyou can get behind it and be
okay with seeing yourself andlistening to yourself, you know,
one screen.
Kevelyn Guzman (24:48):
It's not an easy thing to do.
It is not an easy thing to do.
And I I it's the hardest thingfor most agents to do.
They're like, I don't like myvoice, I don't like the way I
look, and you know, it's it'sit's hard.
It's hard.
So, but I always say to people,you just have to go out there
(25:09):
and just do it.
Maria Quattrone (25:11):
Once you do it and you do it again, you do it
again, it's just like anythingelse, you get raps behind it,
you get repetition, you know.
And I will say by having thepodcast and interviewing over
300 and some people, and youknow this because I didn't send
(25:32):
you any questions, because it'san organic conversation which
requires me to listen, which hasmade me a better listener,
which has in turn made me abetter leader, absolutely, and
probably made me a better wife,etc.
(25:56):
There are it's all tiedtogether.
There was a day I never did apodcast, there was a day I never
did a video, but in now there'slike 2,000 videos or something.
I don't a lot of videos, but itdoes allow you to grow when you
(26:18):
step out of your comfort zoneand become vulnerable.
You know, I've done videos withmy hair, you know, like up in a
pebbles thing.
I'm on the beach, I'm in mybathing suit, I'm walking in the
water.
Kevelyn Guzman (26:35):
And those probably end up being some of
the best videos.
Maria Quattrone (26:38):
People love it.
They're like, yeah, and I'mtalking about life, and I don't
even most of the time I'm noteven totally talking about real
estate.
Because if you think about it,there's maybe five percent of
people in your in your circle ofpeople or in your world or in
your social that maybe have someinterest at this time.
(27:00):
So it's like 10 posts to everyone or two that are real estate
related.
Kevelyn Guzman (27:10):
Yeah, and and to be honest with you, I mean, it
happens to us all the time.
Sometimes I'm scrolling, and ifI find a page that it's all
about properties, it's not it'snot that interesting.
Like people want a little bitmore.
Uh, and not just stillpictures.
We want, we want the videos, wewant to hear your take on the
market.
We don't just want you to postthe market report.
(27:33):
We want to hear what you thinkof the market.
Maria Quattrone (27:37):
One of the things I think it's great for
real estate agents to do, forrealtors to do, is do a um a
monthly market update onwhatever market they work in.
You do it on video, you do itonce a month, you setting down
to your database, you post it onsocial, and then you can have
it cut up in clips if you wantto.
It's really easy today.
(27:57):
I mean, there's Opus, you canuse Cap Cut, you know, these
it's a lot simpler, or you canhire a VA and you can have AI do
it for you as well.
Yeah, AI.
The Cap Cut is great.
I was just playing with it theother day, and uh now with you
know Chat GPT, I have the onethat has the assistant version.
(28:20):
My my chat, my AI is their nameis Closer.
They name that so what happenedis they gave me three names
based upon what they know.
So basically, it's named afteryou, and you have they gave us
(28:44):
me three names to choose from.
One was Momentum, one wascloser, and I forget what the
other one was, it was likesomething weird.
So I picked closer, but Italked to closer every day,
multiple times a day, and afteryou're doing this over and over
again, your AI gets to know youand your voice.
Kevelyn Guzman (29:04):
It's it's fascinating because I saw that
there is a new app where it'sit's not the actual person in
the video, it's your AI.
So you upload a photo and thenthey make it live, and then it's
not you doing the video.
Yes, it's fascinating, but alsocreepy at the same time.
Maria Quattrone (29:26):
It is creepy because what if somebody takes
you, Kevlin, and starts doingyour videos?
Right.
But it's super cool.
I think Genesis does somethingsimilar to that, but I haven't
played around with that.
I mean, I have as you probablydo, we have limited time.
So I'm like doing my, you know,it's like 7 a.m.
(29:50):
and I'm on chat, and I'm sayingI'm saying, okay, Miss, here's
my thoughts today, and then Iget something back, and I'm
like, oh, that makes sense.
A lot of sense.
Thank you for clarifying thatfor me.
Kevelyn Guzman (30:03):
Yeah, no, I think you know, there's been so
many people against AI, butwe've embraced it and we all
think it's wonderful.
It is that one more thing thatkind of helps you get stuff out.
I mean, look, I'm notsuggesting that you use it and
then you don't check what it'swriting or that you just take it
(30:25):
word by word, right?
Because I don't think it'salways right.
Like 90% of the time it'spretty accurate, but you also
have to check what it's doing.
You can't just like takeeverything it says, like we have
people run propertydescriptions through there.
And but you you still, it's adraft, you have to then go in
(30:46):
the front.
Right.
It's not just okay.
Well, ChatGPT said this is whatthe property description should
be, and that should not be usedthat way, but it is a wonderful
tool to have.
Maria Quattrone (31:02):
It's it's really interesting uh in regards
to if you want to analyzesomething.
I'm not talking about aproperty, uh, maybe different.
Should I use this CRM, thisCRM, or this CRM?
Or should I invest uh in thisplatform, this one, or this one?
It will take them and outlineeverything, and then make you
(31:24):
can actually have it make craftsfor you.
And uh it's it's prettyfascinating.
It really breaks it down and itsaves so much time for you to
do that research because we haveto spend the time
client-facing, interacting withour clients, with our agents.
Since I'm also, you know, I'm aum uh a coach and I'm a
(31:50):
producer, so I have like a dualrole, which you know is
interesting and uh challengingat times, but as you're doing
this, you know, you only have somuch time in the day, is my
point.
Kevelyn Guzman (32:05):
Right.
Maria Quattrone (32:06):
And you have to like, you know, I run off of a
calendar.
I'm sure you do the same.
Like everything is blocked out,and I look at my calendar on
Sunday, and I re-evalue the weekbefore, and then I look at my
calendar for the week ahead, andI see where what times is it
(32:28):
that do I have open?
I have to place in my calendarmy time.
I'm gonna do my outreach intothe community, gonna do my
outreach into for callingsellers.
I'm gonna have my my trainingsare already always, always
booked.
So, you know, making sureeverything that I have to get
(32:50):
done is calendared.
I even write down what we'rehaving for dinner in advance.
Kevelyn Guzman (32:57):
That's I mean, that look, that that's great.
I have to say that um I as muchas technology is great, I like
to, I still old school style, Ilike to handwrite, and I have my
to-do list, I have my calendar,my outlook calendar, but I also
have my my book.
(33:18):
Then I like to writeeverything.
I like to, it feels good tocross things off the list as I'm
doing that.
Maria Quattrone (33:25):
Don't worry.
I have that too.
Kevelyn Guzman (33:27):
I have a composition notebook.
I think it's it's it'swonderful.
It works for me.
And and just like you, onSundays, I look at my week ahead
and uh I tend to do two thingsduring the week.
I block time and I dohandwritten notes, and it's part
of my recruiting strategy.
(33:48):
So I do handwritten notes, I umI create strategies in terms of
uh events that we're doing.
I've created a bunch of thingsto connect to the COW Banker
Network, and so I host a lot ofevents, I write for Inmin.
And so I in my calendar, Iblock times so that I can get
(34:11):
all of this done.
Maria Quattrone (34:14):
And I I think that's something that uh would
help a lot of agents.
You know, a lot of people wantto have a a little bit more of a
free-flowing schedule, but thenyou can't accomplish all the
things that you really want toaccomplish with the free flowing
schedule.
Kevelyn Guzman (34:30):
Right.
Maria Quattrone (34:31):
Right.
You I know you see it, I seeit.
And you know, training oncalendar management, you know,
is should be a training.
It should be because Irecognize how many people still
don't really use that feature,and it's a great thing to have
to do because it keeps youorganized.
(34:52):
And once you're organized, yourbrain is organized.
Kevelyn Guzman (34:55):
I absolutely I also like to look back at my
week and see if I'veaccomplished everything I set
out to do.
And the only way to do that isif you write it down and you're
crossing it out.
And then I say to myself, okay,I had a productive week, right,
based on everything I was ableto do.
But it's important to write itdown, get your tasks done, and
(35:17):
then look back.
Look back and see why youcouldn't get some stuff done,
figure that out so that you canget it done the next week.
Sometimes it's, you know, youget interrupted in the office,
um, and and it's hard to getcertain things done, or you have
a lot of meetings on yourcalendar, and then you can't get
(35:37):
to some of the other things,but you have to go back and see
the reasons why and say, okay,well, maybe this time of the day
is not the time to get thisdone.
Maria Quattrone (35:47):
The most important things I always try to
accomplish in the morningbefore the day gets crazy with
people calling, and and I, youknow, I don't know if uh a lot
of people do this, but in ourCRM, we can schedule our emails
(36:08):
and schedule our text messages.
So like at 7 a.m., I'll besending messages out and then
scheduling them for like nine,10 o'clock.
So that and then by that timeI'm doing other work.
So then when I'm done withthat, I can go back, take a look
if I've got responses fromagents from sellers.
And this way I'm not botheringthem at some crazy hour when
(36:32):
they're not up, but I'm gettingit off my plate.
You could do it even at night,you're sitting there.
Well, waste a lot of timewatching TV.
You could be like schedulingyour messages.
I don't know.
Kevelyn Guzman (36:44):
Yeah, I tend to do that at night.
Um, I have two kids, and sowhen I put them to bed, that's
when I catch up, right?
And catch up could be, youknow, let me send that email
that I should have sent earliertoday, or let me just go through
my emails and see if I missedanything.
And so once I put them to bed,that is my catch up time.
(37:05):
And and then I just Ioftentimes I schedule things, or
sometimes I'm just like, look,that person's probably sleeping
right now, so they won't see ituntil the next day.
Um, but either way, atnighttime, I try to get the
things done that I wasn't ableto get to during the day.
Maria Quattrone (37:22):
Yeah, Kevin, you know it's it's really
important.
I think sometimes we look forshiny objects that are going to
change our world, our business.
And it really is about the tinyhinges that swing big doors.
And the things that we'retalking about, they're tiny
things, but they change yourbusiness in ways you wouldn't
(37:46):
even understand by taking careof these little things that
doesn't seem like they're big,but it's the tiniest things that
make all the difference in theworld.
Kevelyn Guzman (38:00):
That is true.
It's like um it's like when youhave an issue in the office and
you sweep it under the rug andyou just cross your fingers and
hope for it to go away becauseyou think it's small, it's
insignificant, but then it blowsup and it turns out to be
something bigger than youthought.
Yeah, those little things canturn into bigger things.
(38:21):
And so even though it soundslike, oh, you know, keeping your
track of what you're doing,your to-do list and crossing it
out, but oftentimes you hearpeople say, I feel like I'm
spinning my wheels and I'm notmoving.
Right?
Because you're they feel likethey're so busy.
But if you were organizingyourself and keeping track of
(38:42):
what you're doing, then perhapsyou would figure out why it is
that you're spinning your wheelsand not moving.
What are the important, urgentthings that you should be
focusing on?
You know, sometimes it feelslike everything is urgent.
You get that call, you get thatemail, and you're sort of like,
everything is urgent, but is itreally?
Right?
(39:02):
So it's also figuring out whatis important and what should be
taken care of this second andthe other tomorrow.
The only way to do that is ifyou're organized.
Maria Quattrone (39:13):
The only way to do it, organization.
So before we wrap up, I justwant to touch on the
acquisition.
The compass is acquiringAnywhere Real Estate, which is
your parent company, and yourviewpoint on that.
Kevelyn Guzman (39:35):
So, you know, it it's it's been like with
everything, the first 48 hours,it's news, but then it kind of
the dust settles, and everyonethen just kind of moves on.
I think for us, it's going tobe a phenomenal opportunity uh
for many reasons, but here'swhat I'd say to my agents.
(39:57):
And I and so it the timing isperfect because I just wrote an
article for Inmin on this.
How to not focus on real estatesoap operas.
Oftentimes agents are, well,this person just jumped and went
to this company, and they mustbe getting this split.
(40:18):
And they got, you know,everyone is always so focused on
what's happening in otherfirms, and it's all noise, all
noise.
And I say to our agents all thetime, stay focused on your
business.
You're an independentcontractor, and at the end of
the day, whether or not compassis acquiring anywhere is not
(40:39):
going to affect your business,right?
Because why?
At the end, it's you're gonnaget more.
So always see the glass halffull and not half empty, right?
Focus on your business,continue to push forward because
if you lose those 48 hours,that is it could be detrimental
(41:00):
to your business.
And so, in my opinion, and I'min, I'm in it, I can say I can
give you maybe a hundred reasonswhy this is a good thing and
why it's not a bad thing,because I will never focus on
the negative, focus on theopportunity.
And I think that there is a bigopportunity here for us with
(41:23):
this merger.
Maria Quattrone (41:25):
Oh, excellent.
You put that very well, veryeloquent.
Thank you.
It has been you're you'regreat.
I love your energy.
Um, I love the way that youthink, and it is it's
refreshing.
And it has been my pleasure tohave you on the Be the Solution
podcast, Kevin.
(41:45):
And thank you for having me.
Kevelyn Guzman (41:48):
You are great.
Maria Quattrone (41:50):
Yeah, my you are so welcome.
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