April 15, 2025 • 35 mins
We don’t talk about this enough in real estate—what if you don’t want to keep going? What if the dream you thought you were building just isn’t it for you?
In this episode, I sit down with former real estate agent Erica Rojek to have a brutally honest conversation about knowing when to call it quits. Erica shares her journey from juggling a full-time job, divorced motherhood, and real estate to realizing that the industry wasn’t aligned with her happiness. We dive into the emotional toll of building a business that doesn’t feel right, the pressure to succeed, and the moment she finally decided to walk away (and why it felt like freedom).
If you’ve ever questioned whether real estate is the right path for you, or just need permission to choose a career that actually lights you up, this episode is a must-listen.
Tune in now and let’s have this real conversation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am really excited about this episode because we
are going to dive into somethingthat I don't think we talk
about enough in the real estateindustry, which is when do you
actually call it quits, when doyou just realize you know real
estate's not for me anymore andI am just done with it?
So today, my guest is EricaRojek.
(00:20):
She is a former real estateagent, mom of two, who is
divorced and also a power lifter, which, hello, that is so
amazing.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah girl get it my biceps are impressive.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I actually kind of thought they were pretty
impressive.
You can't see mine, but I'mworking on them, so let's start
at the beginning.
When did you get into realestate and what made you decide
to get into real estate?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So I had started my career in interior design, in
commercial furniture, and then Imoved into sales and during the
pandemic, when you know,obviously the market got really
hot and so everybody's likelet's be a realtor.
But I had actually my marriageended in February of 2020 and I
(01:11):
moved out.
Oh, wow, yeah.
And so when the pandemic hitand everybody stopped going to
work, I'm looking at my jobselling commercial furniture,
which is office furniture.
I'm looking at my job sellingcommercial furniture, which is
office furniture, selling officefurniture to workspaces, and
I'm like, oh damn, I only havemy income now and these two kids
(01:32):
and this new apartment.
I'm going to make sure I have abackup plan.
And so I thought, you know,I've always been interested in
real estate.
I had a good friend that hadgotten in like a year prior and
she was really succeeding andshe was really positive about
the experience, and so I thought, okay, this seems like a good
fit because I could make someextra money, but I can make it
(01:53):
on my nights and weekends,because I knew that was going to
be more likely when clientswanted to go to our homes and
you know kind of when the actionwould be.
So I'm like okay, I can keep myregular job and I can do this,
and you know, and I'd also likemade quite a few real estate
mistakes in my time I did wantto be able to like help use my
(02:14):
experiences to hopefully keep orat least help other people
guide them to not make the samemistakes that I made.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
So tell me a little bit about how, in the beginning,
you were balancing having yourfull time job, being a co-parent
with two kiddos and alsoentering into real estate.
Like, how was that experiencefor you, especially during the
pandemic?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It was insanity.
I was very fortunate because myfull time job that I had
was-based and I was essentiallyable to make my own schedule and
, because of the pandemic, Ididn't have to go out on the
road anymore.
I wasn't going out and doinglunch and learns and meetings
and everything became virtual.
Have a little bit more time andbandwidth to you know.
(03:03):
Come up with.
What was my plan going to be?
I'm going to work on socialmedia posts reaching out to my
sphere.
All of you know that sort ofprospecting getting clients
activities.
When I had my kids it was veryhard to give anything at all, so
they were home and at the timemy daughter was preschool age.
(03:24):
So the days that I had them Igot nothing done with anyone.
You know, like it was basicallyjust time management, account
management for my main job andthen squeezing in anything that
I could, real estate wise, whichat the time was kind of nothing
.
But the days that I didn't havemy kids was, you know, saturday
mornings.
I would sit on calls with mybroker and she'd go through all
(03:47):
of the forms with me and all thecontracts to make sure I
understood everything.
And you know I would take thattime that I didn't have the kids
and couldn't go anywhere.
So to really, you know, learnthe business more and listen to
podcasts and read books and tryand educate myself because you
know the imposter syndrome canbe strong.
Trying to educate myselfbecause you know the imposter
syndrome can be strong, sostrong.
(04:07):
So I thought, you know, Ireally need to like dive into,
feeling like I know what I'mtalking about, so that if I do
get clients I'm actuallyproperly advising them.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
What did success look like for you?
So like, what were you hopingfor in that first year or two?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Well, I had been told that, like, the first year of
real estate can be the hardestfor people and that there's a
lot of people that don't even doone deal their first year, and
so success to me was going to bedoing at least one deal, and I
did end up doing two, my firstcalendar year as an agent, and I
was pretty happy with that.
Ultimately, I felt like what Ienvisioned my success being was
(04:47):
seeing my name on signs in frontof houses everywhere I went.
You know, like you know,there's some agents that, like
you, see their name everywhereand I'm like I wanted to be that
agent.
I wanted to be that person thatis just like, oh yeah, there's
another house being sold byErica Rojek.
That's so cute.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I love erica rojek.
That's so cute.
I love that, like that's when Imade it.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
When you see my sign everywhere, everywhere you know
what it was probably gonna havemy face on it, or like me
standing with you know, likesome sort of, yeah, with your
biceps, just like.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, exactly like, here we go.
Yeah, you're like, we can do it.
When did you start to feel likethings weren't clicking, like?
When did you start to feel like, ooh, maybe this wasn't the
right call?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Oh well, so all along , when I even got started in
real estate, you know it's veryheavily pushed by people that
you know you have to go afteryour sphere of influence and
pursue the relationships thatyou have with people to
hopefully they'll make you know,they'll choose you as their
agent or they'll refer you tosomeone they know and that's how
(05:56):
you're going to get yourbusiness.
And there was always somethingthat just felt icky to me about
that because I I was, I am apeople person and I do have a
lot of like friendships andrelationships and I didn't like
that kind of underlying tonethat I now had in my brain that
like, oh, I'm reaching out tosomeone to schedule lunch, not
(06:19):
because I want to see them, butbecause they're now on my
prospecting list and I need tomake sure that I touch everyone
on my list X amount of timesevery month or every you know
few months.
Like I just didn't like thatbecause it took away my
authenticity of you know, myrelationships, because I just I
(06:41):
had this like second underlyingagenda of maybe they'll choose
me, or even like forcingconversations or trying to say
that I'm a real estate agent oryou know it.
Just I was putting a lot ofpressure on myself and I felt a
lot of like outside pressure tojust like hit your sphere.
That's going to be where youget your business from, and that
just felt uncomfortable to me.
(07:03):
But I was still trying to do itas authentically as I could
because I didn't want to be askeevy like car salesman, real
estate agent.
I legitimately wanted to helppeople.
I'm not a salesperson that waslike, oh, I could sell ice to a
penguin, like, if you don't needthe ice, I'm not going to sell
it to you.
And that's that's the way Ifelt about selling houses, like
(07:24):
I was never going.
I didn't want to be someonethat was going to convince you
you needed to move.
You know, somebody came and said, well, I'm thinking about
expanding or I'm thinking aboutmoving, that I'd be like okay,
we'll pursue what it looks liketo put on an addition.
You know, get a few quotes, seehow much that costs, see if it
gets you the house that you'relooking for, and then, if it
(07:45):
doesn't call me and I'll helpyou go buy one that does,
whereas I think that some peoplewould try and skew the
conversation into well, you know, it's going to cost a lot of
money and you're going to haveto move out and you know, and I
just I didn't want to do that.
So all of those moments werehard.
As far as developing actualclient base based on my sphere,
(08:10):
because I also, you know, I havea big list of don'ts.
I didn't want to door knock, Ididn't want to cold call, I
didn't want to do that sort ofstuff Like that all felt very
outdated to me and nobodyanswers their doors anymore.
Like they look at you in thering camera and they're like I
don't know you Go away.
Some people will actually saythat too, Like some people
ignore you and pretend they'renot home, but some people
(08:31):
actually tell people to go away.
So I knew I didn't want thateither, but as time went on I
just wasn't making the progressin my career that I thought I
could have or should have.
I would be upset if a frienddidn't use me as the real estate
agent and it would hurt myfeelings and I you know I I've
(08:55):
been in a sales role forcommercial furniture.
If somebody didn't choose myfurniture, it's like, okay, well
, we weren't in their budget.
They just didn't like what itlooked like, we couldn't get it
there in time, whatever you know, onto the next.
But it's like with real estateyou feel like you're, you're
promoting yourself, and so thenwhen you get rejected, it just
(09:17):
it's like why wouldn't you useme?
Why don't you want to work withme?
Like don't you trust me?
Because there's a lot ofconversation around you know,
you need to know, like and trust, right, that's like the three
things to be the person thatgets chosen and I'm like okay,
well, if I know a lot of peopleand I think they like me, it
(09:39):
must mean that maybe they don'ttrust me.
And that brought up a lot ofinsecurities.
And so I was really, you know,wrapped up in my head about that
and like, who am I as a person?
Am I professional enough?
Does my sphere trust me?
Because this is a really bigfinancial crisis transaction,
(10:00):
you know, and there's a lot ofemotion involved and you know, I
would have panic, like I wouldhave anxiety attacks, when I had
a listing and it went live.
That first day of an activelisting for me was terrible
because I would be so stressedout about like I hope I did, I
hope I've done a good job, Ihope that they're going to get
(10:22):
offers.
I, you know, like, what if theyget mad at me?
What if they're not happy withthe offers they get, or they
don't get any at all, and it'sall my fault, and it's just like
I would spiral.
So that wasn't healthy, youknow.
It's just.
There's just a lot of thingsthat was pointing in the
direction of like, hey, maybethis isn't the right career for
you.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You brought up a really good point, though, of I
think, that so many agents thinkit's going to be so easy to get
business from their spherebecause that's what we hear.
We're like, oh, that's whereall your clients are going to
come from, and I really think itis harder than people make it
out to be, because your sphere,they know you in one context and
(11:07):
they know you as Erica theperson, and to make that flip in
their mind from Erica theperson slash friend, slash,
family, slash whatever to Ericayes, you're in that bucket, but
you're also a badass real estateagent that takes time, like a
lot of people don't justautomatically, once you announce
you're an agent, they don'tjust say, oh my gosh, like yes,
(11:30):
obviously, like there's all thisbusiness.
That just doesn't happen.
I feel like it takes two tothree years of really
consistently showing your spherethat you're a full-time, like
you're doing this agent, forthat to like really happen.
And that's a transition that Ithink our industry is just we
lie to agents about it Like weare not honest about how
(11:51):
difficult that flip is.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, because it it's .
How do you prove to people thatyou're a good agent if you
don't have the business to show?
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, exactly, if you don't have the business to show
yet Exactly, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
so it's like that's where it does become.
You know the overwhelming ofwell you should do social media
posts and you know you've got totalk about real estate
basically any chance you get andsend emails and be a source of
knowledge for them, and it'slike yes, but like like it still
doesn't change that everyoneyou know, especially because I'm
(12:26):
in maryland, you know, outsideof the dc area, everyone knows
at least five agents oh, morethan right, you know, yeah, I 10
yeah, and so it's just like.
You know, I had one friend thatI became an agent and she was
about to sell her house and buya new house with her family and
she had an agent that she hadbeen you know, essentially she
(12:48):
jokes abusing for the last fewyears where, like anytime a
house popped up, she'd call andbe like, oh, we want to go see
this house and they would neverend up buying anything.
And she was essentially like,hey, listen, I've been doing
this to this guy for the lastfew years, like he deserves our
business, like I love you butwe're not going to use you.
And that was reallyheartbreaking because I'm like
(13:09):
what do you mean?
You're not even going tointerview me.
I could do a really great jobfor you, but the fact and I
appreciate her loyalty to thisperson, but yeah, it's like your
sphere isn't just handing theirbusiness over to you just
because they like you.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Exactly.
It's just such a misconception.
I wish we could just get rid ofit.
It's just, it's total garbage.
So I can imagine that having afull-time job, being a divorced
mom and then trying to build areal estate business was just so
incredibly overwhelming.
What did that look like for youin terms of your time and
(13:48):
energy commitment?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Well, the first thing that it required was delusion
on my part.
You're hilarious.
I remember listening to apodcast.
I remember listening to apodcast it was God, years and
years before I even became anagent but listening to a podcast
of this woman that had built agreat real estate career and she
(14:14):
had done it being a part-timeagent.
And she just talked about howit naturally grew and one deal
led to the next deal, to nextdeal, to all of a sudden she had
so much business that shecouldn't work her regular job
anymore.
So she was able to quit and gofull time.
And I kind of used this oneperson's story as this like
(14:35):
marking point of like, oh, thisis totally doable.
It's doable Like business, likeonce it gets rolling, it will
just come to me.
And that didn't happen.
So the energy that I had had inthe beginning, like in the
first few years, to balance, youknow like it would.
(14:55):
It would be me like writingdown you know what are my goals,
what do I need to do, how manysocial media posts do I want to
put out?
You know, scripting the socialmedia posts, recording the
social media posts, editing thesocial media posts, you know,
like, doing all those thingsit's really time consuming and
it's like, and then it didn'tnecessarily lead to business,
(15:19):
you know, and so it becameharder and harder to stay as on
top of things because of that.
And I did try and look at like,well, what really is getting me
business, and it really kind offelt like it was just luck,
like random circumstance ofsomebody asking me to go, like a
(15:39):
friend asked me to go getdrinks one night and she happens
to be looking at moving andshe's like, yeah, and I'm just
not happy with my agent, can youhelp me?
And I'm like, okay, you know,like it was just like, oh, cool,
you know, but it's just like itdidn't feel like I.
I once had like a social mediapost that came back and somebody
responded like oh, I would loveto work with you.
(16:01):
I'm thinking about moving.
That person still to this dayhas not moved, and this was
three years ago, right.
So it's like you spent a lotlike trying to work my regular
job Now my, my regular, myregular job.
I had been doing it for manyyears, going into getting into
real estate.
So I'd already built a reallystrong business into getting
(16:23):
into real estate.
So I'd already built a reallystrong business.
So it didn't require me a tonof hustle energy as when you're
getting ramped up, so I was notusing my brain to its full
capacity.
There was space available for meto think about real estate
stuff in my downtime and so itreally was just prioritizing
(16:44):
what I thought was going to helpget me business and then also
trying to listen to other peopletell me what was going to get
me business and then trying todo those things.
But I think that it is veryhard to do it all.
I think it's hard to do it alleven if you're a full-time agent
(17:05):
, I think, if you have your dayscompletely free to network and
lunch and farm and record socialmedia content.
Doing all those things is a lot.
Do that when I was just tryingto squeeze it in to let my
evenings and weekends everyother week.
It just when there was noreturn it just like it's so
(17:30):
discouraging it is.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
It's so discouraging.
It's why I wanted to do thisepisode, because I just feel
like, just like you heard thatsuccess story of that woman who
was like it's part-time and itjust kept rolling and rolling
and everything just got betterand better and better.
I think you're the norm, likeshe is the exception.
I have seen so many part-timeagents, and I don't say that
(17:54):
with like hate or like as a diss, but it's like it's a part-time
job because you have afull-time job and also children,
which, oh my gosh, I can'temphasize how difficult it is
and how rare it is for somebodyto go from part-time to a
full-time real estate agent.
Success, like there's justthere's this flip that has to
(18:17):
happen and it's, first of all, Ithink, rare for that to happen.
But then, when that fliphappens, you eventually have to
take that leap of faith andleave your full-time job before
you're actually ready, and thatis a scary place to be,
especially if you don't have asecond income to rely on and
it's just you supporting yourhousehold.
(18:37):
That is so scary.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yeah, it is, it is really scary.
Yeah, it is, it is really scary.
And I remember my very firstbroker said to me kind of early
on in discussing going frompart-time to full-time and
setting a goal for when that wasgoing to happen, cause she's
like you can't just indefinitelybe a part-time agent.
If you ever want to befull-time you've got to set a
deadline.
You got to work towards it andshe's like then you got to burn
the boats, right.
(19:02):
It's the idea of you have to notgive yourself that cushion,
that escape, because if you do,you're going to lean on it and I
100% did.
You know I didn't have tobehave as though my family was
going to starve, right, becauseI knew I had another job there
(19:22):
that was actually supporting myhousehold, kind of Right.
And you know, I think realestate agents that this is their
only source of income just havea little bit more fire to go
out there and make it happen.
And maybe, you know, maybethat's when they do lose all
(19:46):
shame and all you know voices intheir head of the imposter
syndrome, because they're justlike ignore it all.
I've got to go make this happenand I didn't.
I didn't have that, so I stillstayed very trapped in the.
I don't really have to do that,I don't really have to go like
host this open house.
I don't really.
You know, I don't really wantto.
(20:08):
You know, like I can do it, onwhat works for me.
But I think that that reallyheld me back from growing.
Also, I think that was probablyone of the early signifiers
that I should have realizedwasn't really meant for real
estate, because I didn't want todo real estate activities right
(20:28):
.
I didn't want to host openhouses, I didn't want to spend
my Saturdays at showing, Ididn't want to drop everything
to show someone a house when Ihad other plans, right, like I.
I did it because when you get aclient, like I wanted to serve
my clients, but I didn't likewant to, you know like it didn't
(20:53):
.
It didn't light me up inside,it didn't like bring me joy.
It was like, oh, this is justpart of the job that I have to
do, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
When did you start having that inkling of I don't
think this is for me.
I'm detesting all of theactivities I'm supposed to be
doing.
Like when did that creep in andwhen did you really start
paying attention to it?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Um so late last year I had some real estate business
fall through.
That was going to be threetransactions.
I, you know, was like, yes,it's going to be great, I see my
credit card debt flying out thewindow and I get all of these
cards.
You know, and you know stuffhappened and those deals didn't
(21:38):
go through.
And those deals didn't gothrough and I was so hurt and
frustrated and upset and I'mjust like I don't even know what
I'm doing anymore.
Right, I'm just feeling likebeaten down by all of this
because I feel like you spend somuch time trying to pour in to
(22:00):
a business that you're told willeventually return on your
investment.
You know, with all the clientsthat I worked with that never
ended up buying.
You know all the time that Ispent marketing and you know
doing free workshops, or youknow postcards to send out to
neighborhoods and it's just likeand here I am like business,
(22:22):
just somebody will still justwalk away from you without
thinking twice about what you'veput in to helping them and the
time and the energy and theeffort, and they just don't care
.
I also didn't know what I wasgoing to do for that extra
income that I needed, right,right.
So it's like I reached abreaking point where I'm like
(22:45):
people really don't give a shit.
You know, like you think thatyou build a relationship with
people, people that you know andthey will still just do
something else with no regard toyour wellbeing, right.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
And it's just you know.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
But I was still like, oh, I got to stick this out
because this is my only other.
Essentially, I visualize it asan open door.
It's my only other open door toincome and I need the
supplemental income right now.
But what really was the kickerfor me like the whole reason
that I ended up leaving theindustry is because I yeah, what
(23:22):
was the nail in the coffin?
Yeah I had been so frustrated,but I was sticking it out
because I'm just like I.
I'm not a quitter.
You only fail when you quit.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
So I'm not, I'm not gonna fail at this and I'm a
stubborn asshole no, you're justlistening to all those toxic
podcasts, right, because it'sjust like it just keeps being
like you can do it, just keepdoing it.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yes, and it's like that's what I thought.
I'm just like at some pointit's going to click, at some
point it's going to happen.
But I was just upset all of thetime and stressed out all of
the time and just unhappy and itjust felt so weighed down all
of the time.
And my current broker, who is aboutique brokerage that was
(24:10):
kind of just getting up andrunning in the last few years,
sends me a text message and isessentially like hey, we need to
talk about your future at thisbrokerage.
And I'm like are you breakingup with me because I'm a
part-time agent?
And they're like well, no, notnecessarily, but it just seems
like you're not able to put inthe time and the energy into
(24:32):
real estate that you really needto.
And you know we need to partways.
And I'm like okay, I'm likepart ways.
And I'm like, okay, I'm likeall of a sudden I saw, oh, maybe
this is my chance, maybe thisis my moment, like, maybe I get
out.
But then, like the fear came in, right when it's just like no,
you, you need to have thisopportunity for income.
You need to like look at allthe time you've put in.
(24:55):
Look at all the money you'veput in.
Look at all the things you'vedone put in.
Look at all the things you'vedone.
What if you're just on thebrink of greatness?
Oh my gosh.
And so I thought to myself like,okay, well, I've always done
boutique brokerages.
Maybe this is the time that Igo.
You know, I have a friend atEXP that's always told me I
could, you know, work with her.
I've got a friend at Compassthat you know has a team and
(25:18):
told me I could come work withher.
I'm like, maybe I explore thebig brokers and every time I
thought about joining a friend Iknew that I would want to show
up for them in a really greatway.
And everything inside of me waslike but I don't want to show up
, I don't.
I don't because they're goingto initially hand me off the
(25:40):
buyers with all the showings andall the open houses and
literally all the things I don'twant to do and I'm like I don't
want to do real estate activity.
And I was just like I don'twant to do real estate
activities, I don't want to dothe work.
It is just I don't and Ifinally just kind of like it all
washed over me the opportunityto walk away without hurting
(26:00):
anyone, without offending anyone, without you know, actually
being a jerk.
I could just stop this rightnow.
Right, my license is about torenew.
Just don't renew it.
Just close this door, right?
Just let it be done, becauseyou're not happy, it's not
lifting you up, it's notbringing you joy, you don't
(26:23):
think you want to do this fulltime anymore, so what are you
even doing here?
My broker at the time was kindof like let us know, you know
where to send your license,essentially.
And I'm just like don't.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
I'm done, yeah, I'm out, I'm out.
I'm really proud.
I'm really proud of you,Because I think so many people
just keep going.
All that toxic advice of justit will click eventually, just
keep doing it, just keep going.
And in real estate it is reallyeasy to just like kind of keep
it going, you just renew yourlicense, you renew your realtor
(26:58):
membership, you hang yourlicense somewhere.
You just kind of are like Idon't know, like if something
happens, something happens, butI think it was brave of you.
I think it was really brave tojust be like.
You know what this isn't for me.
I don't want to do theseactivities and like I think that
so many people probably moreagents that really need to quit
(27:19):
Like I think there are a lot ofagents out there that are
miserable, they hate doing theactivities they're maybe selling
five to seven houses a year andlike they're just like I hate
this, I'm miserable right nowand they really probably just
need to quit.
So I'm wondering for thosepeople out there that are having
the same feelings as you, thesame thoughts in their mind of
(27:43):
like I hate this, I don't wantto go on another showing.
If I have to go on anotherlisting presentation, I'm going
to vomit.
What advice would you give them?
Speaker 2 (27:55):
to just let this be a chapter in your story, you know
, to let real estate just be anexperience that you have, that
you tried and that it's okay towalk away from, because, living
in the, I'm about to becomegreat.
(28:18):
I feel like there's opportunityto be great and just be great
and find something that, like,truly suits you and lifts you up
and makes you feel good, andyou're never going to have the
space for that in your life ifyou're holding on to this.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
That is incredible advice to this.
That is incredible advice it's.
It is really just.
That was a chapter.
It didn't define you.
You're not a failure.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
It just it is something you did and now you
are done with it, just likeanything else, yeah because,
like I really thought about,well, maybe I keep my license
and I do like just referrals,right, because, oh, I've put in
all this time.
What if I have generatedsomething and people call me
like I want to buy from you, andI have to say like, oh, let me
refer you to someone else Atleast then I could get a cut of
(29:10):
that.
But like that then revertedback to my feeling about using
my relationships to like mypersonal gain is like I don't
want that, I don't want to justlive in this land where I'm
still an agent, just so I cantake 25% of somebody else's work
.
I'd much rather just not be anagent, not be licensed, be done
with it and moving on.
(29:30):
And if somebody that I knowcalls me and you know says they
want to buy or sell with me, letthem know like I'm not doing
that anymore.
But I have these three amazingpeople that I think you'll be
happy with any one of them andlike, and it ends there, it's
not, there's no kickback,there's no nothing, it's just
these are good people, go workwith them.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah, so tell me about how it feels now that the
door is closed.
It feels really good.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
I had become sort of unaware of how inundating the
real estate industry is and how.
You know cause I was followingall the Instagram accounts and I
was signed up for differentemails and I've done the
coachings, and so it's just likeI had this.
Just I got to go through andunsubscribe from so many emails
(30:21):
not yours but I unsubscribedfrom like all the marketing and
content emails and all thecoaching emails.
I unfollowed all of thecoaching accounts and you know
like I just unfollowed andunsubscribed from so many things
and it felt so good, so good.
(30:42):
It's like this whole portion ofmy brain just became available
to me again, because it wasn'tthinking about when am I going
to get my next transaction?
How am I going to get my nextclient?
Am I doing a good job?
Am I working hard enough?
Do I really know what I'mtalking?
Like it just right.
I'll shut off and went away oh,how freeing is that it, is it
really?
(31:02):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
So freedom, that's like freedom right there.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yes, it is, and you know, I get I get it, I think,
the sort of the fear that cancome in about.
Well, where, where is yoursupplemental income going to
come from?
And I kind of just decided likeI don't care right now, because
I know that this is not for meand it's not helping me get to a
(31:27):
better place.
And you know, one of myfavorite quotes is everything
you want is on the other side offear.
And so I think that when I canrecognize that I'm making a
choice, because I'm afraid islike when I need to make the
opposite choice and that's whatthis was and you know, I'm not
(31:51):
going to be afraid of where'sthe supplemental income going to
come from.
I'm just going to embrace, forright now, the space that this
has created for me to, you know,do other work, whether that be
finding a new time, like a newfull time job that pays better
or, you know, building adifferent business that I might
enjoy.
(32:12):
You know, I don't know, I don'tcare.
I just know that real estatewasn't for me and I'm so glad to
have closed that door.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I am so incredibly happy for you because, again, so
many people probably need tomake this decision or at least
really take a hard look at dothey really want to be in real
estate.
So I'm just happy that you'vemade it to that other side.
You made that decision and thenyou've made it to the other
side and you're looking back atthe closed door and it feels
(32:40):
good because ultimately, isn'tthat what this is all about Like
we all want to just feel good.
Like we want life and businessto feel good.
We want to enjoy it.
We don't get that much timehere on this planet and like you
, gotta love it.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Gotta love what you're doing.
Yeah, Suffering doesn't need tobe part of our daily lives.
Be part of our daily lives, youknow?
No, it definitely doesn't.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
So it definitely does not.
Do you have any final?
Speaker 2 (33:11):
words of wisdom for our listeners.
I would just say don't bemaking decisions out of fear.
You know, if you're staying inthe industry because you're
afraid you don't know whatyou'll do otherwise, don't let
that be what keeps you stuck.
There's lots of otheropportunities out there, and I
(33:31):
think that we are all great atcertain things, and I think that
we just have to give ourselvesopportunity to try things and,
when they don't work, be okaywith letting them go, so that we
can, you know, actually findour flow and stop trying to swim
upstream.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
I think we're going to end on that.
That is excellent.
I am so grateful for you comingon today, being vulnerable,
sharing your story, because itreally is something that I feel
like is not talked about enough,and, ultimately, I'm all about
people building lives andbusinesses that they love,
whether they're inside of realestate or outside of real estate
(34:12):
.
So thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
I am really excited about this episode because we
are going to dive into somethingthat I don't think we talk
about enough in the real estateindustry, which is when do you
actually call it quits, when doyou just realize you know real
estate's not for me anymore andI am just done with it?
So today, my guest is EricaRojek.
(00:20):
She is a former real estateagent, mom of two, who is
divorced and also a power lifter, which, hello, that is so
amazing.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah girl get it my biceps are impressive.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I actually kind of thought they were pretty
impressive.
You can't see mine, but I'mworking on them, so let's start
at the beginning.
When did you get into realestate and what made you decide
to get into real estate?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So I had started my career in interior design, in
commercial furniture, and then Imoved into sales and during the
pandemic, when you know,obviously the market got really
hot and so everybody's likelet's be a realtor.
But I had actually my marriageended in February of 2020 and I
(01:11):
moved out.
Oh, wow, yeah.
And so when the pandemic hitand everybody stopped going to
work, I'm looking at my jobselling commercial furniture,
which is office furniture.
I'm looking at my job sellingcommercial furniture, which is
office furniture, selling officefurniture to workspaces, and
I'm like, oh damn, I only havemy income now and these two kids
(01:32):
and this new apartment.
I'm going to make sure I have abackup plan.
And so I thought, you know,I've always been interested in
real estate.
I had a good friend that hadgotten in like a year prior and
she was really succeeding andshe was really positive about
the experience, and so I thought, okay, this seems like a good
fit because I could make someextra money, but I can make it
(01:53):
on my nights and weekends,because I knew that was going to
be more likely when clientswanted to go to our homes and
you know kind of when the actionwould be.
So I'm like okay, I can keep myregular job and I can do this,
and you know, and I'd also likemade quite a few real estate
mistakes in my time I did wantto be able to like help use my
(02:14):
experiences to hopefully keep orat least help other people
guide them to not make the samemistakes that I made.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
So tell me a little bit about how, in the beginning,
you were balancing having yourfull time job, being a co-parent
with two kiddos and alsoentering into real estate.
Like, how was that experiencefor you, especially during the
pandemic?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It was insanity.
I was very fortunate because myfull time job that I had
was-based and I was essentiallyable to make my own schedule and
, because of the pandemic, Ididn't have to go out on the
road anymore.
I wasn't going out and doinglunch and learns and meetings
and everything became virtual.
Have a little bit more time andbandwidth to you know.
(03:03):
Come up with.
What was my plan going to be?
I'm going to work on socialmedia posts reaching out to my
sphere.
All of you know that sort ofprospecting getting clients
activities.
When I had my kids it was veryhard to give anything at all, so
they were home and at the timemy daughter was preschool age.
(03:24):
So the days that I had them Igot nothing done with anyone.
You know, like it was basicallyjust time management, account
management for my main job andthen squeezing in anything that
I could, real estate wise, whichat the time was kind of nothing
.
But the days that I didn't havemy kids was, you know, saturday
mornings.
I would sit on calls with mybroker and she'd go through all
(03:47):
of the forms with me and all thecontracts to make sure I
understood everything.
And you know I would take thattime that I didn't have the kids
and couldn't go anywhere.
So to really, you know, learnthe business more and listen to
podcasts and read books and tryand educate myself because you
know the imposter syndrome canbe strong.
Trying to educate myselfbecause you know the imposter
syndrome can be strong, sostrong.
(04:07):
So I thought, you know, Ireally need to like dive into,
feeling like I know what I'mtalking about, so that if I do
get clients I'm actuallyproperly advising them.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
What did success look like for you?
So like, what were you hopingfor in that first year or two?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Well, I had been told that, like, the first year of
real estate can be the hardestfor people and that there's a
lot of people that don't even doone deal their first year, and
so success to me was going to bedoing at least one deal, and I
did end up doing two, my firstcalendar year as an agent, and I
was pretty happy with that.
Ultimately, I felt like what Ienvisioned my success being was
(04:47):
seeing my name on signs in frontof houses everywhere I went.
You know, like you know,there's some agents that, like
you, see their name everywhereand I'm like I wanted to be that
agent.
I wanted to be that person thatis just like, oh yeah, there's
another house being sold byErica Rojek.
That's so cute.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I love erica rojek.
That's so cute.
I love that, like that's when Imade it.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
When you see my sign everywhere, everywhere you know
what it was probably gonna havemy face on it, or like me
standing with you know, likesome sort of, yeah, with your
biceps, just like.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, exactly like, here we go.
Yeah, you're like, we can do it.
When did you start to feel likethings weren't clicking, like?
When did you start to feel like, ooh, maybe this wasn't the
right call?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Oh well, so all along , when I even got started in
real estate, you know it's veryheavily pushed by people that
you know you have to go afteryour sphere of influence and
pursue the relationships thatyou have with people to
hopefully they'll make you know,they'll choose you as their
agent or they'll refer you tosomeone they know and that's how
(05:56):
you're going to get yourbusiness.
And there was always somethingthat just felt icky to me about
that because I I was, I am apeople person and I do have a
lot of like friendships andrelationships and I didn't like
that kind of underlying tonethat I now had in my brain that
like, oh, I'm reaching out tosomeone to schedule lunch, not
(06:19):
because I want to see them, butbecause they're now on my
prospecting list and I need tomake sure that I touch everyone
on my list X amount of timesevery month or every you know
few months.
Like I just didn't like thatbecause it took away my
authenticity of you know, myrelationships, because I just I
(06:41):
had this like second underlyingagenda of maybe they'll choose
me, or even like forcingconversations or trying to say
that I'm a real estate agent oryou know it.
Just I was putting a lot ofpressure on myself and I felt a
lot of like outside pressure tojust like hit your sphere.
That's going to be where youget your business from, and that
just felt uncomfortable to me.
(07:03):
But I was still trying to do itas authentically as I could
because I didn't want to be askeevy like car salesman, real
estate agent.
I legitimately wanted to helppeople.
I'm not a salesperson that waslike, oh, I could sell ice to a
penguin, like, if you don't needthe ice, I'm not going to sell
it to you.
And that's that's the way Ifelt about selling houses, like
(07:24):
I was never going.
I didn't want to be someonethat was going to convince you
you needed to move.
You know, somebody came and said, well, I'm thinking about
expanding or I'm thinking aboutmoving, that I'd be like okay,
we'll pursue what it looks liketo put on an addition.
You know, get a few quotes, seehow much that costs, see if it
gets you the house that you'relooking for, and then, if it
(07:45):
doesn't call me and I'll helpyou go buy one that does,
whereas I think that some peoplewould try and skew the
conversation into well, you know, it's going to cost a lot of
money and you're going to haveto move out and you know, and I
just I didn't want to do that.
So all of those moments werehard.
As far as developing actualclient base based on my sphere,
(08:10):
because I also, you know, I havea big list of don'ts.
I didn't want to door knock, Ididn't want to cold call, I
didn't want to do that sort ofstuff Like that all felt very
outdated to me and nobodyanswers their doors anymore.
Like they look at you in thering camera and they're like I
don't know you Go away.
Some people will actually saythat too, Like some people
ignore you and pretend they'renot home, but some people
(08:31):
actually tell people to go away.
So I knew I didn't want thateither, but as time went on I
just wasn't making the progressin my career that I thought I
could have or should have.
I would be upset if a frienddidn't use me as the real estate
agent and it would hurt myfeelings and I you know I I've
(08:55):
been in a sales role forcommercial furniture.
If somebody didn't choose myfurniture, it's like, okay, well
, we weren't in their budget.
They just didn't like what itlooked like, we couldn't get it
there in time, whatever you know, onto the next.
But it's like with real estateyou feel like you're, you're
promoting yourself, and so thenwhen you get rejected, it just
(09:17):
it's like why wouldn't you useme?
Why don't you want to work withme?
Like don't you trust me?
Because there's a lot ofconversation around you know,
you need to know, like and trust, right, that's like the three
things to be the person thatgets chosen and I'm like okay,
well, if I know a lot of peopleand I think they like me, it
(09:39):
must mean that maybe they don'ttrust me.
And that brought up a lot ofinsecurities.
And so I was really, you know,wrapped up in my head about that
and like, who am I as a person?
Am I professional enough?
Does my sphere trust me?
Because this is a really bigfinancial crisis transaction,
(10:00):
you know, and there's a lot ofemotion involved and you know, I
would have panic, like I wouldhave anxiety attacks, when I had
a listing and it went live.
That first day of an activelisting for me was terrible
because I would be so stressedout about like I hope I did, I
hope I've done a good job, Ihope that they're going to get
(10:22):
offers.
I, you know, like, what if theyget mad at me?
What if they're not happy withthe offers they get, or they
don't get any at all, and it'sall my fault, and it's just like
I would spiral.
So that wasn't healthy, youknow.
It's just.
There's just a lot of thingsthat was pointing in the
direction of like, hey, maybethis isn't the right career for
you.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You brought up a really good point, though, of I
think, that so many agents thinkit's going to be so easy to get
business from their spherebecause that's what we hear.
We're like, oh, that's whereall your clients are going to
come from, and I really think itis harder than people make it
out to be, because your sphere,they know you in one context and
(11:07):
they know you as Erica theperson, and to make that flip in
their mind from Erica theperson slash friend, slash,
family, slash whatever to Ericayes, you're in that bucket, but
you're also a badass real estateagent that takes time, like a
lot of people don't justautomatically, once you announce
you're an agent, they don'tjust say, oh my gosh, like yes,
(11:30):
obviously, like there's all thisbusiness.
That just doesn't happen.
I feel like it takes two tothree years of really
consistently showing your spherethat you're a full-time, like
you're doing this agent, forthat to like really happen.
And that's a transition that Ithink our industry is just we
lie to agents about it Like weare not honest about how
(11:51):
difficult that flip is.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yeah, because it it's .
How do you prove to people thatyou're a good agent if you
don't have the business to show?
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, exactly, if you don't have the business to show
yet Exactly, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
so it's like that's where it does become.
You know the overwhelming ofwell you should do social media
posts and you know you've got totalk about real estate
basically any chance you get andsend emails and be a source of
knowledge for them, and it'slike yes, but like like it still
doesn't change that everyoneyou know, especially because I'm
(12:26):
in maryland, you know, outsideof the dc area, everyone knows
at least five agents oh, morethan right, you know, yeah, I 10
yeah, and so it's just like.
You know, I had one friend thatI became an agent and she was
about to sell her house and buya new house with her family and
she had an agent that she hadbeen you know, essentially she
(12:48):
jokes abusing for the last fewyears where, like anytime a
house popped up, she'd call andbe like, oh, we want to go see
this house and they would neverend up buying anything.
And she was essentially like,hey, listen, I've been doing
this to this guy for the lastfew years, like he deserves our
business, like I love you butwe're not going to use you.
And that was reallyheartbreaking because I'm like
(13:09):
what do you mean?
You're not even going tointerview me.
I could do a really great jobfor you, but the fact and I
appreciate her loyalty to thisperson, but yeah, it's like your
sphere isn't just handing theirbusiness over to you just
because they like you.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Exactly.
It's just such a misconception.
I wish we could just get rid ofit.
It's just, it's total garbage.
So I can imagine that having afull-time job, being a divorced
mom and then trying to build areal estate business was just so
incredibly overwhelming.
What did that look like for youin terms of your time and
(13:48):
energy commitment?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Well, the first thing that it required was delusion
on my part.
You're hilarious.
I remember listening to apodcast.
I remember listening to apodcast it was God, years and
years before I even became anagent but listening to a podcast
of this woman that had built agreat real estate career and she
(14:14):
had done it being a part-timeagent.
And she just talked about howit naturally grew and one deal
led to the next deal, to nextdeal, to all of a sudden she had
so much business that shecouldn't work her regular job
anymore.
So she was able to quit and gofull time.
And I kind of used this oneperson's story as this like
(14:35):
marking point of like, oh, thisis totally doable.
It's doable Like business, likeonce it gets rolling, it will
just come to me.
And that didn't happen.
So the energy that I had had inthe beginning, like in the
first few years, to balance, youknow like it would.
(14:55):
It would be me like writingdown you know what are my goals,
what do I need to do, how manysocial media posts do I want to
put out?
You know, scripting the socialmedia posts, recording the
social media posts, editing thesocial media posts, you know,
like, doing all those thingsit's really time consuming and
it's like, and then it didn'tnecessarily lead to business,
(15:19):
you know, and so it becameharder and harder to stay as on
top of things because of that.
And I did try and look at like,well, what really is getting me
business, and it really kind offelt like it was just luck,
like random circumstance ofsomebody asking me to go, like a
(15:39):
friend asked me to go getdrinks one night and she happens
to be looking at moving andshe's like, yeah, and I'm just
not happy with my agent, can youhelp me?
And I'm like, okay, you know,like it was just like, oh, cool,
you know, but it's just like itdidn't feel like I.
I once had like a social mediapost that came back and somebody
responded like oh, I would loveto work with you.
(16:01):
I'm thinking about moving.
That person still to this dayhas not moved, and this was
three years ago, right.
So it's like you spent a lotlike trying to work my regular
job Now my, my regular, myregular job.
I had been doing it for manyyears, going into getting into
real estate.
So I'd already built a reallystrong business into getting
(16:23):
into real estate.
So I'd already built a reallystrong business.
So it didn't require me a tonof hustle energy as when you're
getting ramped up, so I was notusing my brain to its full
capacity.
There was space available for meto think about real estate
stuff in my downtime and so itreally was just prioritizing
(16:44):
what I thought was going to helpget me business and then also
trying to listen to other peopletell me what was going to get
me business and then trying todo those things.
But I think that it is veryhard to do it all.
I think it's hard to do it alleven if you're a full-time agent
(17:05):
, I think, if you have your dayscompletely free to network and
lunch and farm and record socialmedia content.
Doing all those things is a lot.
Do that when I was just tryingto squeeze it in to let my
evenings and weekends everyother week.
It just when there was noreturn it just like it's so
(17:30):
discouraging it is.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
It's so discouraging.
It's why I wanted to do thisepisode, because I just feel
like, just like you heard thatsuccess story of that woman who
was like it's part-time and itjust kept rolling and rolling
and everything just got betterand better and better.
I think you're the norm, likeshe is the exception.
I have seen so many part-timeagents, and I don't say that
(17:54):
with like hate or like as a diss, but it's like it's a part-time
job because you have afull-time job and also children,
which, oh my gosh, I can'temphasize how difficult it is
and how rare it is for somebodyto go from part-time to a
full-time real estate agent.
Success, like there's justthere's this flip that has to
(18:17):
happen and it's, first of all, Ithink, rare for that to happen.
But then, when that fliphappens, you eventually have to
take that leap of faith andleave your full-time job before
you're actually ready, and thatis a scary place to be,
especially if you don't have asecond income to rely on and
it's just you supporting yourhousehold.
(18:37):
That is so scary.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yeah, it is, it is really scary.
Yeah, it is, it is really scary.
And I remember my very firstbroker said to me kind of early
on in discussing going frompart-time to full-time and
setting a goal for when that wasgoing to happen, cause she's
like you can't just indefinitelybe a part-time agent.
If you ever want to befull-time you've got to set a
deadline.
You got to work towards it andshe's like then you got to burn
the boats, right.
(19:02):
It's the idea of you have to notgive yourself that cushion,
that escape, because if you do,you're going to lean on it and I
100% did.
You know I didn't have tobehave as though my family was
going to starve, right, becauseI knew I had another job there
(19:22):
that was actually supporting myhousehold, kind of Right.
And you know, I think realestate agents that this is their
only source of income just havea little bit more fire to go
out there and make it happen.
And maybe, you know, maybethat's when they do lose all
(19:46):
shame and all you know voices intheir head of the imposter
syndrome, because they're justlike ignore it all.
I've got to go make this happenand I didn't.
I didn't have that, so I stillstayed very trapped in the.
I don't really have to do that,I don't really have to go like
host this open house.
I don't really.
You know, I don't really wantto.
(20:08):
You know, like I can do it, onwhat works for me.
But I think that that reallyheld me back from growing.
Also, I think that was probablyone of the early signifiers
that I should have realizedwasn't really meant for real
estate, because I didn't want todo real estate activities right
(20:28):
.
I didn't want to host openhouses, I didn't want to spend
my Saturdays at showing, Ididn't want to drop everything
to show someone a house when Ihad other plans, right, like I.
I did it because when you get aclient, like I wanted to serve
my clients, but I didn't likewant to, you know like it didn't
(20:53):
.
It didn't light me up inside,it didn't like bring me joy.
It was like, oh, this is justpart of the job that I have to
do, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
When did you start having that inkling of I don't
think this is for me.
I'm detesting all of theactivities I'm supposed to be
doing.
Like when did that creep in andwhen did you really start
paying attention to it?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Um so late last year I had some real estate business
fall through.
That was going to be threetransactions.
I, you know, was like, yes,it's going to be great, I see my
credit card debt flying out thewindow and I get all of these
cards.
You know, and you know stuffhappened and those deals didn't
(21:38):
go through.
And those deals didn't gothrough and I was so hurt and
frustrated and upset and I'mjust like I don't even know what
I'm doing anymore.
Right, I'm just feeling likebeaten down by all of this
because I feel like you spend somuch time trying to pour in to
(22:00):
a business that you're told willeventually return on your
investment.
You know, with all the clientsthat I worked with that never
ended up buying.
You know all the time that Ispent marketing and you know
doing free workshops, or youknow postcards to send out to
neighborhoods and it's just likeand here I am like business,
(22:22):
just somebody will still justwalk away from you without
thinking twice about what you'veput in to helping them and the
time and the energy and theeffort, and they just don't care
.
I also didn't know what I wasgoing to do for that extra
income that I needed, right,right.
So it's like I reached abreaking point where I'm like
(22:45):
people really don't give a shit.
You know, like you think thatyou build a relationship with
people, people that you know andthey will still just do
something else with no regard toyour wellbeing, right.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
And it's just you know.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
But I was still like, oh, I got to stick this out
because this is my only other.
Essentially, I visualize it asan open door.
It's my only other open door toincome and I need the
supplemental income right now.
But what really was the kickerfor me like the whole reason
that I ended up leaving theindustry is because I yeah, what
(23:22):
was the nail in the coffin?
Yeah I had been so frustrated,but I was sticking it out
because I'm just like I.
I'm not a quitter.
You only fail when you quit.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
So I'm not, I'm not gonna fail at this and I'm a
stubborn asshole no, you're justlistening to all those toxic
podcasts, right, because it'sjust like it just keeps being
like you can do it, just keepdoing it.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yes, and it's like that's what I thought.
I'm just like at some pointit's going to click, at some
point it's going to happen.
But I was just upset all of thetime and stressed out all of
the time and just unhappy and itjust felt so weighed down all
of the time.
And my current broker, who is aboutique brokerage that was
(24:10):
kind of just getting up andrunning in the last few years,
sends me a text message and isessentially like hey, we need to
talk about your future at thisbrokerage.
And I'm like are you breakingup with me because I'm a
part-time agent?
And they're like well, no, notnecessarily, but it just seems
like you're not able to put inthe time and the energy into
(24:32):
real estate that you really needto.
And you know we need to partways.
And I'm like okay, I'm likepart ways.
And I'm like, okay, I'm likeall of a sudden I saw, oh, maybe
this is my chance, maybe thisis my moment, like, maybe I get
out.
But then, like the fear came in, right when it's just like no,
you, you need to have thisopportunity for income.
You need to like look at allthe time you've put in.
(24:55):
Look at all the money you'veput in.
Look at all the things you'vedone put in.
Look at all the things you'vedone.
What if you're just on thebrink of greatness?
Oh my gosh.
And so I thought to myself like,okay, well, I've always done
boutique brokerages.
Maybe this is the time that Igo.
You know, I have a friend atEXP that's always told me I
could, you know, work with her.
I've got a friend at Compassthat you know has a team and
(25:18):
told me I could come work withher.
I'm like, maybe I explore thebig brokers and every time I
thought about joining a friend Iknew that I would want to show
up for them in a really greatway.
And everything inside of me waslike but I don't want to show up
, I don't.
I don't because they're goingto initially hand me off the
(25:40):
buyers with all the showings andall the open houses and
literally all the things I don'twant to do and I'm like I don't
want to do real estate activity.
And I was just like I don'twant to do real estate
activities, I don't want to dothe work.
It is just I don't and Ifinally just kind of like it all
washed over me the opportunityto walk away without hurting
(26:00):
anyone, without offending anyone, without you know, actually
being a jerk.
I could just stop this rightnow.
Right, my license is about torenew.
Just don't renew it.
Just close this door, right?
Just let it be done, becauseyou're not happy, it's not
lifting you up, it's notbringing you joy, you don't
(26:23):
think you want to do this fulltime anymore, so what are you
even doing here?
My broker at the time was kindof like let us know, you know
where to send your license,essentially.
And I'm just like don't.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
I'm done, yeah, I'm out, I'm out.
I'm really proud.
I'm really proud of you,Because I think so many people
just keep going.
All that toxic advice of justit will click eventually, just
keep doing it, just keep going.
And in real estate it is reallyeasy to just like kind of keep
it going, you just renew yourlicense, you renew your realtor
(26:58):
membership, you hang yourlicense somewhere.
You just kind of are like Idon't know, like if something
happens, something happens, butI think it was brave of you.
I think it was really brave tojust be like.
You know what this isn't for me.
I don't want to do theseactivities and like I think that
so many people probably moreagents that really need to quit
(27:19):
Like I think there are a lot ofagents out there that are
miserable, they hate doing theactivities they're maybe selling
five to seven houses a year andlike they're just like I hate
this, I'm miserable right nowand they really probably just
need to quit.
So I'm wondering for thosepeople out there that are having
the same feelings as you, thesame thoughts in their mind of
(27:43):
like I hate this, I don't wantto go on another showing.
If I have to go on anotherlisting presentation, I'm going
to vomit.
What advice would you give them?
Speaker 2 (27:55):
to just let this be a chapter in your story, you know
, to let real estate just be anexperience that you have, that
you tried and that it's okay towalk away from, because, living
in the, I'm about to becomegreat.
(28:18):
I feel like there's opportunityto be great and just be great
and find something that, like,truly suits you and lifts you up
and makes you feel good, andyou're never going to have the
space for that in your life ifyou're holding on to this.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
That is incredible advice to this.
That is incredible advice it's.
It is really just.
That was a chapter.
It didn't define you.
You're not a failure.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
It just it is something you did and now you
are done with it, just likeanything else, yeah because,
like I really thought about,well, maybe I keep my license
and I do like just referrals,right, because, oh, I've put in
all this time.
What if I have generatedsomething and people call me
like I want to buy from you, andI have to say like, oh, let me
refer you to someone else Atleast then I could get a cut of
(29:10):
that.
But like that then revertedback to my feeling about using
my relationships to like mypersonal gain is like I don't
want that, I don't want to justlive in this land where I'm
still an agent, just so I cantake 25% of somebody else's work
.
I'd much rather just not be anagent, not be licensed, be done
with it and moving on.
(29:30):
And if somebody that I knowcalls me and you know says they
want to buy or sell with me, letthem know like I'm not doing
that anymore.
But I have these three amazingpeople that I think you'll be
happy with any one of them andlike, and it ends there, it's
not, there's no kickback,there's no nothing, it's just
these are good people, go workwith them.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah, so tell me about how it feels now that the
door is closed.
It feels really good.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
I had become sort of unaware of how inundating the
real estate industry is and how.
You know cause I was followingall the Instagram accounts and I
was signed up for differentemails and I've done the
coachings, and so it's just likeI had this.
Just I got to go through andunsubscribe from so many emails
(30:21):
not yours but I unsubscribedfrom like all the marketing and
content emails and all thecoaching emails.
I unfollowed all of thecoaching accounts and you know
like I just unfollowed andunsubscribed from so many things
and it felt so good, so good.
(30:42):
It's like this whole portion ofmy brain just became available
to me again, because it wasn'tthinking about when am I going
to get my next transaction?
How am I going to get my nextclient?
Am I doing a good job?
Am I working hard enough?
Do I really know what I'mtalking?
Like it just right.
I'll shut off and went away oh,how freeing is that it, is it
really?
(31:02):
It really is.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
So freedom, that's like freedom right there.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yes, it is, and you know, I get I get it, I think,
the sort of the fear that cancome in about.
Well, where, where is yoursupplemental income going to
come from?
And I kind of just decided likeI don't care right now, because
I know that this is not for meand it's not helping me get to a
(31:27):
better place.
And you know, one of myfavorite quotes is everything
you want is on the other side offear.
And so I think that when I canrecognize that I'm making a
choice, because I'm afraid islike when I need to make the
opposite choice and that's whatthis was and you know, I'm not
(31:51):
going to be afraid of where'sthe supplemental income going to
come from.
I'm just going to embrace, forright now, the space that this
has created for me to, you know,do other work, whether that be
finding a new time, like a newfull time job that pays better
or, you know, building adifferent business that I might
enjoy.
(32:12):
You know, I don't know, I don'tcare.
I just know that real estatewasn't for me and I'm so glad to
have closed that door.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
I am so incredibly happy for you because, again, so
many people probably need tomake this decision or at least
really take a hard look at dothey really want to be in real
estate.
So I'm just happy that you'vemade it to that other side.
You made that decision and thenyou've made it to the other
side and you're looking back atthe closed door and it feels
(32:40):
good because ultimately, isn'tthat what this is all about Like
we all want to just feel good.
Like we want life and businessto feel good.
We want to enjoy it.
We don't get that much timehere on this planet and like you
, gotta love it.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Gotta love what you're doing.
Yeah, Suffering doesn't need tobe part of our daily lives.
Be part of our daily lives, youknow?
No, it definitely doesn't.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
So it definitely does not.
Do you have any final?
Speaker 2 (33:11):
words of wisdom for our listeners.
I would just say don't bemaking decisions out of fear.
You know, if you're staying inthe industry because you're
afraid you don't know whatyou'll do otherwise, don't let
that be what keeps you stuck.
There's lots of otheropportunities out there, and I
(33:31):
think that we are all great atcertain things, and I think that
we just have to give ourselvesopportunity to try things and,
when they don't work, be okaywith letting them go, so that we
can, you know, actually findour flow and stop trying to swim
upstream.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
I think we're going to end on that.
That is excellent.
I am so grateful for you comingon today, being vulnerable,
sharing your story, because itreally is something that I feel
like is not talked about enough,and, ultimately, I'm all about
people building lives andbusinesses that they love,
whether they're inside of realestate or outside of real estate
(34:12):
.
So thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
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