Episode 422 - A Journey Through Ten Seasons of The Real Estate Sessions

A Journey Through Episodes: Revisiting Memorable Conversations

I dive into a reflective examination of past episodes, wherein I comment upon twenty distinguished guests who have graced the show. With an emphasis on the significant contributions these individuals have made to the real estate industry, I present my subjective insights pulled from their respective interviews. This retrospective endeavor not only serves to highlight the diverse perspectives and expertise of each guest but also aims to provide listeners with concise yet profound takeaways from their collective wisdom. Noteworthy figures such as Sean Carpenter and Paula Monthofer emerge prominently, exemplifying the rich tapestry of conversations that have characterized the podcast's journey. As I navigate through seasons of insightful dialogues, I invite you to engage with these reflections and consider revisiting select episodes that resonate with your professional interests.

A theme emerges throughout this episode, encapsulating the notion that the real estate industry thrives on connections and the exchange of knowledge. I emphasize the enduring relationships forged through the podcasting medium, highlighting how these interactions have not only enriched my understanding but have also fostered a sense of camaraderie among industry professionals. The episode culminates in an invitation for the audience to engage with the stories shared, encouraging them to explore the show notes for links to the featured episodes. This call to action reinforces the idea that the wealth of knowledge contained within these discussions is but a click away, empowering listeners to further their own professional development.

In my conclusion to this reflective episode, I introduce a segment dedicated to a cherished friend, John Bjorlie, who is currently confronting terminal cancer. I share not only the profound lessons gleaned from our long-standing friendship but also the inspiration derived from John's resilience and determination to live life fully despite the challenges he faces. This segment transcends the typical boundaries of a real estate podcast, as it explores themes of mortality, friendship, and the human experience. Listeners are thus reminded of the importance of genuine connections in both personal and professional spheres, as well as the indelible impact that one individual can have on another's life. The episode serves as a testament to the power of storytelling, as I weave together threads of humor, depth, and sincerity, culminating in a rich tapestry of insight that resonates well beyond the confines of real estate.

Takeaways:

• The podcast episode features a retrospective discussion about notable guests from previous seasons.
• I have selected specific guests based on their impactful contributions and memorable episodes.
• Each guest's unique insights and experiences have significantly enriched the podcast's content and audience understanding.
• Listeners are encouraged to explore the show notes for links to the highlighted episodes and further details.

SEASON 1

Episode 5 – Sean Carpenter

https://www.therealestatesessions.com/episode-5-sean-carpenter-director-of-agent-development-ohio-nrt-companies-coldwell-banker/

Episode 16 – Paula Monthofer

https://www.therealestatesessions.com/episode-16-paula-monthofer-high-peaks-real-estate/

SEASON 2

Episode 93 – Heather Elias

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hi, everybody. Welcome toepisode 422 of the Real Estate Sessions
podcast. As always, thank youso much for listening and thank you
so much for telling a friend.I have a very different episode today.
I'm not interviewing a guest,but I'm going to talk about 20 of
my past guests. Yeah. So it'svery subjective. I went through each

(00:20):
season and picked a couple outthat I liked a lot. And I'll just
give you a quick hit on mytake of the episode. And so let's
get this thing going. Inseason one, I had a lot of people
help me out getting thepodcast started. In fact, it was
only supposed to last about 10episodes, but I got to start with
episode five. That's SeanCarpenter. And you know Sean, if
you're listening to thispodcast, he's been on here quite

(00:42):
a bit. Sean's tagline, buildrelationships, solve problems, have
fun is one of the besttaglines I've ever heard. He's just
fantastic in front of a groupof people. I've seen him present
15, 20 times around thecountry, and he's just one of the
best. And I. So why not haveSean as my first episode from season

(01:02):
one? Also in season one, I'mgoing to go with Paula Montefer.
She's. She's. When I knew her,she was doing a lot of stuff with
the Arizona association ofRealtors out of Flagstaff. And Paula
was actually my very firstinterview in person at the San Diego
convention center during NARback in 2015. Super fun. She's amazing.

(01:24):
She has a. Just a great storyand really another great educator.
That might be a theme as Ikind of work through these, these
episodes. So that's episode16. Remember, all the links are going
to be in the show notes, sodon't worry about that. Season two,
I'll go with episode 58.That's Phil Sexton, another one of
the people I've had on theshow multiple times. He's really,

(01:45):
first of all, a wicked senseof humor, which whenever I get on
a call with Phil or doinganything with Phil, I can't stop
laughing. But he's also one ofthe brightest people in the biz.
Known him since he was fairlyyoung. He was probably in his 20s
when I met him. Early 20s,mid-20s, something like that. Just
a great guy. So that's episode58. And in season two as well, episode

(02:06):
93, Heather Elias. I. I mean,she's out of that Loudoun County.
Another blogger, real estateblogger from back in the day when
I was hanging out with JayThompson and, and Nick Bastian and
their blogs as well. She'salso been, you know, just a powerhouse
in the, in the Inmancommunity. She worked for national
association of Realtors. Justa lot of great Stu. Yeah, those are

(02:28):
back from 2016. Great. Well,let's go to season three, episode
118. Matthew Ferrara, onceagain, another person who is great
in front of an audience. I wasreally thrilled to interview Matthew.
It seems like he's always astep ahead of what's happening. He's
a speaker, author, just agreat guy. So that's, that's one
of my choices for seasonthree. Next choice is episode 141.

(02:50):
That's Lauren Walker. Lauren Imet through Inman and she's a copywriter.
I have a thing forcopywriters. I think it is unbelievable
that someone write somethingand get somebody to act on that writing.
So I love that. And by theway, best Twitter handle ever. I'll
call it a Twitter handlebecause it was Twitter when she.
She put it out there. But herhandle is insert copy here. You copywriters

(03:14):
know what it's all about. It'sawesome. Let's move up to season
four. One of the nicest peoplein the industry, without a doubt,
Tiffany McQuaid. She was, wasMcQuaid & Co. Down in Naples. And
she's now connected with RyanSerhant and joined his operation.
So it's. That's fantastic. Butone of the nicest, most sincere people
in the biz. And she lovespizza too. We always share a slice

(03:36):
whenever we get together.She's. She's just fantastic. Episode
152 in season four was GlennSanford. Should need no introduction.
I think everybody knows he'sthe founder of Exp Realty. Just an
amazing guy. And I was able tointerview him. This is back roughly
2017ish. And my favorite storyfrom that episode is when he was

(03:58):
selling Kirby vacuums door todoor while I think it was in school
in Oklahoma. And we'll call itattempting to sell because I don't
think he ever sold one. And ifyou talk to Glenn about it, I'm sure
he would vouch for that. Sothat's episode 152. So we move on.
Season five. Got a couple. Ihave an extra one in here, but I'll
start with episode 219. That'sMark Davison. So one of the co founders

(04:21):
of Thousand Watt. He and BrianBoro work together at Inman. That's
where they met. And then theydecided, you know, it was probably
10 years after they met tostart up Thousand Watt. But Mark,
Mark's interview and the storyis amazing because he came out of
a career in music management,like managing bands and things, and

(04:42):
just a phenomenal guy. A lotof fun. So episode 219, episode 244
is Jessica Sweezy. And here Iam. I'm. I'm back with Thousand Watt
right away. But she's part ofthat powerhouse team that Brian and
Mark put together. She's longtime, 1000 watt, another copywriter.
And as I mentioned before,copywriters rock. So Jessica's. It's

(05:03):
a great interview. Whenever Isay great interview, I mean because
of the person I interview, notme. I just do very little and they
get to share their stories.Episode 250, which was kind of a
milestone, it's actuallyStefan Swanepoel. So the T360 founder.
Everybody's hopefully seenStefan do a presentation, whether
it was he did some things atInman with Brad, but Obviously it's

(05:26):
his T360 events that are justunbeliev. He's obvious he's also
stepped away. It's now, youknow, Jack Miller is the CEO. But
Stefan's always around andsuper excited that I got a chance
to interview him. And one ofmy longest interviews is well over
an hour. But Stephan had somegreat things to share. So throwing
that one out there. Let's goto season six. Once again, the bloggers

(05:49):
kind of have me, but InezHegedus Garcia had this blog called
miamism. She still does, whichis just amazing. So she's out of
Miami and that whole SouthFlorida market just knows everything
there is to know about downthere. Also a huge Mojito fan. So
if you're a fan of Mojitos andyou're in Miami, look up Inez. You
definitely want to do that.And then I've got episode 301, which

(06:11):
is Shelly Zavitz. I rememberWendy Thatcher told me she's a sales
rep for Chicago title Portlandsaid, oh, you got to talk to Shelly.
She's got this book, it's youreally like her. And it is one of
my favorite books in the realestate space. Your first 365 days
in real estate. Shelley has awicked biting sense of humor that
comes through in the book. Ireally like it. She wrote a second

(06:33):
book, Marketing that movespeople. She's the founder of New
Agent365, an on track agent.She's still selling real estate,
but doing these amazingthings, building platforms, writing
books. I mean, she's justFantastic. And I, I love Shelly.
She's great. So let's go toseason seven, episode 184, Joe Rand.
Look, I did a lot of stuffwith Joe Rand in the past on the

(06:54):
podcast, but when I first, thevery first time I chatted with him,
I didn't really know him thatwell. He didn't know me that well.
But he is an incredible MC atconferences. I've seen him do it
at Inman. It's just fantastic.He's, he's written three books. I
mean, he's just killing itthere. So how to Be a Great Real
Estate Agent is a such a greatbook for the beginner because it
really explains what's goingon. So I think you got to make sure

(07:16):
you're checking that out. Andhe's also, you know, we did a lot
of things in our ranting andraving series, 20 podcast episodes
where I would have someonecall in and say to Joe or have a
question for Joe, and Joewould have to take a side on that
question and inevitably hewould rant about it a lot. So Randing
and raving is one of thelittle side hustles that are inside

(07:39):
the real estate sessions, ifyou want to check that out. But the
very first time I talked toJoe, it's episode 184, season eight.
Another. Let's see. I'll starthere with episode 329. Was Katie
Kossev another connectionthrough Inman? She's a host of many
the Inman connects, especiallyduring the pandemic. Katie got to

(07:59):
be friends with a lot ofpeople because she was always there
for all those zooms that hadto be done instead of anything in
person. She's out of Texas.She's got an incredible Instagram
account. Go follow that. Bereally ready to laugh. I just think
it's fantastic. Episode 352,Veronica Figueroa, an icon in the
industry, a dominant presencein Florida. She's just amazing. Built

(08:23):
this incredible network andteam. So you're looking for someone
who's taken it from the groundup. You want to connect with episode
352 and listen to whatVeronica Figueroa has to say. Almost
done here. Season 9, Episode370 Sharon Srivatsa Everybody knows
Sharond he was up till just acouple months ago with real and just

(08:47):
a fascinating story. Hisbackstory on how he got to the U.S.
right, how he had to pick asport that he could pick, play well
enough to get a scholarship inthe US and the sport he chose was
tennis. So that's Just thebeginning of the stories. I mean,
it's, it's fantastic. And thenwhen you start talking strategy with
Sharon in the episode, he justunloads a lot of value to people

(09:09):
that are, that are interestedin what he's doing. So I think it's
another great episode.Incredible guest. Episode 370, Sharon
Trivaza. And then episode 363,Danny Vanderboe. I, you know, I've
known her for a long timebecause I was a minor contributor
to Inman for a little while,but she's been there over over a
decade now, maybe a little bitlonger than that. And she's, you

(09:32):
know, done some really coolthings. You know, she had her real
T column, we'll call it, andsome other things in there, and just
a unique personal journeythat's marked by resilience and I
think just a fantastic person.So look for Danny Vanderboegh. And
that's going to be episode363. It's on your note. And then
the final season 10. The firstguest for me there on episode 400

(09:53):
is John Biorly. Not in theindustry, a great friend of mine
for 25 years. He's strugglingwith terminal cancer. And his Die
Happy tour as he moved throughthat journey is a case study in deciding
how you want to live yourlife. And I have copious notes from
the last 25 years in my timewith John and in the process of putting

(10:15):
together a book. I have atitle for the book that I'm writing
for John. It's called the DieHappy A Memoir of Friendship and
Farewell. So this is Johnsharing his story on the podcast.
This is really something thatI think everyone should listen to
because a very, very, verybrave, very smart, very funny friend.

(10:36):
And then finally, the last onein this mix is going to be episode
421 with Brian Boero. Yes, Iknow it's last week's episode, but
I've been trying to get BrianBoero find the time to make this
work for years and years andyears. So it's not recency bias that
I have Brian on here. It'sbecause it's Brian Boro, you know,
co founder and CEO of ThousandWatt. And just getting the backstory,

(10:59):
meeting Mark for the firsttime and, and putting together what
they've put together is justfantastic. I think Thousand Watt,
what they do is art. Right.It's also, it's also brilliant. So
I think it's something to. Iknow I've had three people from the,
from the Thousand Watt team inmy list. Of 2021. But I think it's

(11:20):
valuable. I think it'simportant. So. So that's it. That's
really what I wanted to do isjust kind of give you my quick hit
on these things. Please go tothe show notes. Pick out one or two,
go check it out. If you haveany thoughts or anything, please
let me know. Always reach out.I'm. I love it when. When someone
reaches out on an episode. Sothanks so much for. For checking
in with me today. And we willbe back next week. Cheers.