June 17, 2025 • 27 mins
In this episode, we delve into the compelling journey of Lauren Toppins, the founder and broker of Cherrywood Real Estate, who transitioned from a career as an attorney to a prominent figure in the real estate industry. Our discussion encompasses her formative years in Oklahoma and her profound appreciation for the state’s vibrant culture, particularly as it relates to community and family. We explore the significance of fostering a supportive environment within her brokerage, emphasizing training and personal development for agents as a cornerstone of her operational philosophy. Furthermore, Lauren articulates her vision for the future of Cherrywood Real Estate, aspiring to replicate its nurturing culture across multiple locations while maintaining a steadfast commitment to professionalism and ethics. Through her multifaceted experiences, Lauren exemplifies the importance of advocacy and empowerment in achieving success within the competitive landscape of real estate.
The Journey from Attorney to Real Estate Broker: Lauren Toppins' Inspiring Story
Takeaways:
- The journey of Lauren Toppins from attorney to real estate broker demonstrates the importance of adaptability in career paths.
- Cherrywood Real Estate emphasizes a family-friendly culture, fostering a supportive environment for both agents and their families.
- Lauren's background in law enhances her capabilities as a broker, providing valuable legal insights to her agents.
- Education and training are paramount at Cherrywood, ensuring agents are equipped with knowledge to thrive in a competitive market.
- The podcast highlights the significance of community relationships and collaboration among real estate professionals in Oklahoma City.
- Advocacy for oneself and continuous improvement are essential themes for success in the real estate industry, as emphasized by Lauren.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We joke around here, and I saythat I'm the, you know, I'm the backup
dancer to your Beyonce. Like,I am here to, like, advocate for
you or, like, for the agent tobe their best version of themselves.
And as long as they're willingto try, I'm willing to try twice
as hard.
You're listening to the RealEstate Sessions, and I'm your host,
(00:21):
Bill Risser. With nearly 25years in the real estate business,
I love to interview industryleaders, up and comers, and really
anyone with a story to tell.It's the stories that led my guests
to a career in the real estateworld that drives me into my ninth
year and nearly 400 episodesof the podcast. And now I hope you
enjoy the next journey. Hi,everybody. Welcome to episode 402
(00:44):
of the Real Estate Sessionspodcast. As always, thank you so
much for tuning in. Thank youso much for telling a friend. Today
we are headed to OklahomaCity. Yep. We are going to be talking
to Lauren Toppins. She is thefounder and broker for Cherrywood
Real Estate. And like many ofthe guests on this podcast, real
estate was not her first jobout of college. In fact, she was
(01:05):
an attorney. And we'll talk alittle bit about that. We're going
to talk, of course, about heralma mater, the University of Oklahoma,
and why culture is soimportant to Lauren and her management
team at Cherrywood. This isgoing to be a lot of fun, so let's
get this thing going. Lauren,welcome to the podcast.
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Yeah, I'm excited. You and Imet through Kris Baker right. With
(01:25):
a Chicago Title there inOklahoma City. And I love when I
randomly kind of meet peoplebased on what's happening at work
or I find somebody with, Ithink, a really cool story. And that's
what I like to do on thispodcast, is kind of get your story,
and I go way back on yourstory. I hope you're okay with that.
That's okay.
All right, cool. And so it'sgoing to be a lot of fun. First of
(01:46):
all, you live in OklahomaCity. Now, can I assume you're a
native of the area? And if so,is it okay to call you an Okie? If
I'm not from Oklahoma, you cancall me.
Yes, you can call me an Okie.I'm actually from. I'm from Oklahoma,
but I'm from Lawton, andthere's the Fort Sill military base
there. And so Lawton, FortSill, it's southwest Oklahoma, and
(02:06):
so born and raised. So.
All right. Was. Was your dadin the military or mom or was it
part of it?
Yeah, no, actually, no. Nomilitary ties in our family. Primarily.
My grandpa was, was fromWilson, Oklahoma, little tiny town
and like moved and started abusiness there and big entrepreneur,
had, you know, four or fivedifferent businesses. And all, all
of us started working there atvarious times in our lives.
(02:29):
So I'm gonna guess that mighthave been a little bit of influence
on you. Maybe a little grandpadoing all that kind of stuff. And
look what you're doing now.It's pretty cool.
A hundred percent. Like, hewas an amazing man, but also had
a big influence of like, hey,you know, you may not have it all
figured out, but don't let ithold you back. Go figure it out with
some hard work.
That's cool. I love. I. When Iinterview somebody from another place,
(02:50):
I always like to find outabout the area. So I give you the
chance to sell me on Oklahoma.Oklahoma City. Whatever. Whatever
you, Whatever works for you.Because really I'm going to show
you really how bad I am with,with my knowledge of other states.
I know about the Thunder, Iknow about the Sooners, there's the
Cowboys, if we can talk aboutthose. Devon park, that's where the
College World Series for thewomen is, right?
(03:10):
Yeah.
Yeah. Cool. So I, I got thatpart down. What am I missing?
Well, most people wouldn'tthink that Oklahoma actually has
a ton of lakes. We have like200 lakes. So you think of like Dust
bowl, everything you learn,probably in history class, but that's.
We have tons of lakes. And somy favorite lake is Grand Lake. It's
over there in like thenortheast corner of the state, kind
(03:31):
of Rocky Bottom lake. And solots of being on boats and you know,
spending the weekend drivingup there and you know, having good
time with family andeverything. And so that's nice.
And then Oklahoma City itself,how many people there? It's a big
city. I think people don'trealize it is a big city.
But I would say, you know, we.Our population is not comparable
to some, you know, big cities,aka but like spread. We are super
(03:55):
spread out. And one thing thatis, it's. It's nice that you can
still travel and like, youknow, our traffic is, you know, probably,
you know, a light to everybodyelse in the world. But like our five
o' clock rough shower willstill, you know, drive me nuts. But
so on west side of the city,it's like plains, like what you would
expect of Oklahoma, you know,like there's no, there's not a lick
(04:15):
a tree unless there's like ared cedar, but then in the middle
of the city, it turns to,like, kind of rocky and very wooded.
And so, like, whenever peoplewant to, you can have a lot of different
geographies. And, you know,Oklahoma has sand dunes, it has black,
it has mesas. We have, youknow, down to Broken Bow Lake is,
you know, beautiful and rockyand kind of makes you think you're
(04:35):
in Arkansas. And so it's, it'svery pretty.
I love that. Born and raisedthere. So you're going, you're. Let's
say you're in your first orsecond year of high school. You're
about 15 years old. What areyou thinking your future look like
at that point?
Well, if I'm being honest, Iprobably. I wanted to be a US Marshal.
I wanted to be a US Marshal.I'm only five one and a fourth. Like,
(04:57):
I got a fourth in college. Yougot to give me credit for that. So.
But. And I wanted to be a U.S.marshal and. Or I want to be an attorney.
I watched one too manyMatlocks I watched the other day.
And that Matlock is now has anew season, season out, you know,
with a female. So I'm like, Ilove it. But I was either going to
be a lawyer or I was going tobe a U.S. marshal, so.
(05:17):
And so you did do one ofthose. We'll get to that shortly.
Yes.
For those listening.
Yeah. In college, I got tohave this internship with the Metro
Fugitive Task Force, and theytook me out shooting, and I am a
horrible shot. So it was onlyin everyone's best interest in the,
you know, public safety for menot to be a U.S. marshal.
(05:39):
All right, good. I know youwent to Oklahoma, and so I'm going
to assume that the vastmajority of people who go to Oklahoma
are Sooners through andthrough. Did you know that's where
you were going early on? Wasit a legacy kind of thing or how
did you get there?
Yes, it was definitely alegacy thing. It was, you know, whenever
I think, whenever I went topick out schools later on in life,
(06:00):
it was like you just went fromhigh school to college at OU. And
I mean, my grandpa had seasontickets for 45 years, so I remember
the exact bench, like itdidn't even know if the game was
going on. You're just curledup with that metal bench around that,
you know, with a blanket,trying to hide from, you know, what
small amount of snow we gethere just in freeze. But it was.
It's something that, you know,falling asleep listening to the radio,
(06:24):
you know, on the way back toLawton, it's from Norman, Oklahoma.
It's probably about an hourand a half drive. And it's there
was not optional. I love mySooners, so I would.
Imagine that getting toOklahoma Memorial Stadium and seeing
the Sooner Schooner is abucket list item. Do I have that
right? Is that on my. Shouldthat be on my list?
100%. 100%. Yes, it is. So theenvironment is just, you know, it's
(06:46):
one of those things that justtouches your heart. It just feels
so much like home. I really dolove it there.
That's cool. That's cool. Ihave to ask you this question. It's
going to be tough, especiallywith the way the years are going
for these two schools. But theRed river rivalry, which is, you
know, it's. First of all, it'sthe hardest thing to say really fast.
Say it fast three times, likeimpossible. But the Red river rivalry,
(07:07):
both left the Big 12, butthey're both going to the SEC. So
it sounds like they're bothgoing to be able to continue the
Red river rivalry. Is that right?
Yes. I mean, it definitely hasa different feel. I mean, we lost
our, you know, bedlam was ourbig other big game against osu, Oklahoma
State University for otherpeople. But. And, but we got. I got
to go a couple weeks ago downthere. And you know, the best part
(07:29):
about that rivalry is we. It'snot in Norman and it's not in Austin.
And so we go to Dallas andthey. And it's at the Cotton Bowl.
And so people. I was talkingto one of the Uber drivers and he
was like, you both come fromboth cities and then you trash our
city. But we have a good time.And it, you know, it's always a lot
more fun. My freshman year ofcollege, and it was President Bourne
(07:51):
at the time, the dean waslike, okay, we're just gonna have
a snow day on Monday becauseit's snow and touchdowns. Like no
one has school. And we'relike, yes.
So that's all. So the game wason a Saturday, but he gave you Monday
off. That's pretty good. Okay.
Yeah. A hundred percent. Andwhat's been nice now. So the benefit
of moving to SEC is that thegames are always at 11 or 11:30.
(08:13):
And this year he got at 2:30.So it was one of those where you
could actually, you know,drive down if you wanted to not go
down on Friday night. Butenvironment was still amazing. Like
just the environment of beingaround the state, the Texas Fair,
it was awesome.
Yeah, that's Great. About howlong a drive from Oklahoma City to
Dallas?
Well, on a normal time, it wastwo hours and 30 minutes, but it
(08:34):
took us four and a half hoursto get there with traffic, going
with.
Traffic, headed to the game traffic.
And it was not even that badwith construction, but it was. It
took forever. So.
Wow. All right, well, let'sget on a little bit more. Now that
you end up graduating fromOklahoma, but you weren't done. You
actually went to the school oflaw there as well, right? Yes, I
think with attorneys and whenyou go into law, was there a certain.
(08:56):
What was your specialty goingto be? What were you thinking as
you went in?
So I still had like thatcriminal law, like, you know, wanting
to work for the DA's office,one of, you know, something like
that. That was, you know,whenever wanting to be in law enforcement.
And then the DA's office,since I'm a bad shot, went down and
worked for a small countycalled Grady county, where in Chickasha.
(09:17):
And that was where I had it,like was a legal intern, but to,
you know, pay the bills. I wasalso waiting tables and then got
an opportunity to, you know,do work in house for a workers compensation
administration company. At thetime that was related to Express
personnel. Yeah.
So, okay. Yeah, that's a lotdifferent. Right.
Obviously it was very nightand day, depending on what job I
(09:41):
was going to and.
Tell me, tell me where youwere right before you got into real
estate. This is interestingbecause you were with, you know,
the HR was a big part of your life.
A hundred percent. Yeah. Sowhenever I first started, you know,
I was. Was in another in housecounsel position, but there was a
local company. It was Onlyprobably about 200 employees at the
time, and they were. It's anHR payroll company. So I started
(10:04):
there to be their first inhouse counsel and got to work through
that and now it's grown into.We got the company, went public and
gave me a lot of differentopportunities. And Paycom is such
a wonderful company that israpidly growing. And it set the foundation
of getting to have that onwatch that entrepreneurial background
that I had for my grandpa. Igot to watch that in real life with
(10:27):
a company that was growingfast pace. And so one of the elements
that I got to handle or beingpart of is when they'd open up a
new sales office, we would,you know, have leases for new spaces
and kind of the strategy ofthat. And that's kind of where my
love for real estate reallyjust hit the ground running of, you
know, contracts are excitingand all but, like, real estate transactions
(10:48):
are where that negotiationand, like, rubber meets the road.
It's just. It was where my.The excitement really started.
So that was all commercialkind of stuff, right? With those
kinds of leases and buildingsand stuff. But what. What brought
you into the residential side?What was that? That trigger for that?
Yeah. So my husband and I, wemet in law school and everything.
And I was at paycom. He wasworking for a local oil and gas company.
(11:11):
We were. We were going tostart a wedding venue. And it didn't
work out, but we'd alreadydone all the financing for it. And
so we bought our first rentalproperty. First rental property was
for my brothers in Normanbecause they were in college and
bought that rental property.Then we're like, oh, we can buy another
one. And so we slowly startedadding to our rental portfolio. And
(11:32):
then I decided to leavePaycom. Like, leave, like, the corporate
world to really focus onbuilding our investments. And I thought,
okay, I'm going to take alittle break. We have, you know,
we have four daughters. Like,I need to, you know, kind of balance
family. I was like, oh, I canremodel a home and flip. And so then
I got in that side of it. Butultimately, what I really missed
(11:55):
was, like, being engaged,engaged with other professionals
on, like, putting togetherstrategies. And so I got my broker's
license. And I would saythat's the most fulfilling part of
my job is, like, helpingpeople, like, start their career
or be involved in thosetransactions. One, you know, from
a legal perspective, but also,like, helping them strategize on
(12:15):
how to grow their business.
So I would imagine if mybroker was also an attorney who really
knew what was going down andwhat. And what was the problem, that
I would. I would listenintently. I'm sure most of your agents
listen intently to you.
Well, thank you. Yeah, I hopeso. That's the goal, right?
Yeah, that is the goal. You'rethe. You're the founder and broker
(12:38):
for Cherrywood Real Estate. Soyou. You. You went. You decided,
I'm not just going to, youknow, be a broker for someone else.
I'm starting my own company. Iwant to be in charge of what happens
in my operation. Right. So howdid. How did, first of all, the name
Cherrywood's really cool. Howdo we come up with that? And how
was that starting up a newcompany? Because that's always, you
know, a challenge, no matterwhat level you're at.
(12:59):
Yes. No. So I wish Cherrywoodhad, like, some amazing story, but
my husband and I were tryingto think of not for. One of our initial
ones was Cherrywood. It's thestreet we lived on. Like, it was
like, it was like justCherrywood Drive, you know, and so
we. It's so very exciting, buttwo uncreative attorneys putting,
(13:19):
you know, picking out a name.And our goal is to. From the goodwill
from having the rental companythat was Cherrywood. We turned around
and we're like, we can, we cando this. Like, I had firsthand experience
watching like a leader likethe Paycom CEO take a little tiny
company and make it big. Andall of the things that, you know,
(13:40):
the different, differentthings that were faced, how do I
tweak and put my own spin onthat? And so one of the things that's
super important to me ismaking sure that we have a culture
that is family friendly. And Iknow that that said a lot, but one
of the things that is likeright behind us is we have, we have
a kids playroom. If you everfollow us on social media, it would
(14:01):
be not uncommon for there tobe like, stepping over, like building
blocks. You know, there's atime to be professional and like,
where you have to be veryserious, but there's also an opportunity
to like, have that. A betterblend. My mom is a State Farm agent
for over, like 30 years, andthere was a room in this, and my
brothers grew up in those, youknow, in there. And like, they would,
(14:21):
you know, were there everyday. So I know that you can balance
work and have a professionalwork life. And that was important
to me. So taking all thedifferent experiences that I've had
and not being an entrepreneur,but how do I maintain a culture that
I'm proud of every day?
So you're six or seven yearsinto it now, right? With the company?
(14:42):
Yes.
And what does it look likenow? How many agents do you have?
Some commercial? Do you have acommercial division? How does all
that look?
Yeah, so, right, so we have 62agents over two locations now. We
handle both residential andcommercial. We also have a sister
property management companyand a, like a remodeling repairs
(15:02):
company. And so if, you know,if somebody is, you know, an investor,
somebody that wants topurchase a property with our, you
know, one of our agents ormyself, we can help them purchase
it. We can help them thinkabout what that rental, you know,
how much that rental incomewould look like. If it needs some
updates, we can pull in ourremodeling team and then we can have
property management rightthere. So we can like, do all of
(15:25):
the aspects of investing aswell as we, we can sit here and make
sure that training is one ofour number one objectives with Cherrywood.
And I think that that's kindof like how we stand out in our market
is that like we'll have twotrainings that could be how to fill
out, you know, newconstruction paperwork down to like,
how do you do a sales strategyand like building your pipeline or,
(15:48):
you know, handling taxesbecause, you know, realtors wear
lots of different hats. And wewant to make sure that we're providing
training on all of thosefronts. All360. Of all the different
craziness that can happen andnot treating agents just as like
transaction machines, like,but as people and trying to be there
for them personally. And, youknow, bringing your kids up here
(16:10):
or doing it. We just had adoggy that just left a little bit
ago, you know, because thatwas important to their family and
making sure that thateducation and we have boot camps
and stuff throughout the yearthat when your business is kind of
feeling like you need to. Howdo you level up or amplify your business?
I think, you know, educationis definitely something that makes
us stand out.
(16:30):
That. That is super powerfulbecause you tend to think of education
being with the other big boys,you know, the big franchises that
are like the. Where everyonetrains and then they kind of head
off to a boutique or a smalleroperation. But you're really, you're
taking. You're taking the bullby the horns and saying, no, this
is. This is. I shouldn't saythat. That's ut. You're. You're grabbing
the wagon by the wheel. How'sthat really making that a key part
(16:55):
of. That's really a lot. Imean, you have a fairly large staff,
I would imagine too. Then thisis not. You don't have like two people
in admin. You've got somepeople behind you.
Yes, yes. I mean, and I thinkthat that's what I learned was you
have to surro by the bestbecause there's going to be a different
perspective that's going tochallenge me. But I do view my job
every day is to createopportunity for not just the agents,
(17:19):
but also for the staff and howto grow and like fine tune their
skills. And I think thatthat's our competitive difference
and stuff.
Yeah, that's great. You'represident elect. You may be president
by now because I might haveseen this a little bit late, but
of the MLS and Oklahoma. Themls, okay, I think is what it's called.
And. But you're also themember of many committees at the
(17:40):
association at the Boardlevel. You do a lot of volunteering.
You already mentioned you havefour daughters. You already mentioned
you're running your owncompany, which has a lot of components
to it. You. You are reallydoing a lot of stuff. You're finding
ways to make all that work.That's amazing. Do you invite and
do you tell your agents thisis important? Like, this giving back
(18:02):
is something that should be apart of everyone's goals somewhere
down the road?
I mean, I. Yes, I try to alsodemonstrate that it's important by,
you know, modeling thatbehavior from the beginning, you
know, and I think that, youknow, with having a legal background,
I feel like that I can bring adifferent perspective to the MLS
(18:22):
versus, you know, some, youknow, maybe other brokers that have
been in the industry for along time. And it really takes all
different types ofperspectives to improve the industry
and think that, you know,there was a lot of big changes this
year. You know, that is it.And being a part of those different
organizations allows me tohave, you know, a hand on the pulse
(18:44):
and to know, like, what isgoing on. But at the same time, I
feel like that it's importantto give back. Like, we even have,
like, a event that we call.It's called Winner Circle in our
group, and I would say anybodyelse that, like, ever listens or.
And it's just for agents inthe community to come. It is not
a recruiting event. It's notany. The whole goal is, like, let's
celebrate and, like, getbetter together. And I really think
(19:07):
that that's absolutely wherepeople. Their mindset should be,
because if we come in with amind of scarcity or like, trying
to be territorial, like, it'snot good for the industry and it's
not giving back. And that'swhere that's where we should be as
humans. But at the same time,like, that's what we should be doing
to improve the industry.
So I imagine you haverelationships with a lot of other
(19:29):
brokers and owners, you know,in the OKC area. Right. It sounds
like the people that have thesame kind of thoughts you do. Right.
That it's. Abundance is thekey word, that that's working out
really well.
Yeah, I'm very, very thankfuland appreciative of the people that
have embraced, like, also thatsame mindset. It's. It's allowed
for me to grow because no onehas all the experience. And there's.
(19:52):
I mean, there's some peoplethat have been in this industry so
long and they have so muchpractical knowledge that it would
be short Sighted. Just becauseI have a law degree or just because
of X, Y, Z. I value thatexperience, that practical experience
so much that I'm thankful forthe brokers that have that kind of
open communication front thathave definitely mentored me into
(20:15):
continuing to be a betterbroker in person.
You brought up. It's been akind of a weird year and. And so
August was a different monthfrom any other month you'll probably
ever experience in real estatewith the nar, the changes that went
through because of thelawsuits and all that stuff. I've
(20:36):
heard a lot of differentthings about it, you know, and the
one beat that keeps coming outfor me and I wonder if you agree
with this is, hey, we need tomove past this. We can do this. There's
nothing wrong with this. As wereally. Some people, I've heard some
people say we're just doingthe same thing we're doing with a
little twist. We just need tobe able to move forward. Is that
how you're handling it withyour team?
(20:57):
100%. I think that while, youknow, everyone has different opinions
on, you know, how it shouldhave been, how it should have happened,
or the, you know, or was itfair? Was it this? Ultimately it
comes down to like, this is anew slight twist, but it comes down
to transparency. And thatshould be our goal of our industry
anyways. And no matter what itis, this is the new day. And so,
(21:21):
you know, we tried to take itapproach of making sure that all
the training, like trying toeducate people so that, that way
when you hear a lot ofdifferent things in the news, like
our agency feel empowered withaccurate information versus whatever,
you know, clip or news bitethat they hear. And I think that
that's allowed what somepeople view as a scary time to be
(21:45):
an empowering time as thatour, our agents are showing value
because they're in the know ofwhat it is. And how do we properly
with everything that we know,like, you know, people make mistakes
but like, how do we, with theintent of in transparency, continue
to help our clients in thebest way we can?
One is stay off Facebook.
Yes.
(22:05):
Real estate groups. Is that one?
Yeah, I think so. And I'mlike, just know that like I. You
can watch those things, youcan read those, but don't you dare
post on those things.
We don't want any agents onthose sites. I love that. That's
a great idea. So what, what'sthe future look like for you in Cherrywood?
Right? What is it? If you hadthat, that magic wand, you could
(22:27):
wave and you could say this iswhat it's going to look like in five
or 10 years. What does it feellike that's going to be to you?
Well, I mean, if I could, youknow, what I would hope could happen
is that I want to. I wouldlove to continue to grow. I'd love
to have more locations andcopy and paste the same culture,
(22:50):
same environment, and, youknow, different locations. But the
number one thing is, like,preserving that culture. And, you
know, that starts with anyonewe partner with, making sure that
we're having the rightpartnerships that have the same goals
of, like, professionalism andethics and making sure that that
family environment justcontinues to stay. So I would hope
(23:12):
that it would be lots and lotsof copies and pastes of the current
Cherrywood all over thecountry, or even the city or the
state or wherever. Butultimately it would just be. I have
big plans and dreams, but Iwouldn't do that if it had to sacrifice
the culture or the effect onmy agents.
(23:34):
I think I've been in thebusiness over 20 years, and there
are companies that haveaccomplished that. It's doable. I
think you can do it. Yeah. SoI won't name any brands that I think
are doing well at it, butmaybe when we're off the call, we
can chat.
I would love to learn more.
Yeah. Yeah, I think it'sdefinitely possible. Well, look,
(23:54):
I'm going to bring up thefinal question of the episode. It's
the same one I've asked everyguest since Jay Thompson back in
2015. And the question is,what one piece of advice would you
give a new agent? Just gettingstarted in the business.
I would say to be successful,you have to advocate for yourself.
(24:15):
I think that advocating foryourself comes from you. You have
to be. You have to be your owncheerleader. You have to, like, put
yourself first, put youreducation as a priority. I think
that, you know, you have toask for business. You know, people
that have said, oh, I have allthese contacts, I'm like, but if
you don't ask for thebusiness, they can't say yes. And
(24:37):
so promoting yourself, puttingit out there on social media, making
sure that you're the best thatyou can possibly be on creating value
for not just yourself, but forothers. And I think that that is
how, like, you get started islike, just continue to learn and
make that a focus. And then Ithink business will come because
(24:58):
your heart is in the place ofmaking sure that you're creating
value. If it's an investor orfinding the right property for someone
to have A home at. I justthink that. Start with advocating
for yourself.
Wow. Counselor, may I ask afollow up?
Yes, of course.
Sometimes that's not themindset of people that might want
to be a realtor. Right. Like,sometimes people struggle with that.
(25:21):
Is that true? Or can you get.Can you take someone that you brought
into your operation and go, Iknow this person can do this? Is
that kind of the way you lookat it?
Yes. I mean, I feel like thatone of my roles as a broker is to
also see where that agentcould continue to grow and try to
push them outside of theircomfort zone or aid them and maybe
(25:43):
a place that they could grow alittle bit stronger. Because if it's,
you know, you know, asking fora higher commission or if it's, you
know, you know, reaching outto a builder that you've been trying
to, like, do the dance of,like, talking to for a long time,
and you've just never asked. Iwant to be the support system that
can push that and hopefullyhelp them. I'm. I, you know, we joke
(26:06):
around here, and I say thatI'm the, you know, I'm the backup
dancer to your Beyonce. Like,I am here to, like, advocate for
you or, like, for the agent tobe their best version of themselves.
And as long as they're willingto try, I'm willing to try twice
as hard. And I think thatthat's really where agents can have
that success. But they have tostart with believing that they're
(26:30):
going to create value forother people in order to be successful.
Lauren, if someone wants toreach out to you, what's the best
way for them to do that?
Yeah, I mean, I would say mycell phone, which is 405-821-4061.
Or follow me on Instagram ontopthatrealestate and send me a message.
I would love to help outhowever I can.
(26:52):
This has exceeded myexpectations. It was more fun than
I thought it would be becauseI thought it was gonna be a lot of
fun. So thank you so much foryour time today. I can't wait to.
Eventually, I'll be travelingto okc. We have a couple operations
there. I'll get to visit. Iwill definitely be coming down to
Cherrywood as well. So thankyou for your time today.
Well, Heidi and I would loveto meet you in person. And if you
(27:13):
need restaurantrecommendations or anything like
that, like, we'll tell you allthe good ones.
I like that. Local knowledge.I'm in.
Exactly. So. Well, Iappreciate you and thank you for.
This is my first podcast toever record, so thanks for making
it so much fun.
Thank you for listening to theReal Estate Sessions. Please head
over to ratethispodcast.comresessions to leave a review or a
(27:35):
rating and subscribe to theReal Estate Sessions podcast at your
favorite podcast. Listening Applause.
We joke around here, and I saythat I'm the, you know, I'm the backup
dancer to your Beyonce. Like,I am here to, like, advocate for
you or, like, for the agent tobe their best version of themselves.
And as long as they're willingto try, I'm willing to try twice
as hard.
You're listening to the RealEstate Sessions, and I'm your host,
(00:21):
Bill Risser. With nearly 25years in the real estate business,
I love to interview industryleaders, up and comers, and really
anyone with a story to tell.It's the stories that led my guests
to a career in the real estateworld that drives me into my ninth
year and nearly 400 episodesof the podcast. And now I hope you
enjoy the next journey. Hi,everybody. Welcome to episode 402
(00:44):
of the Real Estate Sessionspodcast. As always, thank you so
much for tuning in. Thank youso much for telling a friend. Today
we are headed to OklahomaCity. Yep. We are going to be talking
to Lauren Toppins. She is thefounder and broker for Cherrywood
Real Estate. And like many ofthe guests on this podcast, real
estate was not her first jobout of college. In fact, she was
(01:05):
an attorney. And we'll talk alittle bit about that. We're going
to talk, of course, about heralma mater, the University of Oklahoma,
and why culture is soimportant to Lauren and her management
team at Cherrywood. This isgoing to be a lot of fun, so let's
get this thing going. Lauren,welcome to the podcast.
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Yeah, I'm excited. You and Imet through Kris Baker right. With
(01:25):
a Chicago Title there inOklahoma City. And I love when I
randomly kind of meet peoplebased on what's happening at work
or I find somebody with, Ithink, a really cool story. And that's
what I like to do on thispodcast, is kind of get your story,
and I go way back on yourstory. I hope you're okay with that.
That's okay.
All right, cool. And so it'sgoing to be a lot of fun. First of
(01:46):
all, you live in OklahomaCity. Now, can I assume you're a
native of the area? And if so,is it okay to call you an Okie? If
I'm not from Oklahoma, you cancall me.
Yes, you can call me an Okie.I'm actually from. I'm from Oklahoma,
but I'm from Lawton, andthere's the Fort Sill military base
there. And so Lawton, FortSill, it's southwest Oklahoma, and
(02:06):
so born and raised. So.
All right. Was. Was your dadin the military or mom or was it
part of it?
Yeah, no, actually, no. Nomilitary ties in our family. Primarily.
My grandpa was, was fromWilson, Oklahoma, little tiny town
and like moved and started abusiness there and big entrepreneur,
had, you know, four or fivedifferent businesses. And all, all
of us started working there atvarious times in our lives.
(02:29):
So I'm gonna guess that mighthave been a little bit of influence
on you. Maybe a little grandpadoing all that kind of stuff. And
look what you're doing now.It's pretty cool.
A hundred percent. Like, hewas an amazing man, but also had
a big influence of like, hey,you know, you may not have it all
figured out, but don't let ithold you back. Go figure it out with
some hard work.
That's cool. I love. I. When Iinterview somebody from another place,
(02:50):
I always like to find outabout the area. So I give you the
chance to sell me on Oklahoma.Oklahoma City. Whatever. Whatever
you, Whatever works for you.Because really I'm going to show
you really how bad I am with,with my knowledge of other states.
I know about the Thunder, Iknow about the Sooners, there's the
Cowboys, if we can talk aboutthose. Devon park, that's where the
College World Series for thewomen is, right?
(03:10):
Yeah.
Yeah. Cool. So I, I got thatpart down. What am I missing?
Well, most people wouldn'tthink that Oklahoma actually has
a ton of lakes. We have like200 lakes. So you think of like Dust
bowl, everything you learn,probably in history class, but that's.
We have tons of lakes. And somy favorite lake is Grand Lake. It's
over there in like thenortheast corner of the state, kind
(03:31):
of Rocky Bottom lake. And solots of being on boats and you know,
spending the weekend drivingup there and you know, having good
time with family andeverything. And so that's nice.
And then Oklahoma City itself,how many people there? It's a big
city. I think people don'trealize it is a big city.
But I would say, you know, we.Our population is not comparable
to some, you know, big cities,aka but like spread. We are super
(03:55):
spread out. And one thing thatis, it's. It's nice that you can
still travel and like, youknow, our traffic is, you know, probably,
you know, a light to everybodyelse in the world. But like our five
o' clock rough shower willstill, you know, drive me nuts. But
so on west side of the city,it's like plains, like what you would
expect of Oklahoma, you know,like there's no, there's not a lick
(04:15):
a tree unless there's like ared cedar, but then in the middle
of the city, it turns to,like, kind of rocky and very wooded.
And so, like, whenever peoplewant to, you can have a lot of different
geographies. And, you know,Oklahoma has sand dunes, it has black,
it has mesas. We have, youknow, down to Broken Bow Lake is,
you know, beautiful and rockyand kind of makes you think you're
(04:35):
in Arkansas. And so it's, it'svery pretty.
I love that. Born and raisedthere. So you're going, you're. Let's
say you're in your first orsecond year of high school. You're
about 15 years old. What areyou thinking your future look like
at that point?
Well, if I'm being honest, Iprobably. I wanted to be a US Marshal.
I wanted to be a US Marshal.I'm only five one and a fourth. Like,
(04:57):
I got a fourth in college. Yougot to give me credit for that. So.
But. And I wanted to be a U.S.marshal and. Or I want to be an attorney.
I watched one too manyMatlocks I watched the other day.
And that Matlock is now has anew season, season out, you know,
with a female. So I'm like, Ilove it. But I was either going to
be a lawyer or I was going tobe a U.S. marshal, so.
(05:17):
And so you did do one ofthose. We'll get to that shortly.
Yes.
For those listening.
Yeah. In college, I got tohave this internship with the Metro
Fugitive Task Force, and theytook me out shooting, and I am a
horrible shot. So it was onlyin everyone's best interest in the,
you know, public safety for menot to be a U.S. marshal.
(05:39):
All right, good. I know youwent to Oklahoma, and so I'm going
to assume that the vastmajority of people who go to Oklahoma
are Sooners through andthrough. Did you know that's where
you were going early on? Wasit a legacy kind of thing or how
did you get there?
Yes, it was definitely alegacy thing. It was, you know, whenever
I think, whenever I went topick out schools later on in life,
(06:00):
it was like you just went fromhigh school to college at OU. And
I mean, my grandpa had seasontickets for 45 years, so I remember
the exact bench, like itdidn't even know if the game was
going on. You're just curledup with that metal bench around that,
you know, with a blanket,trying to hide from, you know, what
small amount of snow we gethere just in freeze. But it was.
It's something that, you know,falling asleep listening to the radio,
(06:24):
you know, on the way back toLawton, it's from Norman, Oklahoma.
It's probably about an hourand a half drive. And it's there
was not optional. I love mySooners, so I would.
Imagine that getting toOklahoma Memorial Stadium and seeing
the Sooner Schooner is abucket list item. Do I have that
right? Is that on my. Shouldthat be on my list?
100%. 100%. Yes, it is. So theenvironment is just, you know, it's
(06:46):
one of those things that justtouches your heart. It just feels
so much like home. I really dolove it there.
That's cool. That's cool. Ihave to ask you this question. It's
going to be tough, especiallywith the way the years are going
for these two schools. But theRed river rivalry, which is, you
know, it's. First of all, it'sthe hardest thing to say really fast.
Say it fast three times, likeimpossible. But the Red river rivalry,
(07:07):
both left the Big 12, butthey're both going to the SEC. So
it sounds like they're bothgoing to be able to continue the
Red river rivalry. Is that right?
Yes. I mean, it definitely hasa different feel. I mean, we lost
our, you know, bedlam was ourbig other big game against osu, Oklahoma
State University for otherpeople. But. And, but we got. I got
to go a couple weeks ago downthere. And you know, the best part
(07:29):
about that rivalry is we. It'snot in Norman and it's not in Austin.
And so we go to Dallas andthey. And it's at the Cotton Bowl.
And so people. I was talkingto one of the Uber drivers and he
was like, you both come fromboth cities and then you trash our
city. But we have a good time.And it, you know, it's always a lot
more fun. My freshman year ofcollege, and it was President Bourne
(07:51):
at the time, the dean waslike, okay, we're just gonna have
a snow day on Monday becauseit's snow and touchdowns. Like no
one has school. And we'relike, yes.
So that's all. So the game wason a Saturday, but he gave you Monday
off. That's pretty good. Okay.
Yeah. A hundred percent. Andwhat's been nice now. So the benefit
of moving to SEC is that thegames are always at 11 or 11:30.
(08:13):
And this year he got at 2:30.So it was one of those where you
could actually, you know,drive down if you wanted to not go
down on Friday night. Butenvironment was still amazing. Like
just the environment of beingaround the state, the Texas Fair,
it was awesome.
Yeah, that's Great. About howlong a drive from Oklahoma City to
Dallas?
Well, on a normal time, it wastwo hours and 30 minutes, but it
(08:34):
took us four and a half hoursto get there with traffic, going
with.
Traffic, headed to the game traffic.
And it was not even that badwith construction, but it was. It
took forever. So.
Wow. All right, well, let'sget on a little bit more. Now that
you end up graduating fromOklahoma, but you weren't done. You
actually went to the school oflaw there as well, right? Yes, I
think with attorneys and whenyou go into law, was there a certain.
(08:56):
What was your specialty goingto be? What were you thinking as
you went in?
So I still had like thatcriminal law, like, you know, wanting
to work for the DA's office,one of, you know, something like
that. That was, you know,whenever wanting to be in law enforcement.
And then the DA's office,since I'm a bad shot, went down and
worked for a small countycalled Grady county, where in Chickasha.
(09:17):
And that was where I had it,like was a legal intern, but to,
you know, pay the bills. I wasalso waiting tables and then got
an opportunity to, you know,do work in house for a workers compensation
administration company. At thetime that was related to Express
personnel. Yeah.
So, okay. Yeah, that's a lotdifferent. Right.
Obviously it was very nightand day, depending on what job I
(09:41):
was going to and.
Tell me, tell me where youwere right before you got into real
estate. This is interestingbecause you were with, you know,
the HR was a big part of your life.
A hundred percent. Yeah. Sowhenever I first started, you know,
I was. Was in another in housecounsel position, but there was a
local company. It was Onlyprobably about 200 employees at the
time, and they were. It's anHR payroll company. So I started
(10:04):
there to be their first inhouse counsel and got to work through
that and now it's grown into.We got the company, went public and
gave me a lot of differentopportunities. And Paycom is such
a wonderful company that israpidly growing. And it set the foundation
of getting to have that onwatch that entrepreneurial background
that I had for my grandpa. Igot to watch that in real life with
(10:27):
a company that was growingfast pace. And so one of the elements
that I got to handle or beingpart of is when they'd open up a
new sales office, we would,you know, have leases for new spaces
and kind of the strategy ofthat. And that's kind of where my
love for real estate reallyjust hit the ground running of, you
know, contracts are excitingand all but, like, real estate transactions
(10:48):
are where that negotiationand, like, rubber meets the road.
It's just. It was where my.The excitement really started.
So that was all commercialkind of stuff, right? With those
kinds of leases and buildingsand stuff. But what. What brought
you into the residential side?What was that? That trigger for that?
Yeah. So my husband and I, wemet in law school and everything.
And I was at paycom. He wasworking for a local oil and gas company.
(11:11):
We were. We were going tostart a wedding venue. And it didn't
work out, but we'd alreadydone all the financing for it. And
so we bought our first rentalproperty. First rental property was
for my brothers in Normanbecause they were in college and
bought that rental property.Then we're like, oh, we can buy another
one. And so we slowly startedadding to our rental portfolio. And
(11:32):
then I decided to leavePaycom. Like, leave, like, the corporate
world to really focus onbuilding our investments. And I thought,
okay, I'm going to take alittle break. We have, you know,
we have four daughters. Like,I need to, you know, kind of balance
family. I was like, oh, I canremodel a home and flip. And so then
I got in that side of it. Butultimately, what I really missed
(11:55):
was, like, being engaged,engaged with other professionals
on, like, putting togetherstrategies. And so I got my broker's
license. And I would saythat's the most fulfilling part of
my job is, like, helpingpeople, like, start their career
or be involved in thosetransactions. One, you know, from
a legal perspective, but also,like, helping them strategize on
(12:15):
how to grow their business.
So I would imagine if mybroker was also an attorney who really
knew what was going down andwhat. And what was the problem, that
I would. I would listenintently. I'm sure most of your agents
listen intently to you.
Well, thank you. Yeah, I hopeso. That's the goal, right?
Yeah, that is the goal. You'rethe. You're the founder and broker
(12:38):
for Cherrywood Real Estate. Soyou. You. You went. You decided,
I'm not just going to, youknow, be a broker for someone else.
I'm starting my own company. Iwant to be in charge of what happens
in my operation. Right. So howdid. How did, first of all, the name
Cherrywood's really cool. Howdo we come up with that? And how
was that starting up a newcompany? Because that's always, you
know, a challenge, no matterwhat level you're at.
(12:59):
Yes. No. So I wish Cherrywoodhad, like, some amazing story, but
my husband and I were tryingto think of not for. One of our initial
ones was Cherrywood. It's thestreet we lived on. Like, it was
like, it was like justCherrywood Drive, you know, and so
we. It's so very exciting, buttwo uncreative attorneys putting,
(13:19):
you know, picking out a name.And our goal is to. From the goodwill
from having the rental companythat was Cherrywood. We turned around
and we're like, we can, we cando this. Like, I had firsthand experience
watching like a leader likethe Paycom CEO take a little tiny
company and make it big. Andall of the things that, you know,
(13:40):
the different, differentthings that were faced, how do I
tweak and put my own spin onthat? And so one of the things that's
super important to me ismaking sure that we have a culture
that is family friendly. And Iknow that that said a lot, but one
of the things that is likeright behind us is we have, we have
a kids playroom. If you everfollow us on social media, it would
(14:01):
be not uncommon for there tobe like, stepping over, like building
blocks. You know, there's atime to be professional and like,
where you have to be veryserious, but there's also an opportunity
to like, have that. A betterblend. My mom is a State Farm agent
for over, like 30 years, andthere was a room in this, and my
brothers grew up in those, youknow, in there. And like, they would,
(14:21):
you know, were there everyday. So I know that you can balance
work and have a professionalwork life. And that was important
to me. So taking all thedifferent experiences that I've had
and not being an entrepreneur,but how do I maintain a culture that
I'm proud of every day?
So you're six or seven yearsinto it now, right? With the company?
(14:42):
Yes.
And what does it look likenow? How many agents do you have?
Some commercial? Do you have acommercial division? How does all
that look?
Yeah, so, right, so we have 62agents over two locations now. We
handle both residential andcommercial. We also have a sister
property management companyand a, like a remodeling repairs
(15:02):
company. And so if, you know,if somebody is, you know, an investor,
somebody that wants topurchase a property with our, you
know, one of our agents ormyself, we can help them purchase
it. We can help them thinkabout what that rental, you know,
how much that rental incomewould look like. If it needs some
updates, we can pull in ourremodeling team and then we can have
property management rightthere. So we can like, do all of
(15:25):
the aspects of investing aswell as we, we can sit here and make
sure that training is one ofour number one objectives with Cherrywood.
And I think that that's kindof like how we stand out in our market
is that like we'll have twotrainings that could be how to fill
out, you know, newconstruction paperwork down to like,
how do you do a sales strategyand like building your pipeline or,
(15:48):
you know, handling taxesbecause, you know, realtors wear
lots of different hats. And wewant to make sure that we're providing
training on all of thosefronts. All360. Of all the different
craziness that can happen andnot treating agents just as like
transaction machines, like,but as people and trying to be there
for them personally. And, youknow, bringing your kids up here
(16:10):
or doing it. We just had adoggy that just left a little bit
ago, you know, because thatwas important to their family and
making sure that thateducation and we have boot camps
and stuff throughout the yearthat when your business is kind of
feeling like you need to. Howdo you level up or amplify your business?
I think, you know, educationis definitely something that makes
us stand out.
(16:30):
That. That is super powerfulbecause you tend to think of education
being with the other big boys,you know, the big franchises that
are like the. Where everyonetrains and then they kind of head
off to a boutique or a smalleroperation. But you're really, you're
taking. You're taking the bullby the horns and saying, no, this
is. This is. I shouldn't saythat. That's ut. You're. You're grabbing
the wagon by the wheel. How'sthat really making that a key part
(16:55):
of. That's really a lot. Imean, you have a fairly large staff,
I would imagine too. Then thisis not. You don't have like two people
in admin. You've got somepeople behind you.
Yes, yes. I mean, and I thinkthat that's what I learned was you
have to surro by the bestbecause there's going to be a different
perspective that's going tochallenge me. But I do view my job
every day is to createopportunity for not just the agents,
(17:19):
but also for the staff and howto grow and like fine tune their
skills. And I think thatthat's our competitive difference
and stuff.
Yeah, that's great. You'represident elect. You may be president
by now because I might haveseen this a little bit late, but
of the MLS and Oklahoma. Themls, okay, I think is what it's called.
And. But you're also themember of many committees at the
(17:40):
association at the Boardlevel. You do a lot of volunteering.
You already mentioned you havefour daughters. You already mentioned
you're running your owncompany, which has a lot of components
to it. You. You are reallydoing a lot of stuff. You're finding
ways to make all that work.That's amazing. Do you invite and
do you tell your agents thisis important? Like, this giving back
(18:02):
is something that should be apart of everyone's goals somewhere
down the road?
I mean, I. Yes, I try to alsodemonstrate that it's important by,
you know, modeling thatbehavior from the beginning, you
know, and I think that, youknow, with having a legal background,
I feel like that I can bring adifferent perspective to the MLS
(18:22):
versus, you know, some, youknow, maybe other brokers that have
been in the industry for along time. And it really takes all
different types ofperspectives to improve the industry
and think that, you know,there was a lot of big changes this
year. You know, that is it.And being a part of those different
organizations allows me tohave, you know, a hand on the pulse
(18:44):
and to know, like, what isgoing on. But at the same time, I
feel like that it's importantto give back. Like, we even have,
like, a event that we call.It's called Winner Circle in our
group, and I would say anybodyelse that, like, ever listens or.
And it's just for agents inthe community to come. It is not
a recruiting event. It's notany. The whole goal is, like, let's
celebrate and, like, getbetter together. And I really think
(19:07):
that that's absolutely wherepeople. Their mindset should be,
because if we come in with amind of scarcity or like, trying
to be territorial, like, it'snot good for the industry and it's
not giving back. And that'swhere that's where we should be as
humans. But at the same time,like, that's what we should be doing
to improve the industry.
So I imagine you haverelationships with a lot of other
(19:29):
brokers and owners, you know,in the OKC area. Right. It sounds
like the people that have thesame kind of thoughts you do. Right.
That it's. Abundance is thekey word, that that's working out
really well.
Yeah, I'm very, very thankfuland appreciative of the people that
have embraced, like, also thatsame mindset. It's. It's allowed
for me to grow because no onehas all the experience. And there's.
(19:52):
I mean, there's some peoplethat have been in this industry so
long and they have so muchpractical knowledge that it would
be short Sighted. Just becauseI have a law degree or just because
of X, Y, Z. I value thatexperience, that practical experience
so much that I'm thankful forthe brokers that have that kind of
open communication front thathave definitely mentored me into
(20:15):
continuing to be a betterbroker in person.
You brought up. It's been akind of a weird year and. And so
August was a different monthfrom any other month you'll probably
ever experience in real estatewith the nar, the changes that went
through because of thelawsuits and all that stuff. I've
(20:36):
heard a lot of differentthings about it, you know, and the
one beat that keeps coming outfor me and I wonder if you agree
with this is, hey, we need tomove past this. We can do this. There's
nothing wrong with this. As wereally. Some people, I've heard some
people say we're just doingthe same thing we're doing with a
little twist. We just need tobe able to move forward. Is that
how you're handling it withyour team?
(20:57):
100%. I think that while, youknow, everyone has different opinions
on, you know, how it shouldhave been, how it should have happened,
or the, you know, or was itfair? Was it this? Ultimately it
comes down to like, this is anew slight twist, but it comes down
to transparency. And thatshould be our goal of our industry
anyways. And no matter what itis, this is the new day. And so,
(21:21):
you know, we tried to take itapproach of making sure that all
the training, like trying toeducate people so that, that way
when you hear a lot ofdifferent things in the news, like
our agency feel empowered withaccurate information versus whatever,
you know, clip or news bitethat they hear. And I think that
that's allowed what somepeople view as a scary time to be
(21:45):
an empowering time as thatour, our agents are showing value
because they're in the know ofwhat it is. And how do we properly
with everything that we know,like, you know, people make mistakes
but like, how do we, with theintent of in transparency, continue
to help our clients in thebest way we can?
One is stay off Facebook.
Yes.
(22:05):
Real estate groups. Is that one?
Yeah, I think so. And I'mlike, just know that like I. You
can watch those things, youcan read those, but don't you dare
post on those things.
We don't want any agents onthose sites. I love that. That's
a great idea. So what, what'sthe future look like for you in Cherrywood?
Right? What is it? If you hadthat, that magic wand, you could
(22:27):
wave and you could say this iswhat it's going to look like in five
or 10 years. What does it feellike that's going to be to you?
Well, I mean, if I could, youknow, what I would hope could happen
is that I want to. I wouldlove to continue to grow. I'd love
to have more locations andcopy and paste the same culture,
(22:50):
same environment, and, youknow, different locations. But the
number one thing is, like,preserving that culture. And, you
know, that starts with anyonewe partner with, making sure that
we're having the rightpartnerships that have the same goals
of, like, professionalism andethics and making sure that that
family environment justcontinues to stay. So I would hope
(23:12):
that it would be lots and lotsof copies and pastes of the current
Cherrywood all over thecountry, or even the city or the
state or wherever. Butultimately it would just be. I have
big plans and dreams, but Iwouldn't do that if it had to sacrifice
the culture or the effect onmy agents.
(23:34):
I think I've been in thebusiness over 20 years, and there
are companies that haveaccomplished that. It's doable. I
think you can do it. Yeah. SoI won't name any brands that I think
are doing well at it, butmaybe when we're off the call, we
can chat.
I would love to learn more.
Yeah. Yeah, I think it'sdefinitely possible. Well, look,
(23:54):
I'm going to bring up thefinal question of the episode. It's
the same one I've asked everyguest since Jay Thompson back in
2015. And the question is,what one piece of advice would you
give a new agent? Just gettingstarted in the business.
I would say to be successful,you have to advocate for yourself.
(24:15):
I think that advocating foryourself comes from you. You have
to be. You have to be your owncheerleader. You have to, like, put
yourself first, put youreducation as a priority. I think
that, you know, you have toask for business. You know, people
that have said, oh, I have allthese contacts, I'm like, but if
you don't ask for thebusiness, they can't say yes. And
(24:37):
so promoting yourself, puttingit out there on social media, making
sure that you're the best thatyou can possibly be on creating value
for not just yourself, but forothers. And I think that that is
how, like, you get started islike, just continue to learn and
make that a focus. And then Ithink business will come because
(24:58):
your heart is in the place ofmaking sure that you're creating
value. If it's an investor orfinding the right property for someone
to have A home at. I justthink that. Start with advocating
for yourself.
Wow. Counselor, may I ask afollow up?
Yes, of course.
Sometimes that's not themindset of people that might want
to be a realtor. Right. Like,sometimes people struggle with that.
(25:21):
Is that true? Or can you get.Can you take someone that you brought
into your operation and go, Iknow this person can do this? Is
that kind of the way you lookat it?
Yes. I mean, I feel like thatone of my roles as a broker is to
also see where that agentcould continue to grow and try to
push them outside of theircomfort zone or aid them and maybe
(25:43):
a place that they could grow alittle bit stronger. Because if it's,
you know, you know, asking fora higher commission or if it's, you
know, you know, reaching outto a builder that you've been trying
to, like, do the dance of,like, talking to for a long time,
and you've just never asked. Iwant to be the support system that
can push that and hopefullyhelp them. I'm. I, you know, we joke
(26:06):
around here, and I say thatI'm the, you know, I'm the backup
dancer to your Beyonce. Like,I am here to, like, advocate for
you or, like, for the agent tobe their best version of themselves.
And as long as they're willingto try, I'm willing to try twice
as hard. And I think thatthat's really where agents can have
that success. But they have tostart with believing that they're
(26:30):
going to create value forother people in order to be successful.
Lauren, if someone wants toreach out to you, what's the best
way for them to do that?
Yeah, I mean, I would say mycell phone, which is 405-821-4061.
Or follow me on Instagram ontopthatrealestate and send me a message.
I would love to help outhowever I can.
(26:52):
This has exceeded myexpectations. It was more fun than
I thought it would be becauseI thought it was gonna be a lot of
fun. So thank you so much foryour time today. I can't wait to.
Eventually, I'll be travelingto okc. We have a couple operations
there. I'll get to visit. Iwill definitely be coming down to
Cherrywood as well. So thankyou for your time today.
Well, Heidi and I would loveto meet you in person. And if you
(27:13):
need restaurantrecommendations or anything like
that, like, we'll tell you allthe good ones.
I like that. Local knowledge.I'm in.
Exactly. So. Well, Iappreciate you and thank you for.
This is my first podcast toever record, so thanks for making
it so much fun.
Thank you for listening to theReal Estate Sessions. Please head
over to ratethispodcast.comresessions to leave a review or a
(27:35):
rating and subscribe to theReal Estate Sessions podcast at your
favorite podcast. Listening Applause.
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