Leading Through Disruption: Smokey Garrett on Speed, Culture & the Future of Real Estate

Business and Beyond
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Smokey Garrett—founder of The GO Network and owner of the largest Keller Williams franchise brokerage in the U.S.—joins Theresa for a candid conversation on leading through disruption, building a culture that competes and cares, and why speed is a core leadership value.
They cover Smokey’s unconventional path (yes, cutting horses 🐴), rookie year lessons, rebuilding a failing market center into #1, and how agents and leaders can adapt faster than the market.
You’ll learn:
Why orgs “start to look like their leader”—and how to make that a good thing
Welcome to the upside podcast where we help you get unstuck in life and business by elevating your thinking and provoking meaningful change from the
Inside out and today I have a guest with me. Mr. Smoky Garrett, and I'm so very excited to introduce him to you or to
Share a conversation with you and Smoky. So Smoky you are
The founder of the Go Network. I am. Yes. Yes. You are my boss
I've never actually heard you say those words before so actually so that is being recorded right that she has a boss
So I love that
I'm kidding. Okay. So and today I don't have my fancy little upside postcards
I have to do it on my phone. So we went totally tech you got them, but I love it. It's all good
Okay, so tell everybody you are
Kind of a big deal at Keller Williams
Yeah, you kind of are
And you own the largest franchise brokerage and all of the u.s
We've done some pretty amazing things with the Go Network
But how'd you get here? Just tell everybody we're actually filming this at Studio USA in East Plano
You know, you and I are both East Side East Side Plano grad. We are Plano East grad. You were substantially before me
But we won't talk about that
So anyway, so you can't you were you were born here local here. Yes. So just tell us a little bit about your story
All right. Well, I love that. First of all, thank you for having me on. I'm excited to be here
I'm excited to get to be a part of the journey and and I've never looked at it as
Anyone really worked for me we've gotten I've gotten the opportunity to work together
With you with your husband and we've been on this journey for actually several years in one capacity the other so thank you for that
and and
So as as far as me, I did grow up here Plano Plano East grew up out in Parker, Texas
actually
Although we grew up in Plano, I
Kind of grew up more in the horse business. We had a place up in in McKinney
And so but I did a graduated graduated
Plano East and I went to college actually
I've showed cutting horses throughout the throughout most of my high school career and and college career and and
So I see what I was going to do
But I went to school had a had a couple of changes that happened in that part of my life
Because I was I was winning I was competing I was I was actually making a lot of money
For my age back then when I was in college
I was doing about a hundred hundred and twenty-five thousand a year and winnings showing cutting horses and
Love about that. I've never asked you that before. I'm curious. What did you love about cutting horses?
Goodness that is actually a great question. It's it's what my family did. I was I had a lot of opportunities of
I'm a guy that's been around a lot of mentors and my my
was I had a lot of mentors in my life, but we were raised by really strong women and
Horses was kind of what we what I had done and I kind of had a passion for lots of things
What did I love about cutting horses or wanted to love about the event?
You know being a cowboy and cutting horses is something that is that is it's very it's a very solo
Position because it's a more of a lifestyle
I think is what I've what I kind of found as I was growing up and and it was something you enjoy
It's not really about the showing off part of this then when you move into the competition piece
Which is what I really liked about it. Now. No, it's competitive and and
It's something you just can't get on and do it's something that is actually it takes a lot of work
it takes a lot of effort it takes a lot of time and
Those are all skill sets that you know, I think I was raised with I you know
My parents raised me with the with you know
A work ethic that I had to get up and go to work horses and animals need to be fed every day
If you want to be if you want to be good at something
You've got to put the time in to go to go be successful at that
you've got to put the time in to know your horses and know what's happening because it's very much of a
Relationship as you go through that and so for me, you know, it was I I loved the life
I loved what it represented and I loved the history that I got to to experience as we went through it
And so so that was that was fun for me. It was a fun way to grow up
It was a fun way to to go through college. I get to travel all around
I was rookie of the year went to Australia
Had all kinds of had all kinds of fun that we got to go have around
Around and that was the way I was going and that's really what I would what I what I was gonna go do and then
I actually
Hurt my back had a couple of big things happen
I had I'd hurt my back and I'd had some
some of my horses that had passed away and had some really unfortunate incidents at one point in my life and
I felt like that was God really because I'd actually that was the pulled moment and I sat out of school
So I wasn't actually I had set out one semester and I'm like, all right
I gotta decide this what I want to keep doing or do I want to go do something else and
for me, I
So I heard my back and couldn't do things or passed away and colic does they sometimes do and and those things happened and
I feel like that was God telling me. All right, this is this is probably not your path
I always used a lot of signs with that and and I went back to school at that moment and
Got back in school took the summer semester changed my changed my majors from the agriculture and horses to business and marketing and
Changed kind of my path in life. And so that's like you did. Well, absolutely. So then you got into real estate
You were rookie of the year your first year in real estate there was and you met your beautiful wife Sarah
Mm-hmm in real estate. What year did y'all did y'all start it together, right?
We didn't know each other. But yeah, we did start together. Okay, she was a she was a year
You're too ahead of me in terms of the process, but I did
Yes, so I graduated know what I was gonna do real estate was what I had as a as a as a major
Yeah, as a as some of my options there. And so real estate was kind of
Horses horse horses didn't translate onto a resume to say hey, if I wanted to hire me or anything that really worked and so
Real estate was something I graduated and and got my real estate license
That's where I happen to meet my wife was an extra real estate school to very different people
We end up just being friends and not really knowing it or getting started dating for a couple three years down the road after that
but that is where I met my wife and
Did go into real estate very very offhanded. I didn't didn't know if I was going to like it or not
I was a traditional story
I spent the first six months of my career not selling any houses and and and not doing a lot
I was working working a whole lot and for some reason didn't quit wanted to quit was always planning on quitting and
Transitioning out of there, but I did what else will I do? Well, I did. Yeah, there was there was that it was
There was a pharmaceutical sales in some different parts of the industry was really where I was looking to go
And yeah, but I remember very clearly my sixth month. I had ten closings and how did how did you have this?
What did you do? It was just back then it was a
Average marketing time was about four months and took 30 days to close after that. It was actually I learned from that
It was just kind of a numbers game
I hadn't I had it had a lot of business and listings. I just didn't sell any properties
And so I think it was the accumulation of all of the work and numbers if you it's where I learned to get confidence with
actually if you do the work and you invest the time in there's going to be a result and
That was just how the numbers worked out
We've been better if it would have happened, you know a couple of month every single month
But that's not how it worked out the market back then and what numbers and stats were it said if you do the work
Which I always did the work and and I was fortunate enough to get into an organization to work
They taught me how to go lead generate and they that was what they kind of
promoted and so it was lead generation and going and getting the business and going and being involved in and in and all the different ways of
prospecting from open houses to gold calling to door knocking all those things we started doing and it just kind of worked out at the
End with the numbers and so the tenth month the sixth month. I had ten ten ten closings and I'm like, all right
you know cuz I was selling horses and selling everything I had just to kind of make it through that six months and and
Then from that point on I'm I committed to myself. I would never go into the month with with not having a closing
Soft and I did so there you go
So then okay, so tell us just just kind of go through what your evolution was, you know rookie of the year really
to
Building a team a top team to leadership in Keller Williams Arlington
Just just kind of go through that journey what got you today to being the number one
franchise brokerage owner
Okay. Well, so journey so path and journey is I did start in real estate after after that first year
That first year came and went I never looked back
I saw there was a big enough opportunity in the company then another company in the industry that I picked it was it was pretty
Much wide open in real estate. So so I loved all of those all of those parts of this industry
I'm like, all right, I can see myself and have a big enough life here
So I did end up it took me six months to have my first closing, but we did end up
Being rookie of the year co-rookie of the year actually with Sarah my wife my wife later on my wife
We were co-rookies of the year and it kind of launched from from there with the real estate industry
I don't love the real estate business. And so we started selling and and
I
Got fairly quickly the understanding of leverage. I knew what I liked to do and didn't like to do and and I
Just grew a business and so it just kind of took step by step
I've always been a guy who had the mentors and when when it was time for something to happen in my life
I wouldn't found the best people around
We had lives and businesses like I wanted to have and so I but I went I went I went
Year one was rookie of the year year to kind of built the business year three
I think we had about 70 closings year four
I had about a hundred and ten closings and started building the team around that and and and
Honestly by that by the fifth year. I was burnt out on real estate
I was ready to quit this industry and I started looking again and and saying alright, this can't be it
I was working all the time and there was one any answers only answers were to go work harder
Or go spend more time and I couldn't I was redlining my business and I couldn't I couldn't go any farther. And so
It's when I started looking I you know, I found it's where I found Keller Williams
I heard them talking about having a life worth living and bigger lives and careers and it was actually a couple of really key
relationships that I had with inside of this company that we're willing to kind of pour in and and and
But I was looking it was that moment. I either get in business or I go do something else
and so I
Actually, my wife and I moved we had a we started a team at that point and they were talking about team and business and which
Was really revolutionary in the industry. Nobody else was talking about that
That's a fairly new concept of you can do something besides just month to month sell a house. Yep
It was yeah, I guess we're saying well, it wasn't being done yet
Yeah
They had kind of teams or kind of that and so it applied some business some business structure around and real business skills
that they brought to this and so that was that was very intriguing to me and so
So I we got I got married and joined
Switched companies within a month of each other Wow. And so some move companies. We kind of took a step back from there and
Really just built a team built a fairly large team had a on a 13 14 person team that we kind of grew into and
Then after I had my first child which was Katie and so we had our first baby
my wife kind of moved home and
started taking care of the family and doing that and it really kind of started to change my
my paths of where I wanted to be and how I wanted to go create and what life wanted to kind of life I wanted
to have and and
Then two years later. I had my second child. Okay, my wife had my second child, which was Colton
And so that's actually when it really kind of took off for me. I'm like, all right
I want to go do something else. Yeah, we'd sold real estate. I'd built the team. We'd done that now
how do I have a bigger life and I
looked around the
organization and the companies and people who were doing and had the lives that I wanted to have and that all been through a
Leadership process in some way shape or form. I've been in team leader
they'd done something in leadership and I wanted to go understand how to really grow businesses and and and
impact people in a different way and
So team leader I stepped into the team leader role and
2000 in the 2006 first of 2007. I stepped into the team leader role and
and
That kind of launched my career. I really found what I was passionate about
So you took over the Arlington Market Center without the time you took it over
I'm probably a lot of people would not have looked at that as an opportunity
Because it was a struggling market center. Yeah, you could probably talk more about that, but you took it and
Built it to the number one office in all of Keller Williams, you know over 700 market centers
What made you say yes, though to that opportunity when it was certainly an uphill climb
Yeah, so why'd you say yes?
You know, I wish I had really great answers. I think there was there was two things number one
It was just it was the next opportunity when I was ready. And so I have always I've I've never
When I'm ready to do something I look around and try to figure out what is the best opportunity?
And I I was looking for two things number one. I was not looking for a job. I did not want a job
I did not want to really gonna work for anybody or do that
I was looking for what is an opportunity that I could go build something?
What is an opportunity that I could go take something and and do something large with it?
And so that was and and those two things those two things happened
But again, and it's been a theme in my life as I look back and get to you know, think back through
There was the there was the right who that was there there was a who that was willing to pour in who had done it
at a very high level and
and
So there was a who attached and the opportunity was big enough and when those two things happened, you know fear fear kind of goes away
Yeah, so, you know, you don't worry about what's gonna happen next now. You just get to go. All right what I need to do
Yeah, please me. So then your success there and we did I mean to go back not to interrupt we did
I'm very I'm very proud of the people we got to go on the journey with because
You know, there was there was a lot of people there and I got to learn a lot and it was really tough
But I I found my passion and I still remember a couple, you know
there's moments in your life to remember and and you know, I remember when when I've been there six seven months and
Leadership's a tough journey
you have to be willing to go through with it because it's you got to take everything you know and think you know about humans
and life and and leading yourself and
You pretty much get exposed very quickly you don't have any idea what you're doing
but but I realized there was a point there when I'm handing somebody an
award and I've really got to impact that had an opportunity to be a part of their life and a part of their journey and
And and that's where I knew my passions because I was way more excited
About giving this person the award that I'd ever been about getting an award myself
And I was more excited about doing that and that was that was it was a moment in my life
I'm like, all right. This is this is where we got one. So I'm I'm passionate about this now fill me in more
I'm not just here as a passenger. I'm here. All right
How can I go do this better than it's ever been done in and we got to be on that journey?
it wasn't a it was a tough time in real estate because
2007 was a great year in real estate, but then to end of 2007 2008 the market crashed when I got it
we had a huge crash and
That that got me really clear on the business spots of this and we ended up taking it
It was you know on the bottom side of Keller Williams and the market centers. That's why the opportunity was there and
Within five years. We took it from you know being you know
Within the bottom of Keller Williams to being the number one market center and and number one business in all the Keller Williams
Yeah, pretty awesome. It was it was a it was a fun ride. I got it wasn't just me
I had a whole lot of great people and I got to go on this journey with and a lot of I'm still in business
Yeah, and on the journey and a lot of those people are still on the journey
But this thing's and I got you still get to be in business with it's people have stopped off and they've all been a they've
All been a blessing in my life as a certain through. Yeah, it's about seasons
It is so so you took taking over
I'm just gonna take us kind of to current day because you you took over
the Arlington Market Center when it was a challenging time in real estate and really led through a
Lot of market disruption we have had multiple disruptions now in the industry
And they're happening and they're gonna continue to happen and I think it's not just real estate
It's every industry is being disrupted by technology and by competition and it's just a fast-moving game
And I see you definitely as a leader
Who leads well in change leads well in disruption you're thinking not just you know, three days from now
you're thinking five years from now and you're at your three steps ahead of
Everybody else and that makes you a great leader for a visionary organization. But what have you learned about?
Most people don't like change. Let's be real
Sure
So the most of the time when we're leading the people that we're leading and then the people that they're leading are gonna be adverse
To change what have you learned about helping people and organizations adapt?
To change and to do it quickly enough because I know speed is a core value in your life
Speed is a core value in your life. That is that is that is for sure
Well, I don't think anybody really likes change change always comes with you know resistance, you know by nature
Yeah, I think you're going to change is going to take resistance to happen
and so I think
you know, there's two ways and you can we could spend the next three days talking about change and and and how you take
How you take advantage of that or how you get people to change, you know, I I
Hey, I think there's only two ways people ever really change and you're either moving towards pleasure or you're moving away from pain
I mean those are the those are either moving towards what you want and the goals that you have or you're moving away from some
immediate pain that you that you have to have and go through and so anytime you're in challenging times like like
To go back and you have to define what challenging times are because I've been in the real estate business for a long time almost 30
Years, and so there's always every every every year. There's been something challenging about the year
There's been something challenging about the market even when the market was incredibly hot
It was challenging because you couldn't find homes to sell and everybody was exhausted. Everybody was exhausted
If it's if it's bad if it's changing so yeah, so there's always that piece that and I think you go back to the individual in
terms of
Which is which is about leadership because as you as you go up in leadership, there's leading individuals and there's leading companies
And those are two different two different leadership sets leading an individual and you have to actually have both
Yeah, it'd be a to lead large companies because you have to have the ability to lead individuals
You're in your inner circle
but you have to make sure you're choosing the best individuals to then help teach them the skill set and mindset to actually go lead the
large organization the more effective you are an individual leading the more successful your
organization is going to be because you're allowing people to to
Open up their potential and and and what is next and so as you're talking about change changes from an individual standpoint
You've got to understand where somebody's going and help someone understand the voice
They're going to be moving and the why that and the why the change is important and help them tap in
I'm never going to be able to tell you what to do. I'm never going to be able to force you to do something
But I can help I could help show you the way and you know
We talked a lot about leadership and what is leadership and you know
One of the things leaders do very effectively is help teach people how to think
And then so they can get what they want when they want it. That's that's that's how I was taught
Teaching you how to think so putting you in a scenario that there was my idea
To help you reach your goals, and how you need to think in order to do it. I've always been that guy who's who?
I like setting big goals. I like working with inside of
Really large goals because I'm not concerned about accomplishing it because I'm not the guy when I set them
We can't accomplish it
But I'm excited to go on the journey and that journey has to be changed
To I can't reach my goals until I become the human being
Can go accomplish it and that's all change and that's just moving towards and throughout different seasons and chapters of our lives
Yeah, you mentioned you know people move because of pain or pleasure, and I think one of the challenges
When you're a visionary leader, and you're seeing five years down the road. Let's just say for example
And we know that future pain is coming if we don't change now
But there's not always an immediate pain
Correct and so to get people on board and to change how they think about something when they're not feeling the pain
They'll change once they're completely disrupted and they have to but what you want is a competitive organization
Who's gonna make the change before they have to sure?
How do you help people think about?
Change so that they're willing to move before it becomes a painful situation
Um it's a great question and when you figure that I need you know
I don't know. I don't think anybody can do I think as the organization my job
You know when I was an agent my job was to go do transactions and and help people buy and sell real estate
And I'm looking kind of at a at a 30 day 60 day and 90 day cycle of what's happening
And how my business is working when I I became a leader
You're really looking one year down the road almost because you're looking I can't fix this month
But I can fix you know 90 days down the road and a year from now
I can fix it and you move into
To having to having to do more vision and the higher you move up the less connection you have with people and that's that's
That's the tough part of it
But what happens is you now have to be able to look one year three years and five years down the road
And how are you doing things and so it comes back to who you're in business with matters
And it really does because you can't do all of those things at the same time
It's hard to look at today
And then look to look at 30 days or 90 days one year five years down the road
You have to have people that are gonna do that you have to you have to be in business
And so you're not here to change everybody today
But you're here to build a build a place of how we see the future working out and build an organization
That's going to allow people to accomplish their goals both today
And the key is with being in business with talent is you've got to build a business big enough for the future
But you'd have plenty of opportunities
And you can continue to build the big business that way
Everybody gets to be on the level when they're ready to accomplish. What's next because you don't have you're not gonna
forcing someone to go change is a
When they don't want to is is not gonna happen. Well. It's almost violent
It's not good because I'm forcing you to do something you don't want to do
But when you're ready to change as a leader
I can help build an organization to be part of an organization that when you're ready
I'm going to have the answers for you, and I'm gonna help teaching you to think as we go
But we're in an organization because we're on a journey together. Yeah, I love that
So what do you think as far as disruption? Let's talk specifically about the real estate industry
What do you think right now is the most?
Disruptive force in the real estate industry
that
We need to be focused on I think from the many
I mean, there's a lot of things going on in a real estate industry right now
It's a it's a very interesting time because I think we're not just dealing with that with a market shift
You have a you have a consumer shift consumers all of a sudden have a lot more power and in in this world
I'm not power. It's just hey they got a lot more options out there. I mean you've had all of these new new
Models and and new ways of doing business and new ways of trying to sell homes and new ways of attracting customers
I mean the technology business alone has spent tens of billions of dollars
In this space just to use the word disruption and so and and to disrupt the industry
I think you know you got the technology side of this, but no matter what's happened
And how much money has been spent in that space?
People are still using agents at or at a higher rate than they ever have so what we do as an
Organization is still very important what our job is and so as you look down the down the road to say all right
What is the biggest challenge with and and the biggest opportunity?
Well you have a consumer shift you have a market shift
And you have kind of an industry shift all kind of happening at the same time and that what that allows is
The industry is is adapting the industry is changing
Consumers are saying I want something different, and so I think the biggest biggest
Obstacle or fear as we move down
Our industry of what's going to happen has to do with us the real estate agents are we as the real estate
Professionals willing to understand where we are in our position at this point in time
And are we willing to actually adapt and change
Into the future are we willing to become what is necessary are we willing to move from a transactional type agent to that true?
consumer
Advocate to that to that that person that's really going to offer
Something in a very different way not just opening a door not just selling a house
But but now you get the opportunity to be able to be a part of you know an entire
Home journey
With their people being able to help being able to help the industry in terms of you know
Not just this home, but help them with mortgage help them on the title side help them with interest help them making the best
Choices and helping advise them in the future not just on how to get into the house
But what is the best strategy and plan for the rest of their life and for the rest of their rest of their journey?
Throughout their throughout the home buying process, you know
The they've said and and I think you have to worry about this look at this a little bit of what is the behaviors of?
The buyer right now is it's home ownership still important has a whole ownership gotten out of reach for people
You know where where does this in in the journey in the process and so what we do as?
as
Is important what we do is helping them to obtain that but also being that conduit to help them get there
And to help build the future for that. Yeah
Well, I think that I think it was seven years was the average length of time that homeowners are on home
I think it's up to ten now. Mm-hmm. So people are staying longer, which means the
Transactional cycle is longer
Well, I also think the average person 24 to 34. I think 79% Let's raise that to 80%
People are living at home with their with their with their family, right?
That is a that is a that is an amazing stat and is an amazing style
And so and there's there's lots of there's lots of conversation around that but that's an amazing stat
Yeah, the game is is definitely changing
So we had been focus groups at the Dallas Preston Road this morning and they're happening all over the go network for a new
platform that we've
Will releasing to our agents for our off-market solution private collection and then also a whole platform for them to negotiate offers in a completely
Different and disruptive way, right?
And what I love is so we we had three focus groups this morning and it was top agents at all of those groups
But it was it was fun to see
The ones that are so willing to jump on board quickly to change
And to do things differently and started thinking strategically not just okay. How do I have this and use it?
But how do I take this as a competitive tool think strategically and go out there and dominate in the market, right?
And when you get into business with those kind of people that want to think strategically and competitively
Then the disruption becomes fun because then you get to be the disruptor. Absolutely. Absolutely
Well, you find that you find the group and that is when it gets fun
Is this when you is is as you go through the process? There's always goods and bads
There's always hard times and and really great times
You're at that spot to where the people start to show up when you're actually showing you know
When you're actually doing the right things people who want to go on the journey with you and those are the ones that start bringing
You energy because they're like, all right, there is a different way. That's when that's when that's when culture is is kind of rebuilt
That's when energy starts to come and you start to have creativity that now that now is
circling around
An idea and and and the belief and then once that happens now you start to create momentum in the organization
You start to create momentum with inside of the people as you have success and as things go
And that's how you begin to change the market. That's how you do something. That's never been done before
well, and I I love that you said the word culture because I think sometimes we think of culture as warm fuzzy community and you
Chicken noodle soup community and all of that's good
Culture absolutely that is culture, but there's also a result. That's right. It's right, but there's also a culture of productivity
There's a culture of disruption. There's a culture of competition
and that is that is something to that when when you can have the
tools and you're creating the culture through that by attracting the right kind of people that want to grow and
Do something different and think differently. It does create a certain kind of culture to within your organization
100% I mean
Organization to some extent always looks like his leader
Yeah
After after a while the organization always starts to look like its leader and takes on the beliefs of its leadership culture
Becomes the important part because you know, there's there's culture is always changing
There is a there is a belief system in the culture
But you have new human beings every time 10 to 15 people come into your organization, right?
It changes the culture of your organization depending upon the size
You're a five-person organization one person coming in changes the organization
Your job as the leader to help hold that culture is this person coming in?
only to fit the standards of your expectations of how you treat and how you
How we behave around each other and that's that's become a that's become a tough thing over the last several years
Just in terms of how you how you lead through that and and what is leadership?
It's it's you know, it's not been easy to be a leader for the last for never easy, but it's been super tough
you know for the last five or six years just to just to understand and navigate the world as it's gone through to help to
Understand and so but a culture, you know from I've made with culture
It always starts with you know, you can't be able to make a living. This is still a business
You got to help you know, we're we are here to help our agents become the best version of their self and reach their goals
We're here to work with help help people
Through home ownership to the biggest transaction of their life most people and that's a that's an honor
It's an honor. We get to do this every day
And so, you know the culture of how you build things and who you attract
Begins with who you are and how you believe but then the people that show up around you are what's going to attract your tribe
And and and what kind of what kind of what what journey you're gonna be on where you're going
And that's why we talked so much about vision and why as a leader
Laying out a vision for today and into the future is what's going to attract the people on the journey and then in many ways
Helps to shape the culture. Yeah culture gets really wonky when you stop growing
You have a whole bunch of people to just kind of slam into you right then you may have had a great culture
but because the
organization stopped moving
Everyone slammed into it. There's no more opportunity for people
So now all of a sudden even though they're same great people the culture now feels different. Mm-hmm
and so
Culture has to be a culture of growth and productivity, but then in the people you are is how you treat each other
Yeah after those things out vision attracts culture retains. Absolutely. Okay, so top three
character traits for
realtors and leaders of
The future. Mm-hmm. What are the top three? Who do we have to become the top three things?
For success as we navigate let's say just say the next five to ten years. Yeah, the next five is in years
I think you know, I think I think in our organization five to ten years from now
On our organization just in our industry
it's it's it's currently being fought for and and and trying to figure out, you know, what the future is going to be and
Best way to predict the future
where I draw my energy
that's why to predict the future is to go create it and and the vision and people to kind of help go create what the
future is going to be so but and
Then your question to your question exactly was what traits do people need to have into the future?
Well, you have AI you have technology
You have all of these things that are going that are that are coming into our industry. We've been in a very you know
Industry that's been very aggressive and it's used aggression in terms of its growth. And so I'm not sure how much
that character trait
Follows through into the future because now it's going to be how you're how you're giving the best service
But it's service through AI third service through all of these tools not to replace what you're doing
but to come alongside you with inside of this and so there's a certain amount of understanding because
Biggest challenge right now is understanding how to communicate as as a leader and as a professional
Because the leaders you have to communicate you got baby boomers. You got Gen Xers. You got Millennials
You got Gen Z's and you got all of these different
We're in that we're in that world where everybody communicates very differently and has different needs
And so how you're able to how you're able to either get really clear on who you're working with and what you want
Or
That is one that is one solution
second solution then is how you're able to communicate and have different ways of communicating through multiple different levels of
Of age and and multiple different levels and so the ability to communicate at a high level the ability to
work with inside of the system because I think the rugged individualist that we have all become is going to be
It's gonna be tough in the future because so it'll win to go
There's so many outside forces to go and say hey we can go win
Against the world is a tough thing. Yeah sounds good, but it's it's that's that's a that's a tough
That's a tough task right now
so it's who you're going to be on this journey with and and who you're gonna be working with so so that ability ability from
a partnership to bring energy is going to be important and
Then be able to be adaptable. We talked about speed speed is speed is a hundred percent because
What's what's interesting about this world what's interesting about our industry right now is it doesn't matter whether you've done this for for
30 days
30 months or 30 years
It's all new there are new skill sets
It is changing and so either you're going to adapt to the future and adapt to what's happened
Or you're truly gonna be left behind and and and it's starting to speed up quicker and quicker
It's gonna be slowly than suddenly, but that is we're currently in those decisions right now where we're going
So it doesn't matter how long you have been doing this industry
Starting starting new in this industry
you have plenty of
Opportunity as that even over the people that have been doing it for years because things are being done differently
And that's what we're getting to rewrite the rules and rewrite how things are done, and that's exciting
Okay, so maybe that's the answer to my next question, but let's kind of wrap with this
What gives you the most amount of hope for the future?
That's a great question, and so what gives me the most amount of hope for the future. I think I think I
Had to decide
Four or five years ago actually I had to decide. I'm like all right
What do I want to be when I grow up?
What do I want to you know do I have enough energy to change as you start seeing the world changing and and and?
Everything changing
What is it that I want to be in and and do I have enough energy to go to go be a part of this?
Can I just can I had to make the decision do I have to go show up and be able to show up with inside of
this business and have enough energy to help create and fulfill the promises of all the people that we're in business with and
Help create the promises of this business, and what's new and and be able to go change
And so you know obviously we made I made the decision yes because that is what brings energy to me
There is a there is a change and an opportunity that is that is that is here
we get to decide if our profession in our industry is going to be valid into the future and is going to be the
leader and and lead into the future with
homeowners and whole ownership and what what role we're going to play and so I've always gotten energy about
Getting to recreate things I always think in my own head is you know what do I have to be to be the best in?
The world what is it?
What is that you know what whatever those things are and those are always my standards that I that I step out with but you know
Going and actually changing the industry and being a part of this change
And being a part of the future of this industry and how the real estate agent of the future is actually
Going to be the most essential part of the transaction and the most essential part of someone's life
Just like you would have you're going to have your doctors
You're going to have your financial planners, and you're going to have your real estate
Professionals that are helping to maintain manage everything about your home including your wealth and
There's going to be a large group of people that come on that journey with us the most exciting part is I get to get
It's not individual anymore
Yeah
It's it's definitely going to be a team sport and how we're gonna win together in the future and so that's that's the that's what?
Opportunity is that all of our feet right now with inside of this industry and industry is very much pushing in
Every aspect in this industry
It's it's changing and it's and you can feel it kind of breaking apart and recreating into into something better
And so we get to be a part of that now we get to be a part of that
And that's what gets me excited because it's about creating opportunities is back when I was first team leader for me
If when I was first team leader, I got excited and someone else had success
I got excited more over someone else's success in creating that then than anything else and we're at that moment again in history
To get to go recreate that and and recreate where we are. I'm incredibly proud to be part of the go Network
I'm incredibly proud to be in business with you
And I believe we are doing some cutting-edge things and some exciting things some disruptive things
I'm proud of the people we have on our bus that we get to do this journey with no doubt
Absolutely, and like you said it is all about who we get to become in the journey, so
Thank you. Thank you for joining me today everybody happy to be here
Thank you for listening
And as always when you invest in your growth every single day it will yield you great returns
Be sure to subscribe to YouTube for me and drop smoky lots of love in the comments
Thank you always for being an upsider and we'll see you next week
