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Mackenzie Rathbun 0:01
Welcome to far louder, your official Association podcast. our listeners, welcome to this week’s episode of the far louder podcast. Today we’re talking about dual career agents, what it takes to be a successful agent, and maybe some of the different paths that are open to you. So I just want to welcome our panelists and let you get to know them a little bit. So how are you got today, guys? Good. Thank you. Wonderful. Fantastic. We’re glad to have you. Hey, Tamika, would you mind introducing yourself a little bit and telling us about who you are, what you do and how long you’ve been in the industry.

Tamika 0:38
My name is Tamika Jackson. I am an educator of 28 years, as well as a realtor of three years. Six months. I’m with CTI real estate. And Fredericksburg, Virginia is our main corporate office. Awesome.

Mackenzie Rathbun 0:59
What about you, Bobby?

Bobbie 1:01
Money. Let’s see I with weikert in Fredericksburg. And I’ve been I did this back when the recession happened and I had to get to work. So I stopped. And then I’ve been back in it now for since 2019. So a little over two, almost two years. Um What else did you want to know? Now, sorry. What I do now is I’m a paralegal and I’ve been a paralegal for almost 20 years and doing kind of real it’s real estate, Fannie and Hud insured loans, multifamily loans for commercial, where we can what we consider commercials, apartment buildings, nursing homes, seniors, living hospitals, things like that. So I’ve been doing that revealing title and survey and loan docs.

Mackenzie Rathbun 1:57
So you got a good handle on the legal side of the real estate.

Bobbie 2:02
I do it’s fun to realize that it transfer that I understand what a deeded mortgage. So absolutely. All survey are so yeah, it helps a lot. All right. Well, what about you, Frank? What do you do?

Frank 2:17
Okay, well, I’m a real estate agent. Oh, I with I’m with XP Realty. I’ve been with the XP since just January of this year. I’ve been a real estate agent for about four years, I was with a different firm, which will remain nameless. I’m not with them anymore. I don’t want to like make it sound like they’re not good. They’re good. Just focus on with now are a better fit for me. I I’ve actually relocated to this area from North Carolina by Fort Bragg North Carolina. I was in the army for 21 years. I retired in early 2018. And I went right into doing real estate. I Love New real estate. But I’m also a clear defense contractor. Like a lot of folks in Northern Virginia. Oh, I I’m able to do both. I’ve been doing that for about three years, almost ever do real estate for about almost four years. And yeah. Did I answer your questions?

Mackenzie Rathbun 3:22
You did? Absolutely. Thanks. Well, now that we know a little bit about who our panelists are, I’ve got some great questions for them today that will hopefully help other members as they’re going through their journey deciding if they want to be full time agents, dual career agents, or what other options are available. So what made you get into real estate to start with? Bobby, what it made you get into real estate I

Bobbie 3:49
did it. I had done this before in 2008. I believe it was you know, and I was doing the same job I’m doing now full time. And then I got laid off. And so I started I was like well, let me try real estate. And then I the real estate wasn’t working so well. So I was like let me go back to work. cited ago got to work but this time around. I just been doing what I’ve been doing so long and I’m just I’ve gotten to a place where there really is no upward mobility. I’m a paralegal. So I could either go to law school with become an attorney. And I’ve worked with enough of them no offense attorneys, I don’t want to be one. And then I realized this just the flexibility just the way I think about it now versus how I did before I didn’t think of it as my own business. And now I realize it’s my own business. I’m an independent contractor, I’m my own. I’m an entrepreneur is my own business is for me to make or break it and I like that part of it. Just Being responsible for me and accountable to me. It’s mine. So I and I really appreciate that part more than I did the first time around.

Mackenzie Rathbun 5:12
That’s awesome. So what about you, Frank? What made you jump into real estate?

Frank 5:17
Oh, wow. Well, first, I probably should mention my wife, cuz she’s the real estate agent. And she log in to me. And she’s, if she’s listening, she’s better at it than I am. But we complement each other. We have different personnel. She’s actually in North Carolina. So I’ve, I want to call it a military geographic bachelor, the wife, they love North Carolina so much, and with COVID and all that it’s just been a little slow going. But I’m also licensed in North Carolina, and she’s in North Carolina. So, um, well, that’s a whole nother thing. You asked me what brought me into it. So I’m hearing Hearst stories when I was active duty military as far as stuff she dealt with, you know, it, I kind of learned from her, which helped me. And I also felt like, wow, this is kind of cool. You know, I also enjoyed some of the stories that she was telling me. And when I was getting out of the military, unfortunately, I had some medical things that had happened, I had to have major back surgery. And even after 21 years, the Uncle Sam kind of said, Hey, thanks for your service, it’s time to go next. So I was originally going to go right into defense contract work. But the military was gracious enough to allow me to do my real estate pre licensing stuff in North Carolina, when I’m still active duty. So I was like, You know what, I’m going to give this to go see how it works. I got into it. And I was very fortunate, just with kind of like, folks that I knew from when I was a military, I got listed right away, I got business right away. And I love the entrepreneur aspect of it. When I was in the army, I would say I was part of the biggest team in the free world, which is awesome. Not the role of being on a team. Some people, even the real estate are all about teams. I’m a nomad. I like working for me, that aspect of working for me. And whether I succeed or fail, I have no one but the person in front of me that I seen a mirror to, to to Claude, you know, to basically say, this is why and not that you go out and alone because even when you’re single agent, there’s a lot of enablers, you got to have it. If you’re doing listing to have a good have a great photographer, a great loan officers that you can count on, you have to have a great brokerage, you have to have other folks to go back and forth and say, Hey, what do you think about this and run ideas off of, but basically the big thing that turned me on to real estate, and what I love about it is the aspect of that entrepreneur stuff. And also it keeps me connected to folks that I knew within the military and within the government without having to be in the military. So lots of awesome things have been that’s probably the big thing is being able to have my own business.

Mackenzie Rathbun 8:22
Awesome. And sumiko. What about you? What’s your experience?

Tamika 8:27
So with my background, as an educator, I’m always in teacher mode. So as a realtor, I have the opportunity to transition my skills as an educator over into educating families and individuals, educating business leaders and or individuals who are looking to do investments. So the structure, the time on task, the deadlines, being personable, all of those things that I do as an educator, just seem to smoothly transfer over and mesh well with being a realtor. So I know at some point, I’m going to transition out of education. As I said, this is my 28th year. So I will be retiring soon. And I wanted to make sure that I could still support communities, support families through the educational process and help them see ownership because many people don’t know the process to be a homeowner. Some people don’t know the process to be a to do a lease to be a renter. So it takes a lot of patience. And that educational aspect that I bring to it, I think makes me stand out as a realtor.

Mackenzie Rathbun 9:59
Awesome. Well, I’m so glad to have you all be part of it, there’s clearly a lot of reasons for people to be in real estate. And I love seeing the I want to own my own business, I want to help people, I want to work with my family, or I just like having something to talk about at the dinner table. Because Personally, I can relate to just wanting to be able to keep up with the conversation at the dinner table. So those are all amazing reasons. And it’s great to see how many different experiences can lead you down a similar path? So how do you manage to basically full time jobs? I mean, being a realtor doesn’t really stop just because you’re at work nine to five, or whatever your schedule is, it still keeps happening, right? So, Mike, we’ll start with you this time, how do you kind of handle having to two things that you’re juggling?

Frank 10:56
Oh, wow, that’s a good, that’s a great question. And I struggle with that. Here or there, it’s just, you know, I would say, I’m very fortunate that the, the position I worked with, as far as my contracting job has flexibility. That’s that if it didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to, or this would just be a side hustle. I don’t consider it a side hustle, I consider a career. It’s, it’s tough. So I mean, some things go like maybe I don’t sleep as much as I would like to. I, you know, I have to be strict with my schedule. And a lot certain times that no matter what this is what I’m going to call my leads my product, you know, prospects, this is what I’m going to check on existing transactions. And I will tell you last year with COVID, was actually kind of helpful in my aspect, because I even had more flexibility in my schedule. So I was able to kind of do certain things and and do the some of the the contract work at different hours, it’s so much not the case now. But it’s just you know, prioritizing schedule, having flexibility. And then also working with clients that I met best with as that listings help. Because listings, once you get a listing, once you do all the work, once you do all the pre marketing, you get everything out there, you don’t have to be on like a beck and call with a buyer having to work everywhere and move around with buyer. So with buyer clients, and I do work with them. But I make it clear as mud right from the beginning that I do have this other career, Monday through Friday, during these hours, I’m hard to get ahold of I work in one of those buildings where I can’t bring my phone in, you know what I mean? It’s a basement of some government building. And during that time, I’m I’m not very reachable. And I’m very transparent about that. So with with buyer clients, I, I don’t want to say I’m selected, they have to be selective of me, we have to work together. And they have to understand that this is a situation. And then the other ones, I still work with them and I do a referral business. So I help qualify them, I help understand what their needs or requirements are. And if I’m not the best fit for them, I get them in contact with with an agent that usually in my brokerage that can work with that. So it’s just having to be creative and work with the time that that now I have. And and someone else mentioned as far as well, they’re not going to I forgot which one of the ladies had mentioned that you’re not going to do the career that you’re in forever. I feel the same way with this. I love doing my clear defense contract work. And hopefully my employer doesn’t hear this podcast right now. I’m not putting in my two weeks notice tomorrow, but my eventual plan is I want to do this all the time and almost do a trade off and then do the other stuff, maybe on a on a 1099 consultant part very part time basis. But I’m not there right now. It’s a work in progress.

Mackenzie Rathbun 14:27
Absolutely. Very cool. Very, very forward thinking really is that eventually building up to making that transition to Mika, you had mentioned that before about looking to make that transition in the future. So it seems like everybody’s kind of like I want to run my own business. I want to take ownership of it and I love I love that about the realtor spirit overall is the I’m taking control of my career and I’m going to make it work. That is just the best ad attune. So, to Mika, how are you managing being a teacher right now along with doing the real estate,

Tamika 15:09
I definitely having a schedule, knowing when I’m wanting to return calls when I’m going to answer emails. And similar to freight, once that listing goes alive, it takes on a life of its own. So I am just, I then become the file manager making sure that I’m responding to interested buyers responding to agents timely, everything must be done in decency in order and one time, preferably before time, making sure that all documents are signed and to whom they need to go to making sure that everyone’s doing their part within their timeframe. And in regards to managing my buyers, individuals that are buyers, similar to Frank, on my bio, it’s they said, I’m an educator. So no matter what part of Virginia I’m working in on that particular day that I that I’m supporting that particular buyer, they understand these are the hours that I can take you to see homes. And these are the hours that I can not take you to see homes, they are very respectful of that. And if there’s something that I need to do, I have individuals that are other agents that are licensed that my office that are very supportive. So if by chance, there’s a home inspection or a bill, a home needs to be open, I can contact one of the other 50 plus agents at our office that are willing to assist if I have to show a rental, and I cannot make a two o’clock rental showing, I’ll refer it over to another agent that can take care of that particular client. But it’s very, very important to keep to your deadlines. keep in contact with all parties on the buyer side and the listing side. And in order to make sure that everybody’s part is completed on time.

Mackenzie Rathbun 17:07
Oh, awesome. So yeah, staying on top of those files, making sure you have a schedule, I think I think you guys can all kind of see that where I live and die by my schedule. If I don’t check the calendar in the morning, I I’m gonna die I can’t, or I’m just gonna have stuff thrown at me throughout the day. So I totally can see how that would be important, especially in a dual career situation. So Bobby, you also are doing the dual career what what have you found so far, as far as the best way to manage your time.

Bobbie 17:41
So for me, it’s been a process. Because I in the beginning, I was getting up, I go to work early, early hours, seven to 330. So I will get up in the morning at five and do real estate stuff, or prepare in the morning to do something later in the evening. And that after about maybe a year I was just like, whoa, I’m gonna burn myself out way too fast. So I’ve kind of adjust Well, COVID helped a lot. I hate to say that, oh, that’s terrible. But I ended up being able to work from home every day, instead of going to Georgetown. So it was it was a blessing in disguise I hate to say. So it helped in that wasn’t necessarily getting I changed my schedule where I work more at night. Because my commute is a minute now versus an hour to two hours. So I was worth doing more stuff at night. But I’ve also had to learn to set boundaries with my clients, because I’m the one that I see it. I’m picking up my phone and text them back. And if you know anything about law firms, we build paralegals also bill, I’m supposed to be billing hours and some days I look up and be like, Oh my gosh, I’ve been on a text for an hour about a real estate thing. And I got a bill my time. So I ended up having to, like I take, we can log off, I wouldn’t do it on their time, but I have to Bill my time. So I’d have to go back in and every day I’ve got to build seven and a half hours. So after work, I’m doing more work instead of real estate work. So it’s been like a process for me to figure it all out. Because eventually I do not want to do what I’m doing full time what I’m doing during the day I want to be done. And like Frank, I hope nobody in my world is listening to this. I want to be done and sued and do real estate full time because until I enjoy it. And so the biggest thing is just like set a process to me and setting boundaries when my clients are not even setting boundaries, just letting them know. I can’t show you anything until after 330 if it’s close to my home, I will take Take them out on my lunch break. And that’s worth great, which I would never have been able to do that if I was at work every day. So that has helped a lot. So it’s been a process on the calendar. I’m still old school, I have a paper calendar. And I do have my cell phone where I put in my showings and things tend to be working with a lot more buyers and renters right now. listings of course, yes, they’re lovely, cuz you put it on and you just watch everything come in. So, yeah, I would definitely say for any dual career agent, it’s a process, do not beat yourself up, you’ll figure out what works for you. Like I said, in the beginning, I was in the morning, because I’m a morning person now. It’s in the evening. And I do do a lot of the company wide. What I’ve tried to do, they have my prospecting sessions. And I try to jump on those because it’s a set time. And it makes me be disciplined to do it by attending. Whereas if I kind of lean on myself, I may not do it.

Mackenzie Rathbun 21:10
Absolutely. And you bring up a great point that, you know, there was definitely a lot of negatives during COVID. But if we really hang on to some of the positives, being a realtor, there were some new tools that people got trained on that made being a realtor virtually a little bit more easy. There. And then our other jobs, while we’re trying to figure out how to balance those, there was more options there as well, your trainings, I bet some of your trainings were probably virtual as well. So you didn’t have to go to the office, right? So seeing some of these changes might even make it easier for future people getting into the industry to do that. And then all of you have different time constraints. But the great thing about being a real estate agent is that there is a client for every realtor and a realtor for every client. Bobby, you were a morning person for a while. And I bet there were people who were like, Yes, I have to work the same hours, I can’t, I can’t go and see a house in the afternoon I’m working. So it’s just great to see how everybody’s different styles really end up working together, and how you’re still able to find clients because you’re attracting people who are going through some very similar things. So with that said, Are there any tools that you found that helps keep you organized, whether before COVID during COVID? Or recently timika? Do you have any new tools that you found.

Tamika 22:42
So I use my calendar, I have two calendars, and two phones. So I use the timer, the alarm. And I have the date set. So for example, I literally will have phone conversations on my ride home. So it’ll say three o’clock, is I check in once a week. So my prospects, people that are still on the fence in regards to their financing and regards their eligibility, I touch base with those people. So four o’clock, I’m calling this person for 15. I’m calling that person and my alarm actually rings for it, then it’s gonna say call McKenzie four o’clock call Bobby 415. Call Frank 430. So that keeps me touching base with them once a week. And I stretch them out from Monday to Sunday. Those are the people that are still trying to get themselves ready to buy. If they’re if you’re out of sight, you’re out of their mind. And you don’t want them to forget about you because then you’ll be reading their Facebook posts with their keys to the house. And you’re like, Okay, when we do that. So you don’t want your clientele to forget that you are out there. And you want to show them your worth. You want to keep in touch with them. walk them through, guide them through answer any questions that they have if they’re uncertain about something. Now in regards to active files, it’s every day as needed every day as needed, either by telephone or by email, preferably by email, because it’s a better way to track and have evidence of when this was said when this was done. When will this be done. And you have a chance to follow up on Gmail, they have this little feature and it pops up and it’ll say three days ago, four days ago. So it’s sort of kind of like Google sort of minds your business. And it’ll say this question didn’t get answered it. But I don’t tell it to do that. I don’t know why Google is so in your business like that. But I will say this question from three days ago didn’t get answered. So it’s really, really important to keep in touch with and keep strong relations with your clients that are buyers, whether they’re ready, or whether they’re currently in motion.

Mackenzie Rathbun 25:15
Absolutely. Those are I really like that Google one where it just kind of automatically taught. That’s cool.

Tamika 25:22
That’s very cool. And you get to learn which clients you cannot call while you’re driving. So there’s those clients that I’ll do a call when I’m in front of the computer. So that way, if they want to talk about properties, if they want to talk about areas, then I can pull up those areas, I can pull up those properties, they need more quiet time. Absolutely. Or more quiet, intimate time.

Mackenzie Rathbun 25:49
All right, that’s very cool. And just kind of keeping in mind who does what scheduling it out. Love it. So Bobby would have you found any new tools recently,

Bobbie 25:58
um, the main thing well, with weicker they gave us it’s a CRM. And it’s cavey core, my weicker, and so you put everything in there, and I like that it gives us It gives us notices, or it says, here’s what you should do this week. And then it helps if you can set people up on campaigns. So if I have my new buyers who kind of like to example is still in the process of doing getting their finances together, you can set them up on a buyer campaign where they get something like automated and I don’t have to do it. And but I do, excuse me, call the ones that that are working on their finances just to check in and say, Hey, how’s it going? What’s Where are you? But it definitely that that CRM the Wagoner’s is a lifesaver. And I set up new clients, as soon as they get in, you just put it in there and set them on a campaign. And off he goes. And then I use my calendar and my phone to keep up with the showings, things like that. So that’s pretty much the basis for what I use right now.

Mackenzie Rathbun 27:19
Yeah, you can’t underestimate a good CRM, something where you set it up these mailing lists, it just the automation is your best friend. You know, I saw a really cool tool once where if you get a text message, but you’re in a meeting or you’re not available, it automatically takes them back. Because sometimes time is the key, like the quicker you get back to people, the more often you’re on top of their consciousness, it’s just it just streamlines everything.

Tamika 27:46
So right what am i less Oh, no, go for it. What’s up Mackenzie, I also like with the MLS system, when you do set them up on the listings, they can click love, or they can click like and they or they can click the trash can they can send notes to you. So that gives you a better clue as as to what types of homes that they’re looking for. We can tailor it based on the descriptors that they give us. But, and one of the I’m in three different MLS is so I’m in bright MLS which is the Northern Virginia down in Caroline County, I’m in CVR MLS, which is Caroline County Down in North Carolina. And I also do Williamsburg over to the eastern shore Peninsula in Virginia Beach. So in that brain area in the other MLS area, you get alerts that lets you know that they opened up that they looked at their list, whereas with bright you have to go to the list to see when they visited their portal. So I like that feature.

Mackenzie Rathbun 28:49
Yeah, that’s very cool. Being able to keep track of what when why that’s that is a good key to help save everybody a little bit of time. So Frank, do you have any tools that you found that really just help streamline your business?

Frank 29:05
Yeah, I like like Bobby, we have a CRM. My brokerage also has XP, they have cavey core. And it’s a pretty good CRM. I mean, I think any CRM is as good as or useful as the person behind it using it, you know, like any tool, you know what I mean? But I think it’s that’s critical because it syncs with, with my Google Contacts with my phone with my calendar. I tried to make that as efficient as possible. And then I would say also, I use a an auto dialer, I use Mojo. And there’s other kinds that are out there and I use red X to kind of keep in touch with with fizz. getting creative because this current market market such a seller’s market, it’s crazy. I mean, inventory is gone like that. So that’s that’s an issue to some people that could call it a problem. But then you have to find creative solutions. So you have to find things that aren’t on the market yet, you have to look at maybe expired, that expired two years ago, the four COVID. And maybe they’re, they’ve been kicking the tires, and they haven’t moved yet. So it’s just you have to be proactive, and you have to jump on it. And I’ve been doing that. And that’s actually how I’ve been getting stuff using using those tools. And then I would add be remissed. if that’s a word, I guess, if I didn’t say education, I know to make I think your educator. Education is like key, the day we stop learning, we need to stop doing what we’re doing. So I’ve been taking advantage of the opportunity at some of the flexibility that I’ve had to just kind of do self improvement I am using and I know there’s other things out there, I use C sharp to do not just my C but to do other courses like I’ve been in MRP the military relocation professional, I mean, that was kind of give me I had to do that being retired military. But I recently did the price pricing strategy advisor certification that got that taking the the CMA course, there’s a wealth of information out there to, you know, to like different resources that we can improve our knowledge. And, you know, I’ve been kind of trying to do that too. And I think, plus, I just like to find stuff out. So

Mackenzie Rathbun 31:36
absolutely. And you bring up a great point. Obviously, we have far Academy at far. But if there’s ever a certification that we’re not offering anytime soon, we work with all the other associations, especially now that there’s a virtual, where if you really want that certification, we can probably find you a class to get you in. So that you can get those certifications when you want them. And we love helping agents get those.

Frank 32:02
And I think that’s an awesome thing that that I’ve seen, like I’m trying to like it COVID such thinks it’s it totally stinks that we had COVID and all that. But it’s like, okay, turning lemons into lemonade and looking at it trying to keep a positive attitude. We’ve also maybe re rethought how we’ve done day to day things. And one of those is spin education, and the fact that like luck, and I don’t know how Virginia has been but in North Carolina, where I was a broker for a while before I came here, it used to be you having to do all yourself in person. And now they’re saying, you know what, we might keep doing this zoom stuff, just make sure you’re here, the cameras on you live and you’re paying attention. That is awesome, because it allows us flexibility. So I think that’s been definitely helpful. And especially when we have other stuff

Bobbie 32:58
that we have going on. I was gonna say I’m hoping that far and the other places continue with the zoom training, virtual training, because it’s been a blessing, or just excellent for me to be able to do things that I could not do otherwise, because I can’t take off like that, you know, even my broker did really well, that’s doing sales calls, or our sales meetings on zoom, so that we can attend.

Mackenzie Rathbun 33:26
Yeah, absolutely. And of course, actually going forward, we do have plans to offer some classes fully virtually in some classes in person. Because we have seen that people appreciate that flexibility. There are people I learned a lot better in the classroom, not even gonna lie. I’m in the front seat, because otherwise I might just, I don’t know, I’m floating off somewhere thinking about all the other stuff I got to do for the day. But the virtual aspect of it just works for people because we’re talking about real people with real lives. And it’s just much easier. Oh, I’ve got it on my phone. I can sit here and do this and watch this. But also keep an eye on my kid because they somebody has to watch them. Right. You know, we’ve loved seeing that. And I love to hear your feedback to that that that’s working for you guys. Before we wrap up, I do have one last question and that is Do you have any advice for new agents who might be thinking about jumping into real estate while still working in their current career field? Bobby,

Bobbie 34:38
I would say first and foremost, save money for your fees. It was it’s a bit of a shocker when you first initially sign up How much did you have to pay upfront and I was saving my bonuses for work to help pay for my fees. The other thing is have grace for yourself, you’re doing two really two full time jobs you really are, whether you think you are or not you are. And you have to have grace and not beat yourself up and not compare yourself to other agents. I say I look at what other agents are doing, because there’s no use in recreating the will. But I don’t compare myself to other agents, because then I’ll, you know, like, everybody’s life is different. You just never know, you can’t compare yourself to a full time agent or even another dual career agent, you just can’t. And so that would be the one the two things and the third is to definitely talk to would help a couple of things helped me and my broker, does that talk to the top producer? People always think that in real estate is cutthroat. Nobody wants to share their ideas are what they do. That’s not true. A lot of them love sharing what they do. So I’ve talked to the top producers in my offices, and and even ones that aren’t just to see what do they do? How are they doing something? And having a brokerage with a mentor program, I have to say I have the best mentor, she has been amazing. And yeah, she do a split, or for the first couple of transactions, they get a piece of pie, which is fine. Because she was worth her weight in gold. More than she was absolutely amazing. Nine o’clock at night. I’m like, I don’t know what, you know, I don’t know how to look at this. I don’t know what this this, you know, I have all these offers, what am I supposed to do? And she’s just, it’s okay. So that was one of the best things is having a mentor, which has made a difference. And the first time around when I did this, I did not have a mentor, I just was thrown into the war. And it was, you know, barely swimming. This time around having a mentor was the best thing ever the best.

Mackenzie Rathbun 36:58
So awesome. What about you, Frank? Do you have any advice for new agent hopping into real estate?

Frank 37:05
Yeah, Mackenzie, the first thing I would say is ask yourself why you want to hop into real estate? And what do you want to achieve? Because there’s really two types of I think, maybe we’ll I guess we’ll call dual career real estate agents, there’s those that want to maintain that and stay that and there’s nothing wrong with that they want to do real estate, that’s your side hustle, they’ve got their soI, they’re gonna do a couple deals here or there, they might want to do their own personal transactions, and keep their career alive, which is totally cool. Nothing wrong with that. Um, and then the other thing is, do you want to transition? I would say, once you know the answer that question, then the next thing is, find someone that, um, that that, you know, that has been had that has done that, you know, that is doing it, whether it’s, whether they’re doing a side hustle, or whether they’re doing more real estate, and, and, and talk to them, seek them out, seek, you know, like, Bobby said, We don’t hold information back. We don’t hold stuff back. Like, I’m open book, if someone has a question, I’ve helped a couple people come in, actually come into the brokerage that I’m with, they’ve got a great mentorship program. And you know, they’ve been doing this virtual stuff before COVID happened, which is something I love, but it’s it’s that that we want to share information to help each other out. Because, I mean, that’s the next referral partner we might have. That’s someone that we could work with, you know, so find, seek out that information. And, and don’t go at it alone and don’t think you have to go at it alone. That’s, that’s somewhere where I think I struggled with in the beginning. Because I’m so strong willed. Sometimes I was like, I’m gonna do this my way I’m gonna just do this. And, and sometimes failing is good because we learn from that as long as we don’t continue to do the same thing over again. That’s that’s how we that’s how we get better by I would say seek out that information. Find someone that’s done it. Like someone said, Don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to.

Mackenzie Rathbun 39:14
Absolutely awesome. And to make a Do you have any advice for new agents?

Tamika 39:20
Be willing to listen, be very attentive, take notes, and feel free to ask the question three different ways. Because I’ll get an answer. And I’ll say and I’ll reword it, and I’ll say, Well, what I hear you saying is, and I don’t mind re asking another agent a question, to make sure that I’m understanding I don’t mind re asking the buyer or the or the client questions because you want to make sure that you have a clear understanding and be willing to ask Ask questions when you’re not certain of something to make sure that you’re doing the best you can for your clients, whether they be on the buyer side, or, or the listing side, making sure that you take time for yourself care. setting boundaries, so that you’re not burning yourself on both ends of the candle. And just set a small goal for yourself each month, just do just do a little at a time. there’ll still be more days to work on more things, but just set time for yourself. Do a little at a time, be willing to learn be a sponsor. Be willing to have a few bumps and bruises along the way. But let those bumps and bruises lead you to greater success.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai