Burnout Created Breakthrough! Building a Life First Business with Stacie Staub

[0:00] Welcome back to the REI agent. My guest today is Stacey Staub, founder and CEO of Weston Maine Homes, an independent agent first brokerage she built to over 400 agents in the Denver market and one of Inc.’s 500’s fastest growing companies. Stacey built her company around culture and agent success at a time when the industry was consolidating around mega brands. And she is proof that putting people before production is a real estate business strategy. Stacey, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me and whoever wrote that intro. Thank you. Yes, it’s great. Yeah, no, we’re so excited to have you. And man, Denver is a market I would love to get into. Maybe I’ll be your 401st agent. How about that? Yeah, we’ve got room for you. No, it’s a beautiful area. And there’s been a few places that I visited for conferences for whatever. Most recently I went there to go skiing that I’ve just been like, man, I could, I could be here. I was, I was over there for at the time of the unfortunate Broncos loss, but it was fun to be there. Yeah. We’ll get it next year.

[1:16] Yeah. Yeah. It’s looking good. It’s looking good. Stacey, let’s just start from the beginning. And what got you into this crazy world of real estate? My background is in real estate technology. So I went to graduate school, got an MBA, earned a master’s in marketing, and then the internet bust happened. So that was fun. So quick pivot from my goals of being like ultimately on the Today Show and turned into a marketing director for a company. At the time it was called App Properties and then it became Bouge. And they created real estate technology for big real estate firms, big independently owned real estate firms. Had a great time doing that, helping to create, you know, software at that time was, you know, company wide websites with, you know, individual sub domains, you know, CRM backend kind of situation. And just loved the industry. I started going to real estate conferences and was like, yeah, I like this crowd. The real estate people know how to party and know how to get stuff done.

[2:29] And eventually their clients started asking for a realtor on staff. And because as you can imagine, bros that code don’t think the same as bros who sell real estate or anyone who sells real estate. So I kind of helped to bridge that gap by getting my real estate license when I was on a maternity leave and really never went back full time to that job. I started hustling houses. I loved it. I loved being home with my kids and just landed in sales. Okay. So you phased out of that other career. How long did that take you to phase out? Like, what did you, a couple of years, you know, just kind of selling, you know, we, I helped, uh, ourselves, our family do a buy and sell. That was one of the first things I did when I got my license.

[3:16] And I was like, well, that saved some money. So that was great. And, um, made some money on that as well. And then started helping friends and figured out that I actually like love showing houses and figuring out the puzzle. And I’ve navigated since then in the last 20 plus years through a lot of different market turns. So really excelled in short sales. Um, I was really good at, um, grossly high inventory, um, and low buyer demand when, uh, you know, during the great recession and then loved turning that around into a more balanced market in Denver and then riding the wave into, you know, what became, you know, a real hot sellers market for a long time. So I just love the puzzle of it. I love solving problems and I just really enjoyed the entire process. Um, I didn’t really love the detail oriented, like contract writing piece of it. So I ended up hiring my mom. I made her get her real estate license. I went, you know, it’s like the flip of generational real estate. And, um, we still, we still now work together now that I own the brokerage, I don’t sell anymore. I refer most of my personal business still to her and her partner and, um, just works out really well. And

[4:35] now my daughter works with us. So she’s our director of operations. So that’s awesome. Yeah. So that, so was that your first kind of a step towards, uh, making it bigger than yourself was, was bringing your mom in and, and, and what was your transition then into more of a leadership role? Yeah. At that time I just got so busy. I, um, had another kiddo during that time. I have four. Um, and I just really enjoyed that like kind of team lead, um, you know, being the rainmaker, generating the leads and letting, um, eventually, uh, my team handle most of the sales process. Um, and so I got, I just could get like, do the parts that I like. And that’s what I’ve learned like throughout my career, like now in brokerage ownership, like in the beginning you have to do everything right. And then you start figuring out the pieces that you don’t particularly enjoy.

[5:29] For me, that was the paperwork. Um, I love negotiating. I’m really good at most of the other pieces. I’m just like, not the most organized. Um, so hiring people to take care of that part is key for me. And that’s what I’ve done in this leadership position as well as CEO of West of Maine. Yeah. Have you, I would imagine you’ve been pretty tech forward, um, throughout this whole journey. Um, so what, what are some examples of how you’ve, uh, kept technology at the forefront of, of your brokerage? I mean, I think our, our tech stack is pretty comprehensive and slick. Um, we’re, because we have that agent centered approach, like our questions are always, you know, will the agents use it? And, you know, is it worth introducing something new to the stack? You know, agents hate change. We try very hard to keep the stack like fairly simple, but also giving them everything they need. So Slack is really at the heartbeat of our brokerage. Um, we use Slack for absolutely everything, including all agent communication, which when I tell our other broker owners that they’re like, how the heck do you get them all on there? Well, you force it. So it’s the only way

[6:41] I’ll communicate with them. Uh, it’s part of their onboarding process and everyone from 18 to 89, like they will use it if you, you know, force them to. Um, but because of that, we have like a really tight culture as well, because everyone is on Slack, it’s on their phone, it’s on their laptops. They’re constantly engaged with the company and with their colleagues and with what’s happening and what we’re introducing them to, as far as like industry updates, you know, any kind of contract stuff, um, any kind of local ordinances or national things they need to be aware of Slack really helps that happen. And it’s also where they come to have fun. Like we just wrapped a March madness, um, challenge, you know, bracket, and they were into it this year. So we actually have one of our agents have the, has two daughters that play for UCLA, uh, Lauren and Sienna Betts. So Michelle is one of our agents. So we’re like super huge basketball, college basketball fans too. So, I mean, like Slack facilitates all of that and, um, really just creates just ease of use, ease of communication, um, from front to back, um, all day long. We’re on Slack.

[7:52] Okay. Yeah. That’s awesome. I don’t think I’ve heard of, uh, Slack at being in the real estate brokerage space. So that’s cool. It’s a, yeah, it’s a, it’s a great tool. It’s part of having that tech background, right? Like I was used to working with coders who were sitting across the room from each other, but slacking each other. And I just always thought like, ah, that’s the way to do it. Like have everyone on there all the time. And that way, even though, cause I don’t have desks for the agents. I don’t even have a desk, um, in any of our storefronts. So they always know that they can reach me though, or anyone on our team for the support that they need. Yeah, that makes sense. Um, you built Weston main homes as an independent agent first brokerage while the industry consolidated around mega brands. Uh, what made you confident that this model would work? I mean, listen, we’ve been around for 10 years and 10 years ago, there were a lot more independent, um, you know, non-franchise brokerages in the Denver metro area. And that’s where I had always worked. I hung my license at a cool like indie brand. Um,

[8:55] when they were getting acquired by a VC backed company, that’s when I left to start Weston main with my partner, Maddie. And we just always have at our heart, like this for one, the goal and mission to stay independent because then we can make quick decisions and support the agents as we see needed. Um, I don’t have, I always like to say a board of old white guys telling us what to do or how to run the brokerage or where to spend money. And that’s just how I prefer it. I can’t imagine doing it any other way in the last, especially five years with, especially now, right. Everyone’s compass because of the anywhere, um, uh, acquisition. So like now, um, if you squeeze up and like tie all those together, we’re like number four in the Denver metro area now for volume and production. Um, if compass was reporting all of those, um, offices underneath their volume, which I think they will ultimately do.

[9:54] Um, I don’t necessarily care about that ranking, but it does make me, you know, just really proud that we’ve managed to stay on, I call it Indy Island and, um, you know, maintain this like locally owned women owned women run brokerage. Um, there isn’t another one in town that’s comparable. Um, so I connect with a lot of Indy brokers across North America and I just find them like selling out at a greater rate, like as time moves on, cause it’s so hard not to. Um, but it’s, it’s where we just, it’s our happy place. Sure. Yeah. No, I mean, not the way I am in a Indy brokerage, um, family owned for a while. And, um, we, in our local market, uh, we’re more of a tertiary market, but, uh, you know, we have more dominated by those Indy kind of, um, companies. So it’s, it’s cool to hear about that in a bigger market because I’m sure it is not as common. Um, overall, uh, with 400 plus agents under your leadership, how do you maintain the culture and freedom you built the company around? What is the biggest tension you have faced while scaling?

[11:00] I think we built the company from day one, knowing that we wanted to get pretty big. Um, I get bored pretty easily just hanging out with the same 10 people. And, um, I, you know, had come from a fairly big independent brokerage. And so I knew that I could manage a couple hundred people, um, with the right staff. And so also knowing that I was going to want to get to that place where I could delegate the tasks that I didn’t want pretty quickly. Um, we needed that revenue coming in and that bigger roster. Um, but at the same time, like I really love the boutique feel that we’ve managed to hold onto. And the agents tell me that all the time, like between myself and my daughter, um, we hire every single agent. I know all of their names. I know what’s going on with them. I’m following them on socials and I’m connecting with them on Slack in order to do that. And those relationships are what, you know, along with the support and the branding and everything we provide, that’s what keeps them loyal and keeps them from switching to the big black and white. Right. So, um, that’s part of it.

[12:08] We also, I think just do things a little bit differently. I know everyone says that, but we throw a ton of events and parties. We provide a lot of in-person education and opportunities for the agents to get together and know each other. And I have seen the most beautiful friendships form. I mean, the strongest bonds between our agents, they really have each other’s backs and they’re rooting for each other. And I think that’s really unique in our industry. Um, we don’t have like a leaderboard where I’m docking their transactions and posting them on the wall. Um, we certainly celebrate success. But, um, we also celebrate those first closings and graduating from the mentorship program and the mentors that helped them do that. And I think that facilitates this like love for the group. And, um, again, that’s why people stay. Sure. Um, yeah, I love it. I think that culture is probably, it’s not the first thing that people think of when they, when they think about, you know, like what would it take to form your own brokerage and make it successful. But I think that is probably a huge, huge element, um, without the culture. It it’s there’s, that’s a huge reason why people

[13:21] are going to stick around. Um, you mentioned that you have mentorship program just now. I’d be curious to hear more about what, what that looks like. Yeah. So we, we really formalized the mentor program right when COVID, um, had us locked down. And in the beginning, I just mentored all of the brand new agents that we hired. And I was able to do that in the office. I would have them come in, we’d role play, we’d go through everything. And like, I really love that piece. But in lockdown, I was like, dang, I can’t be the one that takes them with a mask and gloves to show a client when that’s limited. And I can’t help them with that, like in person piece that they’re, they need to know to survive in this business. And so we reached out to some of our outstanding agents who kind of had that teacher vibe or background, um, and asked if they would mentor, if we continue to hire new agents, we call them new kids and they were so excited about it. And so we have, I think 50 ish mentors now.

[14:27] They have one or two, maybe three new kids that they’re supervising through their first four transactions. They get a split off of their, those first four deals. Um, and really I think they do it. Sure. It’s a little income stream for them, but they do it because they either had a really great mentor and they want to give that back or they had no mentorship and understood how lost that makes you feel and how much slower it takes to find success without that handholding. And, um, and really wanted to provide that. So it just works so well. Um, we have a channel in Slack just for the mentors and they will post in there and be like, Emilio had his first closing. If you see him in the office, like give him a high five. He did such a good job. They’re like proud, you know, mama bears, you know, with their new kids. So, and what we found and what I wasn’t really anticipating is that those mentors business increased because they started doing the stuff that they had forgotten to do because they were telling someone to do it. They’re like, well, I guess I’ll do open houses.

[15:31] Well, I guess if I’m telling you to do Popeye’s, I guess I’ll do that. Or like, I never figured out how to send the e-newsletter, but you should. So I guess I will too. And we really like tracked that. And it was like, Ooh, that’s a really nice side benefit for being a mentor. Yeah. I mean, to teach, you got to know, know how you got to know the topic. Right. And, and it makes sense. Like, you know, we all go get busy and forget to, to follow up with our, you know, database and that kind of stuff. And then, you know, and then all of a sudden you hit a lurch and like, Oh yeah, I need to keep, keep that rolling too. Yeah. They’re like, Oh, you should do the Ninja nine. Oh, I only do four of those. Like, I guess I’ll get back on track.

[16:11] Yeah. A hundred percent. Um, when you think about your own definition of success beyond revenue or agent count, what does winning actually look like for you personally? For me myself and what I hope for the agents is honestly life work balance and being in this for the long haul and staying excited about it. Um, I think every role has to evolve and for an agent that can take a lot of different paths. I love coaching them through that. I mean, that next step might be mentorship, right. And helping someone up. It might be team lead and building that funnel underneath you. Um, it might mean, you know, being able to refer out a bigger portion of your business so that you can take more time off or focusing on the things that you really love doing and, um, getting an assistant to handle the rest or a transaction coordinator or whatever.

[17:05] So I love helping people like solve that. And I really require them to take vacation. That’s so hard for agents. I didn’t take a real vacation for like 15 years while my kids were little. I was, I remember like sitting on the beach in Hawaii on my phone, you know, in a totally different time zone, you know, trying to save a transaction and looking back and being like, damn, I missed that day. You know? So I, you know, a lot of our agents have phone nannies. They have, you know, agents who completely take over their business when they’re on vacation. And I asked them to tell me who that is. Um, because I just think it’s so important to have that accountability for a real break so that you can come back and hit it hard. Um, so for me, it took me a long time to learn that, but I’ve definitely achieved that through owning multiple businesses and operating this brokerage in a way that keeps me excited about it. And, you know, keeps me excited to work with my staff and to, you know, keep training the agents and like not be, you know, there’s so many broker owners that are like the agents and you will never hear me say that. Like, I love them. I understand where

[18:13] they are. I was there and I know how to help them every day. And I love doing it. I love it. Um, I have to ask, what is the phone nanny? Are you, are you like leaving your phone while you go to Hawaii? Like what is, what’s happening? That sounds amazing. Yeah. So my friend, Marguerite Martin, I have to give her credit for the phone nanny, um, term. She went on a sabbatical several years ago. Um, she was just in burnout. And so she got a second phone. That was her work phone. She literally gave that phone to someone. And this was kind of before like Google phone and like all the things that you can do now. Um, she literally had two phones, her personal phone and her work phone and would hand that off. And only in an emergency would that person contact her, but her business kept building and growing because she had someone like literally taking care of it. Um, because they had that phone in their hands and were responsible for answering it.

[19:05] And, um, I say that all the time. Like you need a phone nanny when someone’s like at the brink of, you know, like just break down and burn out like, okay, here’s your next step. We’re getting you another phone number and that’s your work and you’re handing that off and you’re going away for a month. Like there is no questions. So yeah, that’s the phone nanny story. So you running that work number through like a CRM or something like that, that it’s, it works that way. There’s so many solutions now. Like I think, you know, the kids have really figured it out. So, but beyond having a second iPhone and a whole, you know, separate account. Um, I know that, you know, even our business phone, we don’t have like phones in the office that ring and we have 10 storefronts. They don’t ring, you know, they go to a number and someone answers that, you know?

[19:54] Sure. Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah. That’s a, it’s definitely a, I mean, it’s the curse. I mean, like every time you want to go on a vacation, um, you’re going to, you’re going to blow up. Yeah. I like to call it vacation magic, but still like, let it happen. Yeah, totally. Oh, that’s awesome. Uh, do you, do you, does your, your brokerage have some sort of plan for that? Like, is there, is there like a, you know, if you take over my business for a week, like you get, uh, compensated in some way, or is it just kind of like a, Hey, I got your back. You, uh, you know, you get mine when I, when it’s my turn, that kind of vibe. There’s, there’s all kinds of things that happen in the office. Um, one that we organize is we have a channel in Slack called working hard for the money. And that’s a place where agents can go. If they haven’t like created that kind of partnership relationship with someone and they’re going to trade vacations, that happens a lot. Um, but then there’s always that one-off like day to day. I just need help today. Um, you know, can someone print out my flyers and go put them in the

[20:56] lock box in the, uh, flyer box? Can someone, you know, go, um, make sure that the lights are on at my listing before this showing happens and they’ll post in there, um, whatever they need. Can you cover an inspection? Can someone go to a closing? Can, you know, someone show a house in Parker because I’m going to be in Boulder. Um, and they’ll just put in there 50 bucks, 75 bucks. They just been mow each other. So I think giving them the place to do that is helpful. And they’re like the, the really organized space. And that’s all that channel is for. And there, there’s a guy that works in, uh, he’s one of our agents. He just did his first deal. He’s in like year five. He only has made so much money just covering stuff in the working hard for the money channel.

[21:40] Like it cracks us all up. He’s so fast. We’re like, he must have that open all the time. And he’s like me in like, he’s making like a hundred, $150 a day just doing that. So, um, uh, and he’s, you know, learned a lot about the business, just doing all that. So it’s a great opportunity, uh, for, yeah, for, for learning. And, and then, you know, I don’t know how, if you want to hand off the reins completely to a newer agent, if they’re really new, but, um, certainly somebody that doesn’t have as much experience might, uh, gain a lot of experience from, uh, you know, working for somebody that does have a lot more business, a lot more happening, um, in, in that kind of arrangement. So yeah, that’s really cool.

[22:20] I love it. That’s a work-life balance is such a hard thing for agents. And that’s cool that you’re, you’re facilitating that in your, in your company. How do you do that for yourself? Um, what’s important for you to, to keep your, your mind, right. To keep yourself quote unquote balanced. Cause what, what is actually being balanced? Yeah. Every year I challenge myself to do something new. Um, last year I got my Pilates instructor certification. Um, we own a couple Pilates studios and it’s something like I’m very passionate about. And I was like, Oh, like I could actually learn so much. And I really just wanted to like challenge my own nervous system. Like I’m on autopilot running the brokerage. There are rarely days where I don’t know what to do with something. And I’m like, help, um, you know, and that’s legal. Right. So I was like, Hey, how can I like open my brain and learn something new?

[23:16] And that turned out to be anatomy and, um, the physics of Pilates and learning how to teach group fitness. If you had asked me five years ago, if I’d be teaching group fitness, I would have told you you were crazy. Um, but I found that I did have like this bandwidth in this space. And I was like, what am I going to do with myself? Um, so that was last year. Um, this year, my partner, Maddie and I are writing a book. So we have a book deal with a wonderful publishing company. Um, and we’re, um, you know, we’re writing a book about how to start a business or create a business that you don’t want to sell. And, um, that’s kind of been our philosophy and like our differentiator for so long. And people ask us all the time, like how and why we’re doing that and not really looking at M and a, um, for any of our companies.

[24:08] And, um, so that’s been a really interesting challenge. Like I consider myself a writer. Um, I’m really good with copy and things like that, but writing a book is a whole different thing. So that’s how this year I’m like finding that balance and keeping my brain active. Yeah. It’s a, it’s a mountain. Um, I actually just, I’ve gone through the fifth round of editing or the final round of editing for, for one. And I’ve gotten to this mountain and now I’ve just like stopped and not, I’ve gotten the spring markets taken off and I haven’t like started the process for the, the, you know, the design of the cover is just a form I have to fill out. Yeah, no, it’s, it’s, it’s so daunting. And I found this like community of authors, um, you know, non or prescriptive nonfiction is kind of our category. And so there’s like this community and they do like all day writing sprints and they’re all on zoom all day and they’re just writing. And then, you know, the facilitator will come on and be like, okay, take a break, you know, step away from your computers, you know, or keep going. But like you’ve been at it and like, they take a word count at the end of the day. And it’s like,

[25:20] really like, that’s been really good for me. Keeping on track. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s been a journey. I’ve, it’s taken me way too long. Um, you’re, you’re inspiring me to go ahead and fill out that form when I get off this. Yeah, do it, do it. Um, yeah, but no, that’s awesome. And I think there’s a, um, I really need to remember this term. There’s a Japanese term. It’s like soggy or some, I forget what it is, but it’s some sort of, um, like basically like a, every year when you’re planning your, your year, you’re, you’re planning something that’s, but it’s going to be a year defining thing that you do. Um, and I love that. Like, that’s such a cool, like, you know, 2026 is the year I wrote a book or whatever. For me, it’s like two years.

[26:01] Well, I mean, it won’t publish till September of 27. So I’m right there. Yeah. And, and, you know, it’s, um, but I think that’s such a great, great challenge for everybody to like have something that they, uh, they do. Cause like, you know, you’re probably not after a certain level that you’ve, you’ve sold, you know, like you get to a point where you’ve, you’ve, you’ve kind of like, you know, you’ve gotten to a good production level. Um, you know, maybe you’re motivated to be the number one agent in the whole market. Maybe not, maybe, you know, just a hallmark year for you is an achievement that you want to like remember. And, you know, certainly I remember some of my best years, um, as hallmark years, but that’s not as motivating anymore for me, like to be just, just have the top, you know, production year that I’ve ever had. That’s not like going to be a year defining thing. That’s going to come back every year that I’m excited about. So. No, I remember this moment when I was selling and I was like really hustling. I was a top producer and in my brokerage and in town. And, um, I was standing in this living room with

[27:04] this couple and I knew they weren’t going to buy this house. Like I knew it wasn’t the one I knew as soon as we opened the door and I’d gotten to know them pretty well. And they started deciding where they would put the TV if they were to buy it. And I had to step outside and I was like, okay, it’s okay. This is part of their process, but I just wanted to say, who cares? Who cares where you would put the TV? This is not your house. And I was like, okay, Stacy, now this is part of what you need to delegate to like, you can’t be showing a hundred houses a week because you’re going to lose it on someone. So I think like once it becomes like so automatic and like you lose the joy a little bit, then you have to figure out how you’re going to move forward and like how you can get help or how you can, maybe that’s even backing off your business a little bit and not selling as much because, um, it’s so easy to burn out like that and lose your mind.

[27:58] Yeah. I don’t know how many times I’ve been like, you know, I’ve, I’ve, every time I’ve, uh, often when somebody is trying to convince themselves, the house is right for them, it’s usually not. No, no, no. Yeah. And then I, I got to this point too, um, where I stopped going, I wouldn’t go downstairs or upstairs. I was like, unless they were really going to buy the house, I’d be like, you go look, you go look, I’m going to stay here. Like I am the laziest realtor on earth now. I have got to do something else. Yeah, no. So, so good outside challenges, I think is, is, is a, is a one way to stay engaged. Um, and you know, and that might make your production go down a little bit. I, you know, I was, uh, became president of the local association, um, things like that, that probably distracted me a little bit, um, as well. Um, so there’s, but you know, I think it’s good to have those like kind of career moves as well as, you know, it’s a good thing to have, you know, that you say you’ve been, you know, past president of the association or whatever.

[28:59] So it’s, I think those are, it’s not all about, you know, making the most money possible. No. And I always say like, you can’t complain about it if you’re not sitting at the table, at least some of the time. Um, and committee work is so brutal. I don’t necessarily enjoy it, but I do it because I feel like not having that voice there is like letting that decision go and you have to be okay with it. And most of the time I’m not. So I do find myself in a lot of those rooms as well. Yeah. Yeah, totally. Um, Stacey, I have to ask, um, what golden nuggets do you have for our listeners today? My first one is, um, we have this mantra, we have several, but one that we say a lot is done is better than perfect. And for me, like I used to be like, I am very type A, I’m a perfectionist. Like I want things done like very perfectly and shipping something that isn’t completely, um, like on point, like used to be, um, a non-starter for me. And then developing this brokerage, actually, like we had to build the brand so fast because of some things that happened.

[30:11] And all of a sudden agents were calling us and they were like, what are you starting this brokerage? And we didn’t even have a name for it. And like developing a brand so quickly and having it become something that’s lasted a decade. And we really haven’t had to, you know, we’ve, we’ve expanded on it. We’ve, um, let it evolve, but really it’s stuck. And it, that taught me so much because it was like, shit, we need signs and yards tomorrow. Like just put a logo on it and like, let’s go. And we still have that same logo. Like it really, like, it just, it taught me to though, like every blog post, every new e-newsletter, every, you know, social media post like done is better than perfect. Like just launch it. And, um, so we really, we say that a lot.

[30:55] Yeah, no, it’s, I like that. It’s true. It’s, it’s, you can get really stuck, paralyzed by, um, yeah, the thinking through all the details. Sometimes people don’t even start because, you know, it’s just kind of overwhelming. Um, I love it. Uh, what’s your other one? So our other one, and this is more for like brokerage owners, but, um, or team leads certainly, but the agents are our clients. And when I do find someone on my staff, like getting a little frustrated, I mean, listen, real estate agents are not always the easiest folks to, um, impress because, or to satisfy because their deal is always the most important thing going on in their life. And their marketing project is always the most, you know, biggest thing that’s happening in their world. And so whenever someone starts getting frustrated, I just remind them like the agents are our clients. We’re not here without them. Like no one’s getting a paycheck. No one is getting to do all of this fun stuff that we get to do. And like all of these like amazing things that we’ve been able to achieve and donating so much money to our nonprofit partner and all of the things that we get without

[32:03] the agents. So just take a deep breath. The agents are our clients smile and make it happen. I love it. Um, and then what about a favorite book? One that you think is fundamental that everybody should read or just one that you’re currently really enjoying for years? I said, the go giver for real estate agents. And I still like, I, uh, ask every new agent to read that book and to actually have a copy and to go back to it. Um, and then I moved on to the miracle morning and those really working in conjunction with each other are two, I think books that every agent must read. But recently, if someone asked me this question, I’ve been, um, talking about unreasonable hospitality. I love this book. Um, I got to hear Will Gadara talk at a conference last year, and I’d already read the book a couple of times and my friend Allie had, um, introduced me to it and it just made like such an impression on me. And I found myself like referring back to it, talking about it all the time. And I just think it’s a really important read for, especially real estate professionals to just, have you read it? Not that one. No. I’ve heard it sometimes. Yeah.

[33:11] So it’s, um, basically the subtitle is the remarkable power of giving people more than they expect. And to me, that doesn’t mean like under promising and then over delivering. It’s like going that extra mile or that extra step to like really make a difference in someone’s hour, in someone’s minute, in someone’s experience, in someone’s transaction, whatever it is that you’re doing, like how can you go that extra thoughtful, genuine, you know, mile to make sure that you’re their person for life and that they tell their friends about this experience. And it’s often like these unconventional, like, it’s not always about spending more money or even necessarily like doing more. It’s just being more thoughtful about it. Um, as you’re moving through your business. Yeah. I love it. Yeah.

[34:04] No, that’s come up. It’s not, it’s certainly not a rich dad, poor dad or anything like that, that comes up a ton, but it is, it is one that has come up a couple of times. So I have to put that on the list. I haven’t, I have not read that one yet. My list for books to read from this podcast is huge. I know. Well, especially when you’re, when you’re writing a book, um, this author’s community that I’m part of, like the lady who reads it, who, who runs it, her name’s AJ Harper. And she was a ghost writer for many years. She was a ghost writer for, um, notably Mike Michalowicz, who just released the money habit. Also another awesome read for real estate agents. Um, he also wrote profit first, but they wrote it together. Um, and she says like just little bites every day.

[34:49] Like if you can, if you find time to write 50 words, if you have time to write 500, it doesn’t necessarily have to be like this eight hour block where you’re sitting down and like pounding it out. But she said, if you don’t have the headspace for even that for 50 words, like read something. And so I have this stack of books. I keep just buying business books. I’m like, I’m never going to read all these, but I do have, I have big goals about it. I don’t know. I mean, one day, right. You’ll keep knocking, knocking it out. And yeah, I think I heard, um, like, I think I heard Brandon Turner might’ve, uh, would, would sit in coffee shops, um, when he was brainstorming on a book and just kind of like really pound out, um, that, that outline and kind of like get everything down to like, uh, note cards or something like that. And then, and then, you know, then he could, he could really just focus on that next note card, um, to like, you know, I’m going to write this section and that’s all I’m going to worry about. Um, and, and when you break it down into bite-sized pieces like that, it does make it easier. And,

[35:45] and if you can be that person that can do, you know, a little bit at a time, um, like that every day, that’s the ideal. I’m not that I’m like a sprinter or nothing. Yeah. I think, you know, I think real estate agents get stuck on that too. Right. Like they send Christmas cards and that’s, they try to sit down one day and write 300 thoughtful cards and like, geez, like write two cards a day, you know, like little bite-sized pieces so that you can really put energy into that activity. And like, I think toward that person that you’re writing a card to, you know, just signing your name as fast as you can and putting the stamp on it and done just so you can check it off. So I really like, I talk to agents about that all the time. Like you don’t have to do everything today, but you got to do something. And to your point, I think, you know, there have been times where I’ve done, yeah, like the note cards every morning. Um, and if you just kind of have it stacked there, there’s, there’s ways to, to like find how you work. Like for me, I’m a morning person more than an evening person. So like, you know, maybe, uh, with the first cup of coffee or

[36:48] maybe the second cup of coffee or fifth, um, it would be a good time to just, yeah, be able to sit down and write down, uh, that those 50 words or, or those, those two, uh, personal notes of people. So that’s a good point. If you get into the habit and get the routine, um, it can definitely be more bite-sized for sure. Yeah. Um, Stacy, if people are, uh, wanting to find out more about your brokerage, about you, um, where’s the good place for them to find you? Are you, um, on socials, um, websites, that kind of stuff? Yep. So I’m really easy to find. I’m just at Stacy Staub pretty much everywhere. Um, that’s my personal Instagram. I manage it myself. I will answer DMs. So please hit me there. Um, also, you know, LinkedIn or sometimes I check Facebook. So, um, but also at Weston, Maine homes, if you’ll give it a follow, that would be awesome. Cause we’re almost at 5,000 followers on our, uh, at Weston, Maine homes account. So I would absolutely love that.

[37:43] Awesome. Well, Stacy, thank you so much for being on the show. It’s been a lot of fun talking to you. Nice to meet you. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to the REI agent. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week, visit REI agent.com for more content until next time. Keep building the life you want. All content in the show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.