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Chris Dion (@chris_dion_selling_kiawah) and wife Lauren (@laurendionrealestate) make up the Selling Kiawah Team at Akers Ellis, specializing exclusively in Kiawah Island — one of the most prestigious coastal markets on the East Coast. Before moving into residential real estate, Chris spent nearly a decade in commercial real estate, a background that fundamentally shaped how he thinks about pricing, client conversations, and the power of a focused niche.

In this conversation, Chris reveals:

• Why walking away from a broader market and doubling down on one island was the best business decision he ever made
• How his commercial real estate background lets him have deeper, higher-trust conversations with buyers and sellers that most residential agents can't touch
• The postcard strategy that keeps the Selling Kiawah Team top of mind with every property owner on the island — and where old-school marketing still outperforms digital in luxury markets
• Why being radically honest about pricing — even when it costs him the listing — has built a reputation that brings business back around
• How a 304-day listing with a competitor turned into a same-day sale at 98% of list price the moment Chris took over
• The spreadsheet system Chris built to pull hyper-specific neighborhood comparables on Kiawah — and why using island-wide data is the fastest way to lose a seller's trust
• What working alongside your spouse actually looks like day-to-day when both people know their lane

This one's a masterclass in niche clarity, pricing integrity, and what it looks like to build a business around depth rather than volume.

Follow Jake: @jakecummings_homeloans

About Charleston's Leading Producers: Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

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Chandler Townsend (@ctownsells) is the founder and team leader of CTown Sells under LPT Realty — one of the most recognizable real estate brands in the Lowcountry. Chandler also hosts LowCountry LowDown, his own podcast built on the same philosophy he sells with: be real, be yourself, and let the results speak. He runs his team alongside his wife Mariah (@mmmariah.townsendd), stays in personal production, and has built a culture most team leaders talk about but never actually create.

In this conversation, Chandler reveals:

• Why authenticity isn't a personality trait — it's a business strategy, and the industry's lack of it is costing agents referrals they'll never even know they lost
• How he scheduled family time like a $100 million client — and why that decision made him a better producer, not a worse one
• The real reason he stayed in personal production after launching his team (and why every team leader should be closing at least a couple deals a year)
• The biggest mistake agents make as they get more experienced — and why it's costing them the client relationships that drive long-term business
• What agents get wrong about Summerville: the "new vs. old" identity split most people don't see coming
• His honest take on building a team — the financial reality, the leadership responsibility, and why some agents should stay solo
• Why the 2020-2021 market was a curse disguised as a blessing — and what getting your ass kicked actually teaches you

This one goes deeper than tactics. Chandler is the real thing — a guy who built something he'd genuinely want to be a part of, and figured out how to stay human while doing it.

Follow Jake: @jakecummings_homeloans 

About Charleston's Leading Producers: Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

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Courtney & Alicia @athomewithcourtneyandalicia are the best-friend duo behind The At Home Team, known for their candid, family-forward content and a partnership built on total transparency. Returning to Charleston's Leading Producers, they open up about what it actually takes to build a business — and a content presence — that feels real.

In this conversation, Courtney & Alicia reveal:

• Why bringing their kids into their marketing made their business more relatable — and more referable
• How a "best friends first, business partners second" partnership avoids the resentment most team splits run into
• The income-split system that removes every closing-day surprise before the transaction even starts
• Why "done is better than perfect" is the mindset shift that gets agents off the sidelines and onto camera
• The hard pricing and condition conversations agents are having with sellers in today's stalled market
• How new construction incentives are reshaping the way resale listings have to compete and get marketed
• Why a phone-recorded blooper outperforms a professionally produced reel — and what that means for your content strategy
• What it really takes to build the kind of trust that lets two agents combine finances and never look back

This is a real-talk conversation about partnership, authenticity, and showing up — even when it's not polished — for agents who are tired of waiting until everything feels ready.

Follow CLP: @charlestonsleadingproducers

Follow Courtney & Alicia: @athomewithcourtneyandalicia | YouTube: At Home with Courtney and Alicia

About Charleston's Leading Producers

Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

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Rachel Austin (@chshomeswithrachel) didn't come up through real estate the traditional way. She moved to Charleston in the middle of a pandemic, met a future brokerage leader at a dog park, got licensed, and had her first closing two months later. What she built since then isn't a highlight reel — it's a real career, built through mindset work, structure, and learning to actually ask for the business.

In this conversation, Rachel reveals:

• Why social media is a 'thief of joy' — and why you have to show up anyway
• How she used E + R = O to restructure her days and stop letting bad mornings wreck her business
• The scarcity mindset trap that quietly poisons agent-to-agent relationships and deal outcomes
• What changed when she started time-blocking prospecting instead of just setting goals
• Why she stopped hoping clients would choose her — and started asking them to
• The toughest part of transitioning from teaching (where effort and pay are equal) to sales (where they're not)
• How she applies E + R = O to everything from missed workouts to frustrated buyers
• What she'd tell the 2020 version of herself who was waiting to be picked

No frameworks, no production metrics, no top-of-market strategy breakdown. Just two people being honest about what building a real estate career actually feels like from the inside. If you've ever felt like you were doing everything right and still waiting for it to click — this conversation is for you.

Follow Jake: @jakecummings_homeloans

About Charleston's Leading Producers: Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

Send us Fan Mail

Katt Potts (@kp.associates78) is the broker in charge of NextHome the Agency Group (@nexthome_theagencygroup) in Summerville, SC — a growing brokerage of 60+ agents now expanding into downtown Charleston. She's a Goose Creek native, a Trident Tech dental program graduate and former program director, who then jumped into real estate with $600, no experience, and an unshakeable belief that God put her here for a reason. In her first year, she sold 24 homes. By year six, she was running NextHome.

In this conversation, Kat reveals:

• Why there's no secret sauce in real estate — and what the "it factor" actually looks like in person
• The biggest mistake top producers never make: why staying connected with past clients is the single highest-ROI activity in the business
• Why she tells agents to stop paying for leads — and what to do insteaHow she pairs new agents with mentors based on personality, not just production number
• The quarterly goal-setting process she uses with every agent at her brokerage
• Why praying with buyers on the property isn't unusual for her — it's just who she is
• The mindset shift that helped her stop taking it personally when a friend listed with someone else

This one is raw, real, and deeply human. Less tactics episode more of a reminder of why we got into this industry in the first place.

Follow Jake: @jakecummings_homeloans

About Charleston's Leading Producers: Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

Send us Fan Mail

Taelor Pryor (@taelorpryor) is a Mount Pleasant native, Gamecock alum, and Top 40 Under 40 real estate producer with The Boulevard — one of Charleston's largest and most successful brokerages. She carved out a career in residential real estate after pivoting from industrial safety equipment sales and commercial real estate — and built her business almost entirely through Instagram and genuine community connection.

In this conversation, Taylor reveals:

• Why posting market stats and 'just listed' content is costing you trust— and what to post instead
• How she went from no team, no clients, and no roadmap to Top 40 Under 40 by leaning into social media before it was obvious
• The mentor relationship that gave her the structure she didn't know she needed — and how to find yours
• What she tells herself when the comparison trap kicks in (and why 100 loyal followers beat 100,000 passive ones)
• The real reason fast communication is her #1 trust-builder with clients
• How she bridges the gap between personal content and business — without ever sounding like she's fishing for listings

A candid, refreshing conversation with someone who figured out that showing up as yourself is the most powerful business strategy there is. Real talk, no fluff.

Follow Jake: @jakecummings_homeloans

About Charleston's Leading Producers: Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

Send us Fan Mail

Tradd Bastian (@traddbastian) is the founder of Bastian and Associates and a top producer with Serhant. A native Charlestonian, Tradd consistently closes over forty transactions per year, has been recognized as a Charleston Top 40 Under 40 leader, and has spent nearly two decades building one of the most authentic, relationship-driven businesses in the market — while not paying for leads.

In this conversation, Tradd reveals:

• Why he recommends not paying for leads — and what he tells new agents who ask about it
• How baseball is integral to his sanity and his business
• How he went from flipping washers and dryers on Craigslist to owning investment properties with zero dollars of his own money
• Why communicating the way your client wants to be communicated with is the most underrated skill in the business
• What he tells every new agent before they get their license
• The mindset shift that separates agents who last from the 80% who leave within two years: patience + consistency

Tradd doesn't dress it up. He doesn't sugarcoat. He's been through the grind — property management, construction jobs, bike taxis, the whole thing — and he'll tell you exactly what it took to get here. This one's a masterclass in building a real business without shortcuts.

Follow Charleston's Leading Producers: @jakecummings_homeloans

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Lindsey Johnson (@mrlindseyjohnson) is a former collegiate basketball player, captain, and personal trainer turned top-producing real estate agent with the Ludify Group in Charleston. In just a few years of building in a city where he knew almost no one, Lindsey has engineered one of the most disciplined, intentional business models in our market. His background in human optimization, coaching, and small business ownership didn't just prepare him for real estate. It gave him a framework most agents never develop.

In this conversation, Lindsay reveals:

• Why he runs two completely separate business engines — relentless outbound prospecting and deep organic relationship building — and why choosing just one is leaving money on the table
• How he structures his day from 4:45am to 4pm so that every hour has a job, including a sacred prospecting block where the phone goes on Do Not Disturb
• The exact five-call flow system he uses to work every listing from coming soon through closed — and why each listing should produce 1-3 more opportunities
• Why he believes 10% of your database will either transact or refer in any given year — and how he reverse-engineers his goals from that number
• The automated mail campaign that flopped hard and the lesson it taught him about shiny object syndrome
• What his personal definition of retirement is — and why "work becomes optional" is more powerful than any dollar number

This one is equal parts tactical blueprint and personal philosophy. If you're early in your career or feel like you're doing too many things averagely, this conversation will sharpen your focus fast.

About Charleston's Leading Producers: Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

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Nicole Lemieux (@buywithnicole) completed over 100 transactions in her first two complete years in real estate. She started as a teacher, switched careers after one year, and climbed to the top of Charleston's market through relentless hustle and refusing to sound like every other agent.

In this conversation, Nicole reveals:

• how she converts through something we all have access to - Facebook messenger
• how she beat established agents for a million-dollar listing as a brand-new agent
• how reading people and leading with empathy converts more than scripts and sales tactics

This is real talk from an agent who sacrificed her 4th of July, cried in her car (we've all been there), and proved that being real beats being polished every single time.

Follow Jake: @jakecummings_homeloans

About Charleston's Leading Producers: Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.

Send us Fan Mail

Kristin Abbate (@kristin.abbate) is a top 3% Charleston agent. A Clemson graduate with an MBA from The Citadel, Kristin spent eight-plus years as a marketing manager for a national home builder - covering Hilton Head, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach - before transitioning into residential real estate full-time. She's part of a tight-knit team that produced over $100M in sales with under ten agents last year.

But her story isn't just about production numbers. In 2020, Kristin and her family lost everything in a house fire - running out with nothing but the pajamas on their backs. What happened next shaped not just her career, but her entire philosophy on business, people, and purpose.

In the conversation, Kristin reveals:

• Why the "sign in the yard and pray" approach is officially dead - and what top agents are doing instead
• How her corporate marketing background gave her a competitive edge most agents never develop
• The open house launch sequence that consistently converts strangers into clients
• Why social media presence doesn't require a massive following - and what it actually needs to do for your business
• Why consistency beats talent in real estate - every single time

This one goes deeper than marketing and strategy. This is about resilience, and what it actually means to show up for your clients and your community.

Follow Jake: @jakecummings_homeloans

About Charleston's Leading Producers: Weekly conversations with the highest-producing real estate agents in Charleston. No fluff. No theory. Just proven strategies from agents doing the work and getting the results.