Leverage Ladies

Rich Rector, who has been in real estate for 32 years, is our guest today. He’s been a coach for about 20 years and has been with Keller Williams and MAPS for 15 years. In total, he has 13 businesses thanks to being able to leverage along with knowing how to recruit the right people. 

Learning to leverage has allowed Rich to recruit over 3,000 agents. His technique consists of empowering people through getting them to get clear on their vision, goals, and dreams. Then, he helps them see the path of accomplishing those and overcoming challenges by having tools and systems in place.

Mindset is a huge factor when it comes to recruiting. One of the things that holds people back the most is the fear of change and rejection. Most people are content with where they are, so they tend to set up their own obstacles. That mindset needs to be taken off the table in order to begin to build a relationship and have someone realize what dreams and goals they have and how to better serve them.

Recruiting is a huge piece of what Rich does, but he doesn’t do it alone. He leveraged and hired a cyber backer. From there, he was able to branch off and franchise. He now has 19 cyber backers who work for him personally. When he found the power of leverage, his income doubled. 

The biggest lesson Rich learned was to look at what his time is worth. He realized that by leveraging his first assistant, he would be able to pass on responsibility and focus on scaling. This goes beyond real estate; many other businesses and industries can benefit from this same system.

Connect with us: 

https://www.leverageladies.com/ 

On this episode of Leverage Ladies, Linda and Shannon are joined by guest Pam Bornhorst. Pam is a realtor, but decided to open a Mega Agent Office as it has always been a dream of hers to be a part owner. She knew very little about getting into the business, but saw a growing demand for agents who needed direction. However, she found she needed direction herself. 

After months and months of hiring the wrong people, she reached out to Shannon. She felt as though she was “drowning” and was in dire need of a coach. Together, they walked through the recruiting and hiring process.

It was a struggle financially, but through trial and error, Pam landed her first successful hire. His name is Chase, and became her director of operations. 

Hiring Chase lessened her workload, but allowed her to regroup and focus on more important tasks. She went from never taking a vacation to having the freedom to leave work whenever she desired. She had more time and in the long run, more money. Having a director of operations allowed her to continue to leverage and grow. If there was a perfect example of how well leveraging works, Pam would be that example.

In just under 3 years, she went from 8 agents to over 60. A new building is currently being constructed as her business continues to grow. She remains optimistic about the future and wishes to pass on her knowledge so her agents become as successful as she has. Her outlook on limitations has forever changed. As Pam likes to say, “the sky is the limit.”

Connect with Pam:

https://www.bornforhomes.com/

Connect with us:

https://www.leverageladies.com/ 

On this episode of Leverage Ladies, Linda and Shannon are joined by guest Kara Dennison. Kara is the CEO of Optimized Career Solutions and an Executive Career and Leadership Coach. Through her executive coaching program, she has helped thousands of professionals land their dream job.

One of Kara’s sayings is “dreams can change,” and looking back on her career and life, this rings true for her. In her early 20s, she worked full-time while also starting a wedding photography business. Later on, she dove into human resources and fell in love with recruiting. 

However, after some changes at the business she was working at, she decided to look for other opportunities. She was met with some serious burnout, and decided she needed to pivot her career entirely. This would eventually lead her to partnering with another career coach and helping over 750 people land their dream job in 2020. Finally, Kara felt aligned with what she wanted to do. 

Through her work, Kara has identified certain qualities in a job that people are looking for now, one of them being flexibility. This doesn’t always mean remote work, but flexibility in understanding and compassion. That said, there are so many benefits to hiring remote workers—a major one being that your pool for talent greatly increases.

When Kara recently faced a series of medical issues, she accepted that it was time for her to hire and delegate. She needed to get herself out of marketing, not because she dislikes it, but because she actually finds it addicting. By hiring support, she’s been able to step away, which is helping her avoid continued burnout in the future.

Connect with Kara:

https://optimizedcareersolutions.com/ 

Connect with us:

www.leverageladies.com

Are you curious about the best way to build and support a remote team? We’re exploring this topic on today’s episode with guest Kelly Anne Harris. She is a Real Estate Leader, Entrepreneur, Investor, and Trailblazer who is on a mission to provide amazing opportunities for her partners.

At the present time, Kelly is running three different companies: a property management company, a brokerage, and the Vizion Real Estate Platform. Needless to say, there are a lot of moving pieces, and to a certain degree, the support in regards to team effort overlaps between these entities. There are currently a dozen people working remotely between them all.

While Kelly has always been brimming with ideas and excitement around what she could do in her businesses, she started noticing that her leadership team was becoming burnt out. The moment they started hiring virtual assistants, they were able to eliminate the burnout and flourish together. That’s the power of leverage.

Having virtual support with transaction management has had the most impact, because having someone on call to help with this keeps the momentum going. They also help recruit new agents, transcribe coaching calls, put together presentations, and manage social media. 

One aspect of virtual onboarding that shouldn’t be overlooked is the training. These team members will still need support with training as well as an introduction to the company culture. Having the right person—someone with patience and a willingness to take their time to train— lead the remote team is crucial to their success.

Connect with Kelly Anne:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-anne-harris-49b769111 

Connect with us:

www.leverageladies.com

Linda and Shannon are discussing personality assessments, also called job assessments, in today’s show. They explain types of assessments they use, what their benefits are, and how to utilize them in your business.

These assessments have changed over the years from looking only at job-based skills, to including personality aspects, to now drilling down into your key skills. In her business, Linda uses these assessments not only to help her team, but to learn more about herself. Understanding your trigger points can really help you to reflect and question your reactions and behavior.

Besides using them in her business, Shannon also uses assessments in determining how to approach people. Certain assessments can help you understand people even before you get out of your car just by looking at their homes.

As a result of Linda taking assessments, she has learned what roles will fit her and her social ability. The more you learn about yourself, the more you can tailor your team and surroundings to suit you. Both Shannon and Linda have learned that they need smaller teams and efficiency in order to be the most productive.

The COLBY test looks at cognitive aspects and methods of operation. Looking at these results allows Linda to have a combination of super action-focused people and more thoughtful, reflective people. It helps you to learn how to interact with different types of personalities as well.

Often, the cost of these assessments puts business owners off. However, consider the cost of a bad hire. Or two. Or three. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the consequences of having the wrong people in the wrong roles. It’s not about discounting people, it’s about finding their strengths.

Connect with us:

www.leverageladies.com

This episode sees Linda and Shannon discuss the overall hiring process, how both of them learned the best hiring process for their business, and offer some tips for those looking to bring on new people.

When she started hiring people, Shannon would often just bring on friends or family that seemed like a good fit without doing any interview process or skill checks. It became clear that bringing existing relationships into the business just because they were friends was not something that was sustainable. They may be good people, but the employer/employee boundaries are skewed in these cases.

In Linda’s case, when interviewing candidates, she found she was doing almost all the talking and trying to sell them on the position. Now, she lets the candidates do 99% of the talking. Both Linda and Shannon have learned that hiring people to fix them and make them fit will never work. You need to hire the right person for the job and the right job for the person.

You can’t hire the right people without nailing down a hiring process. The most important thing is to have clarity on the front end. What is the core of the position? What kind of people do you want on your team? Also, make sure you are looking up at least 3 references for your candidate. The more background information you can get, the more of a full picture you can build of them.

It's important to have a multi-layer process, from initial phone calls all the way to group interviews. Of course, virtual team members are a slightly different matter and will depend on your business and the role in question. Remember, no matter what, a strong sense of accountability and communication skills are key. 

Connect with us:

www.leverageladies.com

In today’s episode, Linda and Shannon are joined by Alicia Shepherd, an entrepreneur running a huge platform of multiple companies designed to help transform Commercial Real Estate. Listen in as Alicia discusses her career journey, and how she manages her hectic family life, and multiple different businesses.

A native of Austin, Texas, Alicia and her husband have four children: a 6-year-old son, and 2-year-old triplet girls. Already with a lot to handle, Alicia wanted to solve the problems and fill the gaps in the commercial real estate sector that no one else was tackling. She aims to give others the tools they need to flourish in the industry, even if they are new to it.

Her real estate training company, Nucleus, provides a jumping-off point for people with basic training up to mastery-level lessons. In addition to Nucleus, Alicia has a launch network comprising of 12 separate brands and companies that operate inside of it, supporting any administrator or operational need that a commercial agent or investor would use. 

Always wired for leverage, Alicia began her career as a songwriter for Universal but knew it wasn’t for her. Instead, she took a job working for a real estate agent and knew that it was the industry for her. As she advanced in her career, she also knew that she needed support. It’s easy to keep doing what you have always done, but you need to take the step and leverage those around you for support.

Focusing on a specialty was important for Alicia, and knowing that she wanted to improve things in the industry for those coming after her was a huge driving force. It was about gaining clarity for herself and creating that clarity for others. 

Connect with Alicia:

https://www.aliciashepherd.com/

Connect with us:

www.leverageladies.com

Welcome to the first episode of Leverage Ladies. Today, Linda and Shannon lay out a roadmap for the future of the show and how it will help you utilize the resources at your disposal. Listen in as Linda and Shannon tell their stories of running their businesses and how they learned to use leverage.

At Linda’s first real job when she was 18, the inflexibility of it was a shock to her. She learned that freedom is what you get when you learn to leverage. Wherever her life was messy, it was time to look at “who,” not “how.”

It wasn’t an easy thing to learn, and it can be difficult to give control to others. However, if you are truly honest with yourself about where your skills are lacking and who can do it better, it’s an easy choice to make. Instead of laboring over something you aren’t good at or don’t have the knowledge to do, enlist the help of others. That way, you can focus on what you are good at.

Shannon owned a business while young and married. Also, in 3 years, she had 3 babies. Bringing the kids to construction sites was not how she wanted to operate; she knew it was time to hire others. After the recession in 2008, the business didn’t have the staff to thrive, and Shannon began learning how to build teams. Eventually, it became a passion.

Recent world events have accelerated virtual staffing, and if you aren’t leveraging those opportunities, you are missing out. Being able to have access to a workforce that can be integrated 24/7 is a definite benefit. Learning to focus on what is important and what problems need solving will allow you to get the best people for you. 

Connect with us:

www.leverageladies.com