Seeking the Best - The Real Estate Agent Podcast

NO VIDEO PODCAST THIS WEEK! You know the listing is overpriced. You know the client’s expectations don’t fit. But you need the business, and you’ve started convincing yourself this time will be different.

It’s an uncomfortable position for a real estate agent—especially when you’ve been doing this long enough to know better.

The pressure isn’t always about paying the bills. Sometimes you need to see progress. You want the next closing to prove that things are moving again. And an opportunity you would normally question starts looking like something you can’t afford to lose.

Kathryn has been there. Looking back, the difficult part wasn’t always recognizing a bad fit. Sometimes she recognized it and kept going anyway.

In this episode of Seeking the Best, Kathryn and Patrick explore what happens when wanting the business starts changing your judgment. How much can you justify in the name of growth? And when does being committed to your client become being unable to let this particular deal go?

If you’ve been telling yourself “I just need this one to work,” this conversation may feel familiar.

CONNECT WITH SEEKING THE BEST

YouTube: @SeekingTheBestPod
Watch full episodes, Shorts, product reviews and practical videos for real estate agents.

Instagram: @OnSeekingTheBest
Follow Kathryn and Patrick for tips and behind-the-scenes moments.

Website: OnSeekingTheBest.com
Explore episode supplements, the Candy Bag, more show content and merch.

Have a question for Kathryn and Patrick?
Leave us a voice message: https://www.speakpipe.com/seekingthebest

Few things sting quite like discovering that someone you thought was your client bought or sold a house with another agent.

Maybe they're a past client you've stayed in touch with for years. Maybe they're a friend or family member you assumed would call. Or maybe you've been helping them prepare for months and suddenly someone else's sign is in the yard.

It feels personal because real estate is personal.

But does losing the business mean you did something wrong?

In this episode, Kathryn shares several times it has happened to her—including one that completely changed the way she thought about branding and communicating with her sphere.

Kathryn and Patrick talk about why agents take these losses so personally, the danger of assuming loyalty, when asking for feedback is actually useful, and how niche marketing can accidentally confuse the people who already know you.

They also get into a surprisingly vulnerable part of a mature real estate business: sometimes the clients you feel safest about are the ones you're most likely to stop actively following up with.

And when someone does choose another agent, does that mean the relationship is over? Or do you keep showing up the same way you always have?

CONNECT WITH SEEKING THE BEST

YouTube: @SeekingTheBestPod
Full episodes, Shorts, real estate product reviews, and practical business-building videos.

Instagram: @OnSeekingTheBest
Behind-the-scenes moments, practical tips, and more from Kathryn and Patrick.

Website: www.OnSeekingTheBest.com
Episode supplements, Kathryn's Candy Bag, more Seeking the Best content, merch, and a place to explore the show.

SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/seekingthebest
Leave Kathryn and Patrick a voice message or question for the show.

There’s a moment early in a real estate career when a client asks you a question, waits for your answer, and you suddenly realize:

Oh. I’m the real estate agent.

Getting licensed makes you legally qualified to practice real estate. It doesn’t automatically make you feel capable of guiding someone through contracts, inspections, negotiations and the hundreds of situations you’ve never encountered before.

Kathryn looks back at what it felt like to be a new agent, the fear of not knowing enough, when to ask other agents for help, and the difference between projecting confidence and pretending to know something you don’t.

Twenty years later, Kathryn still encounters things she hasn’t seen before.

The difference is what happens next.

YOUR BEST MOVE: Create a professional “I don’t know” response you can use instead of guessing when a client asks something you aren’t certain about.

YouTube: @SeekingTheBestPod
Instagram: @OnSeekingTheBest
Website: OnSeekingTheBest.com

Have a question for Kathryn and Patrick? Send it through https://www.speakpipe.com/seekingthebest

Hosted by Kathryn Stelljes
Co-hosted and produced by Patrick Fatica

CONNECT WITH SEEKING THE BEST

Starting over sounds brave until you actually have to do it.

Because once you've built a business before, trying again comes with evidence. You know what the work requires. You know what can go wrong. And somewhere in the back of your mind is the question: What happens if I do all of this again and it still doesn't work?

But there's another possibility we don't talk about as often.

What if it does?

In this episode of Seeking the Best, Kathryn and Patrick talk about why experienced real estate agents can become increasingly cautious after setbacks, how half-effort can quietly protect us from getting an answer we may not want, and why the business we once wanted may not be the business we want to rebuild now.

Kathryn also shares what it was like dismantling part of her real estate business during one of her strongest sales years, why a plan failing doesn't mean the person failed, and how our own results can change what we believe we're capable of doing next.

They explore:

• Why starting over gets emotionally harder after you've already succeeded
• The difference between a business problem and a personal failure
• How “being careful” can become another form of avoidance
• Why half-effort protects us from truly testing ourselves
• The uncomfortable question behind a big production goal: Do you actually want the life required to create it?
• Why resilience sometimes means changing the plan rather than repeating it

BEST MOVE: Invite one past client to coffee this week.

CONNECT WITH SEEKING THE BEST

🎥 YouTube: @SeekingTheBestPod — Full episodes, Shorts, real estate product reviews, and practical videos for building a real estate business that works in real life.

📱 Instagram: @OnSeekingTheBest — Behind-the-scenes moments, practical tips, and more from Kathryn and Patrick.

🌐 Website: OnSeekingTheBest.com — Episode supplements, Kathryn and Patrick’s blogs, resources, merch, and more from Seeking the Best.

🎙️ Have a question for Kathryn and Patrick? Send us a voice message through https://www.speakpipe.com/seekingthebest and your question could be featured on a future episode of Seeking the Best.

Seeking the Best is hosted by Kathryn Stelljes with co-host and producer Patrick Fatica. Real conversations for real estate agents about building a better business and becoming your best along the way.

There are few things more frustrating than having to do a job you thought you had already graduated from.

You hired help. You handed something off. Your role changed. Then circumstances change—and suddenly the paperwork, open houses, showings or other responsibilities are back on your plate.

Did your business actually go backward?

Kathryn and Patrick talk about the strange career ladder of real estate, why temporary regression can feel so personal, and the “messy middle” that comes with building a business instead of simply doing a job.

They also get into leverage, hiring, failure, career longevity and a question agents rarely stop long enough to ask:

What do you actually want your job to look like 10 or 20 years from now?

Plus: this week's Best Move and Small Wins.

CONNECT WITH SEEKING THE BEST

🎥 YouTube: @SeekingTheBestPod
Full episodes, Shorts, real estate product reviews, and practical videos for building a real estate business that works in real life.

📱 Instagram: @OnSeekingTheBest
Behind-the-scenes moments, practical tips, and more from Kathryn and Patrick.

🌐 Website: OnSeekingTheBest.com
Episode supplements, Kathryn and Patrick’s blogs, resources, merch, and more from Seeking the Best.

🎙️ Have a question for Kathryn and Patrick?
Send us a voice message through SpeakPipe and your question could be featured on a future episode of Seeking the Best.

Seeking the Best is hosted by Kathryn Stelljes with co-host and producer Patrick Fatica. Real conversations for real estate agents about building a better business and becoming your best along the way.

There’s a particular kind of frustration that comes from knowing exactly what you should be doing in your real estate business... and still not doing it.

You’ve made the calls before. You know how to follow up. You know what activities create business. Maybe you’ve even built a successful business doing them. So why can starting again feel so difficult?

Kathryn and Patrick talk about what happens when experienced agents get stuck, from the shame of feeling like you should be past this to losing faith in activities that used to work, hiding inside new systems, and making your comeback so big that you never actually begin.

Kathryn also shares a simple way to diagnose what’s really going on: Do you need more information? Do you need more support? Or do you already know what to do and simply need to start smaller?

Because starting over doesn’t mean starting from zero. You already have the experience. The goal is to get moving again.

THE BEST MOVE: Do one thing you already know you should be doing before the end of today.

🎥 YouTube: @SeekingTheBestPod
Full episodes, Shorts, real estate product reviews, and practical videos for building a real estate business that works in real life.

📱 Instagram: @OnSeekingTheBest
Behind-the-scenes moments, practical tips, and more from Kathryn and Patrick.

🌐 Website: OnSeekingTheBest.com
Episode supplements, Kathryn and Patrick’s blogs, resources, merch, and more from Seeking the Best.

🎙️ Have a question for Kathryn and Patrick?
Send us a voice message through SpeakPipe and your question could be featured on a future episode of Seeking the Best.

Seeking the Best is hosted by Kathryn Stelljes with co-host and producer Patrick Fatica. Real conversations for real estate agents about building a better business and becoming your best along the way.

CONNECT WITH SEEKING THE BEST

Starting over in real estate is not always about finding a better lead source, changing your calendar, or setting a new goal.

Sometimes the hardest part is admitting that the future you spent years imagining may not happen the way you thought it would.

In this episode of Seeking the Best, Kathryn and Patrick talk about the strange grief that can come with changing a real estate business you worked hard to build. Kathryn shares what it has been like to realize that parts of the business she once wanted no longer fit — even while the outside world might still consider that business successful.

They explore why agents can move through something remarkably similar to denial, anger, bargaining and acceptance when a team changes, someone leaves, a listing expires, a transaction falls apart, or a long-held career goal stops making sense.

But the episode is not really about loss.

It is about what becomes possible once you stop trying to force the old future to happen.

Kathryn also shares two deceptively simple questions that have helped her think about the next version of her business:

What did I enjoy about what I was building?What did I not enjoy?

And later, the conversation turns to something experience teaches you that is easy to miss earlier in your career: a role can change without requiring the relationship to end.

This episode is part of Seeking the Best, the real estate agent podcast for new and growing agents who want clarity, structure, and real-world coaching—not hype. Hosted by REALTOR® and team owner Kathryn Stelljes, with Patrick Fatica as co-host, each episode offers practical guidance for building a real estate business that works in real life.
Episode extras and Kathryn’s Candy Bag blog: ⁠https://www.onseekingthebest.com⁠

Leave a Question From the Web or send us a voice message: ⁠https://www.speakpipe.com/seekingthebest⁠

Watch and subscribe on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SeekingTheBestPod

When your real estate business looks successful from the outside—but no longer fits the life you want—it may be time to start over.

In this episode of Seeking the Best, Kathryn and Patrick talk about the industry scorecard: units, volume, GCI, team size, awards, and recognition. Those numbers matter, but they do not automatically mean your business is profitable, sustainable, or aligned with what you actually want.

Kathryn shares what she learned while building a team: following the model, hiring new agents, handing off buyers, and realizing that growth on paper can still create more work, less profit, and a business that no longer feels right. They talk honestly about why agents stay too long in misalignment, why starting over can feel like failure, and how changing goals require the right people and systems to change with you.

This episode is part of Seeking the Best, the real estate agent podcast for new and growing agents who want clarity, structure, and real-world coaching—not hype. Hosted by REALTOR® and team owner Kathryn Stelljes, with Patrick Fatica as co-host, each episode offers practical guidance for building a real estate business that works in real life.

Episode extras and Kathryn’s Candy Bag blog:
https://www.onseekingthebest.com

Leave a Question From the Web or send us a voice message:
https://www.speakpipe.com/seekingthebest

Watch and subscribe on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@SeekingTheBestPod

Starting over in real estate can feel like losing progress. But when your business has outgrown its structure—or the foundation is no longer right—you are not going back to zero. You are rebuilding with experience.

In this new-season premiere, Kathryn looks back at two turning points in her career: moving from a home-based solo-agent setup into a real business structure, and making the much harder decision to let go of a team member who was not aligned with the culture she was trying to build.

Patrick challenges the self-blame, names the fear of the unknown, and explains why starting over can save more time than continuing to repair the wrong thing.

Together, they give real estate agents a practical way to ask what is working, what is not, and whether the next move is a small reset or a foundational rebuild.

Episode extras, links, and the Candy Bag: https://www.onseekingthebest.com

Have a question for the show? Send it here: https://www.speakpipe.com/seekingthebest

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SeekingTheBestPod

Seeking the Best is the podcast for growth-minded real estate agents seeking clarity, focus, and a better way forward. Hosted by Kathryn Stelljes and Patrick Fatica, the show blends real-world business lessons, honest conversations, and practical moves agents can use to build a business that actually works in real life.

Buying a Facebook, Instagram, or Google ad can feel like a relatively inexpensive way to generate real estate business. But what is an agent actually purchasing?

It is not a client. It may not even be a lead. The immediate purchase is exposure—the opportunity for someone to see a message, click, visit a landing page, or submit a form. Turning that activity into a closing requires an advertising strategy, a sustainable budget, a working funnel, long-term follow-up, and someone capable of converting strangers into clients.

In the season finale of Seeking the Best, Kathryn examines her own experience with internet advertising and explains why it is often added too early. Patrick challenges the familiar belief that one closing will justify the expense. Together, they discuss why online advertising can help scale an established real estate business but should not be used to avoid prospecting.