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.

Most real estate agents know they need to show up online. The problem starts when posting gets counted as lead generation.

In this episode of *Seeking the Best*, Kathryn and Patrick take an honest look at whether social media is really a dependable lead source for most real estate agents. They break down why posting feels productive, how likes and views provide immediate feedback, and why social media can become the comfortable activity agents choose when they want to avoid rejection.

Kathryn explains the difference between passive marketing and proactive lead generation, why visibility is not the same thing as having a real estate conversation, and how social media often works best as a sphere amplifier. It can help people remember you, validate that you are active in the business, and give them an easier way to connect - but that does not automatically make the platform the true source of the lead.

In this episode:

- Why posting on social media is not automatically lead generation

- The difference between measuring views and measuring business results

- Why likes and comments can make an activity feel more productive than it is

- How social media helps agents avoid the discomfort of direct outreach and rejection

- Why social media often functions as a sphere amplifier

- How to trace a lead back to the source that first created the opportunity

- What a real social media lead-generation plan needs beyond a posting schedule

- Why agents need a defined audience, call to action, follow-up process, and database path

- How a specific interest or niche can give strangers a reason to follow an agent

- Why posting listings and open houses shows activity but does not guarantee leads

**Your Best Move:** Make your post, then start 10 genuine conversations with people in your social media world. The first message does not need to be a sales pitch, but the activity needs to move beyond posting and waiting.

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.

A real estate database is not the same thing as a sphere, and having thousands of contacts does not mean an agent has thousands of relationships. Kathryn and Patrick break down what actually belongs in a database, why open-house leads and old website inquiries become “ghosts” over time, and how inconsistent follow-up turns years of lead generation into lost opportunity. Kathryn shares the re-engagement approach she is using in her own business, why the first goal is simply to get a response, and what an ongoing 8x8 and 12x12 follow-up rhythm can accomplish. The Best Move this week is intentionally small: choose 25 people from your database and send a simple, personal check-in.

Seeking the Best is the podcast for growth-minded real estate agents seeking clarity, focus, and a better way forward.

Listen, read the Candy Bag, and find episode extras: https://www.onseekingthebest.com

Start with the real estate agent podcast guide: https://www.onseekingthebest.com/real-estate-agent-podcast

Follow on Instagram: @onseekingthebest

#realestateagent #realestateleadgeneration #realestatefollowup #realestatecrm #realestatedatabase #realestatepodcast #realtortips

Expired listings can be one of the most direct paths to potential seller business, so why do so many real estate agents quit after only a few days or weeks?

In this episode of *Seeking the Best*, Kathryn and Patrick talk honestly about what it feels like to call homeowners whose listings did not sell: the hang-ups, the frustration, the competition, and the question every agent has to answer - "What are you going to do differently?"

Kathryn explains why agents need to stop measuring effort by time spent or calls attempted and start tracking actual conversations, leads, appointments, and follow-up. She also shares why curiosity, empathy, dialogue practice, and a clear reason to meet matter more than researching every property before picking up the phone.

If you have tried expired listings and decided they do not work, this episode will help you determine whether the lead source is wrong for you or whether you simply have not given it a fair, measurable test.

Seeking the Best is the real estate agent podcast for new and growing agents seeking clarity, focus, and a better way forward.

Watch the Podcast

Watch *Seeking the Best* on video:

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SeekingTheBestPod

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3DkFp53kArqz85g5WP0Udk

Start here: https://www.onseekingthebest.com/real-estate-agent-podcast

Episode extras and questions: https://www.onseekingthebest.com

Real estate farming works, but it is not a matter of mailing one postcard and waiting for a seller to call.

In this episode, Kathryn and Patrick break down what geographic farming actually requires: repeated exposure, a realistic marketing budget, local market research, community involvement, consistent communication, and enough time for people to know, like, and trust you.

Kathryn shares how she gradually built one of her original farm areas through a neighborhood newsletter, market updates, postcards, open houses, community events, a neighborhood Facebook page, and years of showing up. It did not begin as a polished campaign, and it did not produce immediate results. It grew because the communication remained consistent and each layer supported the others.

They also talk about why newer agents are often attracted to farming. Mailing feels safer than making calls, having conversations, or risking rejection. The problem is that farming costs money and usually takes longer to produce measurable business. It is not the lead source to choose when you need a listing immediately.

You will learn how to evaluate a potential farm using turnover rate, average sales price, neighborhood size, existing agent market share, and the realistic cost of staying visible. You will also hear why farming can eventually become a strong, scalable source of listings—but only after you have the revenue and patience to treat it like a long-term investment.

Your Best Move this week is to choose one neighborhood you are considering and calculate its turnover rate before you spend anything.

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

This episode is for newer agents, rebuilding agents, or any agent who is quietly avoiding bigger opportunities because they do not feel ready yet.

Seeking the Best is a podcast for growth-minded real estate agents who want 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.