293 | The Real Estate Freedom Formula: Work Less, Earn More, Miss Nothing w/ Jason Shinpaugh

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What if the thing you built to give you freedom is the very thing trapping you? That's the question Jason Shinpaugh had to face after years of building a high-producing real estate team — complete with four ISAs, multiple listing partners, a full ops staff, and six-figure overhead. From the outside, it looked like success. From the inside, he was broke, broken, and falling asleep in a chair while his family had dinner without him.

In this honest, fire-starting conversation, Jason joins Garrett to talk about what it really costs to chase the traditional team model — and why the industry narrative around leverage, scale, and "building to step away" is failing agents at every level. Jason and Garrett dig into the difference between a team and an organization, why most team leaders are quietly drowning while accepting awards, and what it actually looks like to design a business that gives your life back instead of slowly consuming it.

Jason has spent the last decade living full-time on the road with his family — all while continuing to run a successful real estate business remotely. He's not sharing theory. He's sharing the hard-won, been-through-the-fire truth of what it takes to build what he calls "and relationships" — the only kind that lead to real, lasting freedom.

This episode is for the agent grinding to hit $100K who wonders why freedom still feels so far off. It's for the team leader putting on a show while the lights are barely on. And it's for the faith-driven agent who knows deep down that something has to change — but isn't sure what.

Key Takeaways

• The prison no one warns you about. Jason built a team with over a dozen staff and agents — and found himself more trapped, more broke, and more burned out than when he was selling solo. He breaks down exactly how that happens and why the industry keeps pointing agents in this direction anyway.
• Teams vs. organizations — the critical difference. A team is an "or" relationship: you're either in or you're out. An organization is an "and" relationship: agents can grow beyond you, build their own freedom, and everyone wins. This mindset shift changes everything about how you lead and recruit.
• And = freedom. Jason's simple, powerful equation — and relationships equal freedom. When you stop begging people to stay and start building an ecosystem where the right people swim to your boat, your energy, your peace, and your results all shift.
• The team leader nobody's talking to. Jason makes a passionate case for having honest conversations with team leaders — the ones footing $50K/month in overhead, smiling on stage, and privately asking themselves why they ever left solo production. This episode gives those leaders language and a lifeline.
• You can have an amazing life at 15–20 houses a year. The industry has sold agents on scale as the only path to success. Jason and Garrett push back hard — and lay out what a sustainable, freedom-based real estate business actually looks like year by year, and why the third year becomes the turning point.
• What freedom actually means. Not a beach laptop photo. Not a private jet. Freedom is going to a ball game with your phone off. It's sitting in church without fielding showing requests. It's having enough business that a lost deal doesn't wreck your week. Jason and Garrett define it on their own terms — and show a real, replicable path to getting there.
• The three things you need to feel fulfilled. Someone you're chasing. Someone giving you a hand up. Someone you're giving a hand up to. If you're checking all three boxes, life feels full — personally and professionally. This is the framework behind everything Jason and Garrett are building.

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Transcript

People think real estates feast or famine. It's the most predictable guaranteed income you can ever earn. If you're willing to do the work now, what's the work? And this is where the and relationship comes into play. This is where the freedom comes into play that you can go to church and not have to, you know, check your text messages at church. This is where you can go to your kid's ball game on Friday night and turn your phone off, because you have enough business that everything will be just fine, and it'll be fine even if you don't have enough business. But we live such a reactionary life. We're never free. All we're doing is building our own prison. You didn't get into real estate to miss your life. But I think a lot of agents quietly wake up one day and realize the business they built isn't giving them the freedom they thought it would. It's demanding more time, more energy, more attention. And somewhere along the way, that success starts to feel heavy. Because guys, here's the truth bigger doesn't always mean better. Sometimes bigger just means more people depending on you, more complexity and less margin and freedom and time for the things that actually matter most. So what does it look like to build a business that actually supports your life instead of slowly consuming it? That's what we're getting into today. All right. Before we jump into this amazing episode, and I highly encourage you listen to this all the way to the end. I know that's hard as agents for us to finish anything but finish this episode. I want to give you a quick dad joke. Why didn't the skeleton go to church? Oh, man. I this. This is even corny for me. That's saying something because he had no body to go with. Well, all right, let's dive into this episode. Today I am joined by Jason Shim Paul, a real estate team leader, entrepreneur, and someone who has spent years helping agents rethink what success is actually supposed to look like. Jason has been in real estate for nearly three decades and has experienced both sides of the industry. He built the traditional high producing team model that so many agents chased, but eventually realized that bigger didn't automatically mean better, and that success without freedom comes with the real cost. Over the years, Jason intentionally redesigned both his business and his life around simplicity, sustainability, and freedom. He and his family have spent years traveling full time while still running a successful business remotely, and today, he's passionate about helping agents stop building businesses that consume them and start building businesses that actually support the life they want. What sets Jason apart is he's not just talking about production. He's talking about intentional business design, long term sustainability, and building a business that gives you freedom instead of slowly taking it away. And. On a personal note, Jason is a personal friend, man, and we align in so many things. Buddy, I'm so glad that you're here. Thank you for joining me and our faithful agent audience today, buddy. Just go ahead and say hi. And then we are going to dive right in man. So thank you again for joining us. Jason. Say hello buddy, and let's jump right into the conversation. Well, I'm honored that you invited me to be on your show. So thank you for that. I appreciate it very much. 100%, man. I'm excited that you're here. So yeah, we're gonna jump right in. You've said in the past, Jason, that at one point you realized in your business you hadn't built freedom. You'd actually built a prison. What does that mean? Well, I mean, if you follow the industry, they say you just have to build the team, right? And the team is what's going to set you free. And you you build leverage and you build all of these things. What you're really doing is building liabilities that you have no control over. So your income is tied to other people and what they're willing or unwilling to do. In my case, um, you know, when I was running my team, at its peak, I had four full time ISAs. I had an ops manager, a transaction manager, a listing manager, a marketing manager, a courier, a bookkeeper, 6 to 8 buyers agents, 2 to 4 listing partners completely out of production. Um. And I was broke and broken. And what I realized was, I was I had just built brick by brick, my own prison. I couldn't get out. I had so much going on. And the only way for me to get out was just to leave, which is 

what we did. Um, in hindsight, maybe not the best solution, but I was so broken, I just didn't care. Right? My give a darn button was shattered and I would fall asleep in the chair at night watching my kids and wife have dinner while I'm exhausted asleep trying to provide. Um, so I just made things way too complicated. And I think we follow this, this path that everybody. So you got to build a team, you got to build a team, you got to build a team. And you know, I I'm now a big fan of building organizations versus teams because organizations limit liability and obligation. And, uh, then you can help the people that want to be helped and not beg the people to do what you need to do, so you win. Hmm. Yeah. What were the warning signs for you? Like, what did that look like to say? You know, you say you just get out, right? You just gotta get away. What are some of the warning signs, or were there warning signs that maybe you just missed along the way to say, man? This is I agree with you. The industry has told us that the way to build freedom is build a big team. And I like you. I don't know anyone that's actually done that. And I've been around a lot of big teams like you have where it sounds theoretically good, but they run into the same challenges that all of us like. How do I have agent retention? Right? How do I get the agents to do things? Maybe I can step away and get the seventh quote unquote level team, which if anybody's read the million or real estate agent, it's a book. You know, you walk away from the business, somebody else runs it. That's theoretically sounds good. I don't know anyone that's doing that. Right. That that does that long term and doesn't have to jump back in all the time. So what are some of these warning signs, Jason, that you were seeing if you were seeing them, how does someone who's listening know, hey, maybe that's me and maybe they don't have a big, massive team, but they're building a prison instead of freedom. What do you think are some of those warning signs? Well, I'll give you some perspective of one thing. You said. Mine made it two years without me. There. That was it. Hmm. That was it. Two years and it was done. And, um, you know, for me, it was the emotional toll of the people coming and going of people who were a part of my life. And, you know, they were my barbecue on Sunday afternoon, hanging out by the pool on the boat. Our kids are playing. And then Monday morning they walk into my office and not only do they quit, then they want to drive you over with a car, right? Not really. But you understand. Like it? Just like the the relationships are just shredded. And I'm like, how are we? How do we travel? How do we go on vacation? How do we have this amazing life that we're living together? And then in 24 hours, you you want nothing to do with me? You never spoke to me again. Like, it's it's just it was a crazy thing. And look, I can look back and say all sorts of things that I could have done better as a leader. Um, because I certainly don't think that it's all everybody's fault. I'm actually really grateful for it. It's caused me to live a life I would have never, ever dreamed of. Um, so, you know, that's how God shows up in our life, right? We think we're going down this path, and we have it all figured out, and it's like, nope. Just kidding. Yahtzee. Dice on the table. All sixes. Out the door you go. And, uh, you know. And and that's what happened to us. So I'm incredibly grateful for that season of my life. I'm incredibly grateful for all those people. They all played a role in where I sit today. You know, we've been ten years full time on the road, traveling one decade, and I have two kids. You know, they're amazing. They're they're now 16 and 19, and they were six and eight when we started. And, uh, you know, we've been we've been all over the country. We spent last summer in Alaska. So all of that to say all those things that happened in that season, they all happened for me. They didn't happen to me. Um, but in the middle of it, it sucked. I mean, let's just be honest, you know, you're you're you're turning through people and you have people that come into your life who are, uh, never sold real estate, maybe sold a little bit of real estate. You help them become successful, they leave you rich. You repeat. And it was just a it was a treadmill of emotions I could no longer handle. That's ultimately what drove me out the door. Mhm. Mhm. You made mention of building organizations and teams. What does that mean. Well, I think I think that you have to have people that are swimming to your boat, and if you don't have 

people that are swimming to your boat, begging them to swim to your boat is what will cause you to ultimately drown. And that's what happened. When I look back at it, all these people drown me. I got out of my boat to go and try and save them, and they didn't want to be saved, or they didn't want to be saved in the way that I thought they should be saved. And that was a leadership, uh, fault of mine. Not in a bad way. I wanted more for them. I wanted better for them, you know? But ultimately it wasn't what they wanted. And I didn't do a great job of meeting people where they were in that season of their lives, because I always just wanted more for them. I'm like, there's more. There's more out there, there's more, there's more. And, um, you know, I think understanding that everybody has a different path. Right. And when you when you really get down to it, if somebody's going to swim to your boat, they're going to win with or without you, but they could just win a little faster and a little bigger with you because we can do more together. Right. And and I think building an organization is you can still help people get what they want and you can get what you want, right? So, so in a team model, it's very much an oar relationship. You're either on the team or you're not. And when you build an organization, it creates an and relationship. You can be a part of my world, I can help you. I can pour into you, and I'll help you grow whatever you want to grow so we can both benefit. It becomes a win win versus most team models are win lose. Team leaders will jump up and down and say, that's not true. I give them all this, I do, I get it. But the reality of it is at the end of the day, it is a win lose situation in some form or fashion. It's hard. You know the well. So in in transparency, both Jason and I are in the same organization at Exp. So an agent that's listening, it's like, man, how do I be in the world with these guys without paying them a split? Text me right. We'll talk and we'll talk with Jason at 804 878 2200. It's in the show notes. Two guys reach out. We'd love to talk to you, but it's interesting, Jason, because I was just at a meeting with an agent who's on a team right now who's trying to figure out the same thing. And that was the conversation, which she realized. She said this to me was she realized was, look, as I was growing, my business was getting better. I realized that what they could offer me was no longer what's best for me. And there's no animosity. I just need to leave. I need to not be there anymore. Right. And the challenge of every team or an agent that's listening, that's on a team or considering a team, it doesn't mean teams are bad, right? It doesn't mean that going on a team is not a good idea for a while. Right? But the natural challenge is my job as team leader is to keep you where you are. Because if you create too much independence, it's exactly what you said, Jason. It's rinse and repeat over and over and over again, and that is exhausting. I need agents that will stick around and stay. But if I teach you, I think the appropriate way from an eternal perspective to say, you know, maybe how do I be a king or queen maker, not the king. Then all I'm doing is creating agents who have competition in traditional, you know, real estate models. That's a terrible thing. And so I know we're both thankful for the Exp model because we put them in our organization. They go and they crush it and they win and we get to continue to support them. That's good. It's a win win and that's a blessing. But a lot of agents aren't experiencing that right for agents right now, Jason, that are on a team or considering a team. You know, speak to them. The agent who is saying, well, I'm on a team and I'm not sure if this is the right place for me. Maybe my team leader is burning out, or am I getting what I should be getting? You know, what kind of questions should they be asking themselves as they process through? Are they in the right place? Hey friends, we're pressing pause on today's episode for a second because if you're a real estate agent feeling buried by pressure, chaos, feeling like you're always on and constantly chasing the next deal, this is for you. So many of us agents are doing everything we're told to do. Cold outreach in this training's non-stop hustle. But we still feel stuck wondering, okay, now what's next? We're changing that through this three month group cohort designed to help agents build a business fueled exclusively by referrals. No fluff, no vague motivation, just the exact step by step systems, strategies and support to help you grow sustainably and finally do business 

differently. This is the exact step by step system strategies and support that took Lindsay's business in Wyoming from 15 to 43 sales in just one year. So if you're ready to stop operating from pressure and start building a business that honors God with clarity and confidence. Check out the show notes of this episode to book a discovery call with the team and me. Well, I think it's just. It's very simple. Is there a pathway to get what they want financially? Personally? Time all of those things because it ultimately is about us, right. And what you find is most people go to a team because they want leads. Yeah. Because nobody's taught them to build a business. Yeah. And that becomes the handcuff is the leads. You know, I'm a big fan of let's let's become a great real estate business owner and not live your life as a real estate agent. As a real estate agent, you spend all of this time in a reactionary state because you never have enough business to be consistent. And as long as it's reactionary, you're always reacting to everybody else's life. Every buyer that calls you, you're jumping off and leaving your family on Sunday afternoon, you're doing all those things because nobody's teaching you to grow a real estate business. Mhm. Your team leader is not teaching you to grow a real estate business. They're teaching you to call leads back and four minutes. They're teaching you the scripts. They're teaching you to use the CRM. All all well and good. I'm not I'm not discounting that. But they're not teaching you to get free. They're trying to leverage you so they can become free. Mm. And I just, I, I think it's a failing model because the people that are the best, they ultimately leave. And then the team leaders left holding the basket again going back to to the the to the young lady that you were speaking about. At some point you go like I'm giving away half or 30% or 40%, whatever the number is. For what? Right. For what? And this is not. This is not knocking. Teams I think there's a place. But I think if you restructure the word team and put organization, that means that you can have opportunity through me. And I'll help you grow whatever you want to grow. See, that's the. And versus the team. You have to stay under my umbrella or you have to leave. And that was what was happening to me is the or when they left fractured the relationships that I had because if I'm honest, I didn't have a pathway for them to get what they wanted. Hmm. It all ties back together. Yeah. It does. It's so hard because. And I started on a team. I had a team, right? I, I think teams like you said have their absolutely have their place of we need. But we need team leaders who who lead with an open hand. Right. And say I'm going to teach you what you need to know. I want you to grow and go, that's a good thing, right? It's a good, godly thing. But that will wear out a team leader to your point. Right. That's what happened to you. It's not that these team leaders, I mean, some of them, but most of them are not coming from a place of how do I, you know, screw over my agent and get as much from them as possible. That's not true at all. It's just that the model itself is difficult. Right? Because you are asking entrepreneurs to come live in your entrepreneurial world but not be full entrepreneurs. Right. Just kind of take what you can give them right now. Build a business big enough, but not too big. I mean, I was even in a local brokerage that I really love and I have a lot of respect for. I had a team. I went over there for nine months. I was Keller Williams left, went over there for nine months, ended up back at Keller Williams before I moved to Exp. And I went to them and said, hey, I love it here, right? I really do love it here, but your model has just got me stuck. It was 8020 split. That was the best I could get. It didn't make sense for a team. There's no cap. Right. And so I just said look here's the reality. Like I either have to charge my agents more, which I don't want to do, right, or I got to leave, like, I've got to change something. Can you give me a better deal? The answer was no. Which is their right? Right. Because it's their business. I totally understand, but the problem was even in their model, it was too small that if I was going to try to accomplish what I wanted to do, which ultimately was going to help my agents do what they wanted to do, it was going to hurt that brokerage. And so they said no, again, totally within the right. I'm not offended by that. But the problem is looking for a model that says we're about growth for anybody in any way that you want it. You know, I love like my business partner. Dave Cassiano started 

on his team. We're back in business together at Exp. But what he always said is when he made a shift, it's because he was looking at what models exist out there where my team agents could actually have the same thing that me, the team leader, have. Ryan was talking about stock and revenue share and those opportunities that didn't exist in other places. How do we actually help our team agents build the life that they want to build while we're building our side by side? And it feels like and I you know, I know Jason, we know each other. Some not great. But what everyone has told me is you are such a great side by side kind of guy, right? I'm going to come side by side with you. We're going to build something together. Sometimes that means I'm behind you, lifting you up. Sometimes it means I'm in front of you, pulling you. Sometimes they're doing the same thing for you. Right? But the reality is. Excuse me. I think you have to. Agents, pay attention to what is the business model, aka the world, the brokerage world that you live in to say, is this actually encouraging and giving me the opportunity of what I'm looking for? So, Jason, I'm going to switch a little bit here because I want you to talk more about freedom, because I don't know that most agents know how to define that. And I would say a lot of agents think, well, freedom just means I get to work with you. I want to work with and I make a lot of money, you know, what do you mean by freedom? And when you define that for me and you give me that idea, tell me, what are some of these sacrifices we're making that are not necessary to make in this industry? We've just become convinced. So start with what does freedom mean when you talk about that word? What are you talking about? It's interesting because lots of people talk about time, location, time freedom, location freedom, financial freedom. And. I don't know anybody who has really created it in the real estate space at a high level that it sustained outside of a of a rev share model business. Not saying it doesn't exist. I don't know everybody by any means, but whatever that rev share model is, that's the pathway to freedom. And you know, I you asked me a question minute ago and I just want to go back real quick and we'll come back here just for a hot second because, you know, you said if somebody's looking at a team or, you know, on a team or whatever, I think that we need to be talking to the team leaders because they're the ones that are fighting the lonely battle. They're the ones that have to put on the show every day when they're going broke. They're the ones that are footing a $50,000 a month overhead to provide opportunities. They're the ones that are trying to figure out how they're going to pay their light bill. They're not saying it because they can't say it because I think they're failing, and I think that our industry has done a really, really, really bad job of casting a vision that's not accurate. And I think if people are really honest, if they'll just get really like in the bathroom, just them in the mirror and look at themselves, I can tell you almost every team leader that I know at some point or another that if they were honest, has said to me, or I know for sure said to myself, why am I doing this? Well, I'm making less money than I ever made. I had it the best I ever had it. When I sold 20 or 30 houses by myself with an assistant. What am I doing? And it's like they they just can't get out of that identity. It's like an identity crisis because they're the team leader and they're on the stage. And, you know, I'm traveling around the country, you know, winning awards on on a stage. Meanwhile, my team's in shambles. I didn't even know. Right. I mean, so I think that. We need to be really championing open conversations with team leaders, because team leaders are the ones that are there carrying the burdens of these brokerages. These brokerages are going through all sorts of changes right now, and all of it comes back to the to the to the big dogs, right. These businesses, these brokerages have been built on the back of the teams. So so the team leaders in between the broker and the agent, if you really think about it, and they're stuck in the middle and they they have openness to the agents, they have openness to the broker, the brokers giving them sweetheart deals. I mean, there's just all of this stuff going on and these team leaders out there right now, man, I mean, they're hurting and and they need to to know that there's people out there that are willing to help them because it is a lonely place. And you and I have both been there. So. And there was nobody there was nobody standing in front of me to say, let me 

help you. You know who was standing in front of me? A coach going. You need to leverage more. You need to buy more leads. You need to you need to spend more money. You need to do this. And you need to get another Isa. And and that's how you'll get out. That's what. That's who you need. That's not what you need. You need to create a path for and relationships. I don't care if anybody takes anything else away from this call. You have to learn to create and relationships and honest and relationships. Not what you say are and relationships. Oh, I'm giving them the business and they get to go and show all these houses know and and relationship. Can they grow bigger than you in exactly what you have right now? And almost always the answer is no. That's not an earned relationship. It's so good. Jason, I was running and I've talked about it on the show before, but what we called the Think Bigger mastermind for three years when I was KW and we had it was the top agents in Virginia and North Carolina. It was amazing. We had, you know, Gary Keller streaming in. He was brilliant. And all these top people that were coming to teach this group, I mean, the group of 35 people represented almost $1 billion in real estate, and they were running big teams. These were big. They're amazing people, amazing business owners. Right. And so I started to do what I saw everybody doing, and I started adding agents. Now, I wasn't as big as you, but it was four agents. I had three full time admin. Get to the point where to your point, I asked myself, what am I doing? Like why am I doing this? Thankfully for me, relatively early on realize I'm trying to create freedom for myself. That's why I did it. But I looked around and was like, oh, my buddies. None of them have freedom, so that can't be the right answer. And so I created for myself. I let everybody go except one agent who is an A+ player kept my A+ transaction coordinator. The three of us ran it, and I gave him all the business. Jesse. Everybody's heard me talk about him on the show. Gave it to Jesse, who's amazing. Created. I've never heard it said that way, but it's exactly what you said. And and relationship. Right? Where he and I work together, he runs the day to day, I create deals, I oversee it, but he's really running the day to day along with our transaction coordinator, and it's an amazing opportunity for him. It's an amazing opportunity for me. Frees me up. He actually made more than I did last year by a little bit, which is awesome. Praise God, because he bought all of my time back, right? And I get to go do whatever I want to do now. And the Lord is gracious in that. And so, um, I realized that what everybody was going for was freedom, right? The ability to do what I want, when I want, with who I want. And, uh, in a good way, I think that's a good thing, that we're in pursuit of those things. Ultimate freedom in Christ. Right. But but it's a good thing I looked and said it's not working for them. And they run much bigger, more complicated businesses than I could ever understand. There's got to be a different way and was able to find that right. And I'm thankful for that. I think what you're talking about in the organization is even greater way, right? Where it's not dependent on one person. Because I hope Jessie one day leaves because it's better for his family. Right? I need him to do that whenever it gets to be better for his family. But then I got to go figure that out, right? The organization gives you that opportunity. So as we talk about team leaders, and I think you're right to to point towards them because it is true. When I was building that out and building the team, I was doing it because a coach who was really smart said, you got to start investing in this. You got to bring in these people. You got to, oh, okay, I'm just going to do it right. I'm trying to be a good soldier. I'm trying to figure it out. I'll do those things rarely with someone telling me, and no one actually told me. In fact, when I said, I'm going to try to figure out with one agent how to get out of production. Everyone around me said, that's not going to be possible. Right. And so this, this narrative of freedom's not there. You gotta find it in big, massive team where you can step out of it. Right. When agents again. And let's get into this definition of freedom. I love that you went back there. But this definition of freedom that they're struggling with what what does or should that mean? We can't tell them. Right. But what should that mean to a real estate agent? A real estate agent who's been in for less than five years? Jason, who's like, I'm just trying to make 100 K right now. That's my goal. What 

are you talking about freedom for, right. What does that look like and why does it matter? We talk team leaders. Now we're going to talk to these agents. Why does it matter that that agent less than five years in is thinking about freedom already? Why would that matter to them? And what does that look like? What kind of steps do they need to take? Yeah. It's funny as you're as you're talking, I have a new thing that I'm going to say and equals freedom. Hmm. It's good and equals freedom, and relationships equals freedom. So. Thank you. You didn't even know. Like I'm just sitting here. I'm like, dude, that's like that's awesome. That's I love it, man. I love it. Really? Uh, you know, look, very few people are going to sell everything they have, move their family into an RV and pull out of their driveway. I mean, that's like we kind of we kind of push it all the way to the end. But the truth of the matter is, I was so broken that I just didn't care, right? I was willing to go work at Chicken Fillet. I didn't care, I just didn't care. And what I've realized is we still work, right? You know, I still host calls all the time. I, you know, I still work because we're called to work. Yeah. Right. God, God, I wanted to quit. I wanted to quit at all. Like I was out of real estate. I was never doing it again. Whatever. God would never let me out. He would just never let me out. Uh, but I think I think freedom is being able to go to a ball game with your phone off. Freedom is being able to sit in church and not give out showing instructions. Mhm. Free. You know everybody's going to have a different definition of it. So my definition is your definition and yours isn't Steve and Mary's. And you know sit down the list. But but I think. Not walking down the hallway and feeling like you're going to panic when something buzzes or dings in your pocket. That's freedom. Right? And having enough business that if a deal doesn't happen, you're fine. That's freedom. So? So freedom is a very. You know, they can mean all sorts of things to people. Um, freedom for us is we can go anywhere we want to go, anytime we want to go and stay as long as we want to stay. I mean, that's the ultimate freedom. And Exp helped me create all of that. Right. So we have complete location freedom. I'm sitting in Texas right now on a beautiful ranch. We're having some work done to RV. We met some people travel and they opened their home to us. We're sitting in their room, sitting in their dining room right now. That's freedom. That's location freedom. Right. And the people that we've met because of it, we we do not have complete financial freedom, but we're not awful far from it. And that's the thing is, I don't think people think they can do it, because right now they're trying to figure out where they're getting the next deal. And I go back to what I said earlier. Nobody is teaching these agents how to grow a real estate business. They're teaching the sort of contract they're teaching without a listing agreement. Well, what difference does that make if you don't have a buyer or a listing? It doesn't bite. So? So locking arms with people like yourself that are going to teach you to grow a business that's sustainable. Right. I have multiple agents that I mentor to take off. I mean, a month, six weeks in a year, no phones, no text messages. They come home and their business grew, and people just think it's not possible. That's stupid. It's. Why do you want to take your your laptop and go work on a beautiful beach while your family is playing in the pool? In the spirit of like, hey, I took you on vacation. That's stupid. I'm sorry. It's stupid, right? But it's what we've been told and that does not have to be true. That is not truth. Actually. It's most people's reality because that's what they've allowed their business to become because they don't have a business. So if they don't get the deal, they're not even paying for the vacation they're on. Versus if you do these activities and you have a consistent game plan and you lock arms with people like yourself that are going to show them how to grow a business. They can have. You can have an amazing lifestyle in 15 or 20 houses a year in most markets. It's good. Yeah, right. And 15 or 20 houses if you do that three years in a row, by the third year you're working less than 20 hours a week, I guarantee it. Yeah. First year you're probably working more than 40. Second year you're probably going to be working 30 to 40 third year if you keep exactly the same transaction count. It's way less effort. But guess what? It'll organically grow anyway. Yeah you're right. But nobody can teach them how to get to 12. 12 is the hardest number in one year. 12 deals. 

One year. Hardest year you'll ever have in real estate. Mm. Why is that? Yeah. Because everything's hard. How do you negotiate? It's hard. You haven't negotiated a bunch. How do you fill out a listing? It's hard. How do you type in this? It's hard. Everything's hard. And then all of a sudden, it gets easy. And then you get to 12 and you're like, hey, I got a few extra bucks. I could hire a transaction coordinator. I could, you know, whatever the situation is. But nobody's sitting with these people, their businesses. And this is true for every single level. I don't care what level it is. From a new agent to a broker owner, team leader. Their business can only grow based on the questions they know to ask. Hmm. It's good. Period. And there's nothing new. That's why you can lock arms with somebody and say, this is the steps. Now, if you want to do the work, you can get the results it becomes. It's guaranteed. People think real estates feast or famine. It's the most predictable guaranteed income you can ever earn. If you're willing to do the work now, what's the work? That's where you got to find great partners. And this is where the and relationship comes into play. This is where the freedom comes into play that you can go to church and not have to, you know, check your text messages at church. This is where you can go to your kid's ball game on Friday night and turn your phone off because you have enough business that everything will be just fine and it'll be fine even if you don't have enough business. But we live such a reactionary life, we're never free. All we're doing, going back to the very first question, is build in our own prison. So good man. It's amazing. I'm coaching this agent right now and I'm super, super amazing person and amazing producer. And I asked this. I asked them, what does an ideal vacation look like for you? Right. Because they had told me about working on vacation, doing all these things, and they said, well, uh, probably only working like 10% of the time. And I said, is that the ideal vacation? And they they laughed and they're like, yeah. And I said, well, if I asked your spouse, what would they say? And they're like, well, they would say that I'm off my phone the entire time. Right. And so to your point, it's become this. And I'm glad you brought it up because I talk about we need to stop being agents and start being business owners. Right? The way that we think, the way that we pursue. I love that you're talking about, you know, the 15 to 20 a year, you can have a great life doing that. I I've I've become convinced, Jason, that the industry is convinced and tries to convince us that every agent should want a big, massive business, a big team, more money, more rankings, all the things when I think like 95% of us think, if I could have a good business that makes good money with as much time freedom as possible, that's what I want. You know, I've I've said no to a lot of things because right now I've got so much time. Freedom. The Lord's gracious. I'm like, I don't want to give that up. Even if I can make more money, I don't want to give that up. Right. Why? Because I'm here knee deep with five kids and poopy diapers. Right? That probably the most explicit thing I've said on the show ever is poopy diapers. And I'm right in the middle of it, and I don't want to go anywhere. Right? Money is not worth it for you. Right? And I met your kids. We played pickleball, and they're better than me. Which is unfortunate, because I'm old. Uh, so I should be better, right? But. But they're great kids. And so the reality is, you are right where you want to be with them. No money is going to make that better. No money is going to change that. No. No ranking is going to make your kids love you more or think more highly of the years that they missed daddy because daddy was just out trying to be the number one agent. So it's okay, right? Like those things are not worthwhile trade offs. And the industry has been telling us for decades. It's just what is required. And to your point, it is if you don't have the end relationships, it is if you don't learn how to think and operate like a business owner and you stay stuck in the agent mentality, and that's a dangerous place for us to be. And I fear that's where most of us are. Right. For an agent who is listening right now, Jason, that maybe feels successful on paper, maybe like you did, but is exhausted in real estate or burnout. What do you want to say to that person? Just don't quit. I wish I would have never quit. I'm grateful for what I did, but I could have done it differently. And if you've been in the business 3 or 4 years. Quitting is pretty easy because a lot of 

times you don't have enough that you're walking. You just like, I gotta go eat, right? I still think the conversations that we need to be having are with the team leaders and the broker owners, because then it trickles down into their sphere of influence, and they have the impact in these people's lives. I'm just telling you, I believe wholeheartedly that's where these conversations need to Stem. And it's all about helping anybody, anybody that wants to listen. But if if you're a team leader, if you're a broker owner listening to this, it's okay that it sucks. It's okay that it's hard. Just raise your hand. Look, it's okay to tell people that you're broke. It's okay to tell people your money, your your business is losing money. We already know it's. It's more common than everybody thinks. But when you're inside that wall and you think, I've got this whole thing going and I'm the number one, and I'm the this and the paying all this and doing all that. Like, guys, this industry creates divorce, addictions, infidelity. I mean, just the list goes on. And dude, all we're doing is opening doors. Mm. Do you like the kitchen? Somehow or another that's turned into this crazy, out of touch reality that we have to drive around in a Bentley and have $6,000 shoes in a designer purse and jump on TikTok. What? BAP bap bap bap. That's your thing. Awesome. Go do it. But that's not serving your soul. That's not serving who you are. And I believe we have a responsibility. And that's that's my message. You've you've heard me speak. I mean, this is my message. Like, this is my message. And I'm telling you, it's just a matter of time before you wake up one day. Yo. I don't want to do this anymore. Don't quit. Raise your hand. Put your ego in check. And reach out to somebody that you know is willing. To be honest, I'm very blessed that I had some friends that were really honest with me. And I'm like, dude, I'm not making any money either. Just so you know, like my my business. You know, so it was we got behind the curtains and had some of those honest conversations. And I'm not saying everybody's not making money, but there's a cost. And if you go back to creating and relationships, you get to limit all of your liability, all of your obligations. And all you're doing is helping people that are begging to get in your boat. And when you're dealing with people that are begging to get in your boat every day, life changes. You have tons of energy. You have tons of willingness to help people because you're not begging them. They're begging you. And anybody that's a team leader, it spends the majority of their time begging their agents to call people back. Right. And so what if the people were begging you to be like, hey, can you please help me? And I'll do whatever you say? That's who I spend time with. And if they don't? Next, I can't save you. But the people that are allowing me to do that, every one of their lives have changed. Every one of them. I got a mom Schwartz, 25 hours a week. She'll make multiple six figures this year. She's a stay at home mom first. That's awesome. A realtor second. And that makes my heart proud because when when we first started spending time together, she was stressed out because this person was doing this, and this person was. Do they go? Who cares? Is that what you want? And guess what? Her business is organically grown every single year. Mhm. And she's been a mom first. So good as she should be. That's right. Absolutely. There is a biblical command and it's not to sell 20 homes a year. That's right. Which by the way, she'll sell more than that working 25 hours a week. It's awesome. I mean, it's so you can have it, but nobody's teaching people to do it, right? And so it's just an industry thing. And I mean, it's like I'm on fire about this topic right now. So the I don't know whether you got me at a good time to be on your show or not a good time because I'm like, I'm telling you, like I am telling you, I know how many people are hurting. Look, 70% of our industry sold 0 or 1 house in 2025. I mean, what does that tell you? Right. You see all these mergers happen. You have all this noise, all this stuff people are afraid to like. Our industry is changing. Like it's ever changed. And by the way, it is 29 flippin years I've been in this business. I can't even believe I can say that out loud. Like I'm the old guy. Like when I was. You're like, I'm that guy now, right? Right. But but the reality of it is, I'm willing to say what very few people are willing to say. And that's what we're talking about right now. Nobody wants to say this out loud. You think the people that wrote the 

millionaire real estate agent model would be like, hey, that model doesn't work. It sucks. It failed. No, of course not. No, you need to do more of it. You need to scale. You need to pivot. You need what? All those stupid words. Like, what if he just did less and made more money? Hmm. And then you helped other people because you need three things. You need three things to fulfill your life. You need somebody you're chasing. You need somebody who's giving you a hand up, and you need somebody you're giving a hand up to. And if you're checking all three of those boxes on a regular basis, your life is fulfilled. Personal or professional? You need those three things. Sam. Again. Jason. You need somebody that you're chasing. You need somebody who's giving you a hand up, and you need to be giving somebody a hand up. And that's what makes, in my opinion, expe such an amazing place is that's exactly how it's built. You have access to the top real estate agents in the country for free. You have people going, here's your hand, here's my hand. What do you need? You need this form. You need this. You need this market here just to have it. And then they incentivize us to reach down and help other people. Hello. How does it get any better than that? Mm. Right. And people are like oh it's a, it's a, it's a multi- level marketing. So what. Yeah. Yeah. Great benefits every agent that's involved right. Yeah. So all these agents get my time for free. Boy that's a no benefit. Be much better if I charge them for me, but not for them, because, you know what? They couldn't afford to pay me, so guess what? They wouldn't get it. Now they get everything in my brain, everything in my Dropbox, everything that we've created inside our organization. You could just have it now you got to go use it, but you won't. That's really cool. I'll tell you exactly how to use it. In what order? Just like you will. Yeah. Oh, 100% in the other day. Oh, go ahead, buddy. I just say. And that's the beauty of it. People do not understand the true impact of what we've built and what we're building, and whether it's Exp or real or LP, whatever the rapture model is. Rev share equals love because it gives us an ability to impact the world in a way that I could have never dreamed possible. The reach that I have because of revenue share I could have never replicated on my own. Never ever, ever, ever ever. And the people that reach out to me and say, man, you helped me. This, you helped this, you did this. Like it? You know, you you see it. You have those same phone calls, right? Well, guess what I won two. Mm. I won by helping you win. You did? I did. That's why I'm here. Like it anyway. Sorry. I totally digressed off our conversation, but it's just. It's so powerful. And that's how you create freedom is you get around people who are free. And I'll tell you right now, there's very few free people in the real estate industry, if you're honest. And you look up how many of those team leaders are free, how many those broker owners are free. And much top producers are free. Free time. Location. Financial. Completely free. It's a very, very, very small number. It's good. Man. Man, I love so many things. Right. We'll just listen. Just a replay. But instead of me talking, just replay that last part. Uh, I love what you said too. I'll just reiterate, if you are feeling that, just raise your hand. Text me. Text Jason (800) 487-8220 zero. Jason, how would they get a hold of you, buddy? Uh, just through. Garrett. If you need me, get a little two. Three. We'll get connected with Jason. We want to help and support. You know, if you've rarely heard me, if ever, talk about exp on here. That's not why we're here. But I. You know, more than anything, your spiritual freedom is what matters, right? Uh, knowing Christ is what matters. But while we're here, the ability of. I want you to kind of reverse engineer what Jason was sharing. The ability that Jason has because of the Exp model to help others along the path create freedom for themselves and their families. The joy as a believer to be able to reach out and serve others in their world. What a gift in a blessing that is not only to him and his family, but to those that he gets to serve. That's the goal that we should all have. I'm not. I'm not saying all the Christian agents need to be at exp in a rev share model, right? Scripture doesn't say that. I'm not going to say that, but but the reality is that's what we're talking about. Exactly what Jason shared. I've experienced the same thing. The beauty of saying I had someone recently, Jason said, I want to hire you to coach me one on one 1400 bucks a 

month. And they were paying their broker 50 grand. I said, don't pay them 50 grand. And me whatever. 18 grand. Come over here, pay 16 and I'll help you. Right? Like I would have saved you 50 grand. And I still want to help you. And I don't want to charge you a dime. That doesn't exist other places. And it's out of a heart and a desire to serve and pour into others, which is what you have. And so raise your hand, agents. We want to help you and serve you in any way that we can, and that might not be with us. It might be somewhere else. But there's a lot of agents, to your point, Jason, that are hurting, that just need someone to come alongside them and support them. And Jason is such a great example of that side by side love and encouragement. So man. We had. You said at the beginning, this is not going to be a 25 minute episode. I love it. You could talk for an amazingly long time. The irony is, I am literally getting ready to go to a baseball game with some of my Exp brothers that are in our organization, and I'm turning my phone off. It's exactly what you said, man. And so we're going to go live that out and you're going to go live that out. That is freedom. Uh, man. Anyways, buddy, I love you. Thank you. Please do. Yeah. Take us out. You're welcome to to follow us on all social media platforms. We have a YouTube channel. We have a Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. It's all just the pause. It's my last name. And, um, I'd love for you guys. Check out. You can see who we are and what we're what we're all about. But, um, it's really cool because our YouTube channel has just fostered these amazing relationships. The home that I'm sitting in right now was somebody that I met through our YouTube channel. That's cool. And, uh, the the ability for us to share our faith and what we're able to do because of that, because the platform, like, it's just it's a wonderful thing, you guys. Please, please, please don't be alone. And don't be hurting. You don't have anything to be afraid of. I'm going to tell you right now. Pick up the phone. Let us help you. Let us. There's no pressure. There's no expectations. Don't ever join the exp. Stay where you are. I don't care. Just don't be alone. And don't be hurting right now because it's the truth. So I'll leave you that one. Amen. It's good. Jason Semple, thank you for coming on, buddy. Faithful agents, we love you. And we will see you next week. Hey, Christian agent, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If it resonated, would you take 30s and share it with another agent who's also trying to grow their business without losing their faith, family, or peace? That's how this message spreads. And if you haven't yet, hit that subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. I release new ones each Thursday to help you build success that actually lasts. It genuinely fires me up knowing this podcast is helping you pursue excellence to the glory of God, both at work and at home. I'll meet you back here next week for another episode of The Faithful Agent.