REality

Navigating Real Estate's Future with Leadership and Insight

• Gary Scott

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Unlock the secrets to a thriving career in real estate with Regional Vice President Stephanie Gossett as she takes us through her inspiring journey from journalism to real estate leadership. Learn how Stephanie's unique path—from working at a North Carolina newspaper to leading a team—has shaped her perspective on the industry. Discover what it takes to build a rewarding career in real estate, driven by helping clients achieve their dreams and being part of a resilient community of professionals.

Navigate the evolving landscape of real estate with insight into the recent changes that promise to enhance industry standards and professionalism. Stephanie sheds light on the positive impact of new industry practices and the invaluable proposition that realtors offer to consumers. We explore how agents at Allen Tate are leading the charge in adapting to these shifts, setting a benchmark for compliance and client relations. The proactive stance of Stephanie's team highlights a commitment to fostering growth and transparency, setting them apart from the competition.

Planning for the future is crucial in the ever-changing real estate market. We discuss the importance of succession planning for agents nearing retirement and strategies to ensure a smooth transition for clients and businesses. Stephanie underscores the significance of mentorship, co-branding, and maintaining relevance in a rapidly shifting industry. Her leadership experience within the Canopy Realtor Association provides valuable lessons on building a sustainable business model that benefits both agents and clients, ensuring the enduring spirit of real estate continues to thrive.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Reality Podcast. Today we have Regional Vice President Stephanie Gossett. Stephanie, how are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm well, thank you.

Speaker 1:

It's good to have you. You and I have tried for the last couple of months to get together and our schedules haven't worked, so I am excited to be able to spend some time with you today, talking about your career, our business, your predictions that I know will be exactly spot on for the future of the business over the next four to six months. But we're just really happy to have you on and we're excited about the conversation we're going to have. So thank you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you.

Speaker 1:

All right, your real estate career, steph, did not start yesterday. Share with our listeners when your career started and kind of your journey a little bit. I think it's really interesting.

Speaker 2:

Sure, sure, sure. So I was two years out of college, graduated from UNC, chapel Hill with a journalism degree and a specialization in print media, working at a tri-weekly newspaper in Waynesville, north Carolina, in the Asheville Mountain region, when I had the occasion to visit my aunt, who lived in Utah at the time and who was in her second year as a realtor with a leading real estate companies of the world company called Mansell and Associates and Jennifer was loving it. She was great at it. And Jennifer was loving it. She was great at it. She was having lots of success and lots of fun, and it appeared to me that she was in control of her destiny. Imagine a job where the harder you work, the smarter you work, the more money you make. It was incredible, it was unbelievable. What a foreign concept. And that is all she wrote.

Speaker 2:

I jumped in. I actually moved out to Utah, lived in her basement I think I was 26 years old, or however old you are, your second year out of college and got my real estate license in Utah while I was working the 3 am shift at Einstein's Bagels. I was the bagel maker, you didn't know that and I went to this real estate school in the day and got my license, and then it snowed 70 inches my first six months in Utah, and this Southern girl hightailed it back to North Carolina and met with the one, the only, pat Riley, on the recommendation of the manager who was my first manager for my four short months of licensed status in Utah, and I joined Alan Tate's university office and that's how I got into it.

Speaker 1:

Wow. So Stephanie, to our listeners, stephanie and I can see each other, and so my body language at Utah and the 3 am shift at Einstein Bagel. But I think it's amazing. I did not know that. And to your point, a Southern girl, unc journalism. It's funny. Your bio says mass communication in addition to print. So I was going to ask you what mass communication actually means. But well, that's great. So you joined the university office. My guess is Gwen Fenninger was your.

Speaker 2:

Gwen Fenninger was my first manager. That's right, and that was in 1996. Yep.

Speaker 1:

So let's see you've been in the real. You've been with Alan Tate for 28 years.

Speaker 2:

I think it's 28 years now. Yeah, I think I just celebrated my 28th anniversary. Of course, I was an agent here for 11 years, first at university and then after I moved more over to the Lake Norman area at our Lake Norman Cornelius office and then got into leadership and became an area manager and then an RVP, which is where I sit today.

Speaker 1:

Great Well.

Speaker 1:

So I think it's important for our listeners to know that you know, not only does Stephanie do a great job in her role as regional vice president, a leadership role at Canopy, you know, really committed to her community, obviously, and to her family, but I think what's interesting is that most recently, in talking to Mr Hobie Hanna, who you and I both work with, he shared with me that not only you and your group doing a great job for our company, but really has done an amazing job as it represents the entire kind of Howard Hanna enterprise. So congratulations to you and to your team, and I know when I spoke to you about that you know the first thing you did was recognize your leadership team and the agents that are in your region, which I think just speaks real volumes to your leadership. So congrats on that, thank you. Not the easiest of years, obviously, but you and your team have done a really, really good job. So one of my favorite questions 28 years, what keeps the fire burning for you? What keeps you going? Because you bring it every day.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And what brings the fire.

Speaker 2:

So I think this business is so unique and in real estate both in the sales side of real estate and also in a leadership role every day is nothing short of an adventure. We get to come to work every day. We get to help people achieve their goals. Now, if we're an agent, we're helping people with home ownership, or if we're in leadership, we're supporting and coaching our agents, and we're coaching our leaders as RVPs to get where they aspire to be and to help their agents get where they aspire to be. I truly, I just love this business. I love the people that we're so privileged to serve as clients and also are amazing agents.

Speaker 2:

I'll tell you, gary, real estate agents are amazing human beings. They're phenomenal. They come to work every day. They have no promise of a paycheck. They work harder than anyone I have ever seen to get their clients to the next step in life. It's a very stressful process, or it can be. They bring the calm and they only get paid if their clients are getting to that finish line successfully. So realtors are special. They also have hearts of gold. They have resilience in spades and, honestly, what a gift to be able to spend, you know, most of your days, which are working days with an exceptional group of people and, honestly, some of the best friends that I have I have ever made are right here with the people I work with every day. So it's, it's really, I think it's really, it's exciting, it has to be exciting, and the fire burning is just loving, loving the people you're working with and loving the business that you're in.

Speaker 1:

Sounds to me like you define passion in a big way, which is a hallmark of our company and certainly of how you approach the business. I love your quote. Every day is nothing short of an adventure. Just going on the record that some people that are listening might get to see this again in the future, but I think that's really interesting. And I think the other thing you mentioned earlier that is something that one of my mentors shared is you know, it is one of the few businesses where you kind of get paid what you're worth when you're selling. You know, my father used to call it one of the last bastions of free enterprise. It was the ultimate free enterprise. You know, and I think that, to your point, there's no promise of a paycheck. You know, just really interesting.

Speaker 1:

I think the majority of people not in our business don't appreciate that Right, and certainly with some of the changes going on now in our industry, I think we believe it's a great opportunity. We also know that with opportunity comes sets of unique challenges. So I'm going to pivot right to that question. As you look into the short-term crystal ball, Stephanie, what do you think the major challenges and opportunities I'll say presenting the industry, agents, companies. Consumer, you can answer any which way that you feel most comfortable answering, but we have challenges and opportunities, and some of them are the same and some of them are different. What are your thoughts on what they are?

Speaker 2:

So yeah, and I think you're right, some people in our industry are focused on the challenges that we're facing right now, as we're experiencing some changes, some practice changes required of us by a settlement with our national association.

Speaker 2:

I personally choose to focus on the opportunities, because I do believe that those changes that are required of us as an industry are huge opportunities for our agents and us to increase the professionalism involved in our buy side representations in particular. So I feel very lucky to be here at Allen Tate during this shift, because I do believe with all my heart our agents are at a distinct advantage with these changes. I have been super impressed with the grace and decorum with which our agents have handled this new shift of practice. Even our most veteran agents are open-minded, they're open to learning new ways, they're open to trying to adapt their practices to make sure they're in compliance, and I think that that's really a nice attitude, a nice outlook that's going to get us all really far and way beyond where any sort of scarcity mindset might get you or stuck in the world of complaining about it, you know.

Speaker 1:

So I think one of our takeaways from a previous podcast was when Matthew Ferrara podcast was, when Matthew Ferrara, you know, he termed this change, he called it the new approach, and then I think we did a really nice job of creating, you know, kind of a theme around this change called the new approach.

Speaker 1:

He also will always give credit where credit is due. He also, you know he also said let's get outside, out of this value proposition which you and I have heard for 28 years, and really think about our invaluable proposition, which is really what you just mentioned as it relates to the value add to the buyer. And so you and I had the experience recently of experiencing our session on the new approach and I think it's just fascinating and it really speaks to a comment you made earlier, Stephanie, about the quality of the folks that we're blessed to have in our company, and that is, on the course of 12 sessions we had 92% of our agent population attend an event and you know we usually know that it requires some kind of food or beverage, right, or some national speaker. So you know you had a chance to sit through five or six of them. You know, just take a minute what some observations from those couple of days that you walked away with.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So value proposition means many things, but I think above all, it's about being able to articulate to a consumer why and how working with you as their fiduciary and advocate in their home buying and selling journey is going to benefit them. And some of those particular words I choose because of Matthew Ferrara's insights, articles, blogs he puts out in his conversation with you on this very podcast recently. I think he's just his wisdom is so on point with that. So when you frame these practice changes around that concept, it becomes very easy to understand that every new conversation that we are required to have with our buyers and or seller clients needs to start with them, you know. So how would this feel to them? How will this make sense to them?

Speaker 2:

And it's really been a fun couple of three weeks since our new approach.

Speaker 2:

Been a fun couple of three weeks since our new approach sessions that we hosted for the company, because there have been such great, great conversations and nuggets and kind of people reworking how they approach conversations and seeing a lot of value in taking a new, having a new outlook on how to communicate what it is we do and why it is valuable to the consumer.

Speaker 2:

So I've really enjoyed that. I just I think I've finished my eighth or ninth conversation. I'm calling them coffee chats within the offices in my region and every time the agents are just they're showing up, they're engaged, they're not complaining, they're not, you know, upset about change. They're embracing the opportunity to be better and to be more transparent to the consumer. And it's not like perfect yet, because we got a lot of things that are not in alignment with our state and with our association and with our forms and with the settlement rules, but they're patient and they recognize that this is all for the betterment of the industry and for greater transparency with the consumer, and so that's the key to it all, I think, right.

Speaker 1:

I think today I happened to walk by this office here in South Park and I think I saw you and Allison standing room only. My guess is that was a sales meeting, but it might have been a coffee chat. Where it was a sales meeting, that was a giant coffee chat. But you know, just, I think you use the term show up and you know, I know, as we think about so often, we look at the ninja selling platform as something that we believe in and you know, one of the ninja nine is show up and I think that that's one of the biggest changes, not changes. That's one of the biggest changes, not changes. That's one of the biggest growth opportunities I've seen in the last six weeks is more and more and more of our trusted advisors are showing up, not only to learn but to teach, yeah, and to share that conversation they might have had with a buyer or a seller. Some of them might have gone great and some of them might not have, but this vulnerability to share with each other as they're having these new experiences, I just think is such a great opportunity with other brokers in the market and they haven't taken the same approach we've taken to make sure that our I's are dotted, our T's are crossed, our forms are well-crafted, and that we create a discipline of our business. So really, really, really interesting, I think, as it relates to how we've moved pretty quickly, albeit we've spent the better part of a year talking about these things on and off.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to talk a little bit about the market, kind of. As you see it now. I think inventory and interest rates continue to be two of the five eyes that hover out there. As you're out there in the market, you go from a Lake Norman market to Gaston County, to Comparis County, you really have got a great diversity of real estate portfolio that you are responsible for, the leadership and the offices and the sales. Just what are some of your market observations that people, I think, would find very interesting?

Speaker 2:

Sure. So yeah, I do. My offices go as far west in the Charlotte region as Shelby and Gastonia and Belmont and then as far east as Concord and then up on the north end we have Statesville at the tip top of Lake Norman and then down through to the south end of Huntersville, davidson, morrisville, troutman in between, and then dipping down into South Park and Center City in town and uptown Charlotte. So it's really a very interesting slice. Each of those segments are real different from one another but it's really cool to see that in most, all cases, and even in the most intense of my market area we'll call it in the in-town Charlotte the place that never has anything because everybody wants to live there we have seen these past few months inventory increasing month over month, I think overall in the Charlotte region. I heard Pat say we're at maybe a 10% increase year over year. I'm not sure if that's right. I maybe have my facts wrong on that, but it does feel. Also the agents are saying you know, we're definitely feeling like some buyers that were sidelined because they were really dissuaded by experiences in a superheated multiple offer market and kind of kept getting beat out, beat out and having to waive appraisals and you know, waive inspections and all that crazy craziness, or at least waiving the opportunity to ask for repairs. All of that seems to have subsided and even in the most intense of my marketplace coverage it does feel like a more reasonable climate in which to go make an offer on a house and purchase a house and have time to think and it doesn't feel so fevered. So I'm very thankful for that, because that was not good for anybody.

Speaker 2:

In addition to sort of the rising inventory creating a little bit more supply, I think that you know we're hearing about the Fed is going to cut rates in September, and will it be a half, will it be a quarter? Who knows? But that is one thing where we can kind of count on is, if that happens, the mortgage interest rates are probably going to dip down a little lower than they are now, although some of that might already be baked in to where we are today. But those two things together have, you know, at least created more opportunity or will create more opportunity for some folks to get into homes that have been sidelined for probably what is now going on a year and a half since we got so intense there after COVID. So I think, I think you know, affordability is still a challenge, because the fact is we do have more people who want to buy homes than homes available. But I think the pressure, the pressure valve situation is not there, which and hopefully will allow some more people to get into homeownership.

Speaker 1:

You know, I think kind of a segue or caveat to that is. I also think that as inventory rises, I think that you know sellers really really in my view, steph, really need to pay close attention to the advice and counsel of the realtor. I've shared many times kind of four buckets of listings. One is an empty bucket, which is the bucket of listings we need that we don't have. The other is the bucket priced right, that is getting multiple offers and is selling for over asking price. Then you've got a bucket where it's my belief that the seller is determining the price and maybe not doing all the work that is necessary in order to make sure it's the best. And now they're sitting and they're sitting and they're sitting.

Speaker 1:

And then the fourth bucket is a luxury bucket which you're very familiar with, and that's just a different bucket. Sure, in every market, the percentage of cash buyers because you know you look at the markets right now are creating tremendous wealth, particularly for the wealthy as it relates to the market. So it's just it's such an interesting time in the housing industry and you know we're so lucky to be where we are in the Carolinas as we look at you know kind of reports and metrics from around the other 48 states. You know we're so blessed that people are choosing to come here for all kinds of different reasons.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And so we're lucky in that vein. So let me ask you a question about and this is a little bit of a touchy subject, but the pundits are suggesting that, with some of these changes in the market being a little soft, particularly on units, you know prices have kept. You know, kept the unit decline at bay a little bit is there's a belief that there'll be a fair percentage of agents choosing to get out of the business. Just, what's your perspective on that? Have you seen anything? You know? What's your assessment of that from your vantage point?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I don't know, I think it's not as simple as that, because in real estate as simple as that?

Speaker 2:

Because in real estate you know, you've got that 80-20 rule where you know 20% of the agents are doing 80% of the business and then you've got a lot of people who are in this business for whom it is not necessarily there.

Speaker 2:

They are not the breadwinner of the family, not necessarily they are not the breadwinner of the family. So what it would take for them to exit, I think it's a different pressure. I don't think it's coming from the same place, so I'm not so sure that I ascribe to that. I think it might be more likely that we maybe see 20% exit out of the business and that just may be because the transactions aren't there and it's not worth continuing to pay that money every year to stay in it, when the 20% is very much scooping up that 80% of the business out there. And as we continue to go down this path of elevating the professionalism required to have the conversations with buyers and sellers that we need to have, we may see some folks who are just tangentially connected to their business sort of opt out just because they didn't keep up. Right, so that's, but I don't think it's as large a number as as necessarily we're hearing.

Speaker 1:

So I think your response to that was spot on and I agree with you. I think back to the timeframe between 05 and 210 and kind of the heat of the financial crisis, agent count across this country went from 14,000 to 9,000. I'm sorry, 1.4 million to 900. To 900,000, 9,000.

Speaker 1:

I'm sorry, 1.4 million to 900,000, that's right, which would be a loss of 500,000, which is like 38%. That market was so dramatically different. And so I agree with you. And I think the other thing that is kind of inspiring and interesting is, you know, since this lawsuit proposed settlement ultimately settlement in March the number of brand new agents that have joined our firm in the subsequent months has been very solid, not below a year ago, and one might have thought, if the pundits were correct, that we would have seen a drastic change. Now there are fewer agents getting licensed in the industry, but we continue to attract them. So I do think, and I think you probably agree, that if I'm getting in the business now, boy, what an advantage. I don't remember how it was.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I mean, I still reminisce with a couple of agents who joined us in 2008 in our Lake Norman office when I was the branch leader there JC and Margie Brady Jacey and Margie Brady they came down from Ohio, knew not a soul in the marketplace and were rookies of the year and ever since then have a very successful business. They're actually, at this point, starting to hand the mantle over to their daughter, kara, who has just joined our Lake Norman office and is going to be working side by side with them and, as she's sort of taking over, becoming point on the business. And it's just so cool because these guys were always so helpful in their perspective. Whenever we were going through a change ever since they got in the business, they would say listen, you ain't got nothing to complain about.

Speaker 2:

2008 was about the hardest year in the business there is. We came down here, we didn't know any different, and so that's kind of it's all about the mindset that you're entering into the equation with, and so they are some of my favorite people to walk over to somebody who might be complaining about this, that or the other and say let me tell you about, let me tell you about a tough market, right. Not only was that a tough market where 35-ish percent of every transaction was either in a short position or a foreclosure, but also nobody was happy, and that was the hardest thing on the agents, because people do this because they like to help people and they like people, and when there's no way to make a client happy because it's just a bad situation, it's a pretty awful. It's pretty awful. So thank goodness we had nothing like that since, and hopefully not in my lifetime. But I think that's always an interesting you know, it's all what you know, and so it's all in your perspective.

Speaker 1:

You made a comment about Kara taking over for her parents' business, and I know one thing, stephanie, that you are passionate about is this concept of succession plan.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

You know our industry, our company has a lot of really amazing sales professionals who have been doing it a long time and they've got these incredible books of business.

Speaker 1:

They have these incredible relationships. And you know, what we know is if there's not some intentional plan, gary Scott, 30 years, retires and my relationships scatter because everybody out there has got another friend or two in the real estate or 10 in the real estate business. And I know that you're really very interested, intrigued and passionate about finding a solution for us to make sure that when Gary wants to retire and I don't have a son or a daughter, but there's a variety of newer people in our industry and in our company who are well qualified you know we call it a succession plan of sell your business whatever. Just just speak to that. I know you it's really one of the key things that drives you to figure it out, because we do believe when we figure it out, that it'll be a retention, it'll be ability to attract other agents. So just speak to that a little bit because I think it's really interesting.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, I think there's nothing that hurts my heart more than seeing an agent who has worked 30 plus years with the blood, sweat, tears that this, this business takes to become successful and sustain it, walk in and say I think I'm just done, and then they don't get the benefit of having planned for their exit or their retirement or their slowdown or whatever it is their move retirement or their slowdown or whatever it is their move and unfortunately you know that means they've lost out on what is normally a good, solid three to five years of what I've heard you call annuity income and I like that term residual referral income. So what I have been preaching to the mountaintops to anybody who will listen is, if we can talk to our agents, you know who are three to five years just from even slowing down. The challenge with retirement is it creeps up on you and one day you just feel like you're done and you didn't know two years before that you were going to feel that way. So when I realized that that was the biggest challenge is, when you say the word retirement, it's not really what everybody has planned I realized it's not retirement we're trying to capture. It's people who are like you know what I would like to start to spend, you know, one out of every four weeks at the beach house my husband and I worked so hard to purchase. Or I would like to go to the mountains for half the year and come back here for half the year, do things with the veracity or intensity with which I have done them for most of my career.

Speaker 2:

That is the period of time, that is the perfect period of time to identify, within our amazing agent population, who is that right fit for that super tenured, super experienced agent who has so much mentoring to offer so much institutional knowledge. For these newer agents who maybe have been in the business two, two to five years and would be so happy to shadow and to work alongside some of these tenured agents, veteran agents and then ultimately, with the goal of when that agent is ready to start to sort of not be point on all of their business. Then you've got somebody who you have already introduced to your client base. You've got somebody you've been co-branding with as part of your business team or your business partnership, and your clients are much more inclined to give that person the opportunity that they may have given you because you have introduced them properly and they have spent some time sort of in your brand, with your brand awareness in front of your clients.

Speaker 2:

So it's been we've done some really successful, we've done some unsuccessful matches.

Speaker 2:

And then we've learned a lot from the ones that didn't succeed.

Speaker 2:

And there are patterns, that sort of that arise, that bubble up that you can kind of string through the ones that maybe didn't work so well.

Speaker 2:

So I think we've learned a lot over the years on how to make sure that we're matching our agents properly and then also how we're giving them the proper framework around which to build a very successful plan to, between within two to five years usually, kind of transition an agent's business from that tenured veteran agent being point on everything going to every appointment, you know, maintaining all the prospecting, to ultimately slowly handing over bits and pieces to where, ultimately, when that agent is ready to actually retire, then it is a non-event for the client database because they have been given the proper amount of time and exposure to the receiving agent and it's part of their Um and our um, it's part of their, it's part of the vernacular at that point Right.

Speaker 2:

So it's, when done properly, it's a beautiful thing, um, and so I think we, we bring a lot to the table for our agents with, with what we've learned works and doesn't work, and we try to guide them and coach them around um, some of those, some of those tenants, um, that tend to be successful and we've had some great successes I'm happy to report.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's a big, big, big part of the future of our business.

Speaker 1:

The ability to give the agents who are moving on to the beach or moving on to create a revenue stream for a period of time is just an opportunity that you know, probably, left to their own device, they might struggle with it. Sure, the thing I love about your vision is really the timeframe Three to five years. You know, we always talk about our business being relational, not transactional. Think about this the average consumer is buying every nine to 11 years. So if I have a book of 400, 500, whatever my book is, those people aren't necessarily guaranteed to do much or anything in that period of time three to five years. But we got to be doing home physicals and we've got to be doing real estate reviews and we've got to be connecting the dot. We've got to be doing what we know we need to do, but Stephanie's got to bring Gary with her and I think that we have to create that playbook because I'll get this number wrong, but I think the average age of an NAR member is mid-50s.

Speaker 2:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

You know, I know a couple of years ago it was higher than that. So I think it's really good. We're creating a diverse demographic in our industry, which we certainly need so good. I think that if we're able to really continue to mature that, I think it's a great opportunity for agents and the consumer. I think it's a win win. You are a student of the industry. You're a student of many things, but the industry is certainly one of them. What, what, what do you do to keep relevant? Because you are, you are on top of your game on a daily basis, stephanie. What do you do? Do you read? Do you listen? I know you believe in knowing the numbers and the data. How do you stay relevant in this crazy world that we work in?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I do have to work at staying relevant, because I have not sold a home myself since 2007. I had 11 years in sales, but every year that you're out of sales you lose a little bit of that that you gained in the trenches kind of know-how, knowledge. So really, what I do is I just find it critical to stay in flow with our agents. I mean, lucky for me, our agents are always willing to share what they have going on and what challenges they're facing, what the market's like, what trends in the markets are happening, and so it's not that hard to stay in flow with what's going on and to understand what's new and different than than it has been in the past. So, really, just talking, I just talk to a lot of our agents and I also welcome them to call me if they ever want to bounce, bounce things off of another person. I tell them and I'm very sincere with this that it's literally my favorite thing to do is to have somebody call me and say, hey, I got a situation, can I talk to you about it? Let's put our heads together.

Speaker 2:

Maybe I didn't think of something. What do you think? How would you say this? What would you do? And we just like two heads are better than one. So I know it was not too recently, but it was maybe at the beginning of the summer, I think Jennifer Parsley, up in our Concord office, called me with. You know, you hear something new every day in this business is the thing, it's an adventure, right. So Jennifer called me and had a situation that she had never run across and she's very experienced on the Honeycutt team and I had never run across it. So we thought, well, what should we do about this? So it was really fun. It's an exercise, it's a thought exercise, and so of course then Jennifer had to go implement. But it's fun because it allows me to use my creativity and critical thinking, and I'm always happy to try to help our agents. So that's how I stay relevant. I think that keeps me more relevant than any amount of reading or anything like that that I could possibly do.

Speaker 1:

Now, having said that, you have been in leadership positions at Canopy, you know you've given back to the community, the industry Talk about that a little bit and what that experience has meant for your career. And you know, just you know what benefits have come from that for you.

Speaker 2:

Sure, you know, I can't remember how I first became a part of our Canopy Realtor Association, formerly Charlotte Regional Realtor Association except I do believe I was appointed to a committee or something of the sort. And once you go down to your association and you see that a lot of people giving of their time and volunteering their time at no gain for themselves time that is really the most valuable thing we have as an independent contractor you really realize this is a labor of love. These people care about the business, they care about the realtor brand, they care about how the community sees us, the give back the outreach into the community, and so I kind of just got the. You know, once I was exposed to that I think it was some sometime around 2009 or so, maybe seven I just never stopped and for some reason they keep asking me to continue, but it is.

Speaker 2:

It's tough on these volunteer boards.

Speaker 2:

I sit on our Canopy Multiple Listing Board of Directors now and have for some time on and off over the years, and what's tough about a volunteer board of about 25 people in the industry is the institutional, maybe knowledge that you lose across board terms, board member terms.

Speaker 2:

So I think one of the things that. You know, one of the reasons I've maintained that volunteer board seat and wanted to continue to participate year after year is just so that I can add to the conversation for a longer historical perspective, than a lot of people on the board who maybe just got involved a year or so ago have. And especially right now, in these times where we have big decisions to make for our industry and for our membership, it's pretty important to not lose sight of historical knowledge. So I'm sort of the historian, I'm just kidding. There are, there are people who who have been in this longer than me, I'm sure, but but it is. I do kind of feel an obligation at this point to continue my, my volunteer position, just so that we can have that, that transfer of knowledge to the folks who haven't haven't been around as long.

Speaker 1:

I think that's a really good point. And you know how do boards stay relevant? Right, because, to your point, if I'm just coming in and I've been in it two years I don't have some perspective. You know where they say experience creates wisdom and you know wisdom is invaluable. Institutional knowledge is a great phrase that you know companies have and boards have. You talked about connecting with agents and I think I'm highly confident that one of the strategies that you have deployed since you've become an RVP, and maybe even when you were an area manager, is when one of your team leaders is on vacation or out for a reason, you go work out of that office. Is that correct?

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well.

Speaker 2:

I can't always do it, but whenever my schedule permits, that is really one of my favorite things to do as well is just to go plant myself in the office. I get to see agents that I don't otherwise get to see at maybe the VIP top producer events. And sometimes, you know, believe it or not, not everybody comes to sales meeting. But even with a region my size, I can only ever get around to each of our offices sales meetings because of course we have them all on the same day of the week. You know I can only get to everybody once a quarter. So it really is a special time for me to just hopefully run into as many agents as are in the office that day and get to chat with them and hear what they have going on, see if there's any way that I can help them with anything.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, so I think, if I don't think there's a lot of RVPs listening other than the ones we know, but if I were to give a lesson on being a great regional vice president to anyone out there, that is one of the greatest things that I have always believed that we should do. And you know, there's always, there's always theoretical strategies and then there's ones that you execute, and and I know you execute that only because I know you do it. But three weeks ago, if my memory serves me, you had three of the leaders on vacation at the same time for at least a two day period the leaders on vacation at the same time, or at least a two-day period. Because I reached out to you and you said well, I've got to be in Huntersville, concord and Davidson all on Friday, but I really think it's important. And you made mention of having sold a house since 07.

Speaker 1:

I haven't sold a house since 89. And it's hard, and you know there are certain things that you remember, you know in terms of negotiating and asking good questions, but gosh knows, you know there's no substitute for negotiating a home inspection. There's no substitute for you know it's the other interesting thing you talked to me about. I had, and I won't bring up what it was, but I was introduced to something two weeks ago, stephanie, that I had never seen Never seen like never, a question that I had never been posed before After 38 years. You're talking about the transaction with Jennifer Parsley. That's what makes every day an adventure.

Speaker 2:

That's right.

Speaker 1:

We're going to tie a bow around this. It's been great. It's always good to hear your insight on things, as our listeners are preparing for the fourth quarter of 2024. Just give them the keys to success for them to continue to navigate the change and prepare for what we all believe will be a pretty good real estate market in 2020.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So I have been thinking about, with all the practice changes that have come around, and kind of seeing our agents being so proud of their mindset and their outlook and their willingness to put themselves out there. You know the sessions that I've been doing we'll call them coffee chats around. And you're right, allison and I had South Park sales meeting this morning. It was supposed to go from 930 to 1030. It went from 9.30 to 10.30. It went from 9.30 to 11.45. But an hour plus of that was just us. What are you seeing out there? Tell us the situations, tell us the scenarios, what questions? And of course you go down all the tangents and all the rabbit holes, which are all the good places to go, because you realize that maybe you had a question you didn't even realize you had right. So I think through that lens I've been looking at things here lately and I think the way that I would sum up, you know, success, moving forward, is going to really depend on you as an agent allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to grow, because a lot of us have been doing this for a long time and we're very successful at it, and the downside of that is we can get this is human nature, complacent in the way that we do things, and so stepping out, trying new things, not being afraid to make mistakes, not being afraid to in a coffee chat hey, I think I messed up.

Speaker 2:

I had an agent the other day like Norman, I think I almost did this right. She said, and she was right, she almost did it right, but not quite. But that's okay, because we're all like, we were all able to learn from what she almost did right, all the things she did right, and then the one thing she didn't quite get right. But guess what, everybody learned, everybody didn't have to repeat her same. You know misstep, and we were all that much better, for you know a new way of doing things with her example.

Speaker 2:

So I think that you know, the one thing that I would really think about, especially some of our more tenured agents, is you know, I've got to get myself into the office, I've got to get myself engaged, I've got to show up, I've got to not be afraid that to ask a question. Because I used to know, listen, pre-august 1st, I knew how to do everything. And now, all of a sudden, I have four things. I have no idea how to navigate and maybe I'm not used to showing up anymore because I kind of got complacent. So I think I've been real impressed with our agents. But I do think that's a key and I think they're way ahead of a lot of people in the industry, because they do have one another, they are willing to share with one another, they're showing up, they're they're helping one another and they're they're sharing their stories, which which is really good, because we're in this, this crazy business, together and we're better together.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I think you're right, I think you know. It's funny Vulnerability for so many years was a negative. Now it's one of the great attributes that any of us can have is this ability to be vulnerable and to your point. You know what we all knew, like the back of our hand on July 30th changed, you know, from forms to processes, to conversations to conversations, new conversations, new, new ways of of, of trying to communicate things to people.

Speaker 2:

It's just, it's, it's, it's a lot of change. So the folks who are navigating through it are it's, it's really a feather in their cap and they're they're hitting it head on and they've got a great attitude about it. Um, but a big part of that is because they're willing to be vulnerable and say, hey, I don't know everything anymore, so I need a little bit of help, right? Great Well, stephanie Gossett, thank you for being with us today.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, Fawcett, thank you for being with us today. Awesome, as I expected. Great to spend about an hour chatting about our business with you. Thanks for joining Reality Podcast. I am confident that our listeners are going to walk away with some great takeaways, some great nuggets for them. So thanks for being with us today. Enjoy the rest of your day and I will see you soon.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, see you.

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