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Thriving in today's real estate market: An interview with Courtenay Ross Mason

• Gary Scott

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Courtenay's journey from hospitality management to real estate leadership reveals how seemingly unrelated skills become powerful assets in this relationship-driven business. The ability to navigate diverse personalities with "poise, class, and a sense of humor" translated perfectly from resort management to real estate transactions. For those considering a career change, this perspective on transferable skills could be career-changing.

Perhaps most striking is Courtenay's "butterfly effect" philosophy about transactions. She shares how military families she helped with PCS moves in her earliest days still reach out nearly two decades later - not just for themselves but for their children, nieces, and nephews. This multigenerational approach to client relationships demonstrates how one successful transaction can multiply into dozens over a career span when agents focus on genuine connections rather than quick commissions.

As market conditions evolve, Courtenay emphasizes her "Three M's" approach: Mindset, Mentorship, and Mastery. She's embracing technology while maintaining authenticity, hosting workshops that teach agents to leverage AI for database management while preserving the human touch that defines great service. "I'm using AI to buy my agents back time," she explains, showing how technology should enhance rather than replace relationship-building.

Whether you're new to real estate or a seasoned professional, this conversation offers a masterclass in creating a resilient business that thrives through market cycles. By focusing on personal branding, genuine connections, and strategic use of technology, you can build a reputation that generates opportunities for decades to come. Ready to transform your approach to this business? This episode is your roadmap.

Speaker 1:

I am your host, gary Scott. I am so excited today, from Virginia, we have Courtney Ross Mason. Courtney, how are you today?

Speaker 2:

I'm doing fantastic. It's a beautiful day here at the beach and I'm looking forward to spending my afternoon with you, Gary.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, wow. So we know the listeners are listening at various times. I'm letting everybody know that Courtney is here with me on Friday afternoon, and so you want to talk about somebody committed to our industry and to helping each and every one of you. Friday, from Virginia Beach, I'm in Charlotte, north Carolina. Before I get into some great questions for Courtney, I'm going to read a little bit from her website because I think her story and her experience in history is great Courtney Mason 20 years of real estate it says finesse, which I love that I'm going to come talk to her about that.

Speaker 1:

Specializing in luxury home sales, waterfront properties and more, with her adept leadership, courtney provides motivation, guidance and unwavering support to her team of agents and colleagues. I'm going to go down and skip a paragraph because I think this is also really important for every listener to understand the passion you have for community and for care about people that may have have less than you and I have, and I admire that. Courtney's community spirit extends beyond the office, the company and the industry. She champions causes like fundraising for CHKD's Pediatric Mental Health Facility. She volunteers in local schools, showcasing her commitment to education, youth and well-being, and she has played leadership roles in our industry. So my first question if you read her resume says Courtney Ross Mason. And I said to her I said do you go by Courtney Ross Mason, courtney Mason or Courtney Ross Mason? And I loved her response. So how about we start there, courtney?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Well. First of all, when it comes to real estate, I'll respond. No matter what you call me, but when I started in real estate well over 20 years ago now it was before I was married and had kids and I invested a lot of time and money into my brand and in real estate, your name is your brand. So I kept my Courtney Ross, my maiden name, even up to this day. A lot of my colleagues that have known me in the industry for a long time know me as Courtney Ross and, of course, courtney Ross Mason for a long time now as well. But yeah, I love, I think we are. Our brands are so important to us and our names and you know, at the end of the day, real estate is a relationship business and I want you to know my name as someone to come to when you have questions business and I want you to know my name as someone to come to when you have questions.

Speaker 1:

I love it. You have to start off with how important your brand and your brand is. Your name is really, really critical and I'm going to share a little anecdote. I was on a call Monday night, courtney. I've joined this group every other month. It's a leadership development group and always trying to sharpen the saw. I think that's another good takeaway for today. You know, leverage my brand Don't rest on yesterday's success, no matter how long we've been doing it. We got to sharpen up.

Speaker 1:

Well, long story short, the topic was the importance of rebranding and we were talking about company rebranding, but the entire last hour of 90 minutes was how important it is for every one of us to rebrand ourselves, not by moving a name or changing a name, but rebranding our behavior, rebranding how we interact with people, rebranding in our follow up and follow through, and the topic basically said is throughout our careers, we have to frequently rebrand to make sure that we are portraying our best self. So I love that. I had that Monday night and then you, you opened it up. So, uh, courtney, you said 20 years in the business, what did you do before getting into this incredibly great business.

Speaker 2:

I know Well. I went to college and received a hospitality management degree and I went off in the resort world and I really just got lucky into real estate. I started dabbling into property management in the early 2000s and fell in love with the industry and decided, man, this might be a direction I really could see my life taking. I was really passionate about it early on and in 2005, my husband's career brought him back to the Virginia market. I got my license in 2005 after doing property management for a couple of years and haven't looked back. So I started in my early 20s and have just fallen in love with the industry and the career and have gotten to really do so many different facets of it by now, which is it's actually one of the things that makes it a lot of fun too.

Speaker 1:

So I didn't. One of the things I love about these interviews is how much I get to learn and for our listeners out there. You know Courtney and I have known each other for a long time a couple of years but we began working much more closely together in the last six months and I think you can hear her passion and enthusiasm in her voice over the airwave said uh, one of the beauties of reality podcast is courtney and I can see each other. That prevents us from talking over one another, and if I could show you the uh, the dynamic smile on her face, she would brighten up your day. And I think there's a lot to be said about attitude and belief. So I want to come back to your career a little bit. You said when my husband's job brought me to, where were you before?

Speaker 2:

We graduated we both went to University of Massachusetts. We were college sweethearts Go UMass, go Minutemen, and my husband's from Cape Cod. I was raised in Amherst, massachusetts, and then we both went out to Colorado for a couple of years and loved it. We're both. He's a big snowboarder, I'm a big skier and it was great for my degree at the time, which was in hospitality management and resorts. So we just loved our experience out there. But my husband is in media and marketing radio.

Speaker 1:

All sorts of really fun stuff in media and marketing radio all sorts of really fun stuff and a lot of our media interests are in the Virginia and the Carolina areas now Awesome, well, so he must have been super excited about you getting on a podcast. I would imagine the media man in him right Just help us. Your husband's first name is.

Speaker 2:

Derek and I have two boys, Brady and Noah. I've got one headed off to college next week, Gary Big milestone in our household. And then I've got a 16-year-old headed into sophomore year.

Speaker 1:

Let's just go college shopping for a minute. Where are you going to college?

Speaker 2:

He is going to ECU oh yeah, let's go, you're very familiar.

Speaker 1:

Let's go. Everyone needs to know that there's a Howard Hannah Allen Tate office in Greenville, north Carolina, enc Pirate, one of our great affiliate offices. They do a great job and they are passionate about ECU and you will be there as well, so make sure you stop in and say hello. They are amazing partners of ours.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we're excited to be in a region that you know my son's very familiar with. He's a big advocate for the company as well, so he's excited.

Speaker 1:

Well good, we pay referral fees to college students, so I just go. You know I'm not going to say beer money because he's not 21 yet, but let me ask you your husband Derek, from Cape Cod, where on the Cape?

Speaker 2:

Dennis, yarmouth area.

Speaker 1:

Yes, my son's wife's family is five generations in Wellfleet.

Speaker 2:

Ah yeah, great oysters yeah.

Speaker 1:

So we've gotten a little exposure to the Cape, having been up there.

Speaker 2:

We spent a lot of time at the beachcomber there.

Speaker 1:

There you go. Well, as you know, I don't care which part of the Cape you're at, it's pretty good living, right.

Speaker 2:

It is.

Speaker 1:

So 05 in the real estate business. So then you listed in Seoul. We're going to talk a little bit about that. How long did you list in Seoul before you joined the leadership team?

Speaker 2:

About 10 years. I did first five years of my career. I was so honored and privileged. I really had a strategic focus on our peninsula market, which is Hampton, newport News peninsula area and I did a lot of our PCS moves with our military. So at the time one of my early colleagues was a retired Langley Air Force base pilot and we just got so much joy from helping families and really difficult kind of PCS transactions to our different bases and we helped a lot of families during that five years that we focused on VA loans and our partners coming into Fort Eustis and Langley and Oceana and it was a very rewarding part of my career and something that I even to this day.

Speaker 2:

Some of the first families my military families that I helped move in homes Gary, one of them just reached out to me. I helped them get a referral in California for the home that they sold and they were being transferred to the Pentagon for a new position and I gave them a referral for a great DC LRE agent in our network and so it's just, it's just really. I mean that's one of the joys of my business 20 years later still being able to help you know clients and now their kids and nieces and nephews, it's, it's those uh full circle moments for sure.

Speaker 1:

So, again, our goal is all of our uh consistent listeners is, you know, we want everybody to take three things that they can uh deploy, employ tomorrow to help their business. So we've already talked about brand Uh. So here you know it's interesting, you, you took a family that you represented or you worked with in 2005 and 2010. And you know what we talk about all the time in our business it is about relationships, not transactions, and anybody who doesn't get that is going to be into this business for a very short period of time. That's right.

Speaker 1:

So I just want our listeners to really wrap your head around what Courtney just said. I helped the family, I helped them move and then eight years later, six years later, they moved again California, back to the Pentagon, and I was their trusted advisor in their real estate move. I recommended them within our network because I am confident that they are the best in class and the best in service, and so think about that, like we always talk about. You know I ask this question all the time, particularly of brand new people. Courtney, for every great successful real estate transaction, how many more should that be over the course of your career, the butterfly effect.

Speaker 1:

The butterfly effect. I love that and you know we'll talk about that a little bit. But I think just that anecdote that you shared is just so revealing of what's really important about our business and I love the other part. And then their kids and their nieces and their nephews. So that transaction I'm not going to do the math for you, it's four to six deals and half of those were after you got into leadership. But you stayed connected with them because we are in the real estate business, even though you and I today don't go out and list and sell, we're always creating business opportunities by staying connected with people that we've built these great relationships.

Speaker 2:

Yeah absolutely, and that's one of the beautiful things about the agents that do our industry right. If you're in it for the long haul, you're developing lifelong relationships with people to help them at every stage.

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm going to go off script a little bit. So when you got out of college first of all, I don't know if I know anybody that graduated from UMass I always love that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well.

Speaker 1:

I'm sure, and I'm a Northeastern guy and, uh, it's funny, my grandson goes to a boarding school in in uh in Massachusetts, so I do love that part of the country for sure. So you graduated and you went into hospitality. One of my favorite questions is what did you learn in your previous career that you have brought to this career? Because it simply translated and the hospitality business is a great one, and I'll come back to an observation I've made over the years. But just share with our listeners what part of that training and that experience was such a connect to the real estate business.

Speaker 2:

Well, certainly, and it's one of the things I look for when I'm looking at potential new agents in our industry and what skill set they can bring in that would make them qualified or have a good fit. And anybody that comes out of a very high, stressed, busy hospitality management position is able to navigate lots of different personalities and do it with poise and class and a little bit of a sense of humor too. And that's been instrumental, I think, in my career is, you know, learning how to navigate all different types of personalities in the you know purchasing and selling process and overcoming challenges with the ability to take a step back and you know and not sweat the small things and focus on what's most important to people and overcoming that challenge. And I think in the you know in that hospitality industry we are doing that often.

Speaker 1:

I think it is one of the tried and true tried and true industries that can transfer right. So one of the things I love to do when our guests share some insight is you know, I like to share my takeaway and so my takeaway from that. While so much of it was relevant, there are times that you need to step back and pause, so I want our listeners to just think about that In that moment in time. You know, we've got a tough negotiation on a home inspection, or we just got news about a mortgage that wasn't what we thought we were going to get, or whatever those ors are. Our customer, our consumer, our buyer and seller are relying on us to be poised and calm and introspective and responsive.

Speaker 2:

They're watching us Right, courtney and introspective and response Like they're watching us right. Courtney, yeah, absolutely, and and they're also I think so many you know in in the position that I'm in now. Yes, sometimes, when they're escalated there that you know, that's when I get them to my desk. But oftentimes people genuinely want to feel heard, and so the ability to stop and listen and get to the crux of the matter and genuinely hearing what the issue is and then being solution oriented, not focusing on the past, but how do we move forward and come up with a solution to get through this together?

Speaker 1:

Genuinely hearing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, listening more than speaking a good skill set for a lot of agents, and sometimes you know I've got a few that need practice with that but it is certainly something that helps in this industry.

Speaker 1:

And that is a big, big, big takeaway Ask a lot of questions and what we know is there's a difference between listening and hearing yes, and I love your word, genuinely hearing so I want everybody to just think about what might that mean for you and your business. And could you record, could you acknowledge a time recently where maybe you didn't pause and maybe you were so concerned about what you were going to say that you didn't allow yourself to understand the issue of the day. So so many things to wrap into the transaction.

Speaker 2:

A lot of communication experts will even tell you to pick up on something they just said and repeat part of that back to them so that they really truly understand that you genuinely heard what they just said. So it's a little little help when you're meeting with people.

Speaker 1:

So awesome. So a couple of things. When you first started this one of my other favorite questions, cause I always get a variety of responses and they're all great learnings for our listeners so when you first got started, biggest surprise like you thought it was going to be this and it was that, or you didn't think it was going to be that. Like you remember back in 05, the biggest, like wow, I never thought this.

Speaker 2:

Well, I do think of misconceptions sometimes in our industry, and it was probably true for me. I was in hospitality, I was doing in resort areas, so a lot of weddings and big events and I was like, gosh, these hours are crazy, right, I'm working a lot of late nights and weekends and you think, oh, I'll get a little more stability. Not true. I think we work when other people are off and so this job demands a lot of hours and a lot of effort, and I think we can do it with setting expectations and, of course, setting time off for ourselves. But I do think that's a big misconception, even for me when getting started, is that you're certainly still spending a lot of nights and weekends in this business.

Speaker 1:

I've shared this story often. I think you know, and I'm sure by now many of our listeners know, that I grew up in the real estate family and so one of my dads I forget what his very first pieces of advice was Gary, it doesn't matter which eight days, 14 hours you work. It is your choice. And you know when you think, yeah, people are like there aren't eight days. So you know his point was you have control of it to some degree. And then when I, when I get a chance to spend time, particularly with brand new to the business, I kick everybody off. I I ask the question according. I say how many of you are in the business for freedom and flexibility? They raise their hand and I said how many of you know the number one reason people don't make it? I don't know. And I said freedom and flexibility and their inability to manage it Right. So I get into it because of it and I don't make it because of it and that's that's kind of counterintuitive Right.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

And so, again, an interesting observation is that. But I also want everybody to pick up on a subtlety that Courtney shared, which is set expectations clearly with the buyer and seller. You must make time for you, family, friends. You must do it because and here's what people don't think, certainly early on is it's okay to say you know, I can't do it at 11, but I can do it at three or five or eight tomorrow. It's about giving people an alternative, because the majority of people respect that and you don't have to say it's about giving people an alternative because the majority of people respect that and you don't have to say it's clearly communicating, managing those expectations.

Speaker 2:

I'm uh, I, Sundays, Sunday mornings, are for my family, or whatever that might be. I also, you know, I also tell my agents it's okay to say I have an appointment at two, but I could do it at four and they don't need to know that your appointment is two is going to your son's kindergarten lunchroom to have lunch with them, or whatever that might look like. I have appointment two. Here's your three other options for times and it is it's, it's clear, communication and managing those expectations.

Speaker 1:

And it's, it's an element of it's also consistency. You know, be consistent. But again, I really you know it's okay to take time I think it's really important because you know, if you don't manage it effectively, it will manage you ineffectively and that's not a good way to have a long career. It's impossible.

Speaker 2:

That's how you get burnt out very quickly. So yes, putting that in place right away.

Speaker 1:

So 05 to 15 leadership or 05 to 15 sales, jumped into leadership, but something happened in 2014. Let's just I believe you joined William E Wood.

Speaker 2:

I did. I very quickly realized I was doing a lot of transactions a month and I quickly realized I could maybe increase my price point step outside of what I was currently doing and buy back a little bit of time with my family which we were just talking and we moved to Williamsburg and I really started focusing on more of our waterfront golf course, a higher kind of price point property for my listings, and it was just a wonderful opportunity for me to learn a new kind of skillset in the industry and marketing skills and I really just kind of at that point fell in love with becoming the best listing agent that I could be.

Speaker 1:

We'll come back to that in a little bit because we think clearly that's a high goal of our company. We do see our CEO sending us videos reminding us of the importance of the power of one listing, but I say that because we know that you list to last and you list to live. So we'll talk a little bit about that in a minute. But in 2014, I believe, william E Wood was acquired by Howard Hanna. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Speaker 2:

Correct.

Speaker 1:

And then a year later you joined the leadership team and began that part of your journey. So I'll ask you a two-part question. So obviously, howard Hanna, kind of their first foray in Virginia at the time.

Speaker 2:

It was.

Speaker 1:

Now it's been 11 years, so just share a little bit of insight into why, howard Hanna, what you love about it, what makes it unique and special, and why you think it's a great place for agents to be.

Speaker 2:

I have found. When I joined at the time I had left a prior firm and had joined William E Wood I was really looking for three things that I'm kind of passionate about, which I call them my M's, gary. It's my mindset. I really wanted to align myself with a company that was focused on positive mindset and encouraging that support, mentorship opportunities, my other big M and then, of course, mastery right.

Speaker 2:

I was at the stage of my career where I was trying to learn new skill sets and at the time Limby Wood really offered all three of those and I was just thrilled at the time when Howard Hanna came into the picture that they included those three things and even opened it up on a bigger scale.

Speaker 2:

And it's still to this day. Those are the three things that I really try to give back to my current agents, like I want them to have an environment that they come into, where when people show up to an office or their workplace they feel that positive energy, they feel like their mindset's in the right place, partly because of that environment or the people that they're around. I want them to have the mentorship opportunities in the office and then I want them to have plenty of opportunities to you were talking about it earlier sharpening your saw, those mastery training opportunities to get as good as you can at your craft, and so at the time I felt like it kind of aligned with all three of those principles, and I still think they do today, even more so on a bigger scale now that we're partners in the Carolinas with you all as well. It's just even on a bigger, more exciting scope.

Speaker 1:

So a couple of things. So I love the mentorship because I think that's such a two-way street right. It's about receiving mentorship and then becoming and providing mentorship.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and here's what I will tell our listeners. I went to a meeting at Courtney's office the first week of June. Let me tell you what that culture is filled with. Uh, let me tell you what that culture is filled with positive mindset, collective mentorship and a mastery.

Speaker 1:

But there's an enthusiasm and a passion that resonated from the moment I walked into, the moment I walked out, and even at a time, if you remember, a gentleman in the back asked me a question. Uh, I remember exactly what it was and now I've actually done a little homework and I understand why it's at this point. That's all we're going to say today, by the way. We're not going to go any further. But he presented a problem with a positive mindset and an appreciation for whatever answer I gave, like it was. You know, we've all been approached I'll use that word and asked the question where, if you don't give them the answer they want, it becomes adversarial, controversial, accusatory, whatever those words are. And when I told him, if you remember, it is something we will look into, like now we have to look into it, which we have. But I just love the way he went about asking the question and that's a test.

Speaker 2:

And putting the defenses down right Instead of going right into that defensive mode or mechanism. We've worked really hard on that here and I think you talked about the receiving, mentorship and giving I always call it here my outreach hands right. So I want my agents to always have one hand to the side where it's a colleague that they can collaborate with and commiserate with and laugh with, and I want them to, you know, be reaching up to someone above them trying to pull them down and then, when that time is ready, I've asked each and every single one of my agents to throw that hand down and pull the next person up, and I think even in our communications that you're able to see it's an important part of it being receptive to different responses and what that looks like.

Speaker 1:

For sure. Well, anybody that knows me knows I love like the three M's, the three C's, the three P's. So, historically, courtney, my three M's and you've heard me say mindset, mechanics, momentum, which I learned from.

Speaker 2:

I didn't know you had a three M's.

Speaker 1:

But, but, but. But mindset, mentorship, mastery. So Courtney also knows, and some of the listeners know, that every Monday I write about something that inspires me, and so I have just been inspired to do a little recon on mindset, mentorship and mastery and I'm going to write about it. And so thank you for inspiring me to move off my historic three M's that I picked up from Pat Riley.

Speaker 2:

Pat, you're over here inspiring me to move off my historic three Ms that I picked up from Pat Riley. Should I do more research on your Ms?

Speaker 1:

Pat, you're over here. I got the six Ms, Courtney and Mason.

Speaker 2:

It sounds like they go hand in hand in many ways. Right, they do.

Speaker 1:

They do, but I think there's some nuances. But I also love this question. So, as you look back 20 great years, lots of one of the things you said earlier is you've touched property management, listing and selling kind of in the luxury space, leading probably. Now I don't know the answer to this Are you at the same office? How many offices have you managed?

Speaker 2:

Actually my better answer I will give you to that is I've had eight different managing brokers, so I have been at several offices. Eight different managing brokers.

Speaker 2:

Why you were selling, and so that is honestly.

Speaker 2:

If there's one thing that's been instrumental, I think, in my leadership career, it has been those eight different leadership styles that I've had just the blessing of being under, and I've learned a couple of things that I would definitely do differently, but I think that's part of the blessing of having eight different leadership mentors in the past and I've learned some really wonderful things from each and every one of them and implement small pieces of that in everything I do today. It's fun to watch and I can clearly even see myself like oh, that was certainly something that X reminded me of, and I think too. What I'm proud of, gary, is that all eight of those manager brokers I could pick up the phone today and call each and every one of them no burned bridges, and that can be tough to do sometimes in our industry, and it's something that I feel like the folks that do this industry right and they look at it as a kind of collaboration over competition. Keeping some of those great contacts and resources and mentors in place has been instrumental in my career.

Speaker 1:

So I love that, and if I had known that here would have been a question I would have asked. So I'm not going to put you on the spot, because I do think sometimes you need prep, but what would be fascinating would be here are the eight, and here's the one thing I learned.

Speaker 2:

That would be great exercise. Actually, I don't think I've ever done that.

Speaker 1:

So, while I speak for 30 seconds, I want you to pick three, if you can, and again, so, one of the one of the I'll call it my principles is called the multiple mentor theory, and I, fundamentally, I'm with you a thousand percent, like, I believe, the more mentors we have, which is why, if I'm an agent and the leader changes, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. I may love Courtney, but, ok, I'm going to take my thing from Courtney and then Gary's going to be the manager. I'm going to take my thing from Gary, I'm going to meld it into me. I mean, it's going to ultimately be me, but so I have done this. I've taken my I'm a football guy, right. So I've taken my top 11 mentors and what did I learn from each of them? And so I encourage you to do the eight In my 45 seconds that I just gave back to you. Can you do three? Who they are and what you learn.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh, I'll tell you the person that I, Jack Voss, who was my predecessor before taking over here. He was fantastic and he saw something in me and very much encouraged me to get into leadership, and so one of the things that I have become very passionate about is finding people's strengths and then playing up to those strengths. Right, I'll have an agent that I can recognize right away does great at networking events, and so we strategize plans for them to focus on those. Or I'll have an agent that I can very clearly see converts at open houses, and so we put plans in place to play to those strengths I have. I think we have like five different people on our leadership team, Gary, that are in those positions, because I said, hey, I think you'd be really great at XYZ, Like I'm thrilled that some of my agents are now managing brokers in other offices, Right.

Speaker 2:

So I would say Jack was definitely um instrumental in helping me, you know, determine what people's strengths are and recognizing, um what those are and then putting those people, putting those people in those places, to shine. So that's, that's a skillset that I think he did well and I've enjoyed doing. It's one of the things that I didn't necessarily get to do as an agent that I get to do in my position. Now that I that I've enjoyed, I would say I did have another managing broker that was really key on. Time is money and money is time and he did a great job at keeping us on task and on track and making meetings any type of meetings impactful and the information that you need. Instead of being kind of a meeting, just have a meeting type of scenario.

Speaker 2:

So that was. That's a great skill set that I've taken away, and I would say I had one of my Hampton brokers. She was fantastic about finding the levity in really challenging situations and bringing a smile or a little bit of laughter to those situations, which I still try to do for my agents too. I can tell when things are a little tough and we can try to find a little bit of the humor in some of those situations.

Speaker 1:

I love it. Laughter and humor is therapy right.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And they always say if I'm not going to laugh, I might cry. Well, choose laughter right.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, exactly. It's okay to choose crying, sometimes Exactly.

Speaker 1:

Exactly so I, I absolutely, absolutely love that. So, um, I'm going to shift gears just a little bit. So you know we're, it's, uh, we're, we're recording this on August 15th. Um, it'll play sometime before Labor Day, so, uh, just to give our listeners a sense of when you and I are chatting. By the way again, thank you for the Friday afternoon interview is, as you look at the balance of this year and you have an understanding and appreciation of kind of the market conditions, what advice are you and will you give to your team to keep them motivated, inspired, on track, disciplined, not getting frustrated? Everybody listening is probably having a feeling, because the market is one that creates a feeling, and while a lot of people are doing really well, other people are navigating, you know, a changing landscape. So what kind of advice and counsel, on a consistent basis, are you providing for them to to grow their business in a time when it's it's a great time to grow it, but it's also a little bit challenging?

Speaker 2:

especially for the agents that have only been in the business you know, five years and only knew one type of markets. One of the beautiful things about belonging to our incredible company, howard Hanna, is that we've managed through every single market at this point. So I love that we have that history and that strength and that knowledge from being you know not every firm can say that right now, and that strength and that knowledge from being you know, not every firm can say that right now. But I think the biggest things I focus on with my agents is consistency and, like on Wednesday this week I did I decided to do kind of a back to basics database class. Really sexy stuff, gary. Right, I'm thinking, oh my gosh, who's going to come to this database class?

Speaker 2:

But I spent a lot of time explaining to people how important the database is. It's our largest asset that we have. It's a relationship business. That's the list that's so important to our business and our families and our livelihood, and I had a packed house here for a database workshop. It was awesome.

Speaker 2:

It was back to the basics, but we spent a lot of time using AI. So things have changed in a lot of ways because it is back to basics. But AI nowadays can save us so much time and energy on some of the really simple, mundane tasks like go through my database and delete all my duplicates, go through my database and make sure all my addresses are updated, go through my database and add emails to the few missing people. Ai can do so much of us, so much of that for us now, where it takes kind of the mundane out of it. And then we have these fantastic programs that we can put all of our clients on. So on Wednesday we put everybody on the new AI generated search programs, both on RealScout for property values and then on the new neighborhood news program which is built into our company CRM, where they can now get detailed information on very, very micro set neighborhoods where before it was more larger kind of zip codes neighborhoods.

Speaker 2:

So, we had to implement that on Wednesday. So I think I'm just really trying to get my agents to focus on stuff that, yes, there's some new things with AI and technology, but it's still that it's back to the basics, being consistent and following up with our you know the people that like, know and trust us. It is sometimes that simple.

Speaker 1:

I love it. So it reminds me way back when. So you know my dad, way back when. You know, particularly after 1993 and the internet, you know this whole thing was. You know, the company and the agent that balances high tech and high touch. They're going to win the day. Okay, so today it's AI and AI, artificial intelligence and authentic interaction. That's right, and I think it's so interesting that it's 30 years later. It's really exactly the same. Database management, when I got in at 1986, was the key to my either success or failure, and that's no different than today and I do believe you said it. I think people that got into it in the five years didn't have to do it to be successful.

Speaker 2:

I call them the order takers.

Speaker 1:

A phrase that we used back in 05 was accidental income.

Speaker 2:

Like right right.

Speaker 1:

I love it. I love it. Well, ai is is fascinating, so interesting. We're working on changing the introduction to the reality podcast. I'm doing it for years and so Ashley, who puts this on, send it to me. So I I'm going to have a little fun, if you don't mind. So I went in right before this and I said to chat GPT, give me an introduction to the reality podcast, one for agents, and then, once a quarter, tony Jarrett and I do one that is intended to go out to the consumer. So here's the agent focus.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the reality podcast, the show made for real estate agents who want to level up. I'm your host, gary Scott, bringing you fresh insights, proven strategies and real-world stories straight from the field. Each episode, we dive into what's really working in today's market, from lead generation and client relationships to mindset marketing and massive growth. If you're ready to stay ahead of the curve, sharpen your skills and build a business that lasts, you're in the right place. Let's get fired up. This is Reality Podcast and it starts right now.

Speaker 1:

How about that? Just saying that, but so like, and I feel so bad. I don't know if Ashley's listening or not. Hers was amazing, but it is fascinating, and so. So I want you to come back to your workshop. You touched on a couple of things. I know you touched about Real Scout and, and you know, neighborhood news. You shared a couple of things about cleaning up your database using AI. Do you mind if we step back a little bit Sure and let you explain in a little more detail, because I had not heard that? So maybe you don't need to just share one or two things that really really can make somebody's life much easier.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and I'll tell you, gary, what I can do is I'll send you and Ashley a list of some of my AI tools that I use that can help with database organization. But I find that sometimes it's really that the agents don't have the time to sit down and organize these massive lifts. I have agents in this office that have been in the industry 40 years. Their kids are now working for them, right? They have large databases and I think it can be really overwhelming to try to clean them up and get them organized into investors and buyers and sellers. And there's now AI programs that can do all of that for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, just the right prompts, right programs. It can clean up your duplicates, it can add missing fields, it can put them in CSV files. Oh, like, I have one agent that has months of she's not using our open to close program. She should be, but she's doing old fashioned open house sign-in sheets, right. So you can take a picture of an open house sign-in sheet and upload it to AI and it will put it in the CSV file all typed out, everything in there.

Speaker 2:

So it's time saving because, again, time is money and if I can get these, um, all these wonderful potential buyers and sellers and consumers into our programs and then provide them really valuable information and genuine touch points. That increases our conversion rates, and so we I'm using AI to buy my agents back time right, whether that's with their family, or to hold another open house or whatever, or another vacation, whatever that might look like. It's really, I think, a resource that we're way beyond using it for listing descriptions. I'm really trying to work for some of our other tasks that we used to maybe pay virtual assistants for or admins for that we don't, you know, we can take advantage of programs that do that for us now.

Speaker 1:

Or using it for more than a podcast intro.

Speaker 2:

But the point is Still, that saved you a lot of time and it was fantastic.

Speaker 1:

It was like 4.8 seconds Like it's crazy.

Speaker 1:

Right and I'll tell you a little story. So, uh, we were at my daughter's uh birthday, so it was my daughter, my son, my wife, my grandson who's 16, and it turned into this chat, gpt, like event, and because they were way ahead of me, and so, like, give me a logo for X, y or Z. And I got a logo, and my grandson is like Pops, you are way, way, way behind. I'm like, you created a logo, you know, for X, y or Z. I said, can you do this? And then, you know, then he does a thing where he took a picture of me and made me a cartoon character, which I was not very happy about because I think that there was a subliminal message there. Awesome, ai.

Speaker 1:

I put on my to-do list today.

Speaker 2:

Even Canva just came out with a virtual staging program so you can upload a couple of pictures and say hey, this is the primary bedroom. I'd love to you know, for you to show a cadenza. Overlooking the water view here and it's really even canned by AI has come a long way.

Speaker 1:

They, uh. So I'm going to, I'm going to shift gear. First of all, great, great, great stuff. So, uh, I just I know that, uh, the takeaway, the three takeaways for today, have become 10.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to encourage everyone listening today, driving, taking a walk this is definitely one that you want to have your notes and take it. And then how do you apply it to your business? Again, I recommend three, because if you put five or seven, you'll never do any of them. I want you to take three things that she said, that Courtney has shared with us, and I want you to help you grow your business at a time when I think you're going to be ahead of the game. Now. I mentioned in the intro that Courtney is an incredible leader ton of energy, real, valued part of our collective team, but passionate about the community. So, before we put a bow around this episode of reality, talk a little bit about what you do, talk a little bit about why you do it and then, you know, share any other thoughts you have around how and why it is so important.

Speaker 2:

Well, at the end of the day, we, you know, we work for a fantastic family owned company and we and Gary, you did a wonderful job at a meeting we were at a couple of weeks ago, talking about how we're all working for a family owned company and also individually family owned companies working for a family owned company and also individually family owned companies and I wake up every day passionate about making a difference in all of my families, which is every single one of my agents and their family owned businesses in my office, and that's just something I'm really.

Speaker 2:

I feel like I'm making a big impact and I'm passionate about that, and I'm trying to create, at the end of the day, a better place for my kids to grow up, and I think I do that by a lot of volunteer hours and things that I'm passionate about, whether that's through their education and mental health is important to our family. It's waking up each and every day and being excited to come to an office where I am making an impact in not only our clients' lives, but in each one of our agents and their families' lives.

Speaker 1:

Well, you can feel that genuine passion for that Very authentic. One of the things that I think is really exciting is you and the region there and the region there and the entire company has, you know, participated in the children's free care fund and you know we're super excited that Caroline has kicked off our first effort with the campaign kicking off in 2026, where we'll align our consistent public education drive because we believe that's an important leg of the community and housing. But you know, we just think that if we can work on making sure we invest in our children in schools who are healthy and then invest in our children who need help in getting the resources and the care that they need, that makes a difference in the lives of a lot of people and it's an impact that generations feel for sure.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, wow, I love that I wrote down here generational impact. Don't underestimate the thing I do today. That might feel little. It could last a long, long, long time because there's tentacles on that that impact and influence other people to get involved. So we are about to ask the last question. Well, I'm going to do something I've never done.

Speaker 2:

Make it a good one.

Speaker 1:

I want you to ask me a question.

Speaker 2:

I almost.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to ask you a final question. Ask me a question.

Speaker 2:

I almost showed up today with my, uh, taylor Swift brief briefcase I don't know if you I mean that was the really famous podcast of the week Uh, and I wanted to bring my Taylor Swift briefcase and unveil, instead of my new album because I'm definitely not Taylor Swift and have no singing voice but our fabulous new logo. So I think my question is it's been a very exciting week for you and your colleagues, gary. How's it going? How's the momentum? How's the excitement with all the new launches?

Speaker 1:

So thank you for asking the question and unfortunately I don't think this podcast does reach new heights. I'm pretty sure that the one they just had with Taylor might be the most watched podcast in the history, I believe.

Speaker 2:

A whole new level.

Speaker 1:

I mean again she's talking about the NFL draft and cover three and cover four. She took her own stardom to an entirely new level.

Speaker 2:

You know she talked a lot about mindset though, Gary, which it was fantastic she did.

Speaker 1:

You know, it's gone amazingly well and I think the lesson here is multifaceted. I think number one is how important it is for collaboration, how important it is to really appreciate opposing views. So, as this working group that I was blessed to be part of worked through this discovery, our brand story, and we had 20 choices of what we landed on, and somebody would say something that I might not have agreed with, and I'm sure I said things that they didn't agree with, but there was this great collaboration. I love your phrase, I wrote it down collaboration over competition. So I think that would be number one.

Speaker 1:

I think patience Excuse me I think patience you talked about, I think patience, you know you talked about hit the pause button. We hit the pause button a couple of times and then here, I think, is the, the key takeaway preparation, preparation, have a plan, share the plan, execute the plan over and over again, and it's just now. You know, clearly, the brand evolution for us is a game. It's a game changer, and I think it's a game changer for us, and when I say us, I pointed at Courtney. You know, since March of this year, february of this year, february of this year, we're creating an incredibly dominant entity in the Southeast, which will include Virginia, north Carolina, south Carolina.

Speaker 1:

I'm not going to give away a secret, but maybe by the time this plays we might be in one other state, just going on the record that our three-state might become four-state, our three-state might become four-state. But I think this brand unification and brand structure is going to allow us to elevate our interaction with one another, and I did a little chat TPT last night about here's what I did. Courtney, you'll appreciate this. I'm not going to share all the information. I went in and I said what percentage of new people moving to Charlotte every year come from the other 11 states that we're in. 9% of everybody that moves to Charlotte, not the Carolinas, charlotte comes from Virginia.

Speaker 1:

Now, maybe not where we are. Here's an interesting number 41.3% of everybody that relocates to Charlotte in a given year comes from a state where our company is number one or two. So if somebody asks me why I've got a pretty good, why I did the math problem you got a pretty good why I did the math problem. 44,000 people a year move from our footprint into the Carolinas.

Speaker 2:

It's a lot of families that we'll be able to help. Our entire team here is just really excited for the future and all the things to come and we're looking forward to it.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, and we're looking forward to it. Awesome. Well, I'm excited that I get to include Virginia in the reality podcast. Justin Acosta was number one. I had a technical difficulty with Jay Colley, but we're rescheduled. I've got Robin coming up and you know we are one. The power of one, one company one network, one vision. Courtney Mason, you hit it out of the park. I appreciate your time today. Thanks for having me and, as I told you, 52 minutes. You did not believe me.

Speaker 2:

We did do an hour, didn't we?

Speaker 1:

Thank you for your time and passion. Talk to you soon, okay.

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Gary Scott

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