Play Bigger in Real Estate with Raquel Q.

Freedom Isn’t Given: How to Build a Business That Gives You Flexibility and Options

• Raquel Quinet • Episode 356

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If your business still depends on you showing up every single day, you don’t have freedom—you have a job in disguise. 

In this episode of The Raquel Show, I’m getting real about the difference between building a business that gives you options versus one that owns you. And I’ll be honest... I’ve lived both.

This episode was inspired by a moment on the 4th of July—running a 5K I hadn’t trained for, laughing with my kids, watching fireworks without my phone going off every five minutes. That moment reminded me what true freedom feels like—and why so many entrepreneurs never get to experience it.

I’m diving into the quiet but powerful shifts I’ve made that changed everything. Because freedom isn’t found. It’s built—by the small choices you make daily.

🔑 Things I Cover in This Episode:

  • Why building for tomorrow is more important than surviving today
  • The truth about hustle vs. leverage—and which one actually builds wealth
  • How to align your calendar with your future freedom, not your current chaos
  • What questions to ask yourself to know if your business could run without you
  • Why some clients and opportunities need a firm “no”

Whether you’re feeling stuck in the grind or just wondering if there’s another way, this episode is your wake-up call—and your permission slip—to design a business that works for you.

If you’re ready to create more freedom, not just more closings
👉 go to LetsPlayBigger.com
👉 Share on IG and DM me @itsraquelq 

Let's keep playing bigger.

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Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Raquel Show, and remember, freedom isn’t a someday thing—it’s built in the small yeses you make today. 💥

For updates and collaborations or opportunities, go to www.LetsPlayBigger.com

Find more resources on our website

https://raquelq.com/podcast/

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If your business still depends on you showing up every single day, you don't have freedom. You have a job in disguise and you just have to ask yourself, how long am I willing to do this? But you can change that.

And it starts with one small yes. And sometimes it might even be a scary yes. Sometimes it might be a yes to delegating a yes to investing in yourself, a yes to saying no to clients who train you, a yes to designing your days and not living by default because the life you want, the one with flexibility, the one with choices,
the one with space to breathe and think it's built and it's not given.

Welcome back to The Raquel Show. This show is for entrepreneurs who want to play bigger in business and in life. And today's episode is for every entrepreneur and agent who got into the business for freedom, for flexibility, but isn't quite feeling it right now. Because let's be honest, how many times have you said, I want freedom. But now I feel like I've built a job that I can't escape from or my business keeps going and going and doesn't stop. Guess what?

I've been there, and today I'm sharing what I've learned about building businesses that actually give you options and how it starts with small, quiet decisions that no one else sees. Here's the truth that most people don't tell you - Freedom isn't found. It's built by the choices you make on a daily. I learned this lesson this past 4th of July. We flew Bryce in. We planned family time. 

And I promised myself that I would run for whatever reason, a 5k that morning. And honestly, I almost didn't do it. I kept thinking to myself, it's a holiday Raquel relax. No one will ever know. And I didn't even train for it, but I laced up anyways. And I ran through Huntington Beach on main street down to the beach and then back to Worthy Park. And I kept thinking, this is what freedom feels like, not the fireworks or the flags that were placed all over downtown. The kind where you get to design a life where you can run in the morning, laugh with your kids at the beach, barbecue and catch up on the front patio and watch the fireworks without your phone blowing up with client fires. Yet at the same time, our mini team without showing properties, helping clients get into escrow while others were getting keys to their brand new home and yet

Most entrepreneurs and agents never feel this way. Why? Because their calendar owns them. Their clients own them. Their business depends 100 % on them picking up their phone, showing up, and they've traded one hamster wheel for another, maybe a job for a business. Does that sound familiar? So, of course I want to talk about how you can fix this and I want to give you tips on what works. And here's three shifts you need to make if you want a business that gives you flexibility and options, not just closing. 

Number one, is I want you to stop building for today and start building for tomorrow. What gets you closings this month or even next month won't give you the freedom next year unless you plan it all out. Most agents only focus on transactions or hitting a GCI or their next commission checks but you really need systems, need automations. You need clients that understand that they can't get ahold of you 24 seven, but you've got a system. And I want you to ask if I took a week off in my business, would it survive? Would it stall or how long could I actually remove myself from the business and it would keep running.

I'll never forget when my Mentor and Coach said that to me for the first time. And I thought the answer was buy more rental properties Raquel, but it wasn't enough cashflow to afford my lifestyle at the time. And some properties, I was in negative cashflow and banking on appreciation. Totally not the way to invest, but guess what? I learned a valuable lesson. 

Number two, is I want you to replace hustle with leverage. Hustle builds income, leverage builds wealth. And this my friends was an eye-opener. I used to think that being busy meant being productive and making money. And trust me, there are reasons and seasons for this. But if I could have ever learned a concept sooner, it would have been try not to be a superhero Raquel and try to do everything yourself, find leverage as quickly as possible and get good at finding talented people to do epic things with. Now you can hire a VA. You can use a transaction coordinator. I wasn't the best at paperwork because I was busy making deals happen as soon as I could. I would leverage it out. 

Let me tell you, my assistants used to laugh at me because I would have paperwork everywhere. Thank goodness for digital. And one year I'll never forget, I paid a transaction coordinator close to $70,000 where my price point, my average price point was 150,000 because I was too comfortable to change and hire somebody full time. But today you have so many options with virtual companies, with tasks, with AIs and SOPs and transaction coordinators. And the second thing I want you to do is build referral partners, find showing agents, ISAs. 

Right now, if I was out of town, I have a circle of people in every town of the valley that I can call and they would show properties for me. I would build my team very differently today to have the income, to have the profit and to have the flexibility. Unlike what most people think. I don't think you need a massive team today to make a lot of money. Matter of fact, I think there's a really neat sweet spot in the real estate business where you can have the income. You can have the flexibility and you can have a ton of profit. And then, next, would want you to free yourself from doing everything so you can focus on high value work. This is a big one.

Matter of fact, I'm looking for somebody super talented as my right-hand person. And I have been waiting for a while because I want to make sure that this right-hand person lives in the Scottsdale area or somewhere close to it, or someone that's willing to relocate here. So if you're listening and you know somebody, send them my way because I am looking for that special, talented go-getter attitude who wants to build Epic things.

And then your last but not least, number three, is I want you to align your actions with your freedom vision. Your calendar should reflect your future vision, not your current chaos. So I want you to block time as always for family, for health and for your creative space first. Because you got to fill your bucket first if you're going to pour into everyone else. You can't pour from an empty cup. And we've heard that over and over and over. I want you to stop saying yes to every client and every opportunity because some clients will drain your energy and so will opportunities. And then ask yourself, does this move me closer to my ideal life or further away when you have a decision to make? Or I want you to review your calendar and adjust it. Some of you guys know that coach with me, I do that every month. I move my calendar around.

Why for energy, for opportunities, for that creative space. See, these are the exact shifts and even more that we teach inside of PlayBigger because freedom isn't about doing more. It's about doing what matters most. So I want to bring it home. If your business still depends on you showing up every single day, you don't have freedom. You have a job in disguise and you just have to ask yourself, how long am I willing to do this? But you can change that.

And it starts with one small yes. And sometimes it might even be a scary yes. Sometimes it might be a yes to delegating a yes to investing in yourself, a yes to saying no to clients who train you, a yes to designing your days and not living by default because the life you want, the one with flexibility, the one with choices,
the one with space to breathe and think it's built and it's not given. 

My friends, I want to thank you for hanging out with me today on another quick, no fluff episode of The Raquel Show. I hope today gave you clarity and the reminder that freedom is in a someday thing. It's built in the small choices that you make today. And if you are ready to design a business that actually gives you freedom, not just closings, I want you to check out LetsPlayBigger.com or matter of fact, send me a DM @itsraquelq on IG because we have a few VIP events that I'm hosting at the end of this July. And sometimes, just sometimes when things are not working in your business, it might be a sign that you need to get away in a different environment because you never know what magic can happen.

We've got systems, we've got strategy, we've got the mindset to help you build a business that works for you and not the other way around. Until our next episode, Keep Playing Bigger.