Play Bigger in Real Estate with Raquel Q.

What to Do When You’re Not at 100%: Leading Your Business From the Sidelines

• Raquel Quinet • Episode 362

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This episode is real, raw, and a little personal. I wasn’t planning to get sick, but life had other plans—and it reminded me of one powerful truth: if you can’t step away from your business without everything crumbling, you don’t have a business… you have a job.

I want to let you in on what happened when I hit a wall—physically and mentally. I had three back-to-back events, coaching calls lined up, team responsibilities, and I was also celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary. And just like that, my body said "Not today."

In this episode, I’m taking you behind the scenes of what it really looks like to lead your business when you're not at 100%. I’ll walk you through how I navigated being completely out of commission and still kept things running—without the burnout or guilt.

💡 Things I Cover in This Episode:

  • The truth about why most entrepreneurs burn out—and how to avoid it
  • The 3 P’s of Leading from the Sidelines
  • How to identify and delegate your Red Zone Tasks
  • Why building your bench is non-negotiable (even for solo agents)
  • My go-to automations and tools that kept the business moving
  • Why rest is not retreat—it’s a growth strategy

I’m also dropping 5 tactical strategies that you can start using this week to future-proof your business and step into your true CEO role—even when you're forced to hit pause.

🚨 Ask yourself this: If you had to step away tomorrow, would your business keep running?

If this episode gave you a mindset shift or strategy you needed—don’t keep it to yourself.
👉 Share it with someone who’s in the hustle and might need the reminder that rest is a strategy.
📩 Or DM me on Instagram @itsraquelq 


 Let’s keep the conversation going—because you don’t have to do this alone.

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Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Raquel Show, and remember, keep pushing your limits to achieve your goals.

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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The goal isn't just about building a big and massive business. It's about building a sustainable one. One that doesn't collapse the second you step away, one that supports you and not the other way around. So I want to challenge you, if you had to step away tomorrow or you got sick, would your business keep running? What would stop? What's one small step that you can take this week to strengthen your business foundation?

Welcome to The Raquel Show. This show is for entrepreneurs who want to play bigger in business and in life and I am so grateful that you are here and you are part of our community. 

This past week really reminded me of something I think we don't always talk about enough as entrepreneurs, as leaders and as high achievers. You see, I have a lot on my plate, multiple businesses to run a team depending on me and three back-to-back events lined up in Southern California and I had it all planned. 

Everything was in motion and then, and if you can't hear my friends, my body said not so fast. I'm a little under the weather. I got sick coming back from Las Vegas. I hadn't been this sick since 2020 when I had COVID and I remember pushing through my coaching calls last Tuesday and then all of a sudden I knew I needed to rest. 

And it was also my 20th Year Anniversary, but I was so sick that I could barely celebrate. had a fever as high as 104 and chills that you would never even believe. And in that moment I had to make a choice:

Do I push through? Do I show up at 50 % capacity because that's what leaders do? Or do I pause, reset and trust that the systems and the people that I have built around me can keep things moving. 

And this wasn't an easy decision because like many of you, I've been conditioned to be on all the time. That is if I stop, everything else stops. But the truth is I had no choice and I had to embrace it all. You don't have to push through everything just to keep your business moving forward. And believe me when I tell you that our Real Estate team has been busy.

Leadership isn't about doing it all. It's about building something sustainable. So in today's episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on how I personally navigate through these seasons and what you're going to walk away with is a mindset shift of what real leadership looks like when you're not at 100 %; strategies to help your business running from the sidelines and some personal stories because trust me, I have been there. 

So let's dive in. Not long ago, I had a season like this. I was in momentum, things were clicking, but between getting sick, caring for my family, and honestly just sheer exhaustion, I couldn't keep up with the pace I had set for myself. As a high performer, it felt wrong to even consider slowing down. And I would ask myself, if I'm not running at full speed, will everything I've built start falling apart? But here's the shift I had to make. Your business doesn't have to stop because you're not at 100 % or at full capacity, my friends. The real question is, have you actually built a business that relies on you being in the business 24 seven, or have you built one that can sustain and even grow while you recover? 

And I'll let that sit with you for a moment because here's the reality check. Most businesses don't fail because of the market. They fail because quite honestly, the owner just, especially real estate agents, just burn out and they just can't step away. That's why this particular conversation matters. Here's the shift I want you all to make. 

This CEO Mindset Shift. 

I want you to stop seeing yourself as the only engine of your business. And I want you to start seeing yourself as the leader of systems, the leader of processes, the leader of people. When you are a sideline or when you don't feel 100%, leadership isn't about hustling harder. It's about activating what you've already built. And I call it the Three P's leading from the sidelines. 

Number one is prioritize. Focus on only mission critical tasks. I'll tell you last week or this past week, I was sending so many voice memos because I could barely stare at the screen. Number two is people. Empower your team or even your independent contractors to step up. And last is the third P is processes. Let your systems and automations do the heavy lifting. Say this with me. I am not my business. I am the leader of my business. I know some of you guys think that you are the business and maybe you are the brand but that doesn't mean and equate to that you have to do everything. You're just the leader of your business. That mindset alone can change how you show up in hard seasons. Now let's get tactical. Here are five strategies to keep your business moving even when you aren't feeling 100%. Number one is I want you to audit your business. Ask yourself what runs without me? What stops the moment I step away? 

I'll tell you even last week when I wasn't feeling a hundred percent, the marketing, the things in the business kept going and you probably couldn't even tell from my social that I was like deathly sick. So I want you to make two lists. If anything is you call it your red zone tasks that only you can do. Like only I can record these podcasts. It'd be almost weird if it was the Raquel show and one of my team members showed up and did a podcast, right? So really think about what are the things that only you can do? And the other zone is your delegate zone is these are tasks that could be handed off to other people. This alone just gives you clarity.

And number two is I want you to start building your bench, know your key players who can step in when you can't even solo agents can create a virtual bench of support. So I know a lot of you guys are solo agents out there. You can have transaction coordinators. You can lean on your title companies. You can have showing assistance. You could have marketing help. Trust me when I tell you that I leaned on our title company to do a lot of things last week for me. And you don't have to wait for crisis to start building this. You can actually start now. 

Number three is I want you to automate and systematize your systems should work harder than you do. Think about what are some of my lead nurture sequence? What are some text messages that can go out as follow up while I'm sick? What are social media scheduling tools? Are there anything in our pipeline or CRM that can create automations? This is how my coaching clients keep up with the momentum even when they're sick or when they're out on vacation. 

Number four is communicate with your team and clients because transparency builds trust. Last week, my assistant had to cancel a lot of my calls and answer on my behalf. She answered emails on my behalf and she said, Raquel is not feeling well. She'll be out for several days. Can I reschedule your call? But know that I'm here to support you or for our real estate clients is Raquel is not feeling well. She'll be out for a couple of days, but I have so and so to help you. It's better to communicate proactively than have people guessing or what you can even do is put your vacation reminder saying I'll be out of the office, right? Your clients don't even know if you're sick or you're if you're on vacation. 

So number five is protect your energy. Rest is not retreat. It's a strategy during these seasons. I focus on getting my body better hydrating. And since I paused all the noise out there, it made me see what's working. What's not what's next for our real estate business. What's next for our real estate organization. What's next for play bigger coaching and what's next for our real estate investments. want you to prioritize what's important to you.

Because looking back, one of my biggest lessons comes from this season. The goal isn't just about building a big and massive business. It's about building a sustainable one. One that doesn't collapse the second you step away, one that supports you and not the other way around. So I want to challenge you, if you had to step away tomorrow or you got sick, would your business keep running? What would stop? What's one small step that you can take this week to strengthen your business foundation? I would love to hear them. So DM me at @itsraquelq on IG. And here's what I want you to take away, my friends: you are the asset, protect your energy. Leadership isn't about doing more. It's about designing the stronger your systems, the more freedom you create for your future.

And if this episode spoke to you, I want you to do two things. I want you to share it with a friend on your social and tag me at @itsraquelq or if you are ready to build a business that grows even when you're not at 100%, I want you to head over to let'splaybigger.com because I would love to help you design a business that actually works for you. And until next time, I want you to keep taking bold action and always, always, always keep playing bigger, my friends.