Pursuing Freedom

Pursuing Freedom is a place you'll find the inspiration and advice you need to take your real estate business to the next level. You'll hear from the most successful realtors nationwide, as we explore the habits, strategies, and mindsets of the top producers. We discuss real life challenges, niche markets, goal setting, team building, daily routines, and more! Our mission at Pursuing Freedom is to "build a life you don't need a vacation from," and live the life of your dreams. Welcome aboard!

3 Small (but Challenging!) Changes to My Schedule that Transformed My Life & Business 04/19/2024

A Deep Dive on the Power of Mindset to Change Your Life with Kelly Resendez 04/12/2024

World Travel, Adventures, and RE Investing with MTR Queen Sarah Weaver 04/05/2024

How a Tragedy Triggered Transformation and the Path to Early Financial Independence with Diana Ossa and Josh Dobken 03/29/2024

The Strategic (and FUN!) Approach to Early Financial Freedom with Catie Lawrence 03/22/2024

How to 1031 Exchange an Under-Performing Rental Property into a Cashflowing Passive Investment with Troy Eckard 03/15/2024

Retire Rich with Rentals: Why Real Estate Investing is Still the Best Path to Wealth with Kathy Fettke 03/08/2024

How Conviction plus Innovation took Laura Witte from $2M in volume to $86M in volume, in 2023! 03/01/2024

From $3M to $300M with Nick Stageberg 02/23/2024

Manage Your Money and Run Your Business like a Boss with Finance Expert Cheryl Heller 02/16/2024

Manage Your Money and Run Your Business like a Boss with Finance Expert Cheryl Heller Listen in as Cheryl and I discuss: KPIs — what they are and their importance in any business, regardless of size Why knowing your cash flow and break even are just two pieces of the equation and it’s the third piece that many business owners miss to their detriment KPIs to measure across your entire business Why some business owners can’t get through a barrier of financial or business growth The strategic relationships with banking institutions you use The importance of managing your business and personal finances in tandem …and so much more! About Cheryl Heller is Managing Principal of Pillar One Consulting, which provides Fractional CFO and Strategic Advisory support to small businesses and start-ups, and is a Partner in Clipper Ship Ventures, a private equity firm targeting emerging growth companies in the fintech and business services technology space. Ms. Heller has built her career by leading organizations through financial, operational, and cultural transformations. She has deep knowledge and expertise in finance but at the same time, understands the importance of corporate culture and the impact it has on the ability to achieve strategic objectives. She has managed P&Ls and has been responsible for financial forecasts for both large and small organizations. Her specialty lies in creating and overseeing complex, cross-functional programs to achieve corporate objectives. Her experiences, which range across organizations from Strategy to Finance to Operations to Human Resources, make her a valuable leader and advisor with a diverse set of experiences on which to draw. Her previous experience consists of PWC, Aetna and over twenty years at Capital One in a variety of roles including CFO of the Retail Bank. Ms. Heller has served on The Holton Arms School Board of Trustees and the Boards of Directors of the Junior League of Washington and the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and Academy. Ms. Heller has a BS from the University of Connecticut, an MST from the University of Hartford and is a CPA. She volunteers with the Montgomery County (MD) Humane Society and The Leadership Foundry. How to Connect With Cheryl Website: LinkedIn Profile: Instagram: /episode/index/show/pursuingfreedom/id/29978233

How to run a thriving business in one state, while living full-time in another, with Lindsey Iskierka 02/09/2024

How to run a thriving business in one state, while living full-time in another, with Lindsey Iskierka Listen in to this interview with Lindsey to discover: How she lives full-time in Montana with her family and is an active agent in California How diving in and learning all she could about real estate led to paying off over $40K in debt, becoming rookie of the year and buying a house triplex. All without relying on friends and family for leads. A strategy Lindsey shares within the first 10 min that Erin had never heard of. The technology many shy away from these days that’s where rapport is built. The showing agent model … and so much more! About Lindsey Lindsey is a Southern California native who has been in real estate as an agent and investor since 2015. As an investor, Lindsey and her husband, Ryan have house hacked, held long term rentals and short term rentals. She brings her experience and knowledge of real estate sales and investing to help her clients maximize their portfolios. Today, she is partnered with David Greene from The Bigger Pockets Podcast as the Lead Real Estate Agent for the Southern California sales team. In 2023 Lindsey and her team sold 87 homes for over $65 million in volume. Lindsey did this while running her real estate team mostly remotely out of state through a showing agent model and virtual consultations. Lindsey shares how to maximize client experience and build a successful real estate team while having the freedom to live remotely and travel without missing a beat with her clients. Lindsey and her husband Ryan have two kids and were able to have Ryan resign from law enforcement and work as a lender in David Greene's mortgage company thanks to their real estate investments. Lindsey believes in the power of leverage and team building while maintaining a high standard of service to her clients. How to Connect With Lindsey Instagram: Facebook: Twitter/X: LinkedIn Profile: Website: Recommended Resources : Course mentioned on podcast /episode/index/show/pursuingfreedom/id/29834598

The Military Millionaire: From One Duplex to Early Retirement in less than 10 Years with David Pere 02/02/2024

Where we’ve been does not dictate where we’re going. An uplifting and inspiring interview with industry leader Michelle Saward! 01/26/2024

Grow your business and POWER YOUR LIFE in 2024! 01/11/2024

Unbecoming, redefining success and recovering who you’re meant to be with Haley LoBosco 12/29/2023

Your Goals: Are You Running FROM Something or Towards Something? Solocast with Erin Bradley 12/22/2023

From healthcare to freedom through Real Estate, with Airbnb Superhost and Realtor Quynh Vu 12/15/2023

From Welfare to 300+ closings a year with Kellie Revoir: How One Single Mom Turned her Mindset around, and her LIFE 12/08/2023

From stuck to soaring in 90 days: How Will Price took the wheel in this market and created extraordinary growth! 12/01/2023

Laundromat Resource: An unconventional, yet surprisingly successful, story about financial freedom with Jordan Berry 11/17/2023

The Power of Goal Setting with Erin Bradley 11/10/2023

From Burnout to Boat Life with Torrey Benson 11/03/2023

From Burnout to Boat Life with Torrey Benson From Burnout to Boat Life with Torrey Benson How Torrey is “building a life she doesn’t need a vacation from,” and how she went from real estate sales to full-time living on a catamaran with her family. Why Torrey says, “If you don’t have a team, you’re not going to succeed.” How to get over the stories in your head and “pick up the damn phone!” Mid-life crisis or mid-life awakening? How you too can pave your path to financial independence! About Torrey Dream it. Torrey Benson has the energy, experience, and focus necessary to successfully navigate the ins and outs of sophisticated real estate transactions. Her real estate training began as a child, at home in the western suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Torrey’s dad pioneered Corporate Real Estate Services and more specifically, Tenant Representation in the Minneapolis area. She grew up with family dinner conversation centered on possibilities, client relationships, deals, the value of hard work, integrity, and service. Real estate is in her DNA. Do it. Torrey started her career in International production at E! Entertainment Television in Los Angeles, CA. After years of sand & sunshine, she followed her passion to Colorado in search of mountains to ski. There Torrey navigated many commercial transactions and development projects in Denver and Vail. After years of dedicating herself to the best path for her clients, Torrey is now laser focused on adding properties to her own portfolio and teaching women how to do the same. From her home base in Bozeman, MT she connects, discovers and executes. Live it up. When she isn’t bent on discovering the next great investment areas and properties, you’ll find Torrey with her husband, two little girls and a big Bernese Mountain dog seeking balance in the great outdoors… Floating on fresh powder at Bridger Bowl. Walking downtown for a glass of wine. Hiking through the wildflowers. Learning bank turns on the mountain bike trails. Floating rivers. Exploring with the camper. Waterskiing at the lake. Sailing ocean waves. It’s all about finding JOY on this journey… How to Connect With Torrey Website: LinkedIn: TikTok: Instagram: Resources by Rachel Hollis by Hal Elrod /episode/index/show/pursuingfreedom/id/28502297

The Power of Mindset to Transform Your Wealth with Lisa Coleman 10/27/2023

Reverse Engineer Your Future with Mandy McAllister 10/20/2023

Finding Success From The Inside Out with Neil Mathweg 10/13/2023

The Quitter's Manifesto with Tim Rhode and Pat Hiban 10/06/2023

The Quitter's Manifesto with Tim Rhode and Pat Hiban The Quitter's Manifesto: Why quitters sometimes do win! In this episode, learn how two real estate rockstars consistently fired themselves from activities that no longer served them, in order to take their lives and businesses to new heights. Here’s what you’ll hear: How both Tim and Pat ended up in real estate and then what led to them "quitting" How Tim sold 2500 homes in 15 years during his real estate career, and how he made major life changes at the age of 40 after finding financial freedom Pat shares how quitting is like a fall. It becomes real easy once you let go, and a lot of it is just letting go and doing it and the one thing most people don't realize What the "Suck Meter" is and how to use it for yourself How to gauge whether what you're considering is something that's worth leaping into About Tim Rhode & Pat Hiban TIM RHODE is the co-founder of GoBundance and the founder and President of 1Life Fully Lived, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that helps at-risk youth and adults emerging from hardship to roadmap their dreams and live their best lives. Though he comes from a humble background, Tim went on to retire financially free by the age of forty and since founded multiple successful companies and wrote a best-selling book, Tribe of Millionaires. Tim is committed to helping people of all ages and stages of their lives plan their best future, and his passions include spending time with his family, fitness, skiing, hiking, and mountain biking. He currently lives in Portola, California. PAT HIBAN is a New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today best-selling author and a "Quitter" of twelve years strong. Despite being one of the only residential real estate agents to hold the title Billion Dollar Agent--having sold more than 4,000 homes with a billion dollars in volume--he quit his thriving career in real estate sales so he could invest for passive income, spend more time with friends and family, and travel the world. Now, he primarily invests in single-family homes, multifamily properties, and commercial real estate as a general partner of his company, DAPT Acquisitions. He wrote 6 Steps to 7 Figures, co-authored Tribe of Millionaires, and co-founded GoBundance, a business mastermind that has grown to more than 1,000 active members. Pat currently spends his time in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife of thirty years. How to Connect With Tim Rhode Website: Email: Nonprofit: Mastermind: LinkedIn: Facebook: How to Connect With Pat Hiban Website: Mastermind: LinkedIn: Facebook: How to Connect With Erin Bradley Business Facebook Page: Website: LinkedIn Page: Balanced Growth Course: Website: /episode/index/show/pursuingfreedom/id/28236815

#187 Your Future, Re-imagined Solocast 09/29/2023

#186 Stop Trading Time for Money, with Jenny Wemert 04/29/2022

#186 Stop Trading Time for Money, with Jenny Wemert While we’re managing our businesses, our teams, and everything in between, creating freedom in our own lives often means placing our trust and support in partners who empower us to prioritize. Jenny Wemert talks about how she learned to choose the right partners for her “teamerage” and offers advice on building your business in a way that offers you and your team the freedom to stop trading time for money. What you will learn in this episode: Why Jenny went from a career in teaching to owning her own brokerage How Jenny used her teaching background to build camaraderie and community in her farming networks What a “Teamerage” is and why Jenny refers to her business as one Why Jenny and her partners have made the conscious decision to operate their business as a team — from top to bottom The role that hiring played in helping Jenny scale her business What Jenny did to create freedom in her life while balancing her team, her family, and her personal goals How Jenny continues to build her business in a way that allows her and her team to “stop trading time for money” Stop Trading Time for Money On this episode of the Pursuing Freedom podcast, Jenny Wemert talks about how she learned to choose the right partners for her “teamerage” and offers advice on building your business in a way that offers you and your team the freedom to stop trading time for money. Following Her Servant Heart Right out of college, Jenny became a teacher. Jenny loved teaching and was naturally great at it, but as someone who had always been driven by what she calls a “servant heart,” Jenny soon found that teaching simply wasn’t allowing her to live up to her full potential. There was just something missing. Jenny knew she had a gift for creating connections and influencing growth in others, so she decided to find a career that allowed her to put those skills to work. Lucky for her, it took no time at all for her to realize that that career was in real estate. Not only did the real estate business appeal to Jenny’s competitive spirit and affinity for fast-paced work, but it also gave her an opportunity to use her servant’s heart while building up her business. She started in her own neighborhood, creating connections, building camaraderie, and farming those communities for business leads. When her network started expanding more quickly than she had anticipated, Jenny realized that that success simply couldn’t be managed alone. She needed a team. So she hired a few trusted partners, and when her business grew even more, she hired again. Little by little, Jenny scaled her business and grew her brokerage team up to nearly 80 people. “Widening the Umbrella” From the get-go, Jenny and her partners have remained committed to operating the business and the brokerage — the “teamerage,” as they’ve come to call it — as a team. While the business generates leads for the agents, they continue to work as a collective, sharing in their numbers and in their successes. This “teamerage,” and the culture of partnership they’ve created together, are what Jenny says she’s most proud of. Jenny continues to grow her business using the same philosophy she held when she first got her start. She calls it “widening the umbrella.” Quite simply, whenever her current team reaches a point where they have enough leads to go around and then some, they hire again. Jenny believes that continuing to create more opportunities for others has been the key to sustainably scaling her business while prioritizing her own time and freedom. She also emphasizes that contributing to the success of others hasn’t diminished her own in the slightest. In fact, it has empowered her to create a business and a life where she never feels the need to trade her time for money. Moving forward, Jenny is committed to helping everyone she works with achieve the same level of freedom. About Jenny Wemert Jenny Wemert has focused her energy on cultivating and building her team to serve clients and always exceed expectations. Serving 1029 families last year alone, her team is comprised of agents, transaction coordinators, a full marketing department, and support staff. Combining innovative vision and strategic marketing concepts with unmatched dedication to achieve the highest level of results truly does create clients for life. Boasting many awards, the ones which matter most to Jenny and her team are those reviews written by their clients. With over 2160+ five-star reviews to the Wemert name to date throughout social media, common notes of trustworthiness and dedication are woven throughout. There is no higher compliment for a realty team. How to Connect with Jenny Website: LinkedIn: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: Balanced Growth Course: Website: Additional Resources: /episode/index/show/pursuingfreedom/id/22942916

#185 Leading by Leveraging, with Cheri Benjamin 04/22/2022

#185 Leading by Leveraging, with Cheri Benjamin From coaching her first team to growing that team tenfold, Cheri Benjamin has learned that finding success and pursuing freedom for ourselves means pursuing freedom for others as well. What you will learn in this episode: How Cheri started as the first agent at her business and became the owner of that business Why Cheri treats every business relationship as a partnership How Cheri grew her team from 67 to almost 400 members — during the pandemic! The importance of attracting the RIGHT team members — and why Cheri says that in order to scale your business, you have to be able to attract leaders How Cheri learned to “run her business like a business” Why Cheri believes that pursuing freedom for yourself, and for your business, starts with pursuing freedom for others Leading by Leveraging Not only did Cheri successfully turn her team of 67 into a team of nearly 400 people within her first two years, she also managed to achieve this rapid and impressive growth during the height of the pandemic. How? By learning to lead with leverage. In this episode of the Pursuing Freedom podcast, Cheri reminds us all that whether we’re working to expand our teams or build up our businesses, leading with leverage is the key to scalable growth. Growing the Team to Grow the Business Cheri was the very first real estate agent that her company, Village Premier Collections, ever hired. She was on a team of about 25 people, and it didn’t take long for her to start feeling like that team had started operating like a mini brokerage. When she presented the idea to her owners, they agreed, and in no time at all, Cheri was opening her own physical location, leading her team, and helping it grow from 25 to almost 50 people. A few short months later, the owners of Village Premier Collections decided to sell the business, and Cheri found herself leading the team not as an agent, but as the company’s new owner. A leader and a coach at heart, Cheri knew that she wanted to expand the team and scale the business even more, and that she wanted to do so in a way that allowed her to support her team members so that they could continue to grow as well. Scaling Up by Stepping Away When she first started expanding her team, Cheri quickly realized that like so many of us, she was taking on too much. She wanted to scale the business, recruit more people, and dedicate time and resources to coaching and mentoring her current team members. She found that doing everything at once wasn’t sustainable, and she knew that she didn’t just need to find people to help her, she needed to find the right people. During our conversations, Cheri emphasized that one of the most important lessons she’s learned while scaling her business was that in order to do so, she needed to be able to attract leaders. Finding the right people for your team is integral to creating consistency and sustainable growth in your business, especially when you reach a point where you simply can’t always be in the room. Once Cheri found her core team of leaders — the handful of people she could leverage to help her delegate tasks, eliminate challenges, and automate aspects of her business where she’d struggled to create consistency — she not only felt empowered to step away, but she was able to do so while her business continued to skyrocket. As her business continues to grow and thrive, Cheri proudly shares that she’s truly reached a point where she doesn’t need to be everywhere all at once. She has the flexibility to be present when the opportunity presents itself but ultimately, her team makes it possible for her to keep her sights set on scaling the business without having to micromanage. Adopting an “Ubuntu” Mindset Cheri has adopted a leadership mindset that she actively incorporates with her business, her personal life, and even with her own family. It’s called “ubuntu” — an African proverb that simply means, “I am because of you.” Cheri says that this mindset has greatly influenced the way she leads her team and her family. She firmly believes that her personal growth and success are directly linked to the support she offers others as they grow. Cheri’s approach to leading her team and supporting the people in her life reminds us all that pursuing freedom for ourselves and for our business so often starts with pursuing freedom for others. About Cheri Benjamin Cheri Benjamin, CEO of Village Premier Collection, is a veteran and an African American business leader and mentor who uses real estate to help pursue her passion for helping families build lasting legacies in Metro Atlanta. How to Connect with Cheri Website: LinkedIn: Facebook: Instagram: Balanced Growth Course: Website: Additional Resources: /episode/index/show/pursuingfreedom/id/22858016

#184 Building Your Brand, with Tracy McLaughlin 04/15/2022

#184 Building Your Brand, with Tracy McLaughlin What role does your personal brand play in the success of your real estate business? Most of us know how important it is to market our services, but if you ask Tracy McLaughlin, she’ll tell you that consistently building your business starts with building your brand. What you will learn in this episode: How Tracy built an award-winning real estate career even though her background was in journalism and broadcasting Where Tracy first discovered her passion for branding and design — and how she infuses those passions into her business The role that your personal branding plays in the success of your business How to brand yourself as an expert in your community Ways you can use your brand to offer value, create connection, and foster engagement within your community How to use social media as a tool for monetizing your business Why Tracy believes that real estate is about showing people how to live in homes — not just about selling them Building Your Brand What role does your personal brand play in the success of your real estate business? We all know how important it is to market our services, but if you ask Tracy McLaughlin, our guest for this episode of the Pursuing Freedom podcast, she’ll tell you that consistently building your business always come back to how committed you are to building your brand. Marketing = Passion + Expertise Tracy will be the first to tell you that she fell into the real estate game unexpectedly. Her background in journalism led to an exciting career in TV broadcasting — a career that often required her to travel all over the country. Ironically, all of this traveling is what ultimately led her back to her hometown of Marin County. When she and her husband were expecting their first child, she decided it was time to pursue something a little bit closer to home. Tracy and her husband decided to invest in a house down the street from theirs so they could fix it up and increase the market value. That project ended up being the catalyst for Tracy’s real estate career. She discovered her passion for design, for navigating the subtleties and nuances that ultimately make or break a person’s decision to buy a home. After she’d moved on from that first project to flipping several homes each year, Tracy knew that she could marry this passion of hers with the knowledge she’d accumulated in order to turn it into a career. For her, real estate isn’t just about selling people homes, it’s about showing people how to live in them. According to Tracy, the same principle applies to building a successful brand. It’s the seemingly little things — the fonts you choose, the color and detail of your logo, the specific words you incorporate into your messaging — that ultimately have the power to make or break your personal brand. She says that at the end of the day, if your passion and expertise don’t shine through, then your brand isn’t doing anything to build up your business. How to Keep Building Your Brand As a top agent in Marin County for a record-breaking 16 straight years, Tracy’s proven formula for branding and business success kind of speaks for itself. But, fortunately for all of us, Tracy was still gracious enough to speak to her wealth of industry knowledge and to offer up some sage advice for anyone who is struggling to bolster their business or establish their brand. During our conversation, Tracy emphasized that “brand bleeds through everything.” Not only does your brand represent your business, but when built correctly, it does so in a way that showcases who you are, what you do, and how you do it. From your messaging and design to the way you present your brand in physical spaces or on social media, Tracy stresses the importance of being consistent and remembering that all of these aspects contribute to whether or not your brand will successfully connect you with your audiences. She says that at the end of the day, if your passion and expertise don’t shine through, then your brand isn’t doing anything to build your business. Tracy offered up several other nuggets of wisdom and advice for anyone who is looking to build their brand or build momentum behind their business: Find Your Passion, and Speak to It — Tracy’s secret to building a successful brand isn’t really a secret at all. Everyone has backgrounds, experiences, and passions that are unique to them. When you infuse that passion and knowledge into your brand, you ensure that you’ll attract the type of work you’ll genuinely love, while also fostering connection and engagement with your audiences. Take Risks — at some point in everyone’s journey, risk happens before the reward. Discomfort and uncertainty are unavoidable in this industry but when you embrace them, those strategic risks can lead to incredible opportunities. Always Create Value — There’s an art to finding your foothold in the communities you work in, but doing so successfully almost always comes down to whether or not you’re creating value for the people in it. Not every conversation, appointment, or showing is going to lead to a sale, but that doesn’t mean those connections are fruitless. Create value in every interaction by offering up the expertise, insights, and passions that make up your brand. Tracy says that when you do, that investment you make in your business will almost always come back to you tenfold. About Tracy McLaughlin Tracy McLaughlin was named Marin County’s top producing agent in 2021 for a record-breaking 16th straight year with over $407 million in closed transactions. She was ranked #20th in the country and #10th in California for Individual Agent By Sales Volume by REAL Trends /The Wall Street Journal in 2020. She was ranked #3rd by the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco’s Leading 100 rankings, which honors the top-producing Bay Area real estate professionals and teams based on 2020 sales volume. A lifelong resident of Marin, Tracy’s acute understanding of the local market, coupled with her unsurpassed knowledge of the region, has made her the broker of choice for luxury home buyers and sellers in Marin County. To date, Tracy has sold over $3 billion worth of residential real estate. The combination of Tracy’s styling recommendations, strategic pricing, unparalleled international marketing program, and superior photography and video content, are integral parts of her consistently successful sales. Tracy’s comprehensive pre-listing plans for design, construction, and staging, are implemented in many of the homes that she lists. Having personally purchased and renovated over 25 properties, Tracy’s extensive experience in design and construction makes her uniquely qualified to advise her clients on the smartest investment decisions regarding which home to purchase, when to sell, and what improvements to make in anticipation of selling to maximize a property’s resale value. Born and raised in the small community of Ross in Marin County, Tracy graduated from U.C. Berkeley. Tracy worked for eight years as a reporter/ anchor for various NBC affiliates around the country. She credits her background in journalism and communication for her ability to effectively present properties and negotiate transactions. In 2006, Tracy founded Morgan Lane, a boutique brokerage in Marin County. In 2009, she and Mark McLaughlin bought Pacific Union International. Tracy helped brand, recruit for and grow the brokerage before selling her interest in the Pacific Union. Pacific Union became the 5th largest brokerage in the United States and was acquired by Compass. In January 2019, Tracy was recruited by The Agency, a full-service, luxury real estate brokerage and lifestyle company with more than 500 agents in offices throughout the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean. Tracy was recruited by The Agency’s founders, Mauricio Umansky and Billy Rose, to continue her unparalleled sales operations in their Marin office which joined multiple other Northern California offices as The Agency continues to grow its foothold in the region. Tracy has three children and her active involvement in local communities allows her to provide her clients with invaluable insights into the overall experience of living in Marin County. Tracy has a longstanding history of giving back to the places where she lives and works, with a focus on local charities that directly benefit Marin County residents. Tracy gives a percentage of every closing to Marin’s Center for Domestic Peace, which has provided safe housing for women and children in Marin County for the past 41 years. How to Connect with Tracy McLaughlin Website: LinkedIn: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: Balanced Growth Course: Website: Additional Resources: /episode/index/show/pursuingfreedom/id/22714205

Pursuing Freedom

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