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EP 27: Finding Your Village - How Community Building Impacts Success with Blythe Kirkwood
85 Plays9 months ago
We are thrilled to bring you another guest expert episode of The Business Playdate. This week, we're diving into how community building can impact your motherhood journey and your business with Blythe Kirkwood.
Blythe is a wife, busy mom of 2 active boys, a former teacher turned entrepreneur, certified home stager, real estate agent, mentor, and chapter leader of Connect & Cultivate North Houston. She is passionate about creating connections and community and championing other women in real estate and entrepreneurship to build businesses that integrate with their lives and to build a personal brand that is authentic to who they are as a person and in their season of life. With her unique combination of skills and experiences, Blythe brings her servant's heart and tenacity (with a little touch of sass) to everyone and everything she touches.
- You can find Blythe on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/blythekirkwoodrealtor/
- Learn more about Connect & Cultivate North Houston: https://www.instagram.com/connectandcultivate.htxnorth/
Thank you, Blythe, for joining us on The Business Playdate!
Follow The Business Playdate online & come say hi!
- The Business Playdate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebusinessplaydate/
- Lindsay White's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsayw.co/
- Betsy Moorehead's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betsymoorehead.biz/
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Transcript
Designing Business Around Family
00:00:00
Speaker
And I was like, but that's how I'm beginning.
00:00:03
Speaker
Like that's my goal. I'm beginning with the end in mind, right? Like I want to be able to pick up my kids from school from the start. Like I don't want to end up there. So how do I design my business around that? And it's been really cool to see like how you can, especially in my line of work as a real estate agent, I can basically work 20 hours a week between the hours of about nine and two every single day.
00:00:30
Speaker
and pick up my kids, take my kids to school, pick them up, take them to their stuff. And I'm still producing a full-time income. I've blown way past my teacher's salary last year. So it's just been, it's been really cool to see God's faithfulness in me being faithful to my role as a mother.
Introduction to 'Business Playdate'
00:00:49
Speaker
Welcome to the Business Playdate, a podcast hosted by Lindsay White and Betsy Morehead. Two internet strangers turned business besties.
00:00:56
Speaker
We're two marketing professionals of living across the country, raising our kiddos while running our own individual businesses. We built these businesses based on our experiences working in corporate management roles with the end goal to be able to show up for our families first. And we did it. We're so happy you're here with us. Now let's get into this week's episode.
Meet Blythe Kirkwood
00:01:19
Speaker
Hey Lindsay, how are you? I am wonderful today. How are you?
00:01:24
Speaker
Good. Well, when we're recording this, it's the first day of spring. It is. I forgot that that's today. I wouldn't know because we woke up with a freeze warning. Well, yeah, I was 41 degrees here too. I sent my kids to school in shorts and I got there and one of the teachers was like, oh, they're wearing shorts today. I was like, no judgment, please. It's going to warm up. Okay. Yeah. Calm down. Okay.
00:01:43
Speaker
We all don't go outside before we dress ourselves. I know. I know. I did ask Alexa what the weather was like today. And she lied a little bit. But it's beautiful outside nonetheless. So beautiful spring day. We all know how that Alexa can be. I know. I know. Well, I'm very excited. Today we have another guest on. And she is a dear friend of mine. And I am just very excited to bring everyone a conversation with Blythe Kirkwood. I am so excited.
00:02:11
Speaker
So, so, so excited. I've heard so much about Blythe and I'm excited to meet her and chat with her. I have so many questions. I'm just excited. I know. And it's funny, if you have ever listened to this podcast before and you hear me talk about a friend in business, I'm usually talking about Blythe because she is like,
00:02:28
Speaker
I, we met through Instagram.
From Teaching to Entrepreneurship
00:02:30
Speaker
Like our first like conversation, Heather was like jumping in each other's DMS. We're both in the same area. She has like my business bestie mentor, all the things in person. You guys met on Instagram. We did. We did. Yeah. I just started my business and I had like gone full time by myself and
00:02:47
Speaker
I posted something and she like messaged me and she was like, Oh my gosh, I love this. And I was like, Oh, let me look at her stuff. You know, and you creep on the person. And I was like, Hey, I'm trying to get to know people in the area. And like COVID had kind of just like calmed down and everything was like, Oh, buddy back up. And I was like, would you want to meet for coffee sometime and just kind of like get to know each other?
Career Shift to Real Estate
00:03:05
Speaker
And literally we hit it off and have been like thick as thieves ever since.
00:03:09
Speaker
I love that. That's amazing. She's who I got my color analysis with. Like she is the best, but I'm so excited for you get to, for you to get to know her and for everybody else to get to know her. And before we jump into our conversation with her, let me guys, let me tell that, excuse me. See, I'm so excited. I can't even talk. Love it. Let me tell you guys a little bit more about Blythe. Um, Blythe is a wife, a busy mom of two active boys, a former teacher turned entrepreneur.
00:03:39
Speaker
certified home stager, real estate agent, mentor, and leader of Connect and Cultivate North Houston. She is passionate about creating connections and community and championing other women in real estate and entrepreneurship to build businesses that integrate with their lives and to build a personal brand that is authentic to who they are as a person in their season of life.
00:04:02
Speaker
With her unique combination of skills and experiences, Blythe brings her servant heart and tenacity with a little touch of sass to everyone and everything she touches. And I just got goosebumps because that like totally describes Blythe to a tee. I love it. I love it. I
Vision and Experience
00:04:21
Speaker
love it too. But get ready guys for this conversation with Blythe Kirkwood on the business play date. Let's jump in.
00:04:34
Speaker
Blythe Kirkwood, welcome to the business play date. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to finally be here. We're so excited. Yeah, I'm so excited you're here. We are so, so excited. Blythe is an amazing human. She is also a listener of the podcast. So she is a fan of a business play date and we have been wanting to have you on for so long. So I'm so glad that it finally worked out and let's just jump right in. We have a lot to cover and we want to give the people what they want, which is
00:05:02
Speaker
the wealth of knowledge that you have to bring to the table. Thank you. We like to start each business play date with the play date portion. We want to get to know you, your background, everything you're willing to share with us. Well, you know TMI. I know.
00:05:17
Speaker
Betsy and I are good friends outside of podcast world, so she knows all the tea, so don't help me in front of all of your listeners.
Balancing Career and Family
00:05:26
Speaker
But you know me, I'm an open book. Yes. Well, yeah, tell us. So let's start with kind of your journey where you've been. Sure, for sure. So, okay. I started out in education. I was a theater arts teacher. I actually have a BFA in musical theater.
00:05:40
Speaker
thought that I wanted to be on Broadway. But that just, you know, it didn't really click with me once I kind of got out of school and I was like the reality of living in New York and all that. I was like, not really. My husband and I got married when we were still in college. We're very young.
00:05:55
Speaker
Um, and so we, you know, we were in love and newly married and, um, knew we wanted to start a family. So the, my whole family's teachers, I just thought that was the kind of the natural progression of things. So, um, pretty quickly got into teaching. I taught for about 10 years. I mean, give or take, there's a few years in there, um, taught in both, both the public school and in a private school for a few years.
00:06:21
Speaker
just got super burned out, like crazy burned out. I have this thing as an Enneagram three where I like to prove my worth to people and tend to over deliver and overachieve in the hopes that somebody will just say, Hey, good job, life. We really appreciate
Defining Personal Success
00:06:39
Speaker
that.
00:06:39
Speaker
And was hoping that it would then translate into more financial compensation, which as you know in the education world just doesn't really exist. And so it had gotten to a point where it was like, okay, this is enough. And we had, I guess in 2016 sold our starter home and I had staged the house myself. And I think we got like 12 offers or something crazy. I mean, this is in 2016, you know?
00:07:06
Speaker
Twelve offers it was insane everybody was like oh my gosh pictures look so good you're really good staging you should do that and so that just kind of started to like play over and over in my head and i knew i wanted to get out of teaching so i got my.
00:07:19
Speaker
home staging certification and quit teaching. And I did that for about a year. My husband was also a teacher at the time and he kept teaching. Just had a really, really rough year. It got pretty dark for him. And I was like, this is a no, we're not doing this. I will go back to teaching. He's a musician as well. And so he had kind of on the side started a little business that we were calling Kirkwood Music Services.
00:07:45
Speaker
Um,
Connect and Cultivate Community
00:07:46
Speaker
where we were basically, he calls it the Uber for musicians. I love that. Where people could go online and fill out a request form and say like, Hey, I need a string quartet for a wedding or I need, you know, an accompanist to come play party music for our Christmas party or whatever. Um, and he had started that on the side and it was really growing. So I said, listen, I'll go back to teaching. You focus on Kirkwood music services and we'll see where we are in a year. So I did.
00:08:13
Speaker
When was this? This was 20.
00:08:16
Speaker
18 into 2019. So fall of 2018 to 2019. So we get to 2019 and I'm like, okay, this is my year. I'm done. I'm done ski. So we're gonna hop in full time to Kirkwood Music Services. And he was doing a great job running the business. He just needed a lot of admin help and some more marketing and that kind of thing. So I jumped in full time with that was basically running all of the admin marketing. We were growing, growing, growing on
Networking and Community Importance
00:08:40
Speaker
pace to grow by like 30% in 2020. Wow. Wow.
00:08:44
Speaker
Thanks 2020. Then March rolled around and it's so weird because it's like right now is when all of that was happening four years ago and so like when I go back and look at my memories it's actually pretty painful to like go back and
00:08:57
Speaker
kind of relive that because it was super scary. Yeah. And it's not like you were, it's not like y'all had a business that could sustain through that because your business was providing people for live events and live events were no, no at that point in time. Nope. So it was super scary. Um, I know a lot of people struggled with COVID and you know, the financial aspect of all of that, but for us, it was like having the rug pulled out from underneath us with, you know, nothing of our own doing, which felt really,
00:09:27
Speaker
just really uncontrollable and scary.
Setting Client Boundaries
00:09:32
Speaker
And how old were your boys at that point?
00:09:34
Speaker
in 2020, like nine and seven. Wow. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So it was not a great time for us. My husband quickly jumped into another career. He got his license to sell insurance and got on with a team with Aflac and began selling Aflac insurance. And then there was this whole crazy thing that happened with our
00:10:01
Speaker
payroll protection and all of that stuff where we didn't quite get what we were hoping we were going to get. But then they called us and they were like, oh, we made a mistake. And we were like, yeah, we know. And they did end up giving us all that we had applied for. But we were down to
Personal Branding and Authenticity
00:10:17
Speaker
like the very last of that at the end of the summer of 2020.
00:10:21
Speaker
And we were like, we didn't know if and when Kirkwood Music Services was going to come back. And ever since I had gotten my home staging certification in 2017, people were like, you should get a real estate license. Like, you're really good. I was like, no, no, no, no.
00:10:38
Speaker
seen that job, don't want it. I'm good, just doing my thing. But I'm a woman of faith. And so I just kept feeling like God was like, Blythe, you need to get your real estate license. Get your real estate license. It's time to get your real estate license. And I was like, God, no, not doing it. I don't want to do it. I don't want that life. No, no, no, no, no. Just kept saying no. Until finally it was like, okay, there's nothing
00:11:02
Speaker
There's nothing else here for me, you know, so why not just go for it? Um, so we took just the last little bit of that payroll protection money and paid for my real estate licensing classes and all of that. And I got my license in September of 2020. Wow. That was fast.
00:11:20
Speaker
Yeah. Oh yeah. Everything was in lockdown and all my classes for real estate school were online. It was like 300 people in a
Passion for Teaching
00:11:28
Speaker
Zoom room. It was super annoying. But I just rocked it out. In three weeks, I was done and ready to go.
00:11:38
Speaker
It was, it was a wild ride. So that was kind of a long story, but that's fascinating too. It is fascinating. There's so many layers to that and so many like things that were out of your control, but you, you guys persevered and you know, you went through it all. And like you said, like you just kept your face. And I think that like a lot of us can relate with the taking a leap of faith and like just believing in we're going to do what we got to do and we'll get there and
00:12:05
Speaker
Hope for the best. It'll get figured out. Absolutely. So it's really been a cool thing to see all of my different experiences and all of my different skills come together in this role as a real estate agent and kind of community builder because it's like all of those things worked together in order to form what I'm doing now. So it's really cool to kind of see it come full circle, but still be able to see where it's going a little bit. So it's very exciting for me.
00:12:33
Speaker
And later on, when we get to the business portion, I want to talk about how you've kind of kept your educational background into your business that you're doing now because you have just made the best lemonade out of lemons.
Future Goals and Community Expansion
00:12:50
Speaker
And I think that a lot of people don't realize that they can take all these things from their past and totally change industries and totally change
00:13:02
Speaker
career paths, but still utilize all these skills that they have in a different way to fulfill you in it. I think that's really. There's so many ways you can, you know, so many skills are transferable to different.
00:13:15
Speaker
jobs, different, you know, things that you do, roles that you have in your life. And that's one of the blessings of getting older. Lindsay, I just turned 40 this year. I love it. I really feel like I'm just coming into my womanhood. And like I was saying, one of the blessings of getting older is just realizing like,
00:13:38
Speaker
These are not skills that pigeonhole me into one thing or being one thing. Right. I can be all these different things and still feel like I'm successful and feel like I'm living into the purpose that's been laid out for me. Yeah. I feel like we talk about that a lot, Lindsay. All these things that it's
Encouragement and Insights for Women
00:14:00
Speaker
like, well, we do this, but we want to do all of these other things. Yes.
00:14:06
Speaker
And I think too, I mean, I talk about this a lot, but you can't be what you don't see. And so you like, you probably didn't even realize real estate was something on the radar until someone brought it up to you. And then you have your eyes kind of on it a little bit more and it's just continuing to stay in front of you. Um, and so that's why I love this podcast so much as I love to be able to bring people like you and other business owners in different industries and show like you came from a teaching back, you came from a,
00:14:34
Speaker
fine arts background, theater arts that was brought to teaching and now I'm doing something totally different, but you're able to keep those elements. I just think that's so cool. Yeah. It's really cool to see it, like I said, come off full circle. I'd always joke because people are always like, oh my God, your reels, your reels are so good. Your reels are so funny. And I'm like, yeah, I'm sure that my college professors are super proud of me lip-syncing on the social medias. Hey, but you know what? Yeah.
00:15:00
Speaker
It helps. You've gotten some clients from people seeing
Conclusion and Connections
00:15:04
Speaker
those. It's true. I know. Some people tease me about it. I'm just like, OK. Your college professor didn't know that reals was going to be such a big thing.
00:15:13
Speaker
And Lindsay and I talk about how we aren't the people that like dancing, singing and lip sync on reels, but props to the people that can do that because it works and it like is very entertaining. And I for one watch those. Well, you know, I mean, it's not for everybody, but that's, you know, one of the things that I love most about when I get to connect with other female entrepreneurs is like,
00:15:36
Speaker
You got to find like your secret sauce, your special sauce. Like what is it that, like you can't go and do what I'm doing because you're not me. Exactly. Yeah. So what, I'm not trying to be you. So why would you try to be me or any, anybody else except for who you are. And so just because, you know, and I tell people all the time, like I keep trying to get away from the lip syncing reels or the funny stuff, but people love that from me. So it's like, give the people what they want. Exactly. Give the people what they want.
00:16:02
Speaker
You kind of have to figure out what it is that your people want, you know, so it's kind of part of building a business.
00:16:09
Speaker
Well, that's good. That kind of goes into like the next topic of conversation of defining your enough, your success. You know, you've, you've seen a lot and you've kind of ebbed and flowed in your business life, but what, like, how are you defining your enough? You know, for some people it's building these multimillion dollar like businesses, or for some people it's just like, Hey, I just want to do something that is fulfilling, but also allows me this opportunity to do X, Y, and Z in my life too. Yeah.
00:16:36
Speaker
What is your enough? How have you defined that? I'm sure that it has, but how has it changed over your journey? Yeah, for sure. I think in my 20s and even in my early 30s, I just floundered. I felt like I was doing what other people thought I should be doing or
00:16:57
Speaker
fulfilling a role that I thought was the next step for me until I realized that it wasn't. And not that those experiences don't then translate into what I'm doing now, but after having children, I went through postpartum. It was pretty difficult for me. I had postpartum depression with both of my children. With my first, I was 26.
00:17:20
Speaker
six when he was born, 26. So a fairly young mom, first on both sides of my family to have a baby. No one had ever talked about postpartum depression or anything like that. So I just thought this is what it's like to be a mom, right? And it wasn't until about three months into my son's, my first son's life that I was like, this, something's not right.
00:17:45
Speaker
Like this is not, this is not okay. So anyway, I was able to get on medication and then I kind of knew what to expect with the second one. So it was a lot better. But after having children, I just
00:17:58
Speaker
I didn't want to be tied down to a job or anything that made me feel like I was missing out on things that they were doing, that I wasn't able to be a part of what they had going on. And I felt like that in the teaching world. And you would think that, oh, teaching is so conducive to family life, like you're off when they're off and blah, blah, blah. And maybe it is for some teachers, but as an extracurricular theater arts teacher, I was up at the school all the time.
00:18:24
Speaker
you know, I taught in a black room with no windows, like it was. Were you teaching high school or junior high? I taught both. So the private school that I was at for, you know, a pretty good length of time, I taught both six through 12, because they were all on the same campus.
00:18:40
Speaker
So when I started thinking about like, what do I really want my life to look like? And what do I want my business going forward to feel like? I just really wanted it to success for me was about how can I integrate this business into my lifestyle and into my season of life right now?
00:18:59
Speaker
Um, that was kind of the marker of success for me. And it's so funny because, you know, as a real estate agent, I go to a lot of conferences and I see people get up on stage and talk about their success and all this stuff. And I say just, you know, and nothing against men, but it's just a different,
00:19:16
Speaker
It is very different. But I would see all these men get up on the stage and they're just like, oh, I worked 40 hours a week or more, 60, 70 hours a week and I just hit the pavement and I was doing all these things and blah, blah, blah. I'm thinking to myself, yeah, but who's...
00:19:33
Speaker
taking care of the kids. Right. Someone's paying for that. Yeah. If it's not a spouse, then maybe you've got the help, hired help or whatever, which is all fine and good. But it was so funny because a lot of these successful men, they would bring it around full circle on this big stage to all these thousands of agents and say, but what is successful right now for me is that I'm able to pick my kids up from school every single day. Right. I love that. And I was like, but that's how I'm beginning.
00:20:04
Speaker
That's my goal. I'm beginning with the end in mind, right? I want to be able to pick up my kids from school from the start. I don't want to end up there. So how do I design my business around that? And it's been really cool to see how you can, especially in my line of work as a real estate agent, I can basically work 20 hours a week between the hours of about nine and two every single day.
00:20:31
Speaker
and pick up my kids, take my kids to school, pick them up, take them to their stuff. I'm still producing a full-time income. I've blown way past my teacher's salary last year. It's been really cool to see God's faithfulness in me being faithful to my role as a mother.
00:20:49
Speaker
One thing I think that Blythe does that's really cool is like she's such a visionary and I'm totally speaking for you now, but like you do like vision boards and she like had you, she like held like a vision board class a couple of years ago. And I just like Blythe is such a mentor to me in the way that she.
00:21:08
Speaker
just like goes at it fully, but still like has space for, like goes at everything in her life fully, you know? And so it's just like, it's very fun to watch you knowing you personally, but also seeing it professionally happen for you. Like put these dreams out in front of you and then just like kill it, so.
00:21:28
Speaker
That's one of the things I mean about going things that you actually are passionate about or you actually care about. Like you started with the end in mind. So you knew how you wanted to build this business. And it's so much easier to go after something fully and feel convicted to
00:21:43
Speaker
work in a certain way or do something in a certain way when you feel so passionately and not letting the naysayers bring you down or not. You had said something that really resonated with me of you were just doing the things that you thought you were supposed to do next or that people told you you needed to do next. I've noticed in my life, that's when I get bogged down. Absolutely. Yeah, you just don't care.
00:22:06
Speaker
And it's tough. And it's, again, going back to like getting a little bit older, I just feel like that's where I am in my life right now. Like, I don't care. I don't care what other people think, you know? And because that was such a big part of my identity for so long, you know?
00:22:23
Speaker
just, you know, even as a, as an actress, right? It's like that external feedback. And I still like that. I still, you know, words of affirmation are still a love language of mine. I still want to hear, Hey, you're, you know, so when Betsy, you know, affirms me with saying things like that, that's like, that's the weight of my heart. Right. Um, but I got, I've got you. Um, I've gotten to where I just like the people who are naysayers or the haters or who want to, you know, say passive aggressive kind of condescending comments to me off the cuff, like,
00:22:53
Speaker
Well, there goes Blythe, the girl whose story is more than anybody I know on social media. I'm just like, okay. And not your people. Yeah. Okay. And I had a closing yesterday. And I got to check off another house. Bye. You're right.
00:23:10
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of forget where we were going with that, but just, I think, you know, as you get older, you just, you kind of, you care less about what people say and. Yeah. What do you feel like is like on the horizon? I mean, for you, not next, like, you know, we talk about like what's next, but like on the horizon, like, do you see anything?
00:23:28
Speaker
changing or adding? I know you have some new endeavors you're going to get into. Yeah, for sure. So I'm really excited to be starting a brand new chapter, for lack of a better term, I guess, a networking group, but not really. I think it's more going to be a community of female entrepreneurs called Connect and Cultivate. So the founding group is out of Arizona, the Phoenix area. And the founder just rolled out chapters across the US. And I think I'm one of 10 or 11
00:23:58
Speaker
She might be up to 12 now. Cities that are starting out these chapters of Connect and Cultivate in their area. I'm super excited because I think one of the things, especially in real estate, but I'm sure it's like this across any business is
00:24:14
Speaker
You know, it can be very lonely when you feel like you do feel like you're doing things a lot by yourself, you know, when you're trying to build a business. And one of the things that's been missing for me has been community and not just, not just any community. I mean, cause you can go, you can join these networking groups, you can get plugged in places, but it, I don't know. Maybe I'm just like, a lot of the networking groups, it's kind of like,
00:24:42
Speaker
give to get mentality. Yeah. Yeah. It's gross. I don't like that. Don't either. And that's why I've never been drawn to them. Yes. Were you at one, one time Blythe were like to be a part of it. You had to like bring somebody, somebody else in the group, like
00:24:58
Speaker
I was a part of a group and I love, no, no offense to that group. It was a great, you know, met one of my really good friends in that group that I still do business with today. Um, but, um, it was, if you were going to miss, if you were going to miss a meeting, you had to send somebody in your place.
00:25:22
Speaker
A lot of these meetings are at like seven in the morning. Yeah, some of them. Mine wasn't. I was invited to one like that. It was like, if I'm going to miss it, it's probably going to be missed at 6.30, not the day before. For sure. Because a kid's sick, or there's pink eye, or who knows.
00:25:39
Speaker
Correct. Correct. And so I don't really, that's not really what I was looking for. And so that's not really what I'm looking to create with Connect and Cultivate. It's just, it's not seat specific. It's not like you're expected to refer each other. I mean, please do. You know, if you like each other and you connect and there's, you know, an opportunity for you to refer each other, please do. But it's really more about
00:26:01
Speaker
creating that community creating a space where female entrepreneurs can come together, collaborate, and just commiserate. And, you know, bounce ideas off of each other. I think it's so important and especially
00:26:16
Speaker
I think in society today is a lot better than it used to be, but we still tend to pit women against each other. And I just hate it so much. I'm like, that is such a waste of time. Who cares? Her people are not your people and vice versa. So how can you learn to...
00:26:32
Speaker
play along in the sandbox and cheer each other on. So that's what we're looking to create with Connect and Cultivate. And we just announced our first event. So if you're in the North Houston area and you want to come, you can check me out on Instagram. I have all of the information there. Yeah, we'll link it. We'll link some stuff in the show notes.
00:26:50
Speaker
But it's going to be like a content pop-up. We have a professional photographer who's going to be there. We'll be providing you with reels ideas and prompts and ideas for shooting B-roll or scripted reels. Just kind of a time block for us all to come together and do the thing that a lot of people just really hate doing and that's creating content. And if you're listening and you're not in the North Houston area, definitely still reach out to Blythe because she could probably get you in touch with
00:27:14
Speaker
anybody in your area who has one, but when Blythe told me she was going to do this, I was just like, this is what, this is what is so important is the creating community and the creating a space where you just feel like you can come and like you said commiserate and like talk with people who just get it. And like, we don't feel judged and we don't feel
00:27:32
Speaker
like we have to be more than or that we're comparing ourselves to each other while we're there. And anyway, I'm very excited. I think like the girl couldn't have picked a better person to start this, especially in the Houston area. It was so weird how it came across my desk because I was just kind of thinking like, I need, this is what I'm needing. How can I create this? And then I don't even know how I came across it. It's like how me and Betsy met. Like I don't even know how
00:27:54
Speaker
I looked back, it was July of 2021. I told Lindsey that we met on Instagram. She was like, I didn't know that. That's so sweet. That's one of those things like you have to put yourself out there and it's scary to go. It's scary to show up to a networking event, even if it's local, but it's like in person and we're all at home working or we're doing our own things and working alone. And it's so scary. It's scary to put yourself out there on Instagram, but like,
00:28:17
Speaker
What a beautiful friendship you guys have made from doing so. It's like you've got to make the effort to show up. Absolutely. You really do. And that's what I tell people all the time, especially, you know, I have a lot of newer agents who will reach out to me. You know, how did you, you know, whatever. And I'm like, you have to get over it.
00:28:36
Speaker
Yeah, you have to. It's hard to do that. Absolutely. I know it's easier said than done, but for me, it's a little bit easier, I guess, than some people or other people. Like you were saying, I just go for things. I just do. What did you tell me the other day? You're like a quick to react or what did you say? I'm a quick implementation.
00:28:58
Speaker
Lindsey is that way. It's always served me really, really well. How about you, Lindsey? Yeah. It's always served me very, very well. And then if it doesn't work, like it didn't waste a ton of your time and it's like, okay, great. Let me figure out the next thing I'm going to implement. Exactly. Meanwhile, I'm over here sweating thinking about quickly implementing things because it's like... Yeah.
00:29:15
Speaker
I know, and it's all about personality type and how you deal with things and that kind of thing. Yeah. Even in my house, I'll quickly implement a family calendar and like, yeah, am I still using it? No, we figured out that that doesn't work, but you know what? We tried. Listen, live and die by that Google calendar. My husband and I go round and round. He'll be like, oh, I have this such and such on such and such data. If it's not on the Google calendar, it doesn't exist. It's not there, so no, you're not. Well, that's good. We wanted to ask about kind of
00:29:43
Speaker
Yeah. What juggling at all? Yeah. It's a lot. But you know what? I don't put as much pressure on myself as I used to.
00:29:54
Speaker
You know, I feel like in my, 13 and 11, 13 and 11. So it does get easier. Y'all it just gets different. You know, it's a different kind of challenge. It's a different kind of hard, but the like, you know, sleepless nights, the having to bait them change diapers, you know, worry about what they're eating, all that stuff. I mean, I still worry about what they eat. Don't get me wrong.
00:30:18
Speaker
But they can give it themselves now. Right. My youngest, I still have to remind him to brush his teeth. I'm like, when do they grow out of this? Is he ever going to just brush his teeth on his own? I mean, I have to remind Ryan to brush his teeth sometimes. Maybe it's a man thing. I don't know. Maybe. But yeah, the juggling of it all, I used to be really consumed with making sure that it looked like to other people that I had it all together.
00:30:48
Speaker
Which in my years as a mother and as I've grown in wisdom, you don't have to have it all together and it's okay to ask for help and you have to have a village. You have to have a village, which goes back to my point of creating that community. We're lucky Luke's parents do live close by, so if we're ever in a pinch, we do have them.
00:31:10
Speaker
But I know that if I were ever in a pinch with my kiddos, I could 1000% call Betsy and be like, I just need you to go pick up my kids and she would do it. She would do it. And we have some neighbors who live close by who we lean on each other all the time. But you have to, again, put yourself out there and let people know, hey, I can't do this. One's got baseball practice on this side of town. The other one's got basketball practice on this side of town at the same time. And I need help. Can you please help me?
00:31:39
Speaker
And people are happy to do it. Yeah. Not being in that stage of life yet, I think for either Lindsay or I, where our kids are actively in sports and actively doing things like we are touching it right now on the cusp of it, you know, like for my girls, like Ellie's got like dance and like swim lessons. And I know like Lindsay's oldest boy, like does like soccer or golf or something like that. You know, golf and baseball.
00:32:04
Speaker
So fun. What is that like? I would love to like, especially as a business owner who can make your own schedule, but can you more so because we both probably want to know this information. Like what is that like and how did you get into a groove? Sometimes there's no groove. Sometimes it's a grind, right? So sometimes it looks like
00:32:29
Speaker
missing a game. Sometimes it looks like you bring your laptop to the game. Sometimes it looks like you're taking a phone call in the car while you're picking them up from school and running them to their next thing. It's definitely like we were talking about a juggling balancing act, but I think the more grace that you can give yourself and just realize like you're not going to be able to do it all. Like if you can just tell yourself that then you're less disappointed in yourself when you
00:32:55
Speaker
aren't able to do it all. How are you juggling things like feeding your family? I feel like that's my biggest struggle. We have soccer practice on Mondays and so we went to soccer yesterday and I'm like, oh my gosh, I was supposed to make a dinner tonight and it's like six o'clock and I'm getting home. I'm not making a dinner. Yeah. Well, sometimes we have to eat dinner at like 4.30. It's so dumb.
00:33:16
Speaker
I'm like, okay, I guess they're hungry later. Yes, yes. Right? I mean, this is when kind of planning and preparation comes into play. I know. It's like a dirty word, right? Meal plan. I used to be much more rigorous with it, but now I'm just like, hey, I'm just going to get the groceries for like three or four meals this week. And whenever we have time to cook them, I'll cook them.
00:33:37
Speaker
And if not, then it may be a sandwich or it may be, you know, we drive through the Chick-fil-A drive-through line or whatever. I just, again, I try not to pin myself down to some idea of what it has to look like. I'm just like, okay, I have the stuff if I'm, and sometimes I'll have the stuff and we'll be home and I'll be like, I don't feel like cooking, I'm ordering pizza, which is what I did last night.
00:33:57
Speaker
Yeah, good for you. We always have those Costco pizzas in the freezer just in case. Yes, for sure. And just having things like that, like my kids love frozen chicken nuggets or frozen pizza or whatever, I just always kind of have those things on hand. But that's just kind of something you learn as you grow in your motherhood. You don't have to have
00:34:13
Speaker
five or six home cooked meals every single night. Sometimes it looks like you throw something in the crock pot in the morning so that you have something at night. And sometimes two of you are eating at one time and the other two of you are eating at another time. But that doesn't take away from the fact that you still do sit down other nights of the week. It's just, again, going back to giving yourself grace, not feeling like it has to look one way. And what works for one family doesn't always work for another family. So quit comparing yourself to what other people are doing.
00:34:42
Speaker
totally preaching to the choir, but you know, it's like, it's just, and it's, it's a journey journey. Definitely a journey. What about yourself? Do you have time for, what do you do for like time for yourself? Sorry, Lindsay. I'm just asking all the questions. Cause like, I'm getting a chance to really dive into life a little bit more for sure. No, I love it. Um, what are some things I know I told myself, I was like, I feel like I need to get more hobbies.
00:35:09
Speaker
You're making sourdough. We both do. It's lovely. We do. Y'all go on with your bad self. I'm going to pass on that one. I'll eat it. No, I still need to bring you some. I really do. I would love some.
00:35:21
Speaker
I really only bake around the holidays. I'm not much of a baker. I joke with my neighbor friend because she actually works for a lovely little bakery here in town in Tumbull. And she's like dynamite. And so whenever I bake stuff and serve it to her kids, I'm always like, I know it's not your mom's, but here's some brownies. I made this.
00:35:40
Speaker
I tried. It's made with love. Yeah. I need to get back into working out. I was doing that pretty consistently for the last six to 12 months. I do enjoy it once I'm there. I hate going, if that makes sense. And afterwards, I'm like, I'm glad I did that. But I love to work in my yard.
00:36:04
Speaker
Yes. And last year I did not have a lot of time for it. It was kind of like the thing that got put on the back burner and I miss it. So this year I'm looking forward to like kind of making my yard beautiful again. But it was my grandmother had a really, really green thumb. She and I were very close and she'd passed away in 2011. And so whenever I'm out there, I always feel really connected to her. I feel really connected to
00:36:28
Speaker
the Lord. There's just a lot of crossover between gardening and my spiritual walk. It's just a really sacred time for me. It's also a lot of hard work, but I love to see the fruits of my labor that I get to enjoy later on a few months down.
00:36:48
Speaker
I love that. I love that. I feel like gardening is one of those things where you get to see, you get to actually see the fruits of your labor, which is so nice. Yeah. And I'm not like a vegetable gardener. It's like flowers. I don't do food. I tried the whole food thing failed. We're growing some sunflower seeds that we got at the rodeo and I just put them outside and I was like, okay, well those are going to die because I'm going to forget about them.
00:37:14
Speaker
It's not for everybody. You have to find your thing. But other than that, we love to just be together as a family. We love baseball. My husband and I like to go to theater. I took Betsy to our first musical last year. He did fun. So those types of things we try to do every now and again. I love to travel. I mean, you can find me in Mexico on a beach with a drink in my hand and a book. And I am golden. Love it. Love it.
00:37:41
Speaker
My favorite place. The happiest I could be, I think. My favorite place in the world. Oh, I love it. Oh, my gosh. That was so great. I loved getting to know you. Thank you. On this different level. So I'm curious. I have a question, more business related. Yeah, sure.
00:38:00
Speaker
I mean, you're in real estate. You could get meetings that pop up at any time. How are you setting boundaries to make sure that you're able to do it all? I love this question. So many real estate agents don't have boundaries because they're so afraid that potential clients will be like, well, then I'm not using you. I'm not working with you.
00:38:18
Speaker
Which is so far from the truth, because your clients or your customers have boundaries too. If you were like, I need to meet at 8 AM in the morning and they're like, that's right in the middle of school, drop off, I can't do that. I have been, because I was so boundary less when I was a teacher, if that's a word, boundary less.
00:38:39
Speaker
When i got into real estate i was like i am not doing that anymore nobody else is gonna be in charge of my schedule but me. And so just from the beginning you know i'm very upfront with my potential clients like look i have children my family comes first.
00:38:56
Speaker
if i can make something work i will but you know i'm not gonna be with you during school drop off for school pick up unless my husband available to help you know i'm probably not gonna miss all of their games on a saturday to come show you houses somebody you know i'll find a colleague that i'm happy to you know.
00:39:14
Speaker
I'll pay them to go show you some houses if that's the only time that works. Presenting your clients with your boundaries and communicating that to them upfront, I think people really, really respect that because it shows that you are in control of your business and in control of how you do life.
00:39:33
Speaker
Um, and a lot of times my clients are in a similar life stage as I am. I tend to, that's kind of my niche. Um, and so they get it. They're like, yeah, totally. We've got baseball this weekend too. Like we can, you know, um, I found that a lot in my business with my clients too, where it's like,
00:39:51
Speaker
I'm almost afraid to tell them, hey, I'm going on vacation. I may not be out of pocket. But then they're like, oh yeah, cool. I'm going to be out of town this weekend too. I don't care. Yeah, for sure. I think business owners are so afraid that they're going to offend someone. And I'm just like, look, if you're offending someone by setting boundaries with your schedule, then that person is not for you. That client is not for you. Move on.
00:40:15
Speaker
And two, when you come from corporate or conventional workplace, you're used to having to ask permission to take time off or ask permission to not be somewhere at a meeting. And that's such a learning curve when you start your own entrepreneurial journey. It's like, oh shit, no. I can tell myself when I want to be off and take off and do all that. And I've found that people that aren't in it don't get it. I've had people who are like, what do you mean? You can just go get your nailstone on a Friday. And I'm like, because I can.
00:40:45
Speaker
This is the time that makes the most sense for me. I can't do it on a Saturday morning because I don't have anybody to watch my kids or whatever. I think just learning to choose words that are more assertive in nature, not mean or rude, but just that are more assertive. My husband and I were just having this conversation the other day.
00:41:08
Speaker
And I said, well, what if you had just said, Hey, I need to move this meeting to the phone because I've got this other meeting or I'm going to be on my way to this other meeting instead of saying, Hey, can we please move this meeting to the phone? Because then that gives the other person permission to be like, well, no, that doesn't work for me. And not that people are always like that, but I'm just saying if you, it opens the door to that, right? If you were just more assertive.
00:41:31
Speaker
Like when I'm trying to schedule homes or trying to come over for a listing appointment with somebody, I'll be like, okay, I'd love to come by and see the house. I have Tuesday at 5.30. I have Thursday at 4. What works for you?
00:41:45
Speaker
being more, more a matter of fact, more direct. Yeah, I just, yeah, I think, but learning to choose those words, it's really hard, especially if you're kind of a recovering people pleaser or two hands up, you know, you feel like, Oh, I just don't want to, which is your heart's in the right place, but you have to start thinking like a CEO, right? Yeah.
00:42:04
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that leads us into the business portion, I think. Yeah. Talk about being a CEO. Yeah, girl. Let's talk about being a boss. Cause heck yeah. That's what life is. Okay. So we've reached the business portion, which we've already talked some business.
00:42:21
Speaker
But now we want to deep dive. Lindsay, you look like you're about, you go ahead. I've got something. Go for it. Let's use the more of the business talker. Let's do it. No, definitely not. So you're creating, it's Connect and Cultivate.
00:42:36
Speaker
So you're creating this Connect and Cultivate chapter, and it's all about the importance of creating community. So how did you get to this point of realizing that community is so important, especially in your business and life? Yeah. So real estate can be a super cutthroat industry. I don't know if you're aware. And there's a lot of shenanigans that go on, and I'm just not into it. I'm just not. Even as a high school girl, I was just never into the drama. Yeah.
00:43:05
Speaker
It's such a waste of time. I would always tell people because I was an actress in theater, I'd be like, I do drama on the stage. I don't need it in my real life. But even though I think it's something like 64% of all real estate agents are female, we're definitely the majority. It still feels like a male-dominated industry. A lot of the people like
00:43:32
Speaker
Like I was saying that you see up on stages, men, big team leaders, men, brokers, men, all these people, you know, they are more in the leadership positions. I think that's indicative, you know, probably of like,
00:43:46
Speaker
A lot of female agents are probably mothers and we're like, we don't have time to be in charge of other people or whatever. We're just going to do our thing and make our money and go home and be with our kids. Not always. Some women have different scenarios or situations. I want to be careful to just make a blanket statement. Right. Of course. It does tend to feel male dominated and that irritates me.
00:44:13
Speaker
Because I don't know. Maybe I have a chip on my shoulder. I don't know. Something opened my eyes to it early on in my real estate career and I was just like, this is so dumb. They're talking about all these things that makes zero sense. Why would I do that when I can do this and get the same result? Result, way less time and way less... We all know women are more efficient. Yeah.
00:44:40
Speaker
You know, by the way, I try to, I like try to like slip in all the like, you know, Gen Z terms to like, just make my kids super creeped out comfortable. Yeah. It's like, mom, that's so cringy.
00:44:56
Speaker
You know, now I have another one. Yeah. And so I just try to use it all the time. I like embarrassing my kids is like the joy of my life. I love that. No, I would never outright embarrass them. Like, you know, be mean, but just a little poke fun. But anyway, it irritates me, you know, that it's so male, it feels so male dominated when I'm like, the fact of the matter is,
00:45:19
Speaker
women are the majority of the industry. So why aren't we talking about and speaking to our experience as female agents? And so I kind of went on the hunt pretty early on for this community. It's kind of what brought me to the current brokerage that I'm at, because I was just seeing a lot more females in this brokerage.
00:45:41
Speaker
that were building businesses the way I wanted to build my business. And I was like, well, whatever that is, that's what I want, so I need to get around those people. And I also joined a coaching program last year, still kind of trying to connect and get in the rooms with people who are doing what I want to do.
00:46:03
Speaker
And, but here locally, you know, all of that is kind of online, which is great. And it's a great tool, but we don't get to see each other very often, maybe once or twice a year. And so I am really looking for something local where I'm like, you know, like I might call Betsy and be like, I need lunch. Can, can we go to lunch?
00:46:21
Speaker
You know, it's like we just itch to see each other, not just because we're friends, but like maybe there's a business, something that we need to talk about. And, um, I trust her opinion and her input on whatever that is and why do we, you know, and I do have a handful of girlfriends who are, who I kind of, you know, calling my business besties, um, who I can call and ask questions and that kind of thing, but why can't we have a larger community and why can't we provide that for more? Because I can't be the only one going through that.
00:46:47
Speaker
No, not at all. And that's the whole reason Lindsay and I started this podcast was because we found that in each other in the industry that we're in, in the space that we have these online only businesses. We come from these similar backgrounds. We're in the similar walks of life, but like
00:47:05
Speaker
We weren't finding the type of people or the type of community that we were like yearning, looking for. And so we were like, let's just bring our conversations to the table so that other people can listen in and you know, build this community. Yeah. And if it's not for them, that's fine. But like we have found so much joy in getting to know other female business owners who we can resonate with.
00:47:31
Speaker
Even though we're newer in our journey maybe than like some people who've had businesses for 15, 20 years, it's like, okay, well, you've been here. So we'd love to hear how you've gotten to where you are. And we think other people would like to hear that. And then talking to people who have started a new business and kind of like they're getting in, they're in those beginning stages. And so yeah, I mean, I couldn't agree more. Having that in person is aspect to it though, is
00:47:58
Speaker
really necessary though as well. Yeah, I think so too. And a lot of, you know, my brokerage is not really a traditional brokerage because it's a cloud-based brokerage, which gives me a lot of freedom. I don't have to go into an office. I don't have to, you know, um, but there is that aspect of, you know, people who are within brokerages that do have an office that they can go into and, you know, they get that kind of human interaction because there are some days that literally I'm just like, I haven't talked to anybody today.
00:48:28
Speaker
I've only talked to the dog. I know. They're just always up in my grill. I put them in their kennels. They're not in here.
00:48:37
Speaker
But yeah, so it's just having, like you were saying, having that in-person aspect of it and just coming together and learning together, creating content together. And just, you know, we're going to also be doing some kind of just maybe happy hours, ladies' nights, types of things where we can just like get away and just be together. And some parts of it are going to be super business oriented and some parts of it are just going to be social because we all need that.
00:49:03
Speaker
Connect and Cultivate. I'm curious about this. You said that they have... What is their MO? How could I get involved in one if there's a local chapter? Absolutely. Would it be very different than yours? Because we have listeners all over. Yeah, for sure. I'm curious what that could look like. For sure. Like I said, she's just rolling out all the chapters across the US. I think she did a little announcement post on her main page. It's,
00:49:28
Speaker
Hey Connect and Cultivate at Hey Connect and Cultivate, I think is like... We'll find it and we can link it in the show notes too. Yeah. The founder's name is Kristin Cantrell. She's really, really amazing. But yeah, I mean, it's new. So we're all kind of figuring it out together, which is going to be really, really great. We have a lot of...
00:49:49
Speaker
freedom in the way that we are going to choose to build our chapter. Because she said, I know not everybody's city is the same, not everybody's time availability is the same. So it's really however you want to build this, however quickly you want to build this, all of that. So some people are going at it really hard. Some people are somewhere in the middle and some people are taking a little bit more slow depending on where they are. But yeah, I'm super excited about the implications of
00:50:18
Speaker
know, the community that it will bring to our area of North Houston. Yeah. Because I just think it's needed and there's just not a lot of opportunity to get to another. Well, it's hard. I feel like as society, we're at this inflection point and we've kind of been at this inflection point where we had a surge during COVID times where
00:50:42
Speaker
people were laid off from jobs or they needed to find different ways of bringing in an income that they traditionally were not doing. And so there was this influx of people trying new things or doing things a little bit more on their own because they got laid off and they just needed to do contract work or whatever. And society has typically been, you know, you work a nine to five or you're a stay at home mom. And now
00:51:04
Speaker
there aren't these boxes as much. There's this weird spot in the middle of both of those that a lot of people are in. Or people on these other ends of the spectrum, they don't even realize that that's an option for them. And that's another reason I love this podcast is I want to show women, especially women in corporate,
00:51:26
Speaker
You don't have to do that. You have other options and like you can't be what you don't see. So like let's show women who feel stuck or feel like they need to change. You can be at home with your kids. You can pick your kids up from school every day, like pick the priorities to you and build something around that.
00:51:45
Speaker
Exactly. I love seeing these communities pop up because there aren't that many. There aren't that many for this gray space of women who are in these jobs that, yes, they're very professional jobs. The three of us all have very professional jobs, but we are all also showing up for our families first. Yeah. In these community building type of networking organizations,
00:52:07
Speaker
I love the fact that connect to cultivate, like there's, you don't, there's nothing in return. Like you don't expect anything in return from the other people, the other women, whereas like some networking events, it's like you do kind of feel this like ick factor of like, Oh, you're kind of pitching me your services. Oh, you're pitching the goal of creating business, right? Which like, good. Those things need to exist. There's a place for that. Absolutely. Absolutely. But I don't, I, that's not for me. I'm not interested. I just want to like,
00:52:34
Speaker
talk to other badass women who are like going through it. And two, like I've told Lindsay this, this is for me true for both of you. I am so full of life after I have conversations with both of you. And there's other women who I have found in this space who like, I just, like there's a fire lit under me. And that's like, that's like Lindsay and I've been talking about like, that's what we want people to listen to when they hear our guest episodes, like or any episode, right? Like this fire lit under them to be like,
00:53:03
Speaker
Yes. I'm ready to go. Because fire is catching, right? Why can't we all light a fire under each of us? And like what we talked about earlier, success is so individual to each person. What success looks like to you is not necessarily what success looks like to me. And that's okay. And we can celebrate that because if I know what your definition of success is, then I get to celebrate that with you whenever you get there.
00:53:33
Speaker
That's what I think we're missing a lot of times, especially in my industry. Yeah. I think it's fascinating too. You mentioned you're in a cloud-based brokerage. I've never even heard of that. That's so cool. Have you always been in a brokerage like that? No. When I first got started, I joined an independent brokerage of a broker who I had met when I was staging. Big champion of mine, big cheerleader of mine. When I got my license, I knew I wanted to be in his organization.
00:54:01
Speaker
Yeah. And it's such a funny story how I came. So the name of my brokerage is EXP. And I kind of tell this story in its various forms, but I'll give you like the CliffsNotes version. So I had joined the team. Wasn't a traditional team a traditional team?
00:54:17
Speaker
you pay in a commission split to your team leader. This team wasn't like that. We just marketed and collaborated together and shared resources and that kind of thing. Learned a ton about what I wanted my business to look like and what I did not want my business to look like. And towards the end of that first year where I had been licensed, it had gotten kind of quiet. And so I was just really reflecting on, what do I want my business to be? Because you get thrown into the fire your first year in the industry. And real estate classes don't teach you how to be a realtor.
00:54:46
Speaker
Yeah. They just teach you all the rules. The legal stuff. Yeah. And so you really have to figure it out that first year and you have to do a lot of work upfront with very little return. It's just all hope and faith that all the things, all the seeds that you're planting, again, back to the gardening.
00:55:02
Speaker
You know, all those seeds that you're planting are eventually going to produce fruit and produce flowers. And so anyway, so I was reflecting on that and I just was like, something, I just feel like something is missing. Like there's more for me. There's something else out there for me. Again, you can call it what you will. It's the Holy Spirit for me speaking to me saying you need to be searching for something. There's something, I've got something else out there for you.
00:55:27
Speaker
Um, so I just was, you know, on Instagram and started following a bunch of gals who were like, yeah, they have businesses that that looks like what I want my business to look like. And the things they're talking about are the things that resonate with me. Um, but then I started to notice they all belong to exp and I was like, hold up.
00:55:42
Speaker
That's it. Let me check this. Let me check this out. So did all my due diligence and was like, this is the next step for me. So I went in to talk to my broker and break the bad news to him and I was so upset because I just didn't want him to think that I was like,
00:55:59
Speaker
leaving because I was mad or unhappy or anything like that. And he like lets me get through this whole spiel in his office. And he's like, well, what if I told you that you could have all that and you could stay with us? And I said, excuse me. And so he goes on to tell me that he's getting ready to bring his whole independent brokerage over to EXP.
00:56:18
Speaker
Oh wow. It was like totally a God thing. It was really cool how it happened. That's kind of the short story. Yes, you're a real estate agent and this is kind of bringing back to that point of the educational aspect of your former days of being a teacher. So you're a real estate agent, you have built a very
00:56:40
Speaker
wonderful brand for yourself, your business, you're very authentic in that, like you are definitely very active on social media. And you're also active about putting yourself out there and your educational opportunities, you're teaching, like you're providing classes and that's something we haven't gotten to talk about, but it is a part of your business journey. So can you talk a little bit about like how you have kind of made these educational opportunities for other agents and other people in real estate and how that has kind of tied back to
00:57:10
Speaker
I'll always be a teacher. I'll always be a teacher. It doesn't matter what industry I am in. There's something about it that I love. I love seeing the light bulb go off in other people. In a public school setting where you're trying to teach kids about creating a character and acting on the stage, you don't always get that.
00:57:31
Speaker
It's not always super serious. You know what I mean? Sometimes it is. I had students that I loved, but there were others that I was glad to see go. But being able to do that for adults is like another level. It's really fills something in me that other things do not. So I guess that's just the way that I'm designed. But pretty early on, I had people asking me
00:57:57
Speaker
kind of the same questions over and over again. And so rather than sitting down one on one with each person, you know, which is again, not an efficient use of my time. Efficiency is very, very important to me because of the way that I prioritize my time.
00:58:13
Speaker
I was like, well, let me just do, y'all want me to do a class? And that's kind of how it started. And they were like, heck yeah, come teach us how to make reels because you don't realize people like literally, they don't even know how to find the reels on their app. You know what I mean? So just something as basic as that. I'm like, yeah, I know how to do that. I can teach people how to do that. I mean, I can go deeper than that too for people who are ready for that.
00:58:35
Speaker
That's kind of where it started. Um, and then I've taught on a lot of different things. Um, you know, just different resources that work for me. Um, different things that I'm doing in my business that, that have been successful. I'm happy to teach people how to do that. You know, the gatekeeping thing is like, yeah. Yeah. They get a pass and like, what, why? Yeah. And here's the thing. I'm happy to share my secrets because like most people ain't going to do it anyway. Yeah.
00:59:04
Speaker
So it's like I'm not creating competition for myself. And people who work with me are not going to work with this person. We're two totally different people. So yeah, I mean, the educating thing will always be...
00:59:18
Speaker
my heart and I'll always do it. Point of community. Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, there's the business side of it where it presents you as an authority in your space. And so when potential clients are seeing that, oh, like she's teaching other agents how to do this, like she's a person of authority, a person of interest, right? And so that tends to bring in more business for me as well. When you are positioning yourself, it's all about that, right? Your personal branding, how you're positioning yourself, how you're messaging to your ideal clients. Also another revenue
00:59:48
Speaker
stream for you. I mean, you have had this unique journey where things have shifted and changed so quickly. And you and your family have had to make tough choices. And it's like, Hey, this is another way to create a safety net of different revenue streams. Absolutely. And I don't think I'll ever, I'm not the kind of person who can just be one thing, like I'm bored. Yeah.
01:00:08
Speaker
I get that. And so I never want, and one of the things that's super important to me, we didn't get to talk about it today, but is creating a personal brand for yourself as a business owner. Because it allows you to be able to pivot when it's time for you to pivot. I love selling real estate, and right now it works for my family. It's been a huge blessing for us. But do I still want to be doing it in 20 years? Maybe not. I don't know. Right. You don't know.
01:00:35
Speaker
you know, creating a personal brand for myself where people know who I am, they know, like, and trust me. I'm able to pivot whenever I feel like I'm going to move on to something else. Or like something out of your control, you know, makes you pivot, which we've all can understand and have been there. I mean, there's something to say for being super focused on one or two things, but I think, you know, also I don't want to have all my eggs in one basket.
01:01:00
Speaker
Definitely. I'm going through that right now. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good journey and you can't rush it, you know? Sometimes it happens faster. Sometimes it takes a long time and you're just sitting there going like, what are you doing God? Like what's going on? You know? Oh yes. Yeah. Oh yes.
01:01:20
Speaker
Well, we only have a couple of minutes left. So do you guys want to wrap it up with our fun questions? Sure. Let's do it. Let's do it. Okay. So we always love to leave our audience with one tangible tip. So it can be a personal tip, a business tip, whatever, but something that they can like take and implement today. Oh, there's so many. I have to pick one.
01:01:41
Speaker
You know, if you have a handful, that's fine. Okay. For, I think for me, one of the most successful things or one of the things that has rocketed me quickly, I think, um, in my business is we've touched on it earlier is quick implementation. Um,
01:02:01
Speaker
You know, there's something to be said for really thinking about things. You know, I will think about things, I'll pray about things, but if my gut is telling me this is what you should be doing, or you need to try this, I typically just go with it.
01:02:15
Speaker
And like you were saying, if it doesn't work out, then you'll pivot and do something different. But you will never know if you are stuck in analysis paralysis and never try it. Truly. So quick implementation, I think, is going to be a real driver of success in any business owner's business. Let's see. On the personal side, kind of the motherhood journey, and we talked about this as well, give yourself grace.
01:02:44
Speaker
don't feel like you have to have it all figured out or that you have to do it all yourself or that it has to look a certain way or it has to look the way your mom did it or has to look the way you know whatever because it doesn't. Your journey, your family is different and you know God put you guys all together for a reason and so
01:03:05
Speaker
you know, have a little bit of faith, surrender and give yourself some grace on some of those things that, you know, don't really, aren't going to matter. They're just not going to matter if you ate dinner at six o'clock every single night of the week, you know? Yeah, I love that too. So yeah.
01:03:24
Speaker
I love those are two great tangible tips that I'm actually going to take into work and work on implementing in my daily life as well. Yes. Quick implementation. Quick implementation. Just do it. Go, go, go. Next and last question, what is one non-business related thing that you are loving right now? This could be a hobby, a book, anything that brings you joy.
01:03:45
Speaker
Can I say Real Housewives? Yeah, of course you can. Reality TV is my lifeline. My kids watch a lot of YouTube. I try to monitor it as much as I can or make sure I'm putting some boundaries in place. But I'll be like, why do you watch this stuff? It's so dumb.
01:04:03
Speaker
And my kids will go, mom, you watch Real Housewives. Oh, touche. Touche. No, dude. Yeah. But no, I did. I have it. There was this funny reel that somebody shared with me. And it was like they were on a podcast, two men talking about Bravo and Real Housewives. And they were like, it's like the connector of our generation. Like the sisterhood that is created amongst Bravo fans is like none other. And it was so true. I actually had a neighbor friend over who we haven't hung out before.
01:04:32
Speaker
But we kind of learned through Instagram that we're both fans of Real Housewives. And so I said, you should come over. Bring a bottle of wine. I'll get some charcuterie and we'll watch one of the shows together. And we did on Wednesday. And it was so fun. And we get to just hang out and talk about the girls. And it's just fun.
01:04:53
Speaker
I know it's so silly. Bravo is another point of community. Yes. It's so true. It's so true. But yeah, I mean, that's just something silly, but all the things I mentioned before, gardening and hanging out with my fam baseball. Yeah. And I did, you're reading a court of thorns and roses, aren't you? I am. Yes. I've read through that series twice. Oh yes. I'm listening to it, but that's still reading, you know? Sure.
01:05:18
Speaker
No, it is, it is, it is. You're still getting the story. Right, yes. Oh yes, definitely. I'm still getting the story. Blythe, this was incredible. We loved talking about... Absolutely amazing. Yes, we loved talking about all the things with you. What a wealth of knowledge. Thank you so much for joining us. You're so welcome. Where can people find you?
01:05:41
Speaker
So you can find me on Instagram at Blythe Kirkwood Realtor. That's probably the best place to find me. You'll find all my links, all the information, you know, what I did today, what I had for breakfast. Yes. Love it. Um, but that's probably the best place to reach out to me. If you have questions or want to get hooked up with Connect and Cultivate North Houston, reach out. Hit me up in the DMS. Awesome. All right. We'll talk to you later. Thanks. All right. Thanks girls. Bye.
01:06:14
Speaker
What a great conversation we just had with Blythe Kirkwood. Lindsay had to jump. So I'm just going to do this quick outro for you guys to kind of recap what we talked about. Love Blythe, she is a wealth of knowledge. She is all about community. She has worked so hard over the past several years that has all led her to become a very successful real estate agent. She's a home stager.
01:06:39
Speaker
She is a community builder. She is just all these things. And we really, really hope you guys enjoyed hearing her story and that it lit a fire under you to just go at it, make your dreams come true, and work those quick implementation tips that she had. And we all have to work on giving ourselves grace daily too as well.
01:06:58
Speaker
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Business Playdate. We'll be back with more great episodes next week. And if you haven't yet, please make sure that you drop us a review. It means the world. It really helps us get in front of other mom entrepreneurs who are on this same journey so that we can continue working towards building our community here at the Business Playdate. Have a great week.
01:07:26
Speaker
you