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Our Secret to Success... Consistency
9 Plays14 days ago
🎧 Welcome to Thoughts For Rent — the podcast where real estate gets real (and local)!
Hosted by Jenni McKenna, a Las Vegas born and raised seasoned broker, and Owner of McKenna Property Management, this show is your inside look at what’s really happening in the Vegas property management and real estate world. With over 20 years of experience herself - Jenni brings not just knowledge, but heart to the conversation.
Whether we’re talking market trends, property tips, community happenings, or just the everyday quirks of Vegas living, this podcast is all about keeping you in the know.
💬 Real talk. Local stories. Professional insight – provided from a company who has their boots on the ground and hearts in the community.
In this episode, we’re covering why we believe consistency is the success to business and personal life.
McKenna Property Management, proudly managing Las Vegas homes since 2005 (and loving every minute of it).
Hit subscribe and comment down below to join the conversation! 💛
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Website: McKennaPropertyManagement.com
Phone: 702-434-HOME (4663)
Owner/Broker: Jenni McKenna B.29819
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Transcript
Introduction of Jenny McKenna and Max Zerflew
00:00:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
Welcome to Thoughts for Rent, Realtors Keeping It Real. You are here with Jenny McKenna, owner and broker of McKenna Property Management. And to my right is my wonderful husband and best friend, Max Zerflew. With the McKenna team at Keller Williams Realty. For all your real estate needs, call us at 702-434-HOME.
00:00:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
home I always thought you had a great radio voice. You know that, Thanks, babe. I don't have a good radio voice. No? No. You sound like the girl from Herman's Head. Yes. Or Lisa Simpson. Is that what it Yes, yes.
00:00:55
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I also have been told that it sounds a little like Minnie Mouse, which, look what I'm wearing. A Minnie Mouse Louis Vuitton sweatshirt? Yeah, I don't even think it's really Louis Vuitton, but other reason it looks really cool.
00:01:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
I doubt Louis Vuitton does Mickey Mouse integrated sweatshirts. Anyways. We got off topic a little bit.
Standout Qualities in Real Estate
00:01:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
What I want to talk about today is something that I've been really thinking about since the beginning of the month. Well, that might be a trademark, Arlene.
00:01:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
It probably is, so let's not let's not say anything. yeah Thanks for bringing it to everybody's attention. um Anyways, I've been really thinking about what makes you and I stand out in the business world. So for those of you that might just be finding our podcast and starting to listen to us, I have been in the real estate business since 1993. Max, you've been in the real estate business since... 2005. But before that, I was in high support of you and your career That's true. He would know everything that was going on.
00:01:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then we opened up the property management division in 2005 because we felt like there was definitely a need here in Las Vegas and it has served us well. So with that being said, we have a lot of years under our belt. and i'm life and in business.
00:02:09
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah, thanks, Max. I'm not that old. I'm older And I wanted to be able to share with any of the listeners out there, if they are thinking about getting into real estate or they have something they want to do property management, or better yet, any kind of business or anything that would help in their family life or personal life.
The Tortoise and Hare Analogy
00:02:30
Irelynn Zurflueh
I have been thinking about what makes us different is consistency. You're just going to throw it out there, huh? boom. Boom, boom. We are like the tortoise and the hare. A lot of people... Am I the tortoise? No, we're both the tortoise. Actually, I thought you were to say hare, so I'm sorry about that. You're kind of fast. You're faster than me. And we'll get to that. okay The thing is, is the tortoise and the hare, I think everybody listening understands the philosophy. You've got the hare that was A winner. he was fast. Everybody told him how great he was. And he went off to do this race.
00:03:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
The tortoise, everyone kind of laughed at because he was slow. He was methodical. He knew that if he just kept on going, he was going to get the result that he wanted.
Building Consistent Habits
00:03:17
Irelynn Zurflueh
I believe that in business, the tortoise wins every time.
00:03:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
I think the hair is nothing more than the flash in the pan. It's the quick, I want to get into real estate to make a big buck. I want to go do this because everybody tells me I can get a great paycheck. And then the first couple months, I don't know, two, four, six months down the line, They've been running around crazy, doing all these things and not 15 years later.
00:03:42
Irelynn Zurflueh
doesn't eat True that hold that. And not building a foundation of consistent habits. And so that's what I wanted to dive in. Well, you look at the hair, that, the cartoon of the hair in the tortoise versus the hair, the hair takes off.
00:03:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
Then he stops and takes a nap. It's a long nap. long but dis Do you know why he takes that nap? probably went too fast. He's going too fast. he's He's wearing himself out. And that's what happens a lot when people do January goals in the beginning of the year. They're so excited. I'm going to work out an hour, four times a week. I'm going to do this. going to drink water. I'm going to go here. I'm going to do this. I'm going to make a hundred calls a day. It sounds just like the hair.
00:04:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
Well, there's a day designated as the quit quitting day. you know this. I do. And is it the 9th? I think it might be the 11th, but I'm not sure. I think it's either the or the 11th. Because they say that's when most people quit their goals and give up on whatever they were going to do. And that's because you cannot stay at that accelerated.
00:04:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
can't sustain that level of energy. There you go. You
Importance of Showing Up Consistently
00:04:43
Irelynn Zurflueh
don't think? So I was thinking about how come you and I have been able to sustain our businesses and keep going without burning out. Cause that's another thing you don't want burnout, right? You might love what you do, but if you, if you're not being careful, you could actually burn out and then you're going to be looking somewhere else.
00:05:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
I think it's because we do what we need to do in little small increments. They don't seem to be overwhelming, not to say that some days don't get overwhelming, but the habits that we produce and that we show up for,
00:05:17
Irelynn Zurflueh
They're what we can do when life gets noisy, when life gets messy. And I think that's where the secret is right there. I know that Max wakes up, if you saw his TikTok, he wakes up every day and he makes the bed.
00:05:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think that sets the tone for what you're going to do. It's such a small, simple thing. But you organize your bedroom and you make the bed. When he comes into work, he is methodical about making sure that he is in at a certain time. has his laptop there, and then he dives right in.
00:05:47
Irelynn Zurflueh
Or maybe I don't, you never know. I might get here at the right time, but then I'll be like, well, I'm here, but need to take a moment. And I think that's one thing that's different between you and me. When I'm in the office, my focus is not as,
00:06:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
It's not as focused as you. I couldn't carry it. I couldn't sustain the energy you sustained. Very few people can. So while you are consistent, you're also consistent at a very high level of energy and performance. Do you
Myths About Real Estate
00:06:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
concur? I agree. but you know what I think that gets built on? It's like a muscle.
00:06:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
If you had looked at me 20 years ago, you would have probably seen just a lot of messiness around the things that I do. But now over learning, I've been able to realize that you do just a couple things within an hour, and then you look back at the day, and you've accomplished a heck of a lot. That's true. And I think you do that. You may not give yourself enough credit for it, but when you come in, even if you don't want to be here, you're still here. Well, always want be
00:06:52
Irelynn Zurflueh
Do you always want to be here? and you know our son asked us years ago, probably before in his teenage years, he said, hey, what do I do? You know, <unk>s what's the secret? You know, you guys are in business, you're doing great.
00:07:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
If I want to work towards that, what's the secret? And I think you and I both at the same time said the the answer. Do what you love. Show up. Oh, sorry. No, yeah we at the time you said show up too. No, it's true that. Just make sure you show up.
00:07:19
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. Gary Keller, president, founder of Keller Women's Realty, said, I'm not the smartest guy out there and I'm not the most talented. I'm going to beat you every time because I'm to show up every day and I'm going to be consistent. Yeah.
00:07:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
And he's right. He's right. I'm living proof. yeah He's right. We followed our son that just show up. And I don't know. Apparently it didn't catch on because sometimes he doesn't show up.
Efficient Work Strategies
00:07:43
Irelynn Zurflueh
He's getting better. He's only 24, everybody. Everyone that's listening, he's only 24. He still has got to get through his 20s. I think he's doing great. Real estate is a career in which people say, I want to get into real estate. I can make my own schedule.
00:07:55
Irelynn Zurflueh
I can be my own boss. But you soon realize that if you're not being consistent in your habits and in what you what you and your intentions of how to grow your business and and work your business, you will fall by the wayside. yes Yes. You don't have a free... If you think you have a open schedule and a light schedule real estate, you are dead wrong. It's not true. no I mean, it's a myth. The myth is that you get to make your own schedule really isn't true. You get to decide when to wake up. That's about what you get to decide when to go into work. Because if you've got escrows, if you've got repair addendums and you've got things that are very time sensitive, you don't get to make your schedule anymore. That contract just made your schedule. True. i mean, but the other side of that is also you can make your own schedule if you're intentional about how you time block and what you're going to be doing right in those in those moments people say work smarter not longer and harder smarter not harder because a 40 hour i can do in 20 hours but most people can do in four most realtors can do in 40 hours correct it doesn't hurt hurt that i have a licensed assistant and i got a team around me but
00:09:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
if If you're intentional with your consistency and your time blocking, then you can have a pretty pretty good pretty good scheduled
Learning from Experience
00:09:15
Irelynn Zurflueh
life. So many years ago, one of my coaches, because I have a business coach, one of the business coaches said to me, you need to follow this particular team member around and find out exactly what they do throughout the day. One, to find out if there's anything that needs to be added to their plate If maybe you could help them in being a little more efficient, whatever the reason, that's what the challenge was.
00:09:39
Irelynn Zurflueh
i could only do it for half a day, Max. Follow someone in your health office or some other realtor? No, so follow a team member oh that i that works for me. Okay. And you are not to say a word. The agreement was you would just have a notebook. Why could you not do it?
00:09:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
What happened? Oh, my gosh. Because they just wasted so much time and they did things that were just so ridiculous. No, they're not. So the thing is, is you got to realize that a lot of people waste time thinking that they're busy when they're not busy. If Jenny asks you to follow ah you during the day, make sure you look busy.
00:10:13
Irelynn Zurflueh
It's no, don't look busy. oh make sure you are busy. or Be productive. Be productive. That's
Focusing on Core Realtor Tasks
00:10:18
Irelynn Zurflueh
the thing. People look busy. I ran into real estate agents when I was selling real estate, you know, back in those days. And they'd say, I'm so busy. I'm so busy. and I'm like, okay, well, what did you do? Oh, I did this paperwork and I did this. And i I said, did you put a buyer in your car?
00:10:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
Did you show somebody properties? Did you take a listing? That's what you need to be busy about. Everything else is just what happens when you really are busy. We have, have realtors have five main job descriptions that we need to do. And if we're not doing those or just doing other stuff, we're not moving forward at all.
00:10:55
Irelynn Zurflueh
Correct. And I think the secret goes back to don't think everything has to be this big project. It's little, small things. And you do them when life is noisy, life is messy. You can make sure that you still get them done. And that's and that's interesting.
00:11:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
And also, that applies to anything in life. Yes. It applies to playing the violin or being a golfer. How many hours does it take to master something? Fifteen.
00:11:27
Irelynn Zurflueh
I was going to say 17,000. I think 15,000 is what I initially heard. But if if time spent on task learning something, if you really want to be really, really good, a master of something, you have to spend 15,000 hours doing it.
00:11:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
Correct. Right?
Quality Over Quantity
00:11:42
Irelynn Zurflueh
Correct. And you look at all your superstars, your heroes, your athletes, your people that are doing great in business, they have spent time on task on the important things. Do you want me to tell you a fun story about Scott Hamilton? Are you going to anyways? I think so. Okay, yeah, go ahead.
00:11:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
So for those of you that have listened, you know that my first life was a professional figure skater. So a lot of hours spent on the ice, a lot of training. Just, you know, you're completely engrossed when you are an athlete going for the Olympics or going for that level. ah During the summer, I went to Denver, Colorado to the Ice Arena CIA, Colorado Ice Arena, where Scott Hamilton was training.
00:12:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
The Olympic gold medal is superstar. times. Superstar. Just in case. Yeah. I mean, if you look him up on Google, you will see. He's amazing. Scott Hamilton in the 80s was the shizgy. He's it.
00:12:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
He was it. He's like the goat. He's the goat. Continue. All right. not going to look you. when I would go out and practice my routine...
00:12:46
Irelynn Zurflueh
I would be kind of like that hair. I was like, oh, I got to do this. I got to do perform. I got to do this. I got to do my footwork. I got to, you know, axle, blah, blah, blah. And then we would take our lunch because I was of a lower caliber. So we weren't on the ice when Scott Hamilton was actually skating. We were. He had the rink to himself?
00:13:03
Irelynn Zurflueh
No, he was just a ah higher caliber. So there were four or five people in that caliber that were on the rink. We were the hour before. people on your thing? Yes, more people on my rink. I would sit, grab my lunch, and then I would watch Scott Hamilton practice. And he had an hour. It was an hour ice time. And he had his coach, Don Laws, there.
00:13:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
And um I would say that he was probably on the ice for half an hour. Every single time. Not the whole hour. No, because he would go out. He would talk to his coach. He would do what needs to be done for that day efficiently.
00:13:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
Once they were done efficiently, and the coach liked what he saw, Scott was done for the day. And in my brain, I was like, what is happening? He's not working hard enough. He's not skating hard enough.
00:13:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
How can he do this? And then that following year, he won gold. So I had doubts even watching Scott Hamilton skate, saying he's not working hard enough, he's not doing enough, he's not busy enough.
00:14:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
That right there is the lesson learned that you he's an Olympic champion. He had an hour of ice time. He only needed a half an hour to get that good at something.
00:14:18
Irelynn Zurflueh
There
Small Gestures in Relationships
00:14:19
Irelynn Zurflueh
you go. Time spent on task, appropriate time and on the right thing, right? Right. Well, there you go. So consistently showing up and focusing on the right things will take you to a successful career in life.
00:14:34
Irelynn Zurflueh
How about the marriages? Same thing? Same thing. I think that, you know, I think a lot of times when a marriage starts getting into trouble, What is it that one of the people do? They they think that they have to do this big grand gesture, right? We got to get counseling.
00:14:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
Or we need to go on a date once a week. Or I got to buy a big piece of jewelry so she knows i love it. There you go. And I'm not saying any of that's bad. that None of that is bad. But what I'm thinking is, what if a few months earlier, you had incorporated a couple little gestures on a daily basis?
00:15:10
Irelynn Zurflueh
What about a text? that you just made sure you sent to your spouse saying, thinking about you, love you. And then maybe it was later on a little email with a funny gif or something. you know yeah It's little things done consistently that make the difference. Even without those little gestures, how about just every time you leave kissing your spouse or make sure you have meals together or just you know be there for them and support them every day.
00:15:43
Irelynn Zurflueh
Because that's what showing up means. Yep. Being there every day and and supporting and helping and just whatever they need, helping them out. Because you know not everybody can... I know guys, there's older guys that I've seen that said, I've given a rose to my wife every day. I gave her a rose. And that's outstanding. Right.
00:16:02
Irelynn Zurflueh
but And that's showing up in a big way. But also just hugging them and and kissing your spouse and saying, I love you and I'm happy we're together. Those things are just as important.
00:16:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
And that's the little things. That's the consistency with the little things that build that foundation. and And again, we just are saying that it doesn't always need to be the big grand gesture because you can't keep big grand gestures all the time.
00:16:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
And they lose their appeal. It makes it really hard when you're trying to constantly do those kind of gestures. So it's the little small things that make a huge difference. And you can do it across your entire life. You can do it in your personal relationship. You can do it with your children.
Small Actions for Well-being
00:16:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
I like to think about it from the exercise standpoint.
00:16:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
So up to about, what was it, maybe five years ago, Max, I was running marathons, half marathons, and I'll let everybody in on a little secret.
00:17:04
Irelynn Zurflueh
I personally thought that if I ran a 50 miler, that was going to be what allowed me to lose my 10 pounds that I always wanted to lose. And I thought that if I did that big grand gesture of the 50 miler,
00:17:18
Irelynn Zurflueh
that everything in my life would change physically as far as my my body structure. How'd It failed. oh Miserably. Miserably. Now, and it took a long time for me to accept this, I do a little ji a little bit every day, and two days out of the week, I go and see a strength training coach.
00:17:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
And when I leave the strength training coach, i always Max always says, how was your training today? And I'd say, hard. But the truth of the matter is, yeah, it was hard when I was doing it. But when I got done, my body wasn't aching like it did when I would run. the marathons or training for the marathons. I mean, i hurt for Did you just change your exercise or is this back to our point of consistency? It's about consistency. So what it was is I tried to do a big. you were consistently running.
00:18:09
Irelynn Zurflueh
But I was doing a big grand gesture. I felt like the big grand gesture was what you needed. But then in reality, all you need to do is do a little something for your physical exercise every day.
00:18:23
Irelynn Zurflueh
And yes, two times a week, it's an hour with a coach, but the rest of it is walking my dog for 20 minutes in the community or making sure that I walk around the building for 10 minutes to get moving. It's little small gestures done consistently, and I have never felt better. Knock on wood. I've never felt better in my own skin.
Planning for Leisure and Avoiding Burnout
00:18:46
Irelynn Zurflueh
Okay. Well, that's great. i mean, i agree with all that, and I think that – I think as we're talking about being consistent, you also have to be consistent in leisure time. Oh, I agree.
00:18:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
Now, one thing you and I have done for the last 15, 20 years maybe even, once the kids got to be be in their teens, is we said, we followed the guidance of Gary Keller once again. He said the first thing you do when you plan your year, you pull out your calendar and you put your vacations in.
00:19:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
Do you know that my girl, Rachel, that does my hair, She thinks that's crazy. that Most people think it's crazy. I don't think it's that crazy. Well, they probably think, am I going to before these vacations? you going to really take this much time off? Is that what they're thinking? I don't know what they're thinking, but I'm thinking, per Gary, ah set your vacation time so that you don't not settle them please Not schedule them. I Schedule them. Schedule the whole year in advance. Yes. So going to go on this vacation, this vacation, this vacation. or Make sure they're in your calendar because if you don't put them in your calendar, you those those open days will go away and you'll be working and you'll burn out.
00:19:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
And even if you're not like able to do a seven-day cruise or whatever, before we were able to do any of that, we always just made sure it was a Friday that you would – remember how we'd sneak off and go to the movie? Yeah. Yeah, that wasn't really planned. That that was just in fact. True, that's true. But what Jenny's saying is it doesn't have to be a cruise.
00:20:10
Irelynn Zurflueh
Say two days, I'm taking a four-day weekend, yeah this weekend, this weekend, this weekend. Yep. And make sure that you plan that or else you're gonna you're not going to get that leisure time and that time to re rejuvenate.
Comprehensive Life Planning
00:20:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
I still go back to the fact that everyone I talk to when it comes to um how they think we're so weird that we plan everything out for the whole year.
00:20:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
i I think that sounds logical Well, what does us do? helps us stay consistent. Well, yeah. It helps us stay consistent in our downtime as much as our work time.
00:20:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
Correct. Consistent, but it also gives you that opportunity to get that energy built back up, enjoy what your you know work schedule is, not feel like you're just drudging through it. You've got something to look forward to. There's a lot of things that it helps with. You plan to fail. Yep, I heard that too. Plan your vacations.
00:21:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
Plan your work days. Plan your life. Plan your hobbies, your habits. Make sure you have a plan because if you don't have a plan, you got nothing.
Final Thoughts on Consistency
00:21:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
True that. Right? Be consistent. We're going to go into closing arguments here. Or maybe I should say comments. But be consistent in everything and you're going to Be a better golfer, a better husband, a better father, a better realtor. And you're go to be a better person. If you can be consistent in your habits and in the stuff that's going to move you forward in life. And it's just the small things. You don't have to do big things when you're trying to incorporate this. Go small, go as small as you can in the beginning. And then just ah make it the habit. And then make that your floor. And every time you go into work, you never go below that.
00:21:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
You can go above it if you've got the energy and the motivation, but never allow yourself to go below whatever that that floor is. That's us keeping it real, guys. We're both realtors. And we those are our thoughts for rent. And we're keeping it real on the daily.
00:22:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
Subscribe to our podcast here. Become a consistent... listener and give us some feedback. Hey, I saw that you put that consistent in. yeah Good job, Max. Are you ready to push the button, Jennifer? I'm ready. All right. Say goodbye to the people. Goodbye, people. See ya.