Agent Accountability with Neva Fisher

Welcome to the Leading Lane podcast for. Real Estate Pros by Real Estate Pros. With your hosts, Ashley Frederick and Steven Burch. If you're looking for an honest, authentic and raw perspective, you found it. All right, welcome back to our podcast, guys. I'm super excited. Today we have a fantastic guest. Her name is Niva Fisher. And so she's joined us on the the leading lane side. Niva and I have a relationship. She works under me under the brokerage and we've known each other for quite some time. So Niva, super stoked to have you. And you just asked what's the topic? And the topic is all about you. Right. So one of the things that I first off, before we get jump into it, how about you go ahead and introduce yourselves, give us a little bit about you. Who are you, what's going on? Just a nice little overview so our listeners can know who we're listening to. Well, thank you so much for having me on. I'm so excited, nervous, excited, all the things. Again, Niva Fisher and I'm from Junction City, Kansas. I am, I was a stay at home mom before I delve into real estate, but I did a little bit of social selling, nanny. I was kind of the jack of all trades. But real estate just always was something that interested me, especially with the flexibility, all the things. And I'm a big people person. So it was something that when I thought about doing, I actually just dove right into it. I took the test April or I took the class April 7, took the test June 7, and I just went hit the ground running ever since. And so that's been this year. This year, June will be then two full years. Is that correct for you? Yep. Yes. It feels like I've done so much, but yet I'm still so new, if that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. How many deals in your first year did you, did you close? 11. 11 Deals. That's amazing. I mean like with the average from NAR is what, 4 units per for all the members across the nation. And so at 11, like you're one well over double of what the odds are for that. So cool. And then currently, like where are you at with your production? Let's give a little bit of a timeline. You know, you didn't start with my brokerage. Let's be clear. It's not awkward. It's part of your journey. Right. So you didn't start with my. Our brokerage kind of tell us about that transition, what you've learned there and then what you've learned over the year and then being able to switch over from there. So I don't know if naive's the word, but coming from a smaller town, I went to the first brokerage that I found was familiar faces. And not that I didn't do my due diligence per se, but I was just like, yeah, I'm going to sell real estate and I got to sign up with somebody, so here's where I'm going. I didn't take the time to necessarily interview people. That was something that if I could go back and kind of look like interview brokerages, see what was a really good fit. But I wanted to hit the ground running and it was a smaller independent brokerage. Again, not really knowing the differences. All I knew is I wanted to help people buy and sell homes. So I hit the ground running with it. And it wasn't until probably about five or six months in to where I started to realize there is more, there is more to this. And I was missing something. I didn't quite know what it was because I hadn't transitioned all the way to full time new agents. Sometimes you're a little nervous to say like, oh my gosh, I'm going to make this full time, but I have no idea what I'm getting paid. I have no idea what this looks like. That's intimidating. So I continued to do some subbing with our local school district. But it was also a way to network and all the things. But it wasn't like I said, five or six months in, I started to realize something was missing, but I didn't know enough about it to find out at that time what it was. But it was little things that I noticed that maybe weren't, I don't know, normal. Such as, like I couldn't print in my office. It was a little bit hard to get people into the office to have a space that I felt was comfortable. Those were just little things that started to kind of like get me thinking about where I was really headed with my business, especially if I wanted to turn it into full time. So I had a really great summer and it still laid in the back of my head and I was like, I want to do this, I want to do this full time, I want to make the most of it. But I got to get a business plan. And part of that business plan meant potentially changing up the game and go into a different brokerage. That made me more efficient for my clients and allowed me to pursue that full time real estate goal that I had in mind. So I had done quite A few deals with your brokerage and our brokerage. And I absolutely was just blown away by the transactions, I mean from the efficiencies, I mean just all the things. So we met and I think I knew right then and there that's where I wanted to be. But in the back of my mind I was like, oh, I, I'll give myself a couple months to transition. And you said to me, how about tomorrow? Let's start tomorrow. And I was like, wait a minute, what? But that's exactly what I needed. Because if you're in the real estate business, especially if you're new, you need that guidance and you need that push sometimes not only to like in the direction of the real estate, but also for yourself. There can be a lot of self doubt in, in this business in particular, or just entrepreneurship type of businesses. And I needed that push. There was lots of emotions that went with it. But when I made the switch, it's been the best thing for my business. And I again hit the ground running. Even if I can mention we had a meeting together and you said I got to express some things I was struggling with and that meant a lot to me. And I know if you're a new agent or you're somebody coming in the business, you have to confront those struggles and you have to be with somebody that's willing to hear you out and call you out. Because not all struggles are, it's okay, it'll be okay. It's, hey, let's see what's going on. And you flat out told me you are the product of what you did 90 days ago. And it blew my mind. I was like, oh my word. Wow. And so from that moment, I treated each day because in this business, nobody's telling you to clock in a date. Nobody's telling you can leave at 5 and then you don't have to deal with it till Monday. It doesn't work like that. I treated this business that every day I would see the result of that from 90 days. And what did that mean? What did that look like? And especially in the real estate business, you can have complete control. But also there are some things that are surprises. So I hit the ground running and I have done more from January to March of this year than I did I have done in my entire previous year and a half of the other brokerage. So just incredible. When was our conversation? It was November 28th. Like, you know, this date, like to. The T. To the, to the T. Because it changed my life. It changed my life, it changed my business. And that was the moment in the key that I think I will. I don't think I'll ever forget that date. Yeah, right. And I remember not too long ago, we pulled reports, and I don't. I didn't pull reports, but for this call, but you had, like, eight different contracts at one time within the last three months. So, like, I mean, you are rocking out, enrolling and, and definitely making it happen. You know, Ashley and I both came from previous brokers, like, and, you know, I had to make sure that we all understand, too, that it's not that, you know, a previous broker was a bad thing. It's that that was, you know, like, you went there, you learned, and you knew that there was more out there that you were looking for. And so whatever that more was, you know, guidance, support, money, you know, camaraderie, a printer or whatever it's going to be, you know, people are going to, you know, automatically go ahead and seek that next step. Like, that's just what we're naturally supposed to be doing. So it's not a knock on anybody before. It's just, here we are. You mastered where you were. You grew to the ceiling, and you knew that you needed to go to that next step. So, Ashley, you. You came to the broker fast, fast track retreat that we had this last year. And that's right when Niva first started. What were. What were some of your first impressions of. Of Niva when you were here? I mean, the girls got. There's something about Nima's aura that you're just, like, automatically drawn to her. So I think that we connected, you know, very quickly. But you could just definitely tell that one she was eager to talk to someone else about real estate, talk to someone that had been in real estate for quite some time. So we were able, you know, talk about things on my side of the world, what that looks like. I appreciated that too. And, like, just tell, like, how easy we connected, that. I'm sure she does that with her clients, so that's why she probably does so great. But I think we were in a round table discussion and we kind of talked about recruiting and what that looked like. And, like, she, like, threw, like, legitimately, like, popped up out of her chair, like, ran to the front of the room and was like, I'm taking over. Sorry. Don't know if you had plans, but I got something to say. I was like, this girl means business. When I'm passionate, I'm passionate. Yeah. No. And it was one of those two where, because we were at A roundtable. I couldn't see everybody and I really wanted to connect because that's just part of, that's who I am. And I think when you get asked the question about recruiting or you get asked the question about, um, just why did you switch or why did you change? You know, loyalty kept popping up in my head and just you, you said it perfectly, Steven. It's. I am so grateful for my previous brokerage. I. Every part of it was part of the journey. Super, super grateful. You know, it. It's just there's a loyalty that people will almost like derail off of what their main goal is. And mine was to grow my business and for me to be like, oh, this is all about me was hard because I'm such a loyal person. But at the end of the day I had to do what was best for me, my business and my future and my family and all the things. And so it was nothing personal. But I know that there's others that maybe feel that way where they feel there's a sense of loyalty to anything, I guess. But it could be hard to say, hey, I'm going to step up and make this decision because it's going to better me. Especially if you're kind of a people pleaser or again, you feel super loyal. But I did it and I don't regret it at all. I think you make a great point though. Right. That's a hard thing. Especially when you maybe started at a certain company and there is a loyalty to either that franchise, that broker your other coworkers because that's who you spend the majority of your time with. But I agree with you that there are, I mean I know of agents right now that they're just afraid of any fallout or you know, that they are such loyal humans. But it is sad to me that they are then restricting themselves because there are potentials on the other side that they're not, you know, entertaining and they're kind of got their blinders on because they want to be loyal. But at the end of the day we have to do what is best for ourselves and for our families. And if that means moving on, I mean you'd hope that people are professional enough to understand that. And at the end of the day we're still going to do business together. We live in small towns and it's really just best to support one another, right? Yeah. And, and this is for really both of you. Both of you are very strong women, right? Very independent women, business oriented. And so like I would love to know some of your experiences that you've had in, you know, from the either people, brokerages that you've left or competitors, because you. You are loud, you are doing well. So, you know, have you had any shade or hate, you know, thrown your direction because you are strong, independent women? What day. If I'm. If I'm not. If I'm not in their mouths, what am. I'm not doing it correctly. Right. Like, I, you know, they gotta stay employed. Haters gotta stop talking about you then. Right, right. Well. And the earth can. Can be thick sometimes. The air is a little bit thick sometimes. But, you know, listen, I'm not here to necessarily compete with anybody. I'm just here to be the best version of myself and do real estate and do it well for my clients. So I don't have time to kind of entertain that. But, yes, you can tell there's some thick air sometimes. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that, you know, it. I think it used to bother me, which we've talked about, because, like, I live with my heart on my sleeve. Like, no one can deny that, you know, so you just have to. Sometimes they'll learn over time to take it what it's worth. Right. And at the end of the day, really, those. I've learned that when people say things, it's really a reflection of who they are and what their feelings are. But what I've really come to find out over the years is I used to be really quiet about. I think I'm probably still somewhat quiet about accomplishments better than what I used to be. But it's the people that I didn't realize that I was inspiring that have taken enough time to message me and say, thank you for being such an inspiration. I had a guy, I think his daughter's like 7, and he's like, I just hope that she's just like you when she grows up. And it was kind of funny. Um, so I think that over time I've realized that I do need to be loud because there are people that are struggling and they need to have someone that, like, if Ashley can do it, I can do it. Or if she's been through the struggles, I can do it. Or maybe I just. I had breakfast with a friend yesterday and you could tell, like, things were just overwhelming on. On parts of her life. And she text messaged me afterwards and was like, today was such an inspiration. I'm so thankful for you. And it's just a matter of having conversations with people and being uplifting and. Right. We're all here together. So if we all work towards the momentum of moving forward, we should all benefit in the long run, right? Yeah. And I can. Oh, go ahead. No, you're good. Go for it. I can contest for that in the sense of oftentimes, if you are somebody that is loud and, you know, bold, people want you to dim their. For you to dim your light, dim your sound, your level to accommodate them. Nobody wants to be held accountable, to raise themselves up. And, you know, you can be just as loud as I am and just there's room for everybody. Right. But I will say that a gal pop. This popped in my head when you were talking about that, Ashley, that I had a person reach out to me that wanted to get into real estate. And I remember when I was getting into real estate, I asked current agents, hey, how did you get started? Where did you go? And. And everybody was kind of. They didn't want to share. It was almost like, okay, I'll figure it out on my own. Thank you. I don't know if it was like it was going to be competition or what, but I found myself being the complete opposite. When people reach out to me because I remember how it felt, and I want to be open arms, there is room for all of us at the top. And I had a gal reach out to me because our brokerage puts on social media, how we're doing, what's under contract, what's sold. And she reached out to me and said, hey, I just want to let you know that I've been watching and you are rocking it. And thank you so much for being an inspiration. You have now pushed me to want to complete and finish my license. And I said with open arms, girlfriend, do it. I am here for you. All the things, because that's what I would have liked to have received and. So well in the Niva, like, you know, as far as, like, the text message thing, like, people are reaching out to you, just like with Ashley. But you shared a screenshot of a friend. It wasn't even a conversation between you and her. It was between you and. Or, excuse me, her and Will or, you know, whatever the dynamic was. Like, you weren't even involved in that conversation. So tell us about that and how people are recognizing not only that you are thriving in business, but also in the personal life, too. Sure. So when I went to make the switch, you know, I had the table talk with the hubby. Hey, this is what I want to do. This is what it could look like. And he was fully supportive and on board. But at the end of the day I kind of knew that it would. There was a little bit of stress and not doubt so much. He never doubted me, but like, okay, we're changing. This could look a little different. How? I don't know. But here we go. You know, notice things, but doesn't necessarily say them to me. And so it was nice when I got this text message from a friend who said, hey, I just want to let you know that Will stopped by last night to say hi. And he mentioned that you are just so happy and you finally found your people, and he can just tell that you're thriving. And it's made an impact on our relationship too. I could sense that, but he wasn't as vocal. So when I got that text message from her, I probably had sore cheeks. I smiled so big. Just to know that he's having those conversations in a room that I'm not there is a lot I would say for a guy in particular. Right. So when he's having those conversations about how our family is doing so well, and it was a good decision, and he hit it on the head. I had found my people, and so it was huge. And personal lives, when you have. When you're in real estate, there's a fine line with personal lives and business. And so, you know, you want to be the realtor in the room. I got that from Ashley. You want to be the realtor in the room, but you also want to have your own life, too. Like, you want to be able to just kind of let the business side down as well. But he has just noticed how much happier I'm eager to get up every day, go to the office. I was a yoga pant wearer all the time doing no yoga. And now I'm getting up, getting dressed, getting at it. Like, I've got goals to reach. And in 90 days, I'm going to see what. What today was like. So it. We're so happy, and it's just made a huge impact. Good. That's awesome. Ashley, did you have something? Yeah, I was just gonna say, I think you make a really good point about, like, you're at home life. Right. Because I don't think that people always think about when you are necessarily not happy or things aren't going well at work, what it really does do at home, you know, with a spouse, but maybe potentially with your kids. And it is interesting, you know, I've had people that have moved companies, and it's almost like you have to go through a detox phase, let's be honest, you know, but you also need someone to call you out on your shit. Like, hey, that might have been acceptable in the past, but like, we don't do that. We don't talk about people like that. But it's amazing how, like, once you're happy that you can go home happy and like, what that does when you have flourishing relationships, I mean, all around, people see that as well. You know, the other point I just wanted to make was when you talk about the loudest in the room, right? And it's cliche if you will, but sometimes it's like the most powerful voice in the room, right? So when you can be the loudest in the room, a lot of times it's just with what you have to say as far as it's very direct. Like, I'm maybe too direct sometimes, but by being the loudest in the room, I've also put myself in rooms that I would have never been in in the past that I not spoken up. Right. And I find it beneficial now because I, you know, get asked to go to certain board meetings or, hey, Ashley, we really need your input on something that we're thinking of doing. And if you were just quiet and sat in a corner and maybe didn't speak up or didn't, you know, give your opinion, whether people agree with it or not, you might never be asked to do those opportunities. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, for, for me, I definitely struggle with here. I'll make sure that you both hear this because I've told this to both of you. But I struggle about, you know, posting on socials and the, you know, talking about all of these things that have accomplishments and whatnot and, you know, telling my true story and it's because, you know, of fear of rejection. Let's be real. But at the end of the day, you know, something I keep telling myself is if I hadn't made that post and I didn't inspire that one person that one time, where would they be at? So who actually really does need to hear me? Yeah, there may be 99 people that don't want to hear from me, but that one person that truly wants to hear and see, like, I don't care as long as it's one person. I'm here for it. Like, yeah. So I really, you know, try to be louder. And, you know, I think sometimes people, when we say loud, like, we think that we're saying that you're going to walk into the room and be the one that wants to be in center of attention every single time. Like, yes, that's somewhat loud. But when I say being loud, it's being. Making sure that your poise is being noticed and you're, you're being able to truly articulate what you are, are trying to convey to the other side and making sure that you're being that true professional. And when you show up being that true professional, that automatically, in my opinion, puts you aside from a lot of different people that are in that room because they're going to not want to be the professional or not want to be the person that's inspiring or even speak up, even if it is against the grain of what everybody else is saying. Like, you have to be able to speak to your core and stick with your values and making sure that as long as you know that you're aligned and what you're saying is true to your heart, that's all that matters, not what anybody else's opinions are. So can I be vulnerable for a moment? I grew up hearing you think you're better than everybody. I heard that a lot growing up. And you know, you step into a business like this, where your confidence, all the things, you have to do some deep work on yourself. And I can't tell you that Niva 6, 7 years ago would have been as good as I am now at what I do because I didn't do the work if I wouldn't have done the work on myself. I grew up with lots of things in my head telling me I wasn't good enough and all that. So then I go and lo and behold, choose a profession that I throw myself in the lion's den sometimes, right? I am competing against other people that want to take on a business transaction, saying they're the better one. And I'm saying, over here, no, I am. Which counteracts all that noise in the head of how bad it felt when people told me, you think you're better than everybody else. That made sense the way it came off. But there's a lot of self help work, love, all that that needs to be done when you're approaching, I think this type of an industry, now more than ever, especially because of social media, we see people in our face, they're beautiful, they've got all the flashy things right? And so by me diving into a lot of work that I needed to heal myself on, it allowed me to be okay with being a bold person in the room or, you know, because I'm so eager to help, that's truly, truly my mission to help people. And so I think that comes across because my heart can come across more too. It doesn't look so much as like she's bragging or showing off because I've done the work I hope if that makes sense when I'm coming. No, I totally tracking and um, you know what people used to say and don't like when I say like it doesn't bother me. There, there are things that most definitely get under my skin. You, there's no way that I can sit here and say nothing, you know, gets under my skin. That's not true. Um, but I know specifically, and it just so happens to be your previous brokerage, that there was an instance that I was posting about like how well we've done through the entire year and our progression of growth and you know, you know, you know, when people are responding on your stuff, like sometimes they're not the most coming from a compassionate place, they're maybe being a little bit vindictive. And you know, I, I was told that I need to be humbled, that I need to humble myself. And you know, like that really bothered me and you know, me saying successes and the funny thing is like in all of this is, you know, I'm not a non competing broker so meaning I don't sell. So when I'm sharing mittens, when I'm sharing, you know, successes, you know, about how many, you know, transactions we've closed within the year. Those are truly not my transactions that I personally close. Those are my agents. So I'm celebrating my agents and what really was happening, you know, looking at it, is that they were trying to take the light away from me. They trying to suppress me. They don't want me to be able to enjoy and you know, because in my opinion, like they're not happy in what they're going on. So they're going to, you know, point fingers versus trying to clap and celebrate. Like it's just mind boggling to me on how much people, you know, try to throw that shade. But Niva, you're absolutely correct. Like if I from, you know, did not work on myself in the last, you know, three, four years, really focusing on, you know, growth, growth myself, professionally, personally, um, you know, in my heart and in my brain, like in my soul, like I would not be strong and confident. Like there are still times that, you know, I struggle with that but I don't care anymore. Certain people of their opinions because they've shown their true colors. And once they've showed their true colors, this is what I've learned at least once they show you your their true colors Then believe them. That's truly how they are. Yeah. So just because they can go to church on Sunday and go to mass and then the next day that everything's all okay. Like, I don't believe that's how that works. Like, I believe in providing value, doing the best for, for myself and helping the people that are around me with like minded individuals and making sure that everybody's succeeding. Like we all have a place somewhere and we don't have to beat each other down whatsoever. So yeah, Niva, you, you talked about like providing value and helping people and you know, you've been, we've already established that you've been in the industry for less than two years. One of the things that you've started here recently is an accountability group. I think you call it a power hour. Give, give us a little rundown on what that is. And because you're doing this, like, let's be clear, like you're doing this for people within our own company. You're not doing, you know, right now, you're not, you're not charging them to do it. Like we're, we're looking to, you know, broaden this. But like you started this out of the kindness of your heart because this is how much you truly want to help people and encourage those. What, what is that about? So when switching over to the brokerage, there's a, we have a big brokerage, which is awesome. I mean, that was one of the appealing things is having a brokerage with multiple agents that you could collaborate with. But with that comes a lot of energies, a lot of different personalities. And I guess I'm always looking for a solution. I want to be a part of the solution. Definitely not part of a problem or make anything worse. But as the new person coming in, sometimes it's like, oh, who is she? What is she about? But also I have this deep desire to just fix everything, to make everybody the best version of themselves. Because I remember being in a spot where I didn't feel good. And so now that I've done all this, I want to share it with as many people as I can. And so I started to see the need for just daily habits and daily self work that will make your business flourish. Like if you set yourself up for success in the beginning of the day because you ultimately are the one in charge of your day and how it's going to go. I just feel like ultimately the impact is your business will only get better. So I was doing it alone. But basically when we had our 90 day meeting, everything stems back to this 90 day meeting. But it was like, what can I do every day literally so that I can see in 90 days I have some accountability to it. Right. Because yes, you want to take time off and I'll talk about that in a second. But it was like I needed to create these really healthy daily habits that set me up for success. Well, what does that look like? In this industry there is not really much. You know Steven, you talk a lot about in your earlier years of how you got started, the things you did that worked for you and you are always open to sharing that you can. You know, we have other agents in the office that have been doing it for a long time and they have great advice. But sometimes just as a new agent you're like, where do I start? Where do, what do I do? How do I even get going? And it's truly just every day digging into these good daily habits that set you up. So I created this challenge for any veteran office who wanted to join, whether you had been in it for a while or new and you just wanted to get a switch up in energy, start new daily habits, just kind of give yourself a reset. So we meet twice a week at 5:30. I had a little bit of pushback at that. Like oh my gosh, that's too early. Well yeah, nobody's going to be calling you. No kids are pulling at your ankles. You know, we're going to get up, put your robe on. You don't even have to have your video on. Just show up at 5:30. And it's task oriented. So the first 30 minutes we work on ourselves. We are currently working on daily like triggers and patterns and cycles. We're working on those and just kind of diving in a little bit of self help on that. And then we do some social media interaction because I think it's important that we stay. If you are not on social media, what are you doing? You have to be involved in social media. But some people don't know where to start. And we can't assume that it's always older people. I mean I've had younger agents in our office that are like, I just don't know where to start. I'm like, you literally start talking on Facebook, sharing, just getting on there, connecting, connecting with people. Right. And then at 6 o' clock we start our daily work habits. So we'll dive into our hard emails, only answer the ones that are pertinent. We dive into our lead systems, we dive into our what houses are new? Has anything changed? Right. And at the end, we literally do a breathing exercise with a little bit of intentional energy setting and then we're done. And I can't tell you how good it feels to have fellow agents alongside me on this because we're all in the same brokerage, we're all working close together and when we can connect like that, I don't know, I hope people are noticing and feeling the difference. But it's my goal for people, especially if you've been in this industry and you've hit a spot where you're like, man, I just don't know if I can do this anymore. I'm burnt out or I don't know with all these changes. I don't want to even go there unless you do. But with these changes coming up, we've got to do some, some work on the front end to put ourselves in good positions to tackle these hard conversations, this switch, this energy shift. So yeah, I have opened that up and we'll be going. Well, it's already open to anybody, so if anybody's interested, all they have to do is just reach out and we'll get them added to the group. How can they reach out to you? If you reach out, go ahead and like the leading lane page, Facebook page and then you can send a message there. I am on Facebook as well. If you want to send me a message, just Niva M. Fisher on Facebook. But if you go to the leadinglane page and inquire there, get you connected into the group, it's a zoom call again. Roll out of bed, come as you are. A coffee if you'd like or not. Just come and join us and get your day started off on the right foot. We have those hard conversations. Some of them have left a little bit teary eyed. But I think it's important in this industry that we are having these conversations because it is not for the faint of heart. And there have been times where I have had clients talk to me a certain way and had I not done this work, I don't know that I would have been as strong or clear minded to handle some of the ways that I've been talked to or you know, it's, it can be stressful, home buying is stressful and selling. So yeah, cool. Well, let's go ahead and pause because we're going to go into another little session here. So we'll go ahead and thank everybody for listening to us today. Like Niva said, go like and subscribe over to our leading lane social media pages and if you're interested and take her up on our Power Hour. Just challenge yourself right now. She's doing it complimentary. She's doing it out of the kindness of her heart. So take advantage of that. So reach out and stay tuned for the next podcast. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe and share with others. Stay connected for more genuine insights and. Strategies to boost your real estate career. On Facebook or check out our website. We'll see you next time.