that show up the moment the business gets bigger. That tension is exactly where Lindsay Stevens built her strength. And the way she talks about these challenges will make every real estate leader stop and think.
On this episode of the GRIT Podcast, Brian Charlesworth sits down with Lindsay, co-owner and team leader of Stevens Real Estate, to uncover how she went from overwhelmed agent to running one of the fastest-growing teams in her market.
The twist is that none of it came from perfect planning. It came from saying yes to uncomfortable moments, including being thrown onto a five-thousand-person stage with one week to prepare. She also breaks down the discipline required to survive New York’s long 120-day transaction cycle. It is the kind of cycle that forces leaders to either master their systems or get buried by them.
Lindsay talks about the seasons she had to fight through distractions, doubt, and long days that made her question whether she was even built for leadership. She shares a simple line that keeps her centered. "Life is hard. Real estate is hard. But the sun comes up tomorrow." It is the kind of line that hits differently when you hear the story behind it.
Brian and Lindsay also break down a moment that shifted their entire operation. Dialing in their Sisu stages, statuses, and tagging finally removed the chaos inside New York’s long transaction cycle, and it changed the way their agents performed. As she puts it, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."
Top Takeaways:
(2:23) Saying yes to a 5000-person stage
(9:51) Breakthroughs after wanting to quit
(12:02) CEO vs. team leader roles in a business
(14:21) How Sisu rebuilt transaction flow
(21:08) The power of proximity and fast execution
(32:19) Scaling with leverage and a new COO
(32:12) Working on the business, not in the business
(37:58) Why systems come before 20 agents
(38:28) Micro commitments and predictable wins in Sisu
(42:21) AI as a business partner and coach
(45:00) Why AI will not replace relationships in real estate
If you want an honest look at growth, leadership, and the real work behind building a strong team, this episode with Lindsay will pull you in from the first few minutes.
About Lindsay Stevens
Lindsay Stevens is a Hudson Valley native and co-founder of Stevens Realty Group, featured on HGTV’s House Hunters. She led New Paltz as the top sales agent in 2017, 2018, and 2019 while growing the firm into a multi-million dollar real estate and property management company. With a background in Legal Studies and Business from UMass Amherst, she has worked in sales, marketing, and communications with companies like Edelman and Morgan Stanley. Lindsay is also a mother of two and an active runner who has deep roots in the Hudson Valley community.
Connect with Lindsay:
Transcript
Brian Charlesworth 00:35
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the GRIT Podcast. I'm Brian Charlesworth. I'm the founder of Sisu and your host of the show. And today I am here with somebody who I have grown to really love and respect. Lindsay Stevens has a team in New York, the Stevens group, right? Stevens real estate, Stevens real estate, and she owns this team with her husband. Her husband, Bruce, is the CEO, and Lindsay is the team leader. I just asked her a minute ago, like, what's the difference? So we'll dive into that a little bit. But these guys, it's fun to see. They've been a Sisu customer for a long time now. Really went all in on Sisu about a year ago when Bruce came out to one of our behind the scenes events and, man, watching them grow in this market where most people are struggling has been a lot of fun. So I wanted Lindsay to join me on the show today. Lindsay, welcome to the show.
Lindsay Stevens 01:29
Thanks for having me. I'm super excited and honored to be here. This is, uh, yeah, this is really exciting for me. I'm excited to chat and just see where the conversation takes us
Brian Charlesworth 01:40
well, last time I saw you, you were on stage in Miami in front of 5000 people. Let's talk about that first okay. I mean, that's, I know a lot of people who are into public speaking. I'm not into public speaking. I enjoyed, I mean, I don't mind being in front of people, but it's not something like I strive to I want to be on stages. I want to be like I want to be the person, and I've got a speaking coach and all this stuff. But one of the things that's cool about your environment is, as you've grown and become more respected, somehow you ended up on that stage. So let's talk about how did you end up on stage and put in 5000 people at the EXP con in Miami.
Lindsay Stevens 02:23
I don't actually know. I can't really tell you for sure. I Wendy called me the Thursday before exp con and said, I have an opportunity for you. And I said, Sure, yeah. What is it? And she's like, we want you to eat MC opening day at expon. And I said, Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm actually busy that morning. And she was like, okay, yeah. And I was like, No, I feel like I should say I feel like I want to say no, but the right thing to say is yes. And I didn't I really Brian. I had no idea what it meant. This was a week before, yeah, I didn't know, and I don't know, maybe if somebody bailed, I don't know how I was asked to do it. So something about me is like, I'm humble to a fault, like I always am. I don't know. I'm just an average girl from a very small mountain town who just stays incredibly humble. So I said, Yes, I'll be in Miami. I'm interested, of course, you know, and from me like contribution and collaboration, whatever you guys need, I'm happy to do it. And I didn't know, I had no idea what it was. So they said, Okay, well, your practice is on Sunday, and then we'll need you back Monday for on stage check, like a tech check. And so I practice in this very small room where I then found out you're going to be and seeing in front of the entire audience, 5000 people, I walked into this that, first of all, that conference center was crazy. It took me, like, a mile to get to where I needed to be. And then I saw my face on this, you know, sign that was rotate, rotating through digital photography. And I'm like, Oh, God, I think this is, like, legit. And, you know, we did the tech check, and I walked in and the 5000 chairs are out there. And like, Okay, we're going to do this. This is going to be the biggest audience I've ever spoken and spoken to. And like you, I don't call myself a public speaker. I haven't practiced or coached to public speaking. I just kind of speak from the heart, and I just try to be authentically myself, and that's what I did there that day. And I think what an honor to be asked of all the people to be on that stage. So it was really a life changing experience for me.
Brian Charlesworth 04:51
Yeah, I think one thing about you, and I know you are humble, which is, I think as soon as anybody loses that, they usually stop growing. Going, and that's that's the danger zone, right? As soon as you think you know it all, and as soon as you think you're there, as soon as you think you arrived, as soon as you think you arrived, you only have one direction to go, and that's downhill, right? So, but you get there, you realize it's going to be in front of 5000 people. You you do all your check, you do all your practice, but then the moment that you walked on stage and you were in front of 5000 people, what was the feeling you had?
Lindsay Stevens 05:27
It actually like the world faded away. I didn't, it didn't look like 5000 people. You know, at one point, you know, I looked around the audience and you see, like the depth is very shallow. Actually, you don't see the room. And I looked down and Glenn Sanford was sitting there, and I'm like, Okay, what? We're not gonna go there, we're gonna go over here. So I just, like, changed the direction of where I was looking. And then I think you just kind of like, become yourself, and that's what I tried to do. The hardest thing for me, Brian, is actually they had teleprompters, and that was tricky, because then I'm like, I feel like it's tough to be who you are a little bit because you're reading a script and you have to be more kind of like, I don't know, on task, and not go off, fly off the cuff. But I just tried to stay true to who I am and share a little bit of my personality, despite being set to like, you know, what I have to say, when, and like, I didn't see you, I didn't see anybody, didn't see my husband, I didn't see anybody. I just kind of saw darkness.
Brian Charlesworth 06:32
And that's great. Well, congratulations. It's exciting, and I think it's a growth opportunity. So now that you've had that experience and like, does it make you want to be on stages? Does it make you want to be in front of people? Does it make you want to start doing some other business that you're not doing today? Like, did it spark any of those types of things?
Lindsay Stevens 06:56
I love to coach. I love to impact people. I really am like I love people. I love understanding what motivates them and inspires them, and I love understanding what's in the way of them achieving great success in life and in business. So I feel like my love for being in front of people is mostly just like an audience that I could potentially help unlock something that's blocking them. Yeah, I actually was in Boston yesterday, and I spoke at an event. There was probably like 250 people there, and that's what I spoke about. I call it lifting the lid. And obviously, as you know, I'm an endurance athlete, so most of my life is like parallel to endurance sports and pushing through hard things and the moments that you kind of like feel like you can't go any further and you do and overcoming and just all of that stuff. So that's what I spoke to and a little bit about my life and struggles I've experienced. And then people come up to me and they just feel vulnerable enough to share their challenges and what they've overcome and things that they've never told anybody. So I feel like that's really it gives me energy, like I really love that. I love
Brian Charlesworth 08:12
Perfect, yeah, I love that. Because this podcast, as you know, is called the grit podcast. Reason is because I understand. I mean, I've had people tell me, No, 1000s of times, you'll never be able to do that. You're, you know, can't raise money. You can't build a company based on that. Nobody needs that in real estate, no, but nobody knows they need that in real estate. So I'd love to hear from you. You just spoke on this in Boston, yeah. What is one of your biggest challenges in your personal life or work life, either one that you've overcome that you you know at the time, you just think you're not going to get through it and start with that, and we'll go from
Lindsay Stevens 08:52
there. Yeah. I mean, I think, like life is hard, right? I mean, and that's just what I tell people, life is hard, business is hard, real estate is freaking hard, and the sun will rise again tomorrow, and that's just the way it is. So, you know, my mom specifically, we I just walked her through a year and a half long battle of cancer for, you know, stage three breast cancer, and I felt lucky enough that I have the ability to be the person that could be there every Friday for treatment, because I've built a life where I have freedom and flexibility to be able to do that, but that's hard, like that's a real challenge, right? Growing and scaling and breaking and having people inside the organization that shouldn't be there, and feeling like you're not good enough or not enough. I mean, there's just like challenges every day, all day, that we're facing. And I think what I've learned, and maybe it's because I've been a lifelong athlete or whatever, is just every time you think you want to quit, if you just push through, there will be a breakthrough. Yeah, right. It's like in the moment where you just want to give up that, if you just keep going, and no matter what it takes, if you come out of the the other side of that, you're different. So I say you're and it was a slide yesterday, like, who you are at the starting line and who you are at the finish line are two totally different
Brian Charlesworth 10:19
people. Yeah, yeah. Well, Said,
Lindsay Stevens 10:23
I never know if I answered the question
Brian Charlesworth 10:25
you reminded me of something, you know, at Sisu, we started a few years ago. We started in the mortgage business. And it kind of started because I told spring, she had a she had a title company. And I was like, there's more money in the mortgage business. You need to be in the mortgage business. And finally, she looked at me, and she said, You know what? I don't want to get my mortgage license. I don't have the time to do the work. I don't have she said, if you want to be in the mortgage business, go get the mortgage business. So you What do you think I did on the mortgage business? I got in the mortgage business? Yeah. I said, Okay, I will. So before we knew it, she had her, she had her Lo. Without her even doing it, I recruited her lo into the business, yeah, we, we started the business. We got licensed and and next thing you know, she's in the mortgage business, right? Yeah. And anyway, yesterday, we actually closed on a mortgage company that's licensed in over 30 states, which partially has to do with you, because we wanted to be in the mortgage business with you. They're not licensed in New York either, which is the sad thing, but because getting licensed in New York is almost impossible, everything but, but trying to get licensed in New York with you is what, what made this possible for us? We're like, we need to figure out a better solution, right? So, so anyway, it's just, it's just interesting, and again, it's the nose hit us all the time, right? I'm still trying to figure out how to get into mortgage business with you.
Brian Charlesworth 12:02
Business with you in New York. Yeah, yes, yes. So, so anyway, I want to talk about your husband for a minute. He's the CEO. You're the team leader. Can you tell us what the difference is?
Lindsay Stevens 12:15
Yeah, I said, Well, I don't really know. Well, I'll tell you kind of our roles, which I shared with you, he's very operational, systems, big picture of the business, right? Watching finances, making sure that our net profit is where it needs to be, and making sure we have the best systems that we could possibly have, right? Which is why we love Sisu so much. I am not systems and processes have like my brain doesn't work like that. I'm a great executor. I love big picture. I love vision. I'm very clear in what I want, and I will chase it down. But the process and the SOP and getting it from here to paper is not my superpower. So he really does I say I feel like similar to spring in you, or maybe, I don't know, maybe she's very operational minded too. I make it sparkle, and I rally the troops, and I inspire the organization, and I keep people focused on their goals, and I have these hard, tough, loving conversations, and he's money systems, is it working? Is it not working? And just always kind of, yeah, big picture,
Brian Charlesworth 13:31
yeah, yeah. Well, Sisu was actually built because spring asked me to help her build her business after I sold the company, and I was like, we're doing transaction management. We're checking off the task lists on whiteboards. Like, that's what was happening, right?
Lindsay Stevens 13:51
Or she's, like, an eighth, like, she's, um, she sold a lot of real estate. I feel like real estate agents, they're just their brains were different, yeah, yeah.
Brian Charlesworth 14:00
And I still run into teams today that are doing that on whiteboards. I still run into teams today that are getting information when somebody goes under contract to their from an agent to a TC that instead of using an intake form, they're using, and even if it's a Google intake form, it's still dated. You can't do anything with that. But most, there's still a lot doing that in Slack or doing that in email. It's just, it's crazy. So
Lindsay Stevens 14:21
dialing in our obviously, we're not like, there's not a commercial for Sisu, but see, the transaction component of Sisu really changed our business, like dialing that in and really just going all in on that from from like the time we have an accepted offer to the time we close, and building out the stages board and the status of status boards and tagging our transactions like it really has changed our business. We love it like, I absolutely love it.
Brian Charlesworth 14:52
So you are not a systems person that takes it from here and puts it on paper. That's a That's an old school terminology, right? It's actually taking. From here and putting it into a system, but, but Bruce did that, you now leverage it,
Brian Charlesworth 15:07
and you're saying it's changed. It's changed everything for you guys. How is that like you not being a systems person? How has it impacted you?
Lindsay Stevens 15:15
I used to so a little bit about me. I used to sell a lot of real estate. I was doing about 100 transactions a year by myself, right? No, TC or production partner.
Brian Charlesworth 15:26
How did I know that I was that? Was just about to ask you that, I mean, I just
Lindsay Stevens 15:29
all I did. People are like, Well, what was your secret? I'm like, I literally just worked. I ate from like, I don't know, hate beef jerky. I was on the road and I worked. That's all I did. I just knew how to work. And so my brain works in understanding, like, how to simplify the life of the agent. So when I look at the system, and usually it's like, built out, and this is what the form looks like, and this is the process, I can understand it from like, each step of the agents perspective and be like, Nope, this needs to change. The form is redundant. It's too long. We're already pulling that from fob that can go I just see if I feel like everything I look at from the mind of the agent. And how do we just make it easier? And New York is tough, right? Like the transaction, the life of the transactions, like 90 to 120 days. It's just a long time. So how do we just simplify and take parts of that off the agent's plate and make sure, like, transactionally, we're just turning and burning and moving things through the pipeline faster. So that's how I see it. I'm like,
Brian Charlesworth 16:35
Yeah, that's great. I love it. So obviously, you and Bruce work together. How often do you see him during the day?
Lindsay Stevens 16:44
A lot. I mean, I shouldn't say that, right? We had a leadership meeting today where our paths cross quite a bit. You know, I was telling you a little bit in in at expon, we spend a lot of time together, because we run together and we bike together and we're we work together, but we sort of stay in our own lanes too. Yeah, they'll be very clear, like, stay in your lane. I'm like, Okay, fine. How many agents are you up to now? We have, there's 54 with agents and admin staff. So right around we're like, at 47 agents right now.
Brian Charlesworth 17:17
Okay, cool. I would love to say Sisu is the reason for your growth. Because I love to see, I love to see our teams come in and they start with us when they're like, five agents. I don't know how many you had when you started with us, but then I see them a few years later, and they're always like, at 50 to 100 agents. And I'm like, this is, this is so amazing.
Lindsay Stevens 17:34
We when we really, I mean, honestly, we had nine agents when we started with you, okay, similar. And last year, at this time, we were 25 agents, so almost doubled in the last 12 months. And, you know, like good problems to have. And I of course, we have so many agents that want to join our organization and figuring out what is scaling look like. Where we talked about challenges we live in very small towns that are widespread, so figuring out, how do we how do we take the magic we have here, because we really do have a an incredible culture, and how do we scale it beyond this little office we're in in this small town and try and replicate it in other areas. So that's kind of like what's on the forefront for 2026 for us. And, yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 18:31
okay, that's cool. A year ago, that's about when Bruce came out to Salt Lake to see us. And so I love that I was going to say, I would like to say that we're the reason for your growth. But every time I hear you on stage, you actually talk about that when you made the move to exp like I remember you talking about you called Kyle whistle, and you know that that had a major impact on you. So how did, how did that have an impact on you? Because I remember the day that spring first, went to a, I'll just call it a virtual brokerage, or rev share brokerage, getting out of the traditional model. And I remember the thing that caught me was instantly she went from having a small team here in Davis County, Utah, to having a team across the United States like overnight. And now that she's made the move to exp overnight, she actually has a team that's in multiple countries. So it's crazy to me, what, what like, what is the thing that you would credit to your success in that aspect?
Lindsay Stevens 19:36
I think I always say, like, proximity to people. Like, that's what I really believe that. I mean, I'm not, I'm a New Yorker, right? Like, I'm a little jaded, and I don't
Brian Charlesworth 19:48
upstate New York, right? Yeah,
Lindsay Stevens 19:50
over 90 miles from New York City. I don't, I always say I don't drink the Kool Aid, so I don't like, it's not the model or the split or the. But for me, it was proximity to people that could be a solution to a problem. Yeah, and you asked if I have a coach, like, I'm very, very coachable, and if you show me the path and tell me how to get there with the least resistance, I will follow it. And I feel like that's what I needed in that moment I needed just help that I really felt like I was drowning at the time. Yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 20:27
okay, so I know I've watched you and seen you on stage and multiple times now, and I think you won the award at the fast forward movement being the top speaker. So is, Am I mistaken there?
Lindsay Stevens 20:42
No, you're not okay. WWF belt. And I actually got stopped by TSA, and they pulled my bags, and I was a big to do with seven people, and I'm like, it's a WWE belt, like it's but I did take, I did take home the belt,
Brian Charlesworth 21:00
yeah, and because of you getting that belt, I actually went to UFC fights last weekend in New York City. I know I'm so mad,
Brian Charlesworth 21:08
so So anyway, but I've always heard you talk about the collaboration and collaboration with just being in the right rooms with the right people seems to be a massive thing for you and so many others that I'm watching grow. It would you? Would you say that's a big part of your growth. It's just being in the right rooms with
Lindsay Stevens 21:26
the right people. I really do being open and being willing to do what's being told of you, because there's a lot of people in rooms right that don't take the information and don't execute. So I think being in the right room, and then I think it's speed to execution and not getting lost in like analysis paralysis. So I think you have to come into it with an open mind, and you have to be willing to implement and execute. But I do think that I just posted something that, like, networking is the craziest thing, because you can meet people that will literally change your life. So if you meet the right people, right? Meeting you Christian, meeting you changed his life. He came home, did what you told him, right, like, so in a in an instant, I love that. I love that. And meet somebody that will literally, I always say it's like you either get on the train or you stay on the platform. And if you choose to get on the train and the train leaves the station, your life goes in a completely different direction. And that's what I think about with people. And I always think like you, I met you for a reason, and there's a lesson in every relationship. And I just believe that you know, if you put yourself in the situation to learn and grow, like, you'll do that. Yeah, let's
Brian Charlesworth 22:46
talk about Christian for a minute. Because everyone here is going, how did Brian change Christian's life? I don't even know how he changed his life, but let's, let's talk about it for a minute, like, let's talk about Christian, one of your team members, yep, ends up coming to Utah with Bruce a year ago I met him, then I get to see him again in Orlando, or not, Orlando, in Miami, Miami, in Miami. What? A month ago? Yeah. And what's different about his life today?
Lindsay Stevens 23:15
Well, he was having a conversation with you, right? And he, I don't even know, because I was not in the conversation. I walked in where they were like this, and I walked into Brian just going rogue on Christian and saying, like, you have to, I don't even know you were giving him life advice about taking $2,000 a month and putting it in, you know, putting it in the the market, right? 2000
Brian Charlesworth 23:40
a month. Yeah, we, I want everyone his age to be millionaires when they're my age. Like, absolutely right. So take,
Lindsay Stevens 23:46
take the SMP, put the 2000 a month in the s and p, and then somehow it got that he has a second job. And you said you have two weeks, you have two weeks to quit your job. And then you're like, my time is valuable. Don't waste my time. And you were direct and stern with him. And he, he came back to New York that that day he came back, he gave notice to his job.
Brian Charlesworth 24:09
And that's awesome, yeah, and that's called taking action, right,
Lindsay Stevens 24:13
right? And he that interaction, what is it? Five minutes will change his life, because he has such tremendous potential, he just couldn't see it for himself, and he didn't have the tough love accountability to drive him to take action on it, pushy, and I make little money, to be able to blah, blah, blah. And you're like, you know, you broke it down, like, the hours you're there, how much do you make? How could you How much could you make if those hours were spent in real
Brian Charlesworth 24:43
Yeah? I mean, I think he had four homes under contract at the time, and he's working as a server as well. Like, come on, yeah. Why are you doing this? Why are you holding yourself back? Right?
Brian Charlesworth 25:06
So I'm super grateful that he took action on that, and I would love for you to keep me updated on how successful he is, because I guarantee you that kid can make 300 grand a year. Plus, no problem, totally no problem. Okay, that's fun. I love that. Let's talk about your growth. Where do you want to be a year from
Lindsay Stevens 25:30
now? I want to be at 100 agents.
Brian Charlesworth 25:32
Okay, so you went from 26 agents a year ago to 51 today, 52 we'll just say you doubled your business and now you want to double it again. You want to go to 100 why?
Lindsay Stevens 25:45
Because I want to the same impact that we're going to have on a Christian and so many other agents in our organization. I want to help agents become whatever they want to become financially free, right? Making money, investing, with us, buying, selling, flipping, whatever it is. I just want to help agents be successful.
Brian Charlesworth 26:09
I like to help people. You like to help people. I love
Lindsay Stevens 26:13
people I really, really do. And I love helping people. And I feel like, I mean, I do real estate, I just think is the greatest business ever. And I just it's been, it's given me so much. And people always say, Oh, well, you, you know, you love the business, so it's easy for you. But I say I would love, I really believe maybe I'm wrong, but I believe I would love anything I'm doing, because I'm just, I go, I'll just go all in, and I be where I am, where my feet are, and I'm just going to give it my all. So when I used to wait tables, I'd be polishing the salt and pepper shakers and cleaning things, and because I just want to leave everything better than I find it. And I accidentally got a real estate license. I got pregnant by accident, and that was not part of the plan, and I, I was actually going to school to be a guidance counselor, which I don't know that would have been,
Brian Charlesworth 27:08
aren't you? Aren't you glad someone was looking out for you? I do
Lindsay Stevens 27:13
guidance counselor like adults now, just not children, although sometimes it's the lines are blurred. But anyway, I got a license, and I'm like, I'm just going to do this in the very short period of time before I get back to school and get my masters. And, you know, here I am.
Brian Charlesworth 27:31
So how has it changed your life in the last year to go from 26 agents to 52 like, what's different in your in yours and Bruce's worlds having doubled the size of your team.
Lindsay Stevens 27:43
I mean, obviously, you know, there's more responsibility. Although I, I just said this, I feel like I have more freedom now than I had back then.
Brian Charlesworth 27:54
Tell me more about that. Why is that most people, and I want, I want to share this because I think it's really important, because most people think that having more agents means more work. So how is how is that not the case?
Lindsay Stevens 28:08
I think you have to learn to live leverage, right? And I think, well, you know, you don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. And I said that on the Sisu webinar. And so I think having systems and processes in place, and we just actually made a pretty big hire for us. We hired a COO, and something I am very well aware of is that our foundation is not strong enough right now for us to be able to scale to 100 agents. So we really need to, sort of like break the foundation down and rebuild it stronger. So that's we're in the process of doing that, and just making really clear SOPs for everything, like refining our 3060, 90, and just like going really deep in systems, and just being able to take away the got a minutes and the frequently asked questions, and just systematizing all of it to make like our lives easier in leadership.
Brian Charlesworth 29:07
Okay, does that mean you're systematizing recruiting as well? You told me that you run a recruiting webinar with my wife here five minutes before you jumped in here, was Bruce on that as well. Or is that something that you would take the ownership of that?
Lindsay Stevens 29:22
So we're both, he's I, so I own that, and we have Sisu for recruiting. I'm going to be really candid with you. I'm not great, I haven't done a great job at it, but it is a focus of mine for 2026 for sure.
Brian Charlesworth 29:40
Okay, cool. Well, just know I'm committed. I will do and I will make sure our team does anything you guys need to, where you have that operating at the same level that you have your transaction management operating. So just let me know, yes, and you want to get to 100 agents. What do you see, other than impacting more. Lives. What do you see that doing to change your life?
Lindsay Stevens 30:04
I mean, I'm aware that growing and scaling, you know, people, sometimes I think that being a team leader is not the most profitable pathway in real estate, you know, because it's, it's, there's a lot of overhead.
Brian Charlesworth 30:20
But I do not if you don't run systems, that's for sure, right?
Lindsay Stevens 30:23
And so I we have to be just really super conscious of that, and but I just know I don't work weekends anymore. I have time with my family I never had. I pick my kids up every day I am everywhere I need to be to fulfill my life, personally, and I can't say that to be true for the better first half of my children's life,
Brian Charlesworth 30:52
when you were selling 100 homes, you weren't able to do any of those things.
Lindsay Stevens 30:56
I literally my daughter Callie. She just turned 13. She told me she was like, the only time we see is when you're walking out the door. And it was like, that was like, part of the my breakdown in 2021
Brian Charlesworth 31:10
I that's part of why you're here today, right? I
Lindsay Stevens 31:12
worked every second of every day. I mean, I woke up at 330 in the morning to write, to do paperwork and write offers, and I was on the road until the sun set every day, and I loved it. I loved I loved negotiating. I just was never around. You know, then with something you can appreciate. My daughter, Maya, is going to be a junior in high school, and I'm like that window, it's so shrinking. And if I could go back in time and leverage and systematize and do it sooner, man, I wish I could, we have a tree swing hanging in our backyard. I'm like, I am never gonna see them. Like I'm having, like, a personal breakdown about how, you know, your kids grow really fast.
Brian Charlesworth 32:08
Yeah, yep, we have. Our youngest is a junior now, and she's actually doing her junior and senior year this year, so she will be walking
Lindsay Stevens 32:16
early, early. Yep, I did that. So
Brian Charlesworth 32:19
this, this is the last year. So interestingly, I remember spring when she first asked me to help her start growing her business, which has been about, probably nine years ago now, something like that. And
Brian Charlesworth 32:40
I remember she had a coach, and this was right after I started Sisu, so it's probably eight and a half, nine years ago, and she had a coach because she she was running a team of five agents at the time, super frustrated. You know, you think you're going to have all these agents that perform like you, that sell 50 homes a year, and then
Brian Charlesworth 33:01
after two years, they all leave, and you're starting over again, right? And who wants that, right? So build a predictable business where you're not relying on on these people.
Brian Charlesworth 33:11
But I remember she had a coach that actually told her, he said in this I think this question that he told her was probably what made her say, I'm going to work on my business and not in my business. And the question was this, do you really want to be sitting at the table signing a listing agreement when you're 60 years old? I don't know about you guys. How do you feel about that? Like, do you really want to be doing that when you're 60 years old? Or, do you like, or do you want to build a business?
Lindsay Stevens 33:43
There's just no exit in the business. Yeah, well, that's not true. Not in that business. There's not right, unless you build, you build your way out of it. But, yeah, it's true. There's no, there's no exit strategy. And you see it so much, you know. And the answer to that question for me too is hell
Brian Charlesworth 34:04
no, yeah, yeah. Okay. On a personal note, what are you guys doing for Thanksgiving? Are you staying in New York? Are you going somewhere?
Lindsay Stevens 34:16
We're staying in New York. We're looking to get out of dodge for Christmas, though. So TBD on that. If you have any recommendations on somewhere warm, not New York, it's 20 what? What's the temperature? Where you are? It's 22 degrees here today.
Brian Charlesworth 34:32
Oh, New York's way colder than Utah. And just, just because the humidity, I was in New York this last weekend with UFC fights. And, yeah, the wind coming through there. And whereas I don't know, I don't know, it's been a really mild year here in Utah, I'd say it's probably in the high 50s. Yeah, so, so anyway, well, great. I have lots of recommendations. We can talk about that offline if you want. We will be, we will be leaving for the sunshine next month. Monday. Where are you going? Spending the week there, down in Los Cabos. So we love it down there. And on that note, Lindsay, if you were to give one piece of advice
Brian Charlesworth 35:18
to someone wanting to build a real estate team, or to someone who's building a real estate team, what would that be?
Lindsay Stevens 35:28
I mean, I think I, you know, I said it like you got to get really clear. Well, one an exercise that really, actually helped me define my organization, is getting really clear on, like, what is the mission, what is the vision, and what are we trying to accomplish, and where are we going? Because I think people don't even really know that like and does the organization know it, and can everybody recite it? So getting really clear on that and building that out, and then I think making sure you have the right people in the right seats, did that wrong. Many times, filling roles be out of desperation rather than talent and learning how to let go of people and set them free sooner,
Brian Charlesworth 36:15
which everything you're telling me makes me think you guys are running your business on EOS right now, is that right? We do
Lindsay Stevens 36:21
run the OS, yeah, I knew it. But I think mission, vision, values, clarity, all that. And I think it all goes back to having a really strong foundation with systems. I just think it's it's everything, and I'm anti systems girly, but I shouldn't say I'm an anti building of the systems, but I am a big proponent of leveraging and leaning into the systems. And we really see, like every we actually took this from springs team, but every week we have a team meeting where that we go around the room, and they come ready to go with their KPIs. Leads taken, appointment said. Appointment met, offers written.
Brian Charlesworth 37:00
So they're recording out right there from their phone on their Sisu app.
Lindsay Stevens 37:04
And then it's one clap. It's the two clap. We stole that right from
Brian Charlesworth 37:07
just, Oh, you took it all. That's impressive. We're like, boom, did you take Hello week as well?
Lindsay Stevens 37:13
We stroll. I actually went through springs coaching with Hello week and all of that. So I had already had that asset. But week one, similarly, we get them right on the phones, right in the ponds, like we're making them show us that they're hungry. And anyway, so yes, systems, processes, right people, and I mean expectations, like just having expectations and holding the standard. And I think as teams are growing, that's hard, because you just want bodies and people want to join your team. But I think the sooner you can be clear about the who the avatar agent is, and what do you expect of them and holding the standard.
Brian Charlesworth 37:58
Yeah, it's such great advice. So I personally think, I guess, the most important thing you can do. I talked to so many people who and my sales team talks to so many people who say, Oh, yes, all the big teams have Sisu. As soon as we get to 20 agents, we're going to get Sisu. You know what my response is, you'll never get there.
Brian Charlesworth 38:20
You have to have the systems in place, and that's what empowers you to get to that level. And people just don't see it, you know, which comes first the chicken or the egg, right?
Lindsay Stevens 38:29
And we run challenges through there. Our reviews are tracked in there. How many times did you meditate? Work out like, you know, there's a lot of internal things people are running through Sisu. But I think the the best part about it is, you said predictable income and predictability in your business. So micro commitments equal, equal macro confidence. I always say that, like small little wins over and over, compound into big success. My favorite part about the dashboard is a lot them having the ability to close out what they need. They're the metrics, the KPIs, based on what their larger goal is. So it's really easy to have, you know, five convert, two and a half, 510, conversations a day based on their goal, and seeing a win day after day, because it's hard for people to see the big goal, you know.
Brian Charlesworth 39:27
So I mean, I mean, if you know those metrics, and if you know what they are, it's so predictable, like, I know I can get any agent to sell five homes a month. And it's really a matter of for most people, it's they can do that. They can do four or five homes a month. If they go on 12 appointments a month. And so if I just go on 12 appointments a month, and this is really where the agent accountability report comes in. If you're not using that, let me spend some one on one time with you on that, Lindsay, because it's the most powerful thing for agents. But, but that's that's it. So anybody can be coached to selling five homes as long as they're hungry. And that's what you talked about, people have to be hungry.
Lindsay Stevens 40:09
Is that what you like? What is your what do you see inside so many dashboards like the unlock or what is there's no secret, but is that it the metric that you feel like is the biggest indicator, 12 appointments a month? Or is there something? Yeah, the
Brian Charlesworth 40:27
point appointments met is definitely the indicator. And 12 a month, anyone's going to have success if they're going on 12 a month, unless you're going to see if they're not asking for the business, if they're not getting signed contracts, if they're not getting a signed buyer agreement or listing agreement, okay, there's, there's an area for coaching there, but once we work on that coaching and get them to where there's getting those agreements signed, now we know we're winning, right? So what I like to say is, if somebody will show up, and once you back into it and know what those small metrics need to be to hit the big numbers once you know what the conversations, the appointments, that appointments met need to be for you to get the signed under contract and closed those lead measures, if you will show up and do that work, which is 100% in your control, every month, you guarantee a predictable income, because now you as a team leader, you can coach somebody that's showing up and having the conversations. If they're not setting appointments and they're having the conversations, you can coach them to get those appointments right. If they're going on the appointments but they're not getting assigned, you can coach them to that. But if they're just not showing up, those are the people I say, don't waste my time, right? This is like, yeah, like, it's if you're not having the conversations, don't even show up to a one on one with me, because it's not worth not worth my time. Yeah, yeah. So last question, Lindsay, you said you don't have a coach. I said I'm going to give you. You're going to have a coach next month,
Brian Charlesworth 41:58
but you've had a lot of coaches. But what is your thought? And I'm bringing this up because I'm very I've spent the last three months with my Sisu AI, which is called sunburst. It's sunburst powered by Sisu. This is the first time I'm talking about it publicly, but I've watched spring. I've watched
Brian Charlesworth 42:21
watched her her sales leader, sit in there and just ask question after question after question and have insights on their business they could never get from a from a human coach, because a human coach, and even I'm not even talking a human coach, that maybe leverages Sisu, because a lot of them do to have those insights, but still, you can never ask that human Coach, what exactly do I need to do to increase my business by 50% next year and get five different solutions on how you would get there, right? So what do you think about that moving forward? And obviously, you haven't played around in here yet, but you will soon, I'm excited. What are your thoughts on that? Because everyone's talking about AI for so many things, and I read a book called The the What's it?
Brian Charlesworth 43:12
Called the AI driven leader. I highly recommend it to anybody. But it really got me thinking different about AI, because everybody, especially in real estate, uses AI to write content, but that's like, it's like, the basic, basic thing you can use it for, yeah, but what if AI all of a sudden becomes your strategic business partner, your strategic business coach. For me, it's my board of directors. Like, before I take something to my board, I ask all the questions to my partner. Love that, and then it goes to my board, right? Or I have our ask that my AI partner, what questions am I not asking that I should be asking right now? And it'll ask me those one at a time so I can answer those. So anyway, that book, it's phenomenal book, the AI driven later. I highly recommend it for anybody. But what are your thoughts on the future? I mean, so many companies have tried to displace the realtor. I personally don't see that happening. I know people still talk about it, but, but I do see that a lot of like, I think the coaches can be displaced. I think, I think there's a lot of there's a lot of automation that can, can reduce the number of staff members you need, which we're working on as well, right? Yeah, if you want to, if you want to double your business and go from, I don't know how many transactions
Lindsay Stevens 44:32
are you guys at this year pending and close we're at 515
Brian Charlesworth 44:36
Okay, so if you want to go from, let's say you close the year out at six. If you want to go from six to 1000 like and not hire any more team members, how do you do that? Right? So that's an area where if you have to hire a bunch more team members, you're not going to be as profitable, right. So if you can do that without hiring a bunch of more team members, that's why systems are so important. So anyway, what are your thoughts on? How AI affects the real estate business.
Lindsay Stevens 45:04
I mean, I think you're right. Like, I think that what I am aware of, and actually spring was just talking about this, like, we're getting a little bit desensitized to AI, so we see it's very clear what's written in AI, and like, when you see it, I mean, I kind of just like, keep going, like, I don't even read it, because I know you didn't write it and it's not so I think we're more hyper aware of AI. I don't know that it will replace, I agree. I don't think it's going to replace the business. I am a big believer that if you go deep on relationships right now, you're going to win, because it is still a relationship business, and people are kind of like, AI, like, eh, but in terms of coaching, I love I love it because I feel like what, what we need help with is in that moment when we're trying to, like, solve a problem in real time, and when you wait until next Thursday at 12 o'clock Eastern time, you've already worked through it. It's not really an issue anymore. And my my thing with coaching is always like, there's not a lot of tracking and measuring what the person being coached said they were going to do. Did they do it? Where they're at? It's kind of like, so what do you want to talk about this week? And I've found that they never really hold me accountable to what I said I was going to do last week, in the week prior. And so therefore, you know, it's like, Okay, we're on to the next thing. But I think coaching, like having an AI so sophisticated that they can coach you on a business level like that, that's a game changer, for sure, not just in real estate. Well, you're
Brian Charlesworth 46:41
going to have it before the end of this. End of this year. So this is, this is the first you're hearing about
Lindsay Stevens 46:45
it, but lots of problems to share anyway.
Brian Charlesworth 46:50
Lindsay, it's so great to connect with you. Congratulations on your success. I'm here. I know you're gonna get to 1000 transactions next year. You're gonna get to 100 agents, and anything I can do to be a part of that, I'm here for you
Lindsay Stevens 47:02
guys. Appreciate that, and I know you mean it too. Yeah, thank you
Brian Charlesworth 47:06
absolutely tell tell your husband hello and have an amazing Thanksgiving. You too. And to all the listeners, thanks for joining us on a on the show again, again. Having top team leaders on this is really my favorite thing, because these guys have the grit, like they've had all the struggles that you guys have. They still have them every day. It's just, they're not willing. They're not it's not something they're not willing to face and change and go after. And you're talking to an endurance athlete here with Lindsay. And so it's this is just, you know, old school for her, because she deals with this every time she runs a marathon or whatever, whatever else she does that's probably beyond that. So have you done 100 miler yet?
Lindsay Stevens 47:49
I've done 100k I've done a 50 miler. Yeah. I ran Boston, New York, yeah. And I had something I always say, call it RFM, relentless, forward motion, like in everything, just relentlessly, keep moving forward.
Brian Charlesworth 48:03
That is great advice. Can you say that one more time? Like that is the key. That's the key to life,
Lindsay Stevens 48:08
right? RFM, it's relentless forward motion. I
Brian Charlesworth 48:14
would love to see you like, put some hats together that have that on and swag. And that could be, that could be your brand. I like that, alright, all the time, yeah. All right, let's make it your brand. Oh, okay, all right. Lindsay, thanks so much.
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