KGCI: Real Estate on Air - From Agent to Innovator: Laura Dao on Tech and Teamwork

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

Summary:In this episode, guest Laura Dao shares her innovative approach to building a real estate business that leverages both technology and a strong team culture. She discusses how she's evolved her business from a traditional model to one that prioritizes efficiency through smart systems and delegation. Laura provides a tactical blueprint for agents who want to scale their business without sacrificing quality or client experience. The conversation offers a fresh perspective on the role of technology and teamwork, making it a valuable listen for anyone looking to modernize their operations and build a more sustainable business.

Okay, well, welcome back to the power half hour, and this is the first in-person podcast. And today we have a very first guest in-person, Miss Laura Hua Dow, or Laura Dowhwa. Which one is it? It's Huwa-Dao. It should be just Dow, but. Okay. Got it. Got it.

So obviously, this is a podcast that I do, that, I interview all the top agents all over North America. And you are the first one in person. So I'm super excited to have you today. Thank you for coming. Wow, I'm honored. Yes, no, I'm honored to have you. And I'm honored to be partnered with you.

I'm grateful for your partnership. You bring a lot of energy and a lot of mentorship to the team. But the audience, they don't know you yet. Please go into a little bit of introduction for yourself. Okay, so I've been in. age, like just in real estate or just as a whole? As a whole or real estate, you're whatever you like. Okay, well, I'm married.

I've been married for 15, nope, 11 years. And I have two kids and a stepson, so three kids. Three kids? I thought it was just two. No, he's a 20-year-old. He's a 20-year-old? He was three when I met him. Okay.

Wow. Yeah, so I was a parent long before I actually became a parent. An actual parent, yeah. Yeah, so I was kind of in that role. And a step-parents, much harder. than an actual parent because... 100% You're limited.

Yeah, yeah. There's only so much you could do to be a mom. And you're the tread softly. Yeah. I've been an agent since 2009. And I owned a... My family owns jewelry store business in Winnipeg. So I was kind of always immersed into business.

And then I ran our restaurant. Yeah, we had a restaurant, a fast food restaurant in like a really busy food court in Winniwig. And I ran it. And then I would meet like judges and lawyers and so many like professional people. And I got to really have good relationships with them. And my dad was like one day he was like, meet your potential. This is like you're wasting your life here.

You could do so much. Wow. So then my brother bought me about my books. And then it's all history. Yeah. Really? So during the crisis, the financial crisis of 2008, that's when you started. started considering and then you became official in 2009?

Yeah. Okay, got it. And before that, you were running food court. Yeah, so I run a restaurant on the food court for about two or three years. Okay. Like, I went to university and have a university degree. So, like, I did all that really fast because I just wanted to get out of school. Yeah, yeah.

I want to become a teacher. Yeah. But, like, I am not patient. So that didn't work out. But, I mean, I always have that. in the background I've ever wanted to do something. The degree helps, obviously. And, yeah, I mean, I've been in real estate.

I love the industry. I love the job. Obviously, there's some hard things about the job, but, no, I absolutely love it. Amazing. Amazing. And so how many transactions did you do in your first year in 2009? Okay, so in 2009, I probably,

did 26 transactions. Wow, that's like running out of the gate. Yeah, I was very fortunate. So it was mandatory that all agents do like this Brian Pafini course. Oh. But then I was always showing houses

and my broker was like, Laura, like it's a mandatory. I said, would you rather not be making you money than sitting there? Yeah. You know, so he said, you know what, if you can do six transactions in the next three months, you don't have to take it. Oh. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, so I was very fortunate to have, like I grew up, I was born and raised in Winnipeg.

Well, I was born in Edmonton, but I came when I was like one. So I have a huge network there. My family, we've just been planted there. So we have a lot of, it was very, very easy to get my name out and to meet people. And so I was very fortunate that it came pretty easy. So with the 26 transactions, they all came from people that you knew mostly? Actually, no. Oh, okay.

Like, I remember I would sit there at night. Like, I was single. I wasn't married at the time. I had no kids. So I had all the time to, like, I would sit there and write letters to, like, at the time, it was com free. I don't know if you remember, calm free. So I write letters to, like, all the listings saying, I could sell your house. I'd give you a discount.

And my first listings. five listings were from those letters. And I would handwrite them because it was more personal. Right. Right. And remember my broker was like 11 o'clock. He'd be coming to get something from the office. He's like, what are you doing here?

I'm like, I need to like do something. Like I've just always been a hard worker. Like when I was a server, I was the best server. When I was working, I was a manager of like a restaurant when I was 17. Like they promoted me. So I just like to do everything to the best that I can. Because like why? What's a point if you're not,

we don't try, right? So no kidding. So that's not normal because everybody just does the bare minimum. Yeah. I was a majority of people. Yeah, you can see it, right? You can see it. So how, what was instilled in you as a youngster then to have you be that way?

So my parents, like my mom, my mom, when she was pregnant with us, she was janitor of the, you know, your typical refugee, they literally escaped on a little tiny boat. My dad had to sit on my mom to cover her from the pirates that would rape and kill her. So it's like really like a true like refugee store. You weren't born yet, obviously. When I was pregnant, my mom was cleaning the airport. My dad was, they were taking turns janitoring and cleaning and doing stuff.

And then my dad was able to get a job in heating and cold. cooling. So at the time, he was getting paid like $20 an hour. That's huge for like when we were super young. And then when we were, when I was in grade two, my mom went to Edmonton to train to how to open a tree store and do like goldsmithing. And then we opened a jewelry store in Winnipeg. And that was the first. And at one point we had six jewelry stores. So wow. My mom works super hard. And she still cooks, took care of us, was there for us. So she, I just take after that. Right. So it's what we. see like they'll see what their parents do and you're going to copy and do the same right oh well i mean

then i would say you're sort of blessed that i am to see that and you got to experience that and um now you bring that work ethic into real estate then you're unstoppable how do people get around that if they didn't have that experience i mean i would it's really about self-discipline i think going to school. Like, I think you're going to university, um, did not do much for me in terms of, like, my intelligence. But it really taught me, um, how to like, have time management. Because no one's watching, no one's taking attendance. No. You have to just make sure that you do everything yourself. And, um, I don't know. I just feel like you have to like want, want more and be disciplined. I think that's, discipline is a huge thing. I mean, I think being able to

tell yourself like this is what I need to do and I'm going to do it and also like I don't I don't I would never want to coast through life and just be like oh whatever you know you really want to just try to be the best that you can be like otherwise you're selling yourself short right so yeah but people this generation I would think and a lot of our colleagues I don't want to bad mouth people but like really the younger generation as I would say soft well I think because a lot of the time people are like, I want to be an influencer and I want to like sell my feet pictures or whatever, you know? And, hey, like, there are other ways to make money now, but you don't understand how much,

I mean, you understand, but do you know how much influencers have to like film everything they do? And like, it's a lot of work too. So you could be, and the ones that are making millions of dollars are working, like, you know, every day. They're hustling. They're hustling. and doing weird things and whatever they need to do to get.

But it's still hard work. So like, and I tell my 20-year-old now, I said, you know, you have to, like, you look exhausted. Every day when I went to work, even now I'm like, let's go. Like I was so excited and to just do your best every day. But he's always like, looks exhausted. And I think it's just a, I don't know. I don't know if it's just the generation, but I think they're losing sight of like, the good, the really like true good things in life as opposed to just, you know.

I think gratitude has a lot to do with it. But also it could make you really soft if you didn't have to come from hard times. They always say hard times create strong people and good times create weak people. Yep. Right. And, um, I think that's partially our fault in terms of parents because we make their life so easy. Right. So it's kind of like a really hard place, um, to properly.

discipline and neglected kids enough amount to make them more self-sufficient or make them more but all I can say for me my parents didn't give me a lot of time but the time that they did give was a very solid time my dad would tuck me in bed every night

up until I was like 13 you know and so those things really mean a lot yes so I knew that when they were away that they were just working hard for us so for me like when I was doing real estate in Winnipeg, I was not there. Like, I, um, it was the time we had to just work as much as we could.

And it was just a different, different thing. So hopefully my, my husband, um, explain that to my kids too, right? Like, oh, mommy's working or daddy's working when he's away. But my, my son, Aaron, who's 11, will tell me, he's like, well, you have to work because, you know, you have to take care of us. I'm like, yeah. So, like, as long as I think there's, you're talking to them and making, you're talking to them and making them understand that like, you know, and it's for work, you know,

just out like getting lit or anything. And I think they understand. That's good. Luckily for us, we didn't turn out bad because we totally could, right? Right. But I think at the end of the day, good parenting and like it really goes a long way. Like I think it really, talking to your kids, talking to your kids is so important. I think it's communication at the end of the day.

I love what you said about it's not the time spent with them. It's the time, it's how you spend the time with them. And the little tuck-ins, the little conversations before bed, perhaps. Sitting them when even you're not hungry, but they're eating dinner and you're like, you're just exhausted, but just sitting there. Even with my oldest, like when he comes home from work at midnight and I'm so tired, I just sit. Because that's like the quality time, right? That's like when you want to like see how they're doing. Yeah.

So, and like the 10-year-old and the 20-year-old have different struggles, right? Yeah. But they both, who doesn't like to feel that they're cared about? And they want to, I want to know what they're doing, right? Yeah. Yeah. So for the young parents out there, if you're hustling right now, it's all about communication, just like any other relationship. Yes. If they know that you do care for them and do care about them, it's not so much time spent. Glenn Sanford told me last year before I took the role of president of EXP Realty Canada and it's kind of like if you don't see your parents work hard

they won't learn that from you and if you're just around all the time you're not working they don't know how to work hard so in essence I think you did the right thing you worked hard and you communicate and talk to your kids so hopefully they'll turn out okay yeah and the time that we spend like I'm, I, you know, now that I moved here, I don't miss any games and stuff like that.

Good for you. In Winnipeg, it was not like that. I think, I'm pretty sure the women at the park thought I was dead or that Tommy was a widow because I was never there. Wow. But when I came home and I would cook for them and be with them, I would just try my best. It was not easy. Like, it's not easy, you know, to do, to wear both hats, right?

Yeah. especially because I'm the woman and I'm the mom. So a lot of the stuff, my husband can't give them, right? Because he's a man. So, but, yeah, I mean, as long as you try and talk, like, he doesn't have any, Aaron has no anger or sadness to like how I have to work. He totally understands. Yeah, yeah.

Amazing. Kudos to moms and happy belated Mother's Day to you. Amazing what you guys do. So I do want to talk about. about in terms of your production. So at the height in Winnipeg, you were selling how many homes as a solo agent? My biggest year, I believe, so solo.

Yeah. I'm 76 something like that. 76 deals as a solo agent. And how many were those were listings, how many of those were buyers? Buyers are probably about 60%. Oh my God. But as I was leaving Winnipeg, most of it was listing, like 80%.

Ah. So that's when you started to leverage a bit of a team? No. They're still so low. I think the more established. I only joined a team for two years. And at that point, him and I did 270 transactions together. Wait, wait, wait, okay.

No, 246. 246? But he was already a very busy agent. Okay, still. And we just combined forces. So, yeah, I know it was crazy. That wasn't really a team. That was more like a partnership.

It really was like a partnership. Yeah. So together 246. Wow. Yeah. Okay. And now talk about the transition. From Winnipeg to Vancouver.

First of all, it's a big adjustment. It is huge. In every way. In every way. Like more expenses. Yep. And you're away from home. And you have to give up your business.

Yeah. Why? Well, my son has autism. So it just, it didn't matter. So my husband's from here. So we'd come visit all the time. Oh, okay. Yeah, so he's born and raised here.

Oh, perfect. So his whole family's here. And obviously, as a parent, if your child has something like a disability, you were like we mourned it for a long time well i mourned it for a long time by myself and um as he got older i started like getting super frustrated with the whole system in in manitoba yeah i started looking to bc just to like just to look yeah and there's so many resources here um and you know what i said i don't care i don't i don't care about making x amount of dollars he has one life, so he needs to be given the best chance that he can.

Absolutely. So the only condition was that as long as I don't live in a piece of crap, and I don't live in like somewhere really far. Yeah. And we lived in a place that's safe and decent for my kids. Then we'll move. So we were there for spring break. The trip was already planned, and we found a place.

Didn't even sell our house yet. Didn't have money in hand. just bought blindly. And the rest is history, you're here. Yeah. Yeah. It all happened so fast, too, I seems. It had to happen fast because it was hard to leave my parents. And it was hard.

It was just hard. Like, who wants to move at the age of 40 to, like, a different province and, like, start from scratch? It's not. You're 40? I'm 42. You're 42? Yeah. Wow.

How old do you think I was? I don't know. I'm, like, 36. Oh, thank you. No, no. I'm old. I'm older. Okay.

Okay, yeah, wow. So that's a big adjustment at that age. You have no idea. Moving at that age, because you're already well established from 2009 to 2023, that's 14 years of real estate. And you built a big business. You have to let it all go, but the bigger purpose was to help your son. 100%. And at the end of the day, as long as we owned a house and we had some, like, roots planted.

Yeah. Like, if real estate didn't work for me and I just didn't sell a house and I could go work for the, I have a university degree, I have lots of, like, I have experience. So I could work for the government or whatever. I didn't, it didn't matter at that point because he is the first priority. Of course. Yeah. Wow. So you would do anything.

Anything. Whatever it takes. Well, even now, like, I try to work as much as I can, but between, like, driving him and if he has a meltdown at school, I have to go pick them up. So I can't be like, I can't, I can't go to all the things that all the realtors do. And, yeah. But you know what?

That's okay. I had 14 years to build something. And I feel like the 40s are like the years to like, not enjoy, but just just chill a little bit, you know? Like maybe focus on something different because I can't work as hard as I'd want to. And it kind of kills me. I'm always like, oh gosh.

But at the end of the day, I look at him and he's doing so well. And that's my main focus. You're such an A-type personality, aren't you? I really am. Yeah. What's that like to pull back from that? Because you're, go, go, go. It is hard, right?

My husband is an amazing human being. He's so, he definitely does some, like, wellness checks on me. Oh, good. Because he knows that I need to be, I don't like to just be mediocre. You want to be challenged. Yeah. So, but at the end of the day, I just look at my son every day. And that's the one thing that keeps me focused on like, you know what?

It's okay. I don't need to be making all this money. I'm okay with just doing enough and having the time with him and spending that with him. And then I have a 20-year-old and then I have a 11-year-old. So he's in my 11-year-old and soccer and all these things. So everyone has their own things. Yeah. So I don't really have the time to.

to focus to be like number one. Like that's not, you know what you mean? Like that was a goal I had before. Yeah, you've already been there, done that. It's no longer something that I really want. Yeah. Yeah. And so that brings me to the next topic is like,

you could make it on your own here as a solo agent in Vancouver and do what you do. So why did you join the Align group? Well, I mean, I followed you before anything. and I usually don't. So in Winnipeg, teams are like, oh, you're a team. Like, it's very, it's not something that, like, is good. Oh, really? Like, if you're on a team, it's because you need the help.

That's sort of how it's looked at. But I said to myself, I don't know anyone here. I want to attach my name to something that I can learn from and that I can really just benefit from. Like not lead wise, just humanly wise. Right. And then, so I really admired you and what you stand for. I think you're like hilarious and you're fun and you're a family guy.

So I was drawn, I was drawn to it. And I had other opportunities to join other teams. But your team, like the team is great, right? Like the line group is amazing. So even everyone I talk to now, like the sense of family, all the people on the team, they're just so, there's no competitiveness. and like everyone supports each other which is so unheard of.

Amazing. I really love it. Like I can't even, like I might, it can't even fake it. Like it's just so, it's great. Thank you.

That's really good testimony. You just said, it's not lead wise. It's the human factor. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And it's about like,

it's about the quality of life. Really, that's what I'm focusing on a lot. It's my quality of life. Yes. So do I want to be part of a team that I feel like I need to like hide things from or like, oh, Everyone's fighting their business. But, like, truly everyone's embraced me.

Our group chats are just hilarious. And, like, I just love the sense of family that it has. And it's amazing. For a group that big, everyone really just, like, watch each other, which is amazing. And cheers each other on. And it's just, yeah, it's great. Amazing. Thank you for that testimony.

Because I don't know what I don't know. And obviously, I try to create that environment. Yeah. And to hear from you, it means a lot. So thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for your partnership. And, you know, we're just, we're doing well right now.

You know, our team is really grown. And, you know, at the end of the day, we do want to provide that culture. Yeah. I mean, anyone that watches, any that follows any of us, we'll see the positivity. Like, I don't, there's no negative. I've never thought one negative thing. Wow. Yeah, which is, because I'm, you know, I have bitchy moments.

but I'm very yeah it's very great it's great thank you thank you and I also want to thank you for being open and vulnerable and sharing with us because I know you had a big moment you did share the very first time on social media and said that was big for you so thank you for sharing with us today as well

it felt good to do it to be honest good yeah kind of like a little bit of release it was a big relief because everyone's wondering like why did you leave like you know and also I wasn't able to post a lot about Evan because it's not like a normal kid. So I didn't want questions. I didn't want people like, oh, why is it like that or whatever? But now I'm like, I don't care, dude.

Like this is what it's going to be. This is what it is. But I've helped a few people. People have messaged me off of it. So yeah, I mean, that's all I wanted was to raise awareness to it and give people a light on like my life now. It's not like it was before. Yeah. Wow.

Wow. So this whole big transition and real estate and now the 40s are more about quality of life. Absolutely. I really like that because I'm in the exact same place. Like because how much more can we chase the ego? Yeah. How much money can we make? Right?

And what comes down to what's important is family. Yep. And if we can have the quality of life and make an upper life. and making up production and money so we can live and just focus on what's important. Yep. What more do we need? That's what I'm saying. Last question.

Why do you think this is such an egotistical industry? Oh, that's a really big question. It's a loaded question. Yeah. I think people measure money as success. And I don't think that that's. has to do with anything. Wow. Yeah. I've seen very wealthy people who are miserable. So I think success is like inner inner inner peace and like be able to like be happy because you'd be surprised

how many people are not actually happy. Money doesn't actually make you happy, I don't think. Actually, I am walking proof. I am very happy now. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm making less money. Yeah. Yeah. But at the end of the day, like I feel, um, a crazy sense of freedom here. Wow. Yeah. That's great. Yeah.

So I think ego is an egotistical business because they measure everything by money. Money or number of transactions. And a lot of it, because we have social media now, a lot of is that clout, right? So some people don't sell selling houses, make it something that's selling like millions of dollars of houses. But hey, like, whatever floats your boat. Whatever floats your boat. Yeah. Wow.

Because we are in a business where actually people are drawn to big egos too. Some people like that. That's true. Yeah. I like to change the industry where everybody's having a good quality of life because you and I went through the grind. And it sure wasn't fun in my first 10 years, but I was chasing after my ego. Just like you probably were before money and ego. Obviously you let that all go to have quality of life and priorities.

straight and it's all about family. Amazing. Well, thank you for sharing all this. We are so grateful to be partnered with you and I can't wait to keep growing with you. Again, it's all about quality of life, better quality of life, better support, priority straight. People who are listening to this are agents who are up and coming or trying to make it. What's the one piece of advice that you would have for them going forward?

Hmm. I would say, honestly, for me, I've always to stay true to who I was. Like, I didn't take on clients that made me want to kill myself. Like, I didn't, I didn't take, um, I didn't take on the business that would drain me. I just, it's a, like, just kind of just stay true to what you are, like, what makes you happy. And at the end of the day, money is not everything. So I think sacrificing yourself and, you know, just, you are. your dignity sometimes. It's just not worth it. So yeah, just know who you are and stay true to it. I think even people on social media who are successful, like you, for example, you are true to

who you are. You are the same. So people are drawn to that. So I mean, being real and being authentic is very important. That's really good advice. I think that's the first time we've ever heard that on the show. Really? Because it's more like a lot of it is like tactical, how to get more business but being true to yourself and keeping your dignity and sometimes is better than profit because a lot of times we sacrifice our dignity to make a little bit more money just that little bit more but if you're authentic and true to yourself I think that creates longevity in the business longevity because it's like not a race it's a marathon oh I love that yeah I think you want to be if you want to be in it for the long haul people will

appreciate authenticity and I think more than blowing smoke and just you know yeah well that's why I love you you are so authentic you're so real and that's why I wanted you today to share with us you know first person yeah first person in person yeah we're grateful for you and uh thank you I'm very inspired thank you thank you this was for me too so the guys uh reach out to Laura if you want to learn from her And, you know, there's more content coming. So, you know, be sure to check in. People wanted to reach out to you or follow you. Where can we find you?

I'm on Instagram, laurahua. Dot Realtor. Dot Realtor, okay. Yeah. And, yeah, I mean, that's a whole lot of why I use Facebook. Facebook? Who uses Facebook anymore? I don't think I know how to use Facebook.

I have one. I don't know how to use it. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome guys. Well, you heard it here. Be authentic. Get your priorities straight.

It's all about family, quality of life. Not about the ego. Not about the most money. Have a great life. Doing real estate. Thank you. And we'll see you all next week.