KGCI: Real Estate on Air - From Telemarketing to Franchise: The Real Estate Blueprint

Episode Date: November 1, 2025

Friday Focus is your weekly mini-series from KGCI Real Estate On Air—a deep dive into one theme, broken into tactical, easy-to-implement episodes. Every Friday and Saturday, we unpack the strategies, scripts, and systems agents use to win more business—without the fluff.Catch every episode in the series to get the full picture, and put these moves into play by Monday.Summary: In this inspiring episode, we dive into the incredible journey of building a real estate business from the ground up, starting with the often-dreaded world of telemarketing. We explore how a relentless focus on lead generation, a powerful CRM, and a strategic mindset can transform a cold calling operation into a thriving, scalable real estate franchise. This episode is a masterclass in leveraging a simple, repeatable process to achieve extraordinary business growth and financial freedom.  Ready for more? Subscribe to KGCI Real Estate On Air and grab the Always Free Real Estate On Air Mobile App for iPhone and Android. Inside, you’ll find our complete archive, 24/7 stream, and every Friday Focus mini-series—ready when you are.

Real estate strategy without the spin. Here's what you missed from this week's Friday Focus on KGCI, Real Estate on Air. I just had Lisa Ritter on, and she is with Remax. She just sold her franchise. She's going to break down how she went on that path of how she got started with it and what made her decide to sell. Very interesting in this market. I encourage you to stay tuned, especially if you own a franchise

or you're thinking about doing your own or your own boutique. Same scenario. There's a lot of reasons to listen to this one. Stay tuned. Welcome to Real Estate Riches, where Kathy Burns empowers realtors to achieve the success they've always dreamed of. Starting her career at 55, Kathy built a thriving business that offers the freedom of time and financial independence. And now she's sharing her journey to help others do the same. Whether new to the industry or looking to level up, this channel is your hub for proven strategies, inspiring stories, and the tools you need to grow your real estate business. Join Kathy each week to explore global opportunities,

successful systems, and expert insights to take your career to the next level. Get comfortable. Pick a video and start learning. Your journey to success starts now. Hi, everybody. It's Kathy Burns here with Real Estate Riches. And today I'm here with Lisa Ritter, and she is the former owner of Remax results,

but still working on that team there. And she is out of Omaha, Nebraska. So welcome, Lisa. Thank you. It's great to be here. Well, I'm excited about our story, and I'll tell you all a little joke. I didn't push record, so we're starting there too. So hopefully we capture it all.

Hang in there and see, this is a perfect lesson of being willing to make mistakes. Amen. It's all good. It's all good, right? So Lisa, I know that we talked before about how you started out as a single agent, went to having a team, then bought up the franchise, and all that didn't happen over a few years span. So kind of give us a little background on your story. Yeah. So I started out in the telemarketing industry, which made me tough, resilient, not so afraid of rejection. Yeah. I started

when I was 15. I became a part of management at 17, was working full time after I left high school at noon. By 25, as a result, I was already burnt out of being in the telemarketing industry, and I stayed at home to babysit children because I had my first one who is little, and I wanted to spend more time with him, and he had started to experience some health issues. And I quickly realized that I love my own kids and enjoy raising them. Don't enjoy raising other people. I was going to say, you took on some chaos there. Yes, right, right. So, although it might have been setting me up to be a broker. I don't know. No, just kidding. You do feel like a mom to agents sometimes when you're owning a brokerage. Yeah, yeah. But I discovered that I needed to do

something to earn more significant money. And we had already owned two or three homes during that time. And I had just gotten off a super bad relocation experience. And so I decided to become a real estate agent myself. And better. Yes, yes. And one of the things that I have found throughout my training, recruiting, owning is that when a person has a big why, a really big why, they're going to become successful. Yeah.

Yeah. And I have a really big why. Yeah. Because of your son? Yeah. I really needed to make sure that he had the best health care and options always available to him. So I'm like, failure's not an option.

I've said that a lot. Yeah, yeah. So my first full year in real estate, even while babysitting full time during the day, I sold 24 homes. So I would get up at like five in the morning, work until the kids came at like 7.30, you know, be with the kids all day. And then they'd leave at 4.30 or 5 and I would go on and, you know, do my real estate work. Now, there wasn't a lot of overlap of that time.

That was probably only three to five hundred. months, I guess. So it wasn't a huge quantity of time because I needed to prove to myself that I could do it, that I could earn a living and I did. So I just loved it. And as a consequence of doing really well, I was asked to do training from other people. So I started training and mentoring and did a significant amount of that. Then I became a manager for a sizable firm here in the Omaha Metro. And after a couple of years of that, I'm like, oh, I don't wouldn't do the management thing. I think I'm going to go back into sales, went back into sales and developed a team. I was very proud of that team. We had a great thing going. I mostly trained moms. I don't know why. That's just the way it worked out. And they did very well. And I thought, boy, why don't I do this on a larger scale? So I decided to open a brokerage. Well, sadly, most of my team members did not come over with me. And the reason given was, you know, you just weren't very transparent and you sprung this on us

and no, we're not leaving the comfort of this large brokerage to go with something brand new. And so that broke my heart in a million pieces. Sure. I survived. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, as a matter of fact. So as you were leaving to your existing firm to create your own franchise. which was a different company, right? Yes, entirely different.

Yeah. And just everything about it was completely different. And the company that I was working for was hundreds and hundreds of people. So it was very large and comfortable. So when you're leaving to just go start your own little itsy-bitsy thing, people are like, I don't know, you know. Yeah. Well, people are, you know, most people are not entrepreneurs. We talked about this.

Yes. You were the entrepreneur leading the pack, but the pack needed to have the same. mindset, they saw comfort and security over here and like, oh, hell no, I'm not going over there. It was fear, fear. Yes, yeah. And fear stops a lot of progress in the beginning of beautiful things for us frequently, which is unfortunate. False evidence appearing real, right?

Yes, totally, totally. You know, during the times of my life where I have pushed through that, I've been so happy I did. You know, there's, I can't even think of an instance that I've regretted pushing through that fear. So we pushed through the fear. We opened the brokerage a lot more expensive than we anticipated. It always is. I mean, it just is. I've talked to so many broker owners and it's like, of course it's expensive.

And it just kept getting more and more expensive. And the commissions kept getting pushed up and up for agents. Your split got smaller and smaller. It's got smaller and smaller as the, you know, for the broker owner. which I understand. I get it. Agents work hard. They deserve their money.

They still want the same amount of perks and amenities and privileges and parties and this and that, you know, but they want it on, you know, still the high commission. So brokers really have been squeezed in recent. Now, is that when your husband joined you?

Because he wasn't a filter before that. My husband got his license because we saw the direction that it was, well, A, I needed help. Yeah. And B. when I started even leading a team, it became a lot more work. And then when we knew we were opening and brokers were like, yeah, we definitely need to make sure that he's really involved. And so that was such a godsend that he was willing to partner with me on that. That's great. Yeah. I see a lot of

married couples in real estate. And it does one of two things. You're either really tight or you divorce because there's heavy. I think more. That's the truth though, too. Yeah. I think more divorces happen though when the husband or the wife is not in the industry. I think you're tighter when you're both in the industry. I think it's, you know, I'm not going to lie, it's still tough, but I'm so proud of us surviving it. We got married at 20 and 21. Yeah. And we've been together 30-some years now. And, you know, you each got to stay in your lane to survive it. I don't think it's for everybody to do that. And it's, you know, I'm glad that we're not doing that anymore because I do enjoy now that we're back to this, just really looking at him as basically my husband first.

And, you know, instead of business partner. And that's all you talk about and you're obsessed with it. And there's not a lot of room for other things in life. It's nice just having, my husband. Yeah. Oh, I love that. And, you know, this is real stuff here because there's a lot of people out there in this same situation. And you and I talked earlier that, you know, to me, the franchise model is dying.

And the independent boutique owner, like, I have a friend, I have two friends, you know, they were hustlers. They are hustlers. So they saw the next step was, let's go start our own firm. And I'm thinking, boy, that's the last thing I would. want to do because of all the extra responsibilities on top of a challenging market. And both of these people just did this. And I'm thinking, we have all these listings, so much less listings.

Now, Charlotte's a hot area. So we have people moving in like crazy. The challenges there isn't enough listings to supply them. And so then what? And a lot of agents have left the industry last year. I think more will probably leave this year. but the truth of it is it's a hard business and like you said with the splits getting higher for the boutiques and the franchises there's still a nut you got a crack and the meta with it being cloud

based makes so much more sense that there is no base and because it's one company you can build a team like i personally have 154 people in my organization i'm in seven states and two countries and I'm on a team. And I can build an organization. I can build up my own business within a business and with no responsibilities. I really like. And I think that's the direction, you know, that things are going in a lot of cases is it is so much less expensive to build a team than do brick and mortar. But I do think, you know, like there's a butt for every seed.

So, you know, and not everybody will come to meta. Absolutely. People have different needs, wants, and desires. And I'm so proud to still be a remax results rock star. And for me, there's a wonderful place to be at this point in my life. At this point in my life, I am proud to just be focusing on one thing and doing it really well. And that is, you still have a team? Yes. I do have a small team. Very nice. Yes. And very proud of the women that have joined me, Lisa Bliss. And Deanna Raybuck. And then I don't know if you can call my husband a team member or not. He's my husband. He's your partner. He's my equal. But technically, team member. Team member. Very cool. Very cool. Well, lots of interesting information because so many people, so many different styles of businesses are happening within the real estate industry.

It's not like it's a cookie cutter for one thing for all. There's so many different flavors of being a real estate agent. And so many different choices. But the entrepreneur, typically mindset, they start out as an individual, then they grow a team. And teams are relatively new over the past, what, 15 years? They didn't have them when I started on 19 years ago. They started to evolve. They made a lot of sense. And then those team, just like you, they said, well, why don't I go own my own deal?

And it can be great and it can be overwhelming and it can break you because the rest of the people within. the business don't follow along. They're coming and going. There's a lot of drama involved with people. There can be, yes. Yes. And I think because you were dealing with a lot of moms in your situation. Yeah.

And because you also did that telemarketing, I think you've got your people skills down really well of how you work with people, right? Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, it is being a broker owner or a team leader is someone. parent-ish in the world of business, or it can be equated with that, because there needs to be some accountability. Yep. With running a team.

But there also needs to be huge levels of encouragement and, you know, some business love, so to speak, making sure that they feel well taken care of and safe with you in sharing issues and items so that you can address it and keep things moving forward. Well, one thing that you said when we were recording before is that the training that you gave your office, which is not, it's not the same in every office, obviously. Some franchises do better, some boutiques do better than others, but I think training is essential in this industry. It is. Because just because you take an exam and set out to go sell a house, no, you need training. Oh, it's so much more than people realize.

Oh, my gosh. this is not hgTV world there's a lot to it and meets the eye and i think every deal almost teaches you a new lesson it's not like all of a sudden you got it all you keep running into stuff when i would teach people one of the first things that i would start out with as a philosophy is that our job is really no less important than a pastor a lawyer, you know, a trusted financial advisor.

What we do is a big deal. In many cases, we're handling the largest asset of their lives. So it's up to us to become extremely wonderful, influential leaders that are worthy of holding that title. Yes, yes. I want us to look at our title in a much different way as an interesting. confident. Yeah. Yeah. And responsible because we are responsible. Absolutely. So what would you say? Because not everybody's cut out to go the path like you did. Many are just the followers that just want to do sell the homes. That's their, like the ones who didn't follow you. That's their business. That's their role. And we need those too.

But for the ones that have more hustle, what would you say to them? Like based on today's market, where things are, like what would be something? of the cautions that you would give them. Yeah. One of the things that I'm going back to is something that a wonderful manager of mine when I first got in the industry said to me, and she said, and at the time I didn't consider it too relevant until I lived a little bit longer, but it was don't let the highs be too high and the lows be too low. He even keeled. Doesn't mean let go of all emotion, but pull some of it out that tends to. to want to bubble up and keep putting one foot in front of the other, just doing the right thing and taking the steps that you need to take even when you don't feel like it. And then you're

going to be successful. How about hiring fellow team members to be on your team? What do you look for? What's your advice there? Ah, yeah. If you're looking to grow a team, make sure that they have a victor mentality and not a victim mentality. Okay. If you're here, hearing a lot of excuses from them over and over, do not go down that path. Right. Right. Because you're not going to change that. Right.

No, that's who they are. Yeah, that is, they're telling you who they are. I still make that mistake occasionally every once in a while. You know, I mean, but, you know, you can, but you can need to, if you get in that path, then you've got to try to change that. What about the disc profile? Did you ever incorporate that into your? I did.

I did not. But one of my biggest criteria is, why are you doing this? And really listening for the words and then what they're willing to put into it and what their goals are. They need to think big if they want to be associated. I say that a lot on my vision board. Think bigger. Yeah. Yeah.

That's good. And so now for the ones that have a team that now think that the idea of going to have their own firm, whether it's a franchise or a boutique or whatever, what are some of the insights or cautions that you might give somebody? Yeah, I would caution somebody on opening a brick and mortar from scratch in today's environment because you can build a team, you know, unless you're already in a company where half is going to go with you, you know, and even then, it's really only going to be a quarter that are going to go with you. Yeah, it's just, it's a lot more money than you think, and it's a lot more expensive than you think, and it's a lot more

work than you think. And you know what? To everyone out there who has a broker who is worth even an ounce, go out and thank them, man. That can be a thankless, thankless job. Everyone thinks, oh, they're rolling in the dough and they don't need me. They're a great life leader. But you know what? Even brokers need encouragement. Thank you broker today. Yeah, that's a good one. I think that's a good way to end. Any other tips you got for us? You know, also in today's environment where, you know, things aren't as easy as they were a few years ago. I still want to do well. I still expect to do well. But I work to remember that my value is not in what I produce. It's in who I am and how I affect people and do I have peace in my heart. So if you're struggling with your production level,

if you are in that spot, things will get better by doing the right thing and putting one foot in front of the other and expecting positive things. But know that you are worthy of love and should choose to live in peace. Yeah, I agree totally. Well, Lisa, thank you so much for being on here. I love this. you've been great insights for us all. I appreciate that so much. And just stay tuned to everybody. This is Real Estate Riches again. And if you like what you heard, subscribe below. We will have all of Lisa's information so that you can reach out to her and do business with her. Get some advice maybe on starting a franchise of your own or whatever. I don't think that's the wisest move, but that's another story. Anyway, that was great. Thank you so much, Lisa. Thank you, Kathy. Appreciate it.

So thanks for joining me on this episode of Real Estate Riches. Wasn't that great? I'm sure you've got a nugget or two. I know I did. So if you liked it, please subscribe below, share it with everybody. Make some comments. We really find that invaluable. And if you're thinking that you would love to talk about this a little bit more,

let's schedule a business strategy call. I'll have the link below. Let's see if we can't mastermind together and see if we can't empower each other. That would be great. So until next time, signing off. Hope to see you on the next. next one.