KGCI: Real Estate on Air - How This Realtor Retired Her Husband & Built a Referral-Only Empire!

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

This is everything they never told you about real estate with the AI queen Carrie Sovey, sharing the tech, tools, and lead gen strategies that top producers won't tell you about. Now, here's your host, Carrie. All this is show, everybody. I am joined by a very good friend of mine, a woman that I love in this world of EXP. it's Elizabeth Riley. She is the leader of the Lux Property Group, correct, which is in Austin, Texas. But she's also a major influencer in the real estate space all over the world now, because you've spoken everywhere now, right? You've been to Europe. We had you on stage at Portugal.

You've come to Canada numerous times. So thank you so much, Elizabeth, for coming on and joining me today. I'm excited. I love having conversations. with my partners and friends and cold-blooded people. And we're just talking about how cold it is where you are. And so I just don't get it. But I'll come visit you when it's warm, not when it's negative, whatever you told me, 10. I know, right?

I'm actually thinking about putting on a week-long workshop or seminar. I heard some interest in that. But I'm going to do it in the summer. So maybe you can come up and come for about four days and let me put AI into your business. finally. I'm all in because every time I hear you talk, my mind is blown. So yes, I just need you to show me, show me the way a wise one. So Elizabeth, there's a couple things about her that I need all of our listeners to understand. And one of the things is that she's built this massive brand,

this massively successful and impactful brand off of referrals. And no leads, is that correct? no purchase. Knock on wood. I've never purchased a lead now. And how big, what is your organization, not your organization, what does your team look like? First, tell me about that. So Lux property groups in our world is called a self-organized team. So we're a non-team team, if you will.

It's made up of three of us that are licensed. The two that are licensed with me have been friends of mine since our kids were in first grade and now our kids are in college. So a long time. And it's just friends coming together, doing business, doing life, doing all the the things, right? But I never wanted to be boss. And in fact, Meredith has more experience than me. And they didn't really, nobody wanted to be under anybody, if that makes sense. So we created more of a referral group and a mastermind where we lead with our branding together. We market together.

It makes us look better in our marketplace as far as a bigger group and organization. And we support each other in that way. So three of us are licensed. And then I have my ride or die assistant, Jen. She's been with me about 14 years, started as my TC for many, many years and transitioned into more of my operation director type role. And then she manages two of my VAs, which I consider my, I don't consider them VA's. I consider them assistance, right? So I have SAB and I have Onica. And so between the three of them, they keep our business rolling and then three of us are licensed. So not a formal team like people would think, but from the outside looking in, we are our team. Well, and there's strength in numbers too. And I think that I really like the idea of this

informal team that you put together. I think it makes sense. Yeah, it's just easy because we all have our own business and we have our own goals, but we can support each other and whatever that looks like. Right. So if I'm traveling or speaking, one of our clients always has two of us on there. And it just gives us its leverage. And it's giving us freedom in different ways to support whatever our dreams and our goals are or family or whatever it looks like. And it works really well for all. And let's mention that you just got your 10th icon award. So that's 10 in a row. And you're the only one in EXP that has this right now, correct?

Correct. Yeah, I was the only one with 9 for a long time. I think there's some people knocking on the door of 9. But yes, I just, Friday was my closing that put me over to number 10. So pretty big accomplishment for sure. Oh, I'm so happy for you. That must feel absolutely wonderful. And what is your, so we know you are a part of our leadership at EXP.

What does your organization look like? So your extended team, you know, your organization. I'm not part of, I think we're all leaders at this company in our own way, right? So I'm not corporate at all. I love, love, love our corporate leadership. We have the best of the best in the business. That's not a goal of mine, but I love that we can lock arms with them and do things. in a bigger way and be very entrepreneurial, which our company is very entrepreneurial. But I think we're

all leaders from the brand new agents all the way up to those of us that have been in the industry for a long time. I've been in the industry 20. And it's failing forward. Every single day is not perfect. I'm learning from people around me. But my org, you know, people follow people. And when I came over to this company, it was a very, very different landscape than what it looks like now. And there were 400 agents at the company nationally. So I didn't come to the company for anything other than getting back to the basics and finding my passion in real estate again and mastermining and collaborating with people in an industry that's very, very competitive. Yeah.

So coming over was really, my focus was the stock. I love the stock opportunity. I love the icon idea. I was the first icon ever named. So I really came because of that. I was a top producer. And when Glenn rolled out this idea of icon, that's what brought me to this company. I never had any intention of building a large work organization, but people, people join people.

just like in your business, just in my real estate business. My business is 100% referral. People know I can trust me, right? So whatever you do, everybody has influence in some way, shape, or form. And for me, people join people. And so my org grew over the last 10 years, not just by my efforts, but everybody's efforts together. And so I'm a little over 10,000 globally now. I know I'm in 24 countries. I don't know if I have anybody yet in the new, the three that we just launched, but hopefully that'll be Yes, that should be a goal. That should be our goal. We should go after agents and leader in Egypt. That's what we should have going. I know. My son went to Egypt and I was like, well, let's go back. I want to go visit Egypt. So there's an excuse to do it. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, let's talk a little bit

about your family. So I did, just so you know, Chad GVT has a really cool feature in the $200 a month pro account version, which probably nobody listening has because I'm the only psychopath that pays $200 a month for AI. But it is, it's called deep research. And it deep dives and it takes minutes and sometimes up to 30 minutes to do a really deep dive on a subject or a person. So I did a deep dive on you. I think I should be nervous, right? Oh my gosh. So, but you haven't sent me bio yet. So I literally was just like Elizabeth Riley EXP Realty.

I'm hoping a lot of it is accurate. Did you used to work for a computer company? Worked for Dell computer. Yes. Yes. So were you in corporate? Like what exactly did you do? So this is before real estate. Tell me a little bit about what your life looked like before real estate.

My background. I went to Texas A&M marketing degree. My minor was Russian because I thought I was going to do an international business. I had all these different goals and dreams. Came to Austin, worked for a manufacturing lighting company. Not very exciting, but it was a marketing role. Went to Dell computer from there, worked in finance for a little bit.

And then where I really, really found my footing. What Dell is in college recruiting and corporate in university relations. So I was a recruiter on the undergrad and MBA side for product group and like engineers, mechanical engineers, all that. So I loved, love, loved my job as a recruiter for Dell, all, you know, traveling, this is before marriage, this is before kids, traveling to all these really cool universities, working with all these different, you know, people. And then from there went to a startup called college hire.com. And that was in the whole dot com era. Yeah. And that was a fun ride and still in recruiting there. And then my husband and I got married and we were transferred to Austin or to Atlanta, Georgia. And I worked for a law firm. I was a lot. I worked. I worked. for a law firm in Austin, too. I was a marketing director. So it's always in marketing in some way, marketing and recruiting and relationships in some way. Yeah. And then we were in Atlanta for a number of years and that's when I got into real estate.

I'm hearing a reoccurring theme. You really excel when it comes to building relationships. And anybody that's met you before obviously gets it. They would totally get that. But does this stem from having the upbringing that you had being from a family who fostered so many kids, right? Like how many kids did your parents foster? We had 140 foster children in 20 years. And I think I think you're right there. If you start looking at the disc profile, my disc profile is an SD, right? And so my D is very adaptive, but I lead with a very high S.

I don't have a lot of I. I'm much more of an introvert than people think I am. So I do much better with relationships on a smaller scale. So being in this environment has been a whole completely different world for me. And I've had to be very, very adaptive. So people think, oh, you've got this high S or high I. And I'm like, no, not really, but I'm very adaptive. I think the upbringing that I grew, you know, the family that I grew up in,

you had a lot of children and a lot of kids with needs. And we just, my mom had a servant heart. And that's what, that's what was modeled to me growing up. and just being there and anticipating the needs of others and, you know, good or bad, putting other needs before yours. I'm bad about that. Yeah. I mean, I think that's a good thing, but it also can be a detriment, right?

If you're not taking care of yourself first, kind of putting your oxygen mask on first. So, yeah, I think that comes from a lot of why I just am very nurturing and I just want everybody to feel like they belong and I want everybody to feel like they're included and I want everybody to win in whatever that looks like. And it can be exhausting, but it's exhilarating as well. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. that must have been quite an interesting upbringing. Like,

oh, yeah. I feel like if I was in that environment, because I think we've briefly talked about this before, I don't excel at relationships as much as some people do. I'm like a very, I like statistics and numbers. Yeah,

I have no C. Yeah. But I don't even know what my disc is. I've never, I've never taken it. And I feel like I need to know because I need to about it. and I have no idea. But I was always so jealous of the other realtors that could literally build such an amazing, glowing business just from building relationships and their ability to connect

with people. And that's where I felt like I was lacking. I don't know. You've got to give yourself some grace though because I think for so many years, people would always say this is the only way to be successful in real estate. And that's, that's not accurate, right? I mean, I've been in a business 20 years, and the things that I was told I had to do to be successful are things that I wouldn't do. And maybe that's the wrong attitude, but it wasn't authentic to who I was. And if I'm not going to show up in my authentic way, I feel like I'm a fraud. Does that make sense? Right.

Absolutely. I'm going to tell you all these things. I'm just trying to sell you a house, which is not who I am at all. And so I always say, if you build the relationship, you're going to build the business. You're going to earn the business. Because I want people to see me and say, oh, my gosh, there's my friend Elizabeth. but she happens to be awesome in real estate instead of, oh my gosh, there's Elizabeth.

She's going to talk about real estate run. And I think too many people have that real estate breath or, you know what I mean? That commission breath or whatever it is. I just want to sell a house. I'm like, no, I just want to treat my clients like they're one and only. If I do a great job, they're going to tell everybody they know about me. If I do a horrible job, they're going to tell everybody about me, right? So I just want to figure out, okay, what's your goal?

Everybody's goals are different. How can I best serve you? how can I best show up for you? And if I'm the right person, I'm the right person, but I'm going to hold your hand. It's not about, you know, this is my job description. Like I'm all in with you. And I think that over, I mean, again, I've been in business 20 years, right? And I think that's evolved over time. But it's really the relationships first. You lead with relationships. You figure out what they need. It's more important about what they need than what you need. It's not about you. And when people recognize that, I think it changes the game in their business.

Yeah. And you know, you like I keep saying I'm jealous of the agents who could serve in a certain way. But I brought other things to the table. And I was very successful. I'm no longer trading. But when I was, I was very successful. And it's because I was a little bit of a shark, right? Like a shark that would bite everybody. But you know what I learned? One thing is I'm really resourceful. So you don't have to. You can totally be yourself in this business. and bring to the table everything that you have to offer authentically. And the best thing that you can do for yourself and your brand is surround yourself with support systems that have strengths that you don't have. It's like being in college. You know, you form your study groups of students that excel in one area. And then you try to fill what's lacking, right, with other students. It's the same concept, don't you think?

and that's what builds a really good team or a really good organization because it doesn't have to all come from me. So you're right. It's a natural one person. And you and I are very different, right? Which I love that we met when we did and we got to know each other. And it's so funny because you never think you're going to have anything in common with people as you meet them. And you're like, oh my gosh, I really like you. You actually are so opposite of me and I can learn from you.

But it's a good thing, right? Yeah. You're techie, AI, nerdy in the best way possible. And where I hear what you start talking about on my anxiety level goes up. But what's super cool about relationships like this and especially the environment that we're in is we all lift others as we climb and we bring our different strengths to the table. And I think with the teams and the organizations, we're only one person. I don't have all the answers, right? I mean, even if I've been in the business 20 years, I'm still learning from agents that are new in the business because the business now is very different.

than when I got into business 20 years ago. And so I think sometimes people just, they stop learning. They forget how to be a student. And if you're just always a student, you're always going to be growing. I want to be a little fish. And I'm a little fish in this company in some regards. And then I'm a big fish in others. And we all bring our gifts to the table.

And that's what's exciting about what we're doing. I love what you just said about constantly learning because I feel like I would shrivel up and die if I was not consistently learning. how to do something new. Yeah. It's just how my mind works. I don't. How boring would it be, right?

So many people do this in their lives and I'm just like, how do you do? How are you fulfilled in life? I guess everybody's different and everybody needs different things out of life. But I feel like I finally, I finally found where I belong. You know, I was an agent. I was a good agent. I had an all female team for a period before I joined EXP. but this is this is where I belong because now like if my perfect life looks at looks like consistently

learning and educating myself on a topic that is always changing so that I can bring it translate to others and bring it to them on a silver platter I'm definitely in the right space. Yeah. Right. And that's what I can do every single day. I get excited. I'm like, oh, a new article. like I'm going to, my husband's like, what do you do?

And I'm like, no, that just not like, I don't want to do any of that. I want to, there's a new AI. I need to learn how to use this. And I get really fired up about it. So this is kind of like my perfect scenario, which is cool that I found this at 46 now I am. So I found it at like 44, you know, it's never too late to find your, your place. Yeah, well, I love that you geek out over that kind of stuff.

because you're like my husband. He goes and geeks out and he'll go down a rabbit hole. I'm like, just give me the cliff nose version or I don't have the, you know, the frank capacity right now. So that's why you just bring all the different people together. But what you've been teaching has been eye opening because you keep hearing it and it's all these buzzwords. And I think sometimes people get intimidated. It's very easy to get intimidated.

It's very easy to compare. And I say comparison kills joy all the time. Whereas I just have to step back and be like, break it down and just dumb it down for me. And I'm not saying that for anybody else. So I'm saying that for me. I need you to dumb it down for me and give me baby steps on what I need to be doing to stay relevant, right? Because what I'm doing or what I've been doing for so long, it works and the relational piece. But then what you're bringing into the equation is keeping you more relevant and being visible.

And so I think that's so important. But what was happening for a long time, I'm super guilty. I was like, I'd freeze. You know, my anxiety looks. I didn't know where to go or where to start or what to do. and it's like, okay, step it back down. You're so far ahead that some, and it's, it's just ingrained in your, that's how you operate, right?

So sometimes you forget, you're like, oh, this is, I can do this with my eyes closed. Whereas the same thing with me, people will come to me. They're like, what you're doing and how you're doing this and you do this with your eyes closed. And I'm like, this isn't difficult stuff. And then I have to realize, oh, we all have our own gifts and strength. So what I love about what you're doing is you're making it more accessible because our world is changing. And if we embrace the things that are changing, we're going to be

unstoppable. And if we don't, we're just going to be irrelevant. Yeah. And I want everybody to win, especially at EXP. But I want them to win. AI is a very dangerous rabbit hole to go down. Because a lot of like, like I think you heard me say this before, AI is only as good as the knowledge and the training that it has. And there's so many different. tools and apps and teachings and it's like if an agent goes in doesn't know what they're doing and uses a tool that isn't built for them, they're going to have a shitty experience and they're going to drop it and never go back to it. I want to build stuff. I want to build solutions to make that the easiest possible for them that they're going to get the best

results out of. Like if I were to say to you, hey, here's this tool, Elizabeth. All you do is click a link and I want you to go in once a week and just tell it how your week went. And that's all you have to do. And then from that, it's going to be able to advise you on anything from your business because I've trained it to like talk like Glenn Sanford. You know what I mean?

And have his knowledge base. Right. Now it's easy for you to use. Right. Well, yeah. And that's one of the things we. talked about the other day when you're like, oh, yeah, I'm just driving and you were showing us how this was happening. You were just driving down the street. Oh my gosh, I just saw Ann and this is

and she, you know, was getting some groceries and it looks like she likes jippy, you know, or Jiff or what, like random things you were saying. That's how I operate, right? I was like, oh my gosh, that's just a time saver right then when I'm in the car as a real estate agent and I'm thinking about stuff because I never utilize my CRM like I should because I forget to go back in there and do that. And when you were showing us like we're making these tools simplified if you know how to use them they're a tool right if you don't know how to use a hammer correctly you're not going to use a hammer correctly it can cause a lot of damage but it can do really cool stuff right and so it's like oh wow when you look at it that way instead of oh it's not just rephrasing your marketing for your listing

description it can be super powerful and when you were talking about training it it was eye opening to me because i was like okay yeah same thing if you have assistance you have to train your assistance. If you have VAs, you have to train your VAs. Once you do the training and you put the work up front, it makes life so much easier because you've already invested that time instead of trying to be reactive, which I find myself doing. I find myself being reactive because we get really, really busy. But when you were making tools and training tools to make our life easier, doing the things we're already doing, we're always in the car. I always have random thoughts come up in my head. And you showed how easy that was. It takes the fear out, I think, is really what it

I think it's not so scary of a tool when you start seeing how simple, how you can simplify it in a more like manageable bite size pieces, like eat that elephant one bite at a time kind of a thing. Does that make sense? I think he would be the perfect case study. I think it would be the perfect. I'm a case study for sure. But yeah, head case maybe. So, okay, you have been speaking all over the world.

One thing, people don't know this about a. Elizabeth, whoever's listening. If you need a speaker for your event, it's Elizabeth. She just flies all over the world for everybody. Just to show up and share knowledge and share inspiration and to really take something that may look really unattainable to a lot of agents. What you've done on the surface looks unattainable and making it a physical reality in front of them. And I think that's super important because like one of the things that you talk about on

state is the fact that you've retired your husband. Yeah. Right. So what did that look like? Was that difficult? I'm trying to retire my husband. He's fighting me tooth and nail every stuff of the point right now. He's just like not happening. Well, so let's be really transparent there. Right. I mean, like from the surface, it's like, oh my gosh, that's really cool and in all the things. And if you really step back and understand, okay, what's the why behind that? My husband was Adel computer for 25 years. And he was in the global space the last number of years, which means he traveled internationally all the time. And then COVID hits. And so when he's traveling internationally, he's in Dubai and South America and South Africa and all these things. We have four children.

Yeah. And my kids, like, they didn't know him. We were ships passing in a night and all the things. and he was missing it. He was missing. You know, you work so hard and you're doing all these things for them. And it's like, they really just want your time. And then you look back here like, you just missed that whole opportunity. So COVID hits. And he's still employed Waddell, but he's on calls at three in the morning, four in the morning, because he has to adjust for the time zones because they're not traveling. And I was like, why are we doing this? You're miserable. Our family is fractured. Like we've already got COVID going on. We're all shelter in place. We're all doing these things. He's stressed out over. there and it's like things weren't getting better. It's just a tough situation getting tougher. Why are we doing this? He's like, I have to do this. Why do you have to do this? Well, I have the benefits. Okay. Well, EXP offers health care. What if we compare the two? Would you be open to that? He's like, sure, kind of, you know, kind of blowing me off on it. Yeah. And come to find out for us and not just for everybody else, but for us, the health care was a better opportunity with EXP than it was what we were receiving. And I said, what if I retired you? He was like, what would I do?

I said, well, you'd find your passion again. You'd find your relationship with your kids. I don't care. Figure that piece out. And I'll tell you, it was really hard. People were like, oh my gosh, okay, you retired him. That's great. No, it's not that easy because my husband was always like, I'm supposed to be the head of the house. I'm supposed to be the breadwinner. I'm supposed to do all these other things. And I said, and you did. You built that for 25 years for us. Now it's your chance. Yeah. But there is a struggle with that too, I think, and it could be a male-female kind of a thing.

Jokingly, yesterday I told him, I was like, I'm going to send you a Walmart greeter application to go give you something to do, right? But to be, you know, I joke with him on that. But what's been really amazing is he's got the relationship again with the kids and the family. He helps me get the kids to school in the mornings, pick them up. And that one hour, even that I don't have to take the kids to school, I can get my day started.

I can go through my emails before call start. I can kind of get. you know, breathe, I can take a shower, you know, all the things where it's something that small. He helps with whatever we need to be doing during the day on the house side. I've got somebody that helps at our house too, but it's something like that where a lot of people are like, oh, you retired your husband, that's a flex. What are you guys? You know, and it wasn't that.

I wanted to get us back to the basics of our family, which is really with the core focus of what we're doing. And so it's not always easy. I mean, it looks beautiful on the outside, but that's a lot of time to get. right where and when they're trying to figure out what they want to do I mean it's been about four years now I think four and a half years maybe maybe five and me I don't even know it's flown by but it's been a blessing it's an absolute blessing but with blessings comes challenges too that you just have to new challenges that you have to figure

out yeah Ricardo I find when my husband is home for too many days in a row he gets really fearful you just end up like figuring yeah I'm retired him because he's in heavy construction. So he works long, long days and physically active and strenuous work. And we both know, like, his parents are Italian, it takes a toll on your body. Like, how many immigrant men do we know that bodies are broken from construction? So I want to prevent that from happening. But at the same same time, like, it's not going to be easy. And he knows that. So that's why he's, he's kind of resisting right now. But I heard that we are both going to be at build in South Africa in 2027. Is that true? Are you going? No, no, 26. No, he said they're not doing 2026. They're

doing 2027. And he said, I've got Elizabeth Riley as tentative as well. So if you'll speak, maybe you guys can come together. So I think we should do a whole safari and we should do make a whole thing with our husbands. What do you think? Well, I'm bringing my whole family. So, yes, we're doing the whole thing. I thought it was 2026, so I'm glad you told me. But I would love to be 2026. The sooner the better, right?

I just couldn't make this year happen. I could make this year happen either. And Chuck and Angela are doing it, I think, right now. Yeah. Which is so, that's what's so cool about this company too, right? We're global. It's like the experiences we have that why would you say no? Why would you say no to opportunities?

And for me, people are like, you're always gone. You're always flying around. You're always speaking. Why are you doing this? I'm like, because this company has changed my life. Right. And I have an opportunity, but I think a responsibility to give back and say thank you. Like if this is the way I can give back.

And by the way, I get to see some really cool places. I'd never been to Portugal. Like my family and I got to go to Portugal and Hawaii, I'm going to be speaking in Hawaii in April. And I'm taking my family. So it's still doing things with my family and integrating them into it. But they still see Mom works hard. They still see what, you know, what a mom being an entrepreneur is and what mom is doing to, you know, further things along. But I'm still really focused on my family.

That's my goal. Okay. So what is your big goal for the next, let's say, what do you want to have accomplished in the next three years? Give it to me. That's a good question. Nobody's asked me that. Frankly, I don't know. And I hate to say that.

So I kept saying when you, you know, when you get to certain things, you're like, oh, that's, When I get there, this is what I'm going to do. And then that moves. Like the goal post moves. I said, oh my gosh, when I get to 10 icons, I'm getting out of production. I talk a big game. And I'm listing. I think we're launching like five or six listings this week.

I'm a real estate agent. Like, what would I do? I'm not old enough to retire. I'd be bored out of my mind. When I get to this many agents, I do want to step back from production a little bit so I can support the agents on a bigger scale. Speaking was never really something I had planned to do. And I'm scared every single time I do it because I'm like,

oh, I don't want to let anybody down. I don't want to fail, right? But I'm realizing I enjoy that. So I don't know what I want to do in the next three years. I've still got, you know, my oldest is in college. He's a freshman and I've got my three still at home. And so I want to be as present as I can. And I want to travel and take them with me.

But I just take one day at a time. I've always been that way. I'm not one that sets goals out. because nobody's promised tomorrow anyway. And if I'm looking that far in advance, I might be missing something that that could be happening today. So I just take one day at a time. I want to travel more.

I do want to have more downtime. So I want to take more downtime like once a quarter because I tend to burn myself out by saying yes to too many things. I want to say yes to the right things. Say no to things that I'm saying yes to that's taking away from me looking at other things. I don't know. I'm a big investor. I'm having fun with some of my partners investing in things that I don't, I'm learning. They have nothing to do with real estate, but it's kind of fun to do that. I just, I don't know. I want to continue moving the needle forward with our company. Yeah. There's so many cool things, so many amazing women. I want to bring us all together more. Yes. But I just want to

move the needle forward. I mean, we're only where we are and I think we're just getting started. And if I slow down now or if I retire or if I stop, I think I'm going to let myself down and let others down too. There's so much more to do. So I don't know what three years shows me. How about, have you ever thought because you have so much knowledge to share and this might also be something really great for your children and their children to have. Have you ever thought about writing a book? And I've had a few people approach me on that too. And this I guess is where the imposter syndrome. I mean, maybe you don't ever struggle with that, but I struggle with it all the time going, what do I have to say that's important? And that's the struggle I have with

getting up on stages. Angela and Chuck Fossey are the ones that pushed me to get up on stages because I was like, what do I have this year? Like, I'm just me. And so you just, you, that's what I want to work on. I want to work on growth for me personally. I'm putting myself in a room. I'm going to Minneapolis. We were just talking about this. It's negative 15 degrees. What the heck? Like, it's got to be something big for me to be traveling from Texas to negative anything cold weather, but I'm putting myself into a room that's going to make me incredibly uncomfortable, right? But I have to get uncomfortable to grow. And if I'm sitting here being a hypocrite to everybody and saying from stages, okay, being comfortable is the opposite of

growth, then, but I'm comfortable like I'm a hypocrite. So I want to work on growth. I want to put myself in in situations where I'm learning to be a better leader. I'm being a better mother, a better female, a better whatever it is, so that I can empower others. But that worthiness and that imposter syndrome always creeps in because it's like, well, who the hell are you to say anything? Right. I struggle with that on the daily basis. However, you surround yourself with the right people and you surround yourself with the people that believe in you more than you believe in yourself and you're believing in others more than they believe in themselves. You're breaking that cycle.

And I create my board of directors, right? My board of directors are the people that keep me grounded. But I fight the imposter syndrome and the worthiness all the time, which I think is one of the reasons I haven't written a book because I'm like, well, I could write a book and in my opinion, the blank, the pages are going to be blank. Yeah. So, yeah. reframe it, maybe reframe it into a piece of history that you can pass down to your family.

Yeah, but I feel like I thought imposter syndrome was just something we had to deal with for the rest of our lives. I remember when I started down this journey of AI and I first started building the custom AI solutions in real estate. I had a couple of companies asked me to do consulting. And I thought, what the hell am I? Like, why do they want? There's no way. There's no way. And I have a friend who's a computer engineer developer.

And I said to him, I said, I can't do this. Like, why do they want me? I don't know any. I'm not a techie person. That's what most people don't understand. Like, I'm not building. I can play one well on TV then because you are much techier than I am. building coded AI. Like I'm building no code AI solutions, you know, and, and I have a team of

computer engineers building my ideas. I'm like, I'm the idea and the strategy and the concepts, right? And then somebody else has to put that into technology for, you know, so most people don't realize. And, yeah, and I said that to him and he's like, Carrie, you're only feeling this way because there's no traditional education around this. This is two years ago. And they're like, There's no traditional education around AI. If you had gone to university for this, you would feel overqualified. Like there would be no problem. But you taught yourself and like legitimately, I just went into Reddit and Discord groups

and listened to computer engineers talk for a year. That's literally all I did. And he said, you know, that's the only reason you're feeling like this. The proof is in the pudding. And have you ever, he goes, how many courses have you sold to real estate agents? I said about 100 at this point. And he said, have you ever had anybody complain? And I said, no.

Because if you ever had anybody ask for their money back? And I said, no. And he said, well, he's like, I don't know who's spending thousands of dollars and like not complaining, but definitely not real estate agents. So you need to take that as a win and your proof that you know we're talking about. So you're right. He was like my board director directors that had to like reframe that whole thing. I still feel that all the time, all the time.

Yeah, and I don't think people talk about it much. And it's like, okay, well, if you're feeling that and I see, I mean, I see what you're doing. And here's the interesting thing, because somebody, I did a post on this on Instagram the other day. Somebody was like, Elizabeth, do you know what you just accomplished? And I'm like, what? They're like, you just did something that nobody else in the world has done what you've done. Yeah. I go, what do you mean?

They're like, how many, you've got, what, 90,000 agents in 27 countries? And you're the one person. You're the first and only. and it still didn't really hit me because I'm like, well, no, I'm just me. I'm just doing my thing and I didn't think it was that big of a deal. But then I'm looking at you. I mean, it's a big deal, but I just, I don't think anybody succeeds alone, right? Success is not a one person, a one man show. But then I look at you, I mean, you're female in that space. It's hard. Right? And why, I mean, I think it's amazing when you're in that space anyway or what we're doing. Yeah. And, you know, people are like, there's some of the guys that

have bigger organizations than you do. And there's some people that have icons, not more than you, but there's some people, but nobody's ever done everything that you've done. And then I look at, you know what I mean? I'm like, you know what? That's right. Like, I'm kind of a, we're a badass in our own right. And we need to embrace that.

But like what you're doing and you're leading it and you're a female in that space. And I love that because it's like boss babes, you know, I love the guys. Don't get me wrong. Yeah. But you're wicked smart in this stuff. And it's just, it comes. comes naturally to you. Yeah.

And so when something comes naturally, like the things that come naturally to me, I don't realize it's a big deal because for 99% of the other people, that's not natural to them. So I started looking at people in a different way going, oh my gosh, you guys, we all have these different gifts. Let's just lock arms, lift others as we climb and we're unstoppable. And that's what's fun about this because, yeah, you run circles around me with all. I mean, I barely know how to spell AI if that gives you any end of true.

True. Oh, geez. Well, you know what? We need, I feel like my purpose right now is it just to, you know, share these solutions with people. But I'm trying to build something bigger and teach as many women as I can so that they can do what I'm doing. Just, yeah, because it's tough. It's tough. It's tough in an industry and like a niche like this, being the only woman is like a freaking nightmare.

It was difficult, right? So I just want to empower more women and like feed more women into the space so that it's a little bit more comfortable for me. Yeah, but you came into my group on Friday and you blew everybody's mind. They're still talking about it. And I think you empowered people to kind of tiptoe into the unknown because it was such as literally it's overwhelming for a lot of people. And they and me too. We think it has to be one way. Yeah.

But you made it, you made it accessible in a different. way. I mean, literally, that's all they've been talking about. And that was last week. So I've even had some of them like, oh my gosh, I have a meeting set up with Carrie. Oh my gosh. I was like, oh, my gosh, I need to set up a meeting with Carrie. Right. So, I mean, you probably, you know what I'm talking about because people have reached out to you. And there's got to be some validation in that because you came in and we can all be at worst critics, but you came in and you simplified something that has been so overwhelming for many for so long. Yeah.

That, I mean, I think you've got to pat yourself on the back for that and recognize you have a gift. And sometimes, like I said, sometimes that's just innately who you are and understand it in a different way. That some, when you look up, you're like, okay, well, I do have a gift of breaking this down and making this easier for people to understand. And there's an opportunity there. Yeah. I definitely, I think that that's my strength is teaching. My mother was a professor. My brother is, you know, two-time PhD professor as well. And he's, his is in biostat math, which is just like, you think I'm teaching. That's me on. But I am not like, I go on stages. I speak about AI. I am not an

entertainer. Okay. Like if you're come and see me, you're not going to be blown away. You're not going to cry. You're not going to have a lot of emotion other than a feeling of confidence when I'm done because I don't speak and I don't keynote a teach. Yeah. Because I don't. That's a good way to put it. That's a good way to put it. Yeah. And I had this talk with Phil Stringer right before we went on stage in Miami and I said, what would you rather do? Keynote or panel or interview? And he's like, keynote 100%. I'm like, see, me, no. I would rather have somebody asked me question. And I would rather have somebody asked me questions and then I can answer because I can answer anything about AI off the cuff but I do it in a way where everybody is going to understand it and explain it. So that's like my

teaching personally. That's why I'm more comfortable in that space than putting on his toe. I'm like, oh, he's terrified. I'm so boring and he's laughing. He's laughing. Bill, you know, Phil, you know, one of my favorite people in the world. You know that. And you all have very, very different styles and teaching styles. You both teach. But I mean, I mean, he brings a different element into it that works for people that are needing what he's teaching. And the way your style is, I mean, you're right. Like the panel discussions and the teaching and the answer. I've seen you speak many times and it's like, oh, that makes sense.

And I've seen Phil speaking many times. Yours is a lot more broad sometimes because there's so many different questions that come. You know what I mean? And I guess that makes sense when you're doing more of a keynote. You've got to focus on what you're doing. He makes his very interactive. And then there's speakers that like Angela and Chuck that get on stage and they're so entertaining. And then you're like, but I can't do that.

And I realize that's not what I'm meant to do. That's not what I'm going to do. I'm going to get up there. I'm going to share if I inspire one person or if they walked away smarter than when they walked in the room, then I did my job. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And when you just show up, Elizabeth, like people feel the support for me.

I have a message sitting right here that a friend of mine, this is interesting. It was one of the first times I ever spoke and I was nervous as heck. And she wrote this on a piece of paper. And I always keep it up here as a reminder. And I just happened to glance at what you were saying this. I was really intimidated by some of the people that were in there. Because I was like, I don't, you know, that imposter thing. And you can get intimidated.

I'm not intimidated by people, but there's sometimes where I'll be in a room. I'm like, they're just judging me. They're saying they're wanting you to fail. Right. Okay. You know what I'm talking about. Look, it's ripped. She said, you're not here.

teach those people you are here for to inspire everyone else you be you and i've had this for years as a reminder because i'm like okay one person i'm just here to talk to the person that i'm supposed to be here to talk to and i don't know who that is but what i was doing was i have to please everybody and when you do that it's not attainable right you're just going to set set yourself up for failure but when you walk in and you realize you're like i'm here to speak to the person that is here to receive it. Like there's a lightning of the load in that regard. And I think the way you approach people and approach speaking is a lot like that. You're like, look, I have all this knowledge I want to share. What is it that's going to be most helpful for you? Because I want to share that information with

you and they'll be smarter walking out of the room. Yeah. And I think when you show up from across the world or across the country or across the continent, you have a way of making people feel important and supported, whether it's the organizers of the events or the people that you've taken the time to go out of your way and show up for and get on a plane for five or six hours. So you don't have to teach anything. They're just like, cool when people ask us to be somewhere. Like they, it's an honor. You're like, no, it's so great.

It's a great. So where are we going to see each other? Like, are we going to be in the same events? Are you, like, where are we going? So I'm going to see. I'm probably speaking in Montreal. Barcelona and Miami, obviously, because I'm one of EXP's coaches,

right? So they'll have me on stage at every XP event. I'm doing Nashville for Carrie Zire. Oh, cool. Okay. I'm doing a couple in Canada here. And then I've been talking to Dunya about getting to Dubai.

So I don't know if that's something you guys want to do as well. She has been telling me to come out there too. I mean, it's like, oh, darn, we have to go visit Dubai. So maybe, yeah, keep me posted on that. Let's figure that one out. And we know we're going to be at Build in South Africa together. So that's good. I have a new team.

I have like my first human team member besides my marketing, other half, my better half. So I've operated with one employee forever, okay? That's the power of AI of leverage. I'm finally bringing somebody in to manage me as a person. like a true handler because my husband can't handle all of me all the time he has a full-time job she's like write a list of every way you want to go and like what's on my list i have uh arizona i have l a i was supposed to speak in l a in may but i don't know anymore because of ever the fires and everything that's happened there i don't know what's the for rally uh no um it is an ex p

event but he's also like the head of one of the boards out there as well I'm speaking in, well, I was supposed to speak in L.A. and May, and it's moved to San Diego, or Carlsbad is where it's moved to. Okay. I think that one's on May 1st. So maybe we'll open that. And then I want to do Croatia. I wanted you to buy Croatia and I want to do New Orleans. Oh, that'd be fun. Can we plan for New Orleans? I've never been there before. So I'm trying to hit everywhere that I want to go. Like that's like my goal. Oh, New Orleans is super fun. You don't want to go right now where it's cold. and rainy, but yes, and you need to come to Texas.

Yes, absolutely. And you need to go to Hawaii. Right. We'll just make a list and just follow each other around the world. How about that? I'll be like, if I could ask me on the stage, I'll be like, yes. If you talk to Elizabeth, yeah, I think she's open. Yeah.

We'll be a package deal. Yep. I'm in if Elizabeth's in. I love this. Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for being you, the supportive person that you are, you know, showing up to have this discussion with me on my podcast. and I really, really appreciate you and thank you so very much. Well, I love that you asked me and I was just thinking, I was like, oh, I don't know if

there are questions or if there was content we were supposed to talk about, but we might have just completely derailed the whole conversation. This is like, it's just like a podcast. You can do what you want. Yeah, absolutely. And everybody's going to find is so entertaining. You're the best. You are the best.

I am cheering you on always. You know that my friend. I'm always here to support. and lift you up. And thank you for having me. And I can't wait to actually see you and hug your neck. Thank you so much. All right, darling. I'll see you soon. Thanks for listening to everything they never told you about real estate. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. To connect with Carrie or for more information about her coaching program, check out careysove.ca or at Carrie Sovey and Associates on Instagram and TikTok.

Thanks again for tuning in. And we'll see you. next time.