KGCI: Real Estate on Air - How To Find Balance In Life And Create Financial Freedom ft. Michael Valdes

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

Welcome to the show, everyone. This is Randy Dick here, and I've got an amazing guest on the Return on Life podcast. Today I have Michael Valdez. Michael has multiple homes. And Michael's an amazing dude that I met about four years ago. Michael is the chief growth officer of EXP. And Michael's done some amazing things in his life. I'm sure we'll touch on some of that. But over the last, it's four years. Just about. It's been about three and a half years, yes. Three and a half. It feels like four. For you or for me? I don't know. But you've opened up so many countries, and so we've got just an amazing guest on the Return of Life podcast. We're going to dive into some crazy questions, some easy questions, and some tough questions. But welcome here, Michael.

Thank you, my brother. Thank you. I'm so glad to be here. I'm so glad to be here on your show. Glad to be here in Canada. This is actually now I've been in the last two weeks. I started in Calgary. Montreal and now we're in beautiful Vancouver and I think we've gotten to meet

oh my god hundreds of Canadians that are part of our wonderful family and of course you and I have known each other now a few years and thank you for everything you're doing and the lives that you're touching it's an honor to be here with you today well thank you and we've got a beautiful day in Vancouver as you can see as well we do but you've traveled the country you've met a lot of great people Is there anything special about Canadians? When you think a return on life, is it different for Canadians from your perspective? You know what?

Somebody just asked me this as I was walking out of the room. And they said, you've spent so much time in Canada now. What's different? And first of all, you know, where my other company I worked with, I've opened many brands in Canada. Something that I love about Canadians is their heart. They're really open people. that are very loving. And I just, you know, spending time here,

I feel like you've adopted me into your beautiful country. So thank you for that. Well, welcome to Canada, A? A? Well, with that, with being open, I always think of curiosity and imagination. Those are the two greatest gifts that were given as kids.

So true. And then through life, somehow they get kind of pushed down. And it's a shame because these are the two most powerful gifts, I believe, that were given as kids. How do you foster curiosity and imagination in your life, and how do you make it work for you in business in your role? I love this question. And by the way, I didn't even, I saw three pages of notes and questions on your shoulder there,

and I was like, how long is this interview? I didn't see a single question, and I love that. And I love that you started with this, because, you know, I'll allude to the fact that we are that we opened in 21 countries in a little over two and a half years during a middle of a pandemic remarkable with absolutely never getting on a plane wow right and so i remember when i came over i came over in may of 2020 and at that time expe had opened up three countries and i surrounded myself very quickly with an amazing team and we really had our focus for making a mark in what this was and I realized that EXP with the fact that there was no bricks and mortar that they had a digital communication platform.

Everything was cloud-based. And during a pandemic, everybody wanted connection. That's what people were starved for globally. And I thought, my God, this is truly the answer to be able to expand this amazing model to touch more people's lives. And I remember saying to Jason guessing or CEO at the time, My target is to open the first five countries in the last quarter of the year in 2020. And Jason said to me, I love, love, love your enthusiasm, but please don't say anything that we can't complete. This is a new, this is a new project for us.

And I said, great, five territories in the last quarter. And so he says, okay. And so then I sat with my team and I said, this is the goal, this is what we're doing. And they said, we can't do that. And I said, I'll tell you what, let's pretend that we're living in a universe of anything that's possible. And I went back to that childlike innocence of saying, let's create this. It's the worst that can happen. We don't, right?

Let's just pretend we can. And so let's not use Kant. Let's not use impossible. Let's not use any of those words. And let's just see how far we got. So we got to the first country, which was South Africa. And I was pushing my team, but always with a smile. And when we did that...

Wish you smile very well. When we did that, I sent the entire team flowers to their homes. And I said, you inspired me to do this. Look what we did together. And the other four were really easy. Everyone was like, God, we could do this. And when we hit the fifth one, it was, we were... We realized that we had done something which was never done in the real estate industry ever before.

To open five countries in one quarter, and it's not a franchise. Remember, we had to create an infrastructure in every country in which we're in. We had to figure out the licensing. We had to figure out the model. We had to figure out the legal, the finance, everything. We literally had to build a company from scratch every single, well, not even every single month. It was almost like every other week at that point to really be able to do that in the last quarter and to get that in 2020. But once we did the impossible, everything else is possible.

And it was really that sense of let's just go with this, let's create and let's have fun. Fun was the main part of that. Well, and fun, but leadership. I mean, you just can't say, let's go have some fun. And you know how that ends up on a Friday night. Let's just go have some fun. You have to have leadership. And, you know, everything rises and falls on leadership.

And, of course, you know, you've been part of so many amazing companies, organizations, you know, banking, so forth and so forth. So you've seen a lot of leadership. What are some of the change agents or ingredients than that good leaders? And I mean, we have some amazing. amazing leaders at EXP, but you've seen elsewhere as well. What are some of the agents or ingredients that really make leadership zing? You know, I think that you mentioned it earlier, that sense of curiosity, that sense of what's possible, but also the sense of knowing what your contribution is doing to the greater good,

right? And so when I had, sometimes it's the people that are inputting listings that are part of the team, right, and trying to get the tech side up. They're not going to have the face-to-face of being with the agent and hearing the stories of what changed someone's life because they were a part of this model and talking to EXP. So what I made a point of doing was that in every one of those meetings, I would come in and play videos of what the agents were saying and why it impacted them. And I would stop there and say, it's because of all of you that that happened. You're all a part of that formula of all the steps that we take to get there. So they feel so responsible as well when someone says, EXP changed my life.

There are many, many steps, including the person who is inputting the listings onto a portal. That's part of the process. And everyone who touches the process had that end result. And I want everyone to know that they were a part of that. Yeah. We're all better together. That's the only way it works. We're all better together. That's the only way it works, right?

Awesome. Yeah. Hey, can we shift away from... You can do whatever you want? It's your show. Let's do this. Who is Michael uninterrupted? Who are you when you are just, you know, Saturday morning, nothing else happening?

Who is Michael uninterrupted? So, you know, I'm really very disciplined. So I wake up really early. I wake up around 5 in the morning. I usually do my gym and my workout because that's the time that I know I won't be interrupted, right? That's uninterrupted indeed. And the fact that we're in 24 countries means we're in every time zone. And so that to me is a great time for me.

I also then come in and meditate. And I'm one that doesn't take anything for granted. I'm very grateful for everything. that's come into my life. My dad was Cuban and he was Batista's counsel and because of that was arrested as a political prisoner before I was born. And he was released during the Bay of Pigs in a prisoner exchange program. So he, you know, I grew up with the idea that tomorrow's never promised. So always appreciate today. And that is what I try to do every single day. Hmm. And you live in New York. I live in New York in Miami. And I'm actually closing on a house in Dallas in a couple of weeks. Oh, wow. Yeah. And so where do you spend most of your childhood? In New York. In New York. Born and raised, yeah. Manhattan? Yes. Wow. So, New York, New York City. Yeah. True New York City. Yeah. So I still keep a, keep a, do you call them flats in Canada? You call them apartments?

Apartments. Okay. Condos. Yes. So I still, I still have my, my apartment in, and the, you know, and New York City and then I have one in Miami and closing on a house in Dallas. Wow. Yeah. Okay. Sticking with personal development here. Sure. So our gifts, we have gifts.

We have gifts. Every single one of us has a gift. Now some of us have more than others. I think you have many, many gifts, but is there a gift that you have that is a blessing and a curse? So sometimes we have these great things, but they can also be a curse. How do you play with that? And I can say that one of my gifts is being outgoing and so forth, but sometimes it's a curse

because my family doesn't want me to be so outgoing. They want me to be at home or whatever. Sure. But anything that you can think of that could be a blessing and a curse as a gift? You know, I always, I don't believe in curses. So I always believe that a gift, I think everything has duality, right? there's two sides of everything when you you don't know what hot is unless you compare it to cold right you don't uh so i think everything has duality and so i don't uh going back to uh not using the

word can't or impossible i don't think anything's a curse either i don't like negative connotation of words for my own self and um and so i always sort of see um where there could be gradations of a blessing where there may not be the best time for it. And I think that might be the idea of being in my role, I need to be very present and available for others, which means that if you're available for others, there's less time for yourself, right? Which is why I actually do focus on that early morning time, because that's the time that I do dedicate to me. And I think that's important also to have that balance. Okay, so let's stick with some of this and we'll go a more positive route. So I really empower people around me about their why and I talk about

four things that make it really important, which I shared yesterday on stage, you know, what makes you come alive, what is your superpower, where are you adding great value, and what is the legacy that you're going to leave? So what is your superpower? Maybe even if you want to elaborate on a why that you have because we have multiple whys. Sure. Any whys or any superpowers you want to share? Well, something you just said really triggered the word legacy. Legacy is a word that means something very special for me.

In fact, two years ago I changed the name of my trust to Edensia, which in Spanish means legacy. And that's a reminder for me that whatever I'm building for is a legacy to leave for others. So that's what drives me. It drives me to understand where we're put on this earth to serve others. It's something that I strongly believe. And what however you serve others should be, for me, the greatest accomplishment would be that whilst we're here on this earth, that as we're serving, when we're no longer on this earth, that can continue.

So that's the process of legacy that really does drive me. And I think that that would have different shapes of what that would mean and still discovery as to what some of that would mean when I'm not here. Yeah. Ah, love that. And, you know, to get there, it's not easy, is it? Well, nothing's easy, is it? So all of us have, you know, you just get up every morning and you only can take one step in front

of the other to get across the street. So nothing is easy, but it's all doable. Mm-hmm. And crucible moments happen to all of us. Sure it does. We're not exempt from any things that come along. I've have many crucible moments that are shaped and formed me. Sure.

Any that have really, you know, taking you from this path to this, this other path, and maybe even down a different road, like you shared with me just last, well, a few days ago, about, you know, the decision to move from Rilogy to EXP. And, you know, the road looked pretty good. and then it got kind of like, ooh, I don't know, this road. What helps you move through those decisions? Is it people? Is it the process that you've put in place for yourself?

So here's where I think it stemmed from. When I was 25, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. Oh, wow. And it was a genetic defect that ran in my family. And in your 20s, you're not supposed to be faced with your own mortality. No. I always say it was the greatest gift I ever received. because what it shapes is your viewpoint.

And from my dad's experience of tomorrow's never promised, when you're now faced with your own mortality in your mid-20s, that exemplifies that question and that sense of being. And so for me, everything accelerated then. But it also accelerated one of the greatest gifts because as people are in their 20s, they're still discovering themselves. Oh, yeah.

Right? And so, you know, you put a lot of thought into what other people think of me. And that was my greatest thought because I don't really care at that point. As long as you're true to yourself and you're trying to live to be better than you were the day before without hurting anyone along the way, that's the North Star. And to now, it'll be 57 in a couple of weeks, to really sort of gone through that 30 years ago and now have that still as the North Star is really where shifts. So the story I was sharing with you with my other company, when I first met Glenn, it was the idea of, wow, this is an impactful thing. I got really interested in what that was. And it was my accountant that I've known for 30 years that said to me, you're crazy leaving your other position.

Because it's one of the largest real estate company at the time. We beat that. But it was the largest real estate company at the time. And I was number three in that organization. And he says, how can you leave to basically a startup? And I said to him, I can phone in my job with my other company. And if you're not growing, you're dying. And that really is something that pushes me.

And I didn't want to be at a place that I felt comfortable. Which ties in so well with our podcast, Return on Life. There it is. And Return on Life can mean so many different things. For some, it's sitting on a beach. The Mai Tai, the next person is their fuel is just ignited again because they're in the right place of the right people in the right room. And it sounds like I'm in the right room with the right person at the right time. Likewise, brother.

I mean, it is, you know, I've seen you and I've seen who you are. And I've seen who you are with people and how you lead with your heart. And that inspires me. It inspires me to be around you and others like you. But seeing you in action, it's really. really you just, you're motivated by your heart and you're motivated by helping others. And that's beautiful to witness. Thank you.

So challenging times in your 20s. Yeah. I faced some crucible moments at 14. I broke my neck and woke up paralyzed. Stop. I didn't even knew this story. Yes. Wow.

So they all shape and form you. And it was in that moment that I knew it was destined to be much more than just a 14-year-old boy. That's right. Because I learned to walk again. And so the story that I have is pretty incredible from that. But, you know, there's so many people that would mentor and coach me along the way, and I'm sure you've got many coaches and mentors as well. One of my best coaches, my best mentors, my best physiotherapist is my twin brother.

Wow. Wow. Because I know how to learn how to keep up because we were the equals and everything. So anyways, for another day, that story will exist. But I love that. Remember what we were just saying before, you can't compare something unless you compare it to something else. Right. There's no hot without cold. There was, when you had, is he an identical twin? Yes.

Wow. When you had the same, literally same gene pool and you have an identical twin where you were equal since birth. And now there was something that happened where you needed to come back to being on an equal footing. You knew what equal was because you knew what it wasn't. So that's beautiful. That's beautiful. We all need a rabbit to chase and we all need a coyote. That's right.

To chase us. Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes you just need to be caught to know what that feels like too. Yes, that's true. Right? Because otherwise you're just running. That's true, yes.

So true. So is there any coaches or mentors that you want to give a shout out to that helped you along the way? I think we are surrounded by so many people. And I think you learn from people every single day, right? And I think there's some amazing coaches. We've had some coaches here today that have been extraordinary like John Chaplac. And, you know, it's, John's a great, great friend. And, you know, the amount of things that he's done has been extraordinary for so many people.

But you can learn from every single person, you know. I engage my Uber driver so much because it's usually when you're in a different city. it's usually an immigrant story coming in and the struggles of someone is is extraordinary. So it's going back to that childlike sort of innocence where you want to learn from everyone. And that's what's shaping. It's not just the coaches that do it professionally. The greatest stories you've ever heard come from just every average person that you meet every day. And those are really the blessings when you really.

realize that everyone does have a story. Everyone does have the superpower. Everyone does have something to share that somebody else can gleam something from. Right. There was 500 people here today in the last two days. Somebody got something from someone on the stage or someone that was sitting next to them. Doesn't matter who it was. Yes. Right? I love that you shared the Uber driver or the immigration or the immigrant, I should say. Yeah. I think we all need a little bit more of that hunger, that drive. And humility, yeah. Humility.

Right. You know, and I'm in the process of writing a book and doing a TED talk. I'm hoping to be a TED talk speaker on the kindergarten CEO. Oh, I love that. Because what we're learning kindergarten. Wow, that's awesome. Think about the transparency in kindergarten class, the learning, the sponge. There's nothing that you can't do.

That's right. The teacher says, you're the best. That's right. Like, if we could take that concept and put it into our lives every day and be a kindergarten CEO. I love that. So I'm going to challenge you to take that back to D.XP. Yeah. Well, listen, in my mind, I still do that to myself.

I still believe there's nothing I can't do. I know. You're still fun. In many ways, yes. So I still believe that. And unless somebody shows me that I can't do something, then that's great. You know, the other one that I hate is that I don't believe the word try ever exists. Right?

You can't try to do something. Yeah. Right? You can't try to pick up that pen. You either do or you don't. Right. And you always know that there's a definitive answer behind the try. So the try doesn't exist.

It doesn't exist in our language, right? The word exists, the action doesn't. You can't try to do something. Like if somebody says, you know, come to my house for dinner tonight, and you say, I'll try, you know you're not coming. You know you're not coming. So it's always the yes or the no, right? Because it actually is a lot more authentic, and it actually does read something in your own mind as well. Because you free up the time, you give yourself the freedom to do something else.

Right? Everything, opportunities are infinite. Money is infinite. Air is infinite. The only that's finite is time. We all have the same 24 hours. Right. Right. It's a gift as to who we decide to share that with. That is true. And vice versa. Which comes to another great question of balance in life. And, you know, balanced life equals broke, I've heard. But I think we can have a have a balanced life and not be broke, but we also don't want to be broke spiritually, mentally, relationship-wise. And so it really fits in the return on life as well. Some of the keys that I like to live with are the five abs, you know, finance, fitness, faith, family and all those. And I don't know if you've seen that idea where you've got a wheel and you've got all these out there.

And not always do they run like a wheel. No, of course not. You're going to have to like, you know, Sometimes you've got a flat tire. You've got a flat tire, yes. Sometimes you've got a flat tire. But if you can sense and see, and I know about you, but I've got some key people in my life, Jolene, my wife, and my kids, they often say, dad, your tire's flat. You know, you've got to spend some time with that. That's great.

That's your next book. Yes. So how do you balance life then? I mean, you're flying everywhere. Unfortunately. I mean, I watch you on social media. It's like crazy. Here, there, everywhere.

Yeah, American Airlines loves me. Yeah, it's four and a half million miles on American Airlines. Oh, my. They actually, I think there should name a plane after me now, right? It's like the George Clooney film, right? So I think it's balance is important. And, you know, those people that are close to your life are the ones that call you out on it. Right.

And you listen, right? Because it's, look, we're talking about space and being finite and time especially. So, you know, for the people viewing this and, and the topic and the headline of your podcast, the title of your podcast is so empowering. And so when you think of something, if someone's in a toxic relationship and they're saying to themselves,

this person will change. And I'm just gonna wait until they change. Or I can change this person, right? They're not gonna change, right? And so now all the time that you're investing into this doesn't allow you to allow somebody else in. And that could be in a relationship. that could be with friends, that could be anything.

Again, it's a finite time. So unless you actually come in and fill that with people that are positive in your life, that will enrich your life, that will elevate your life, that will make you want to sort of like have that curiosity, that wisdom, that sort of sense of wanting to play again, those are the people you should have around. Absolutely. And being in the same room as you, I'm just going to be 20 or 30 or 30. 30% better just because I'm in the room with you, Michael.

And I feel the same way about you because look at your heart. Even speaking today, the stories that you've shared with me, you know, our friendship just deepened in the last few minutes. That it did. And friendship is almost everything. It is. Well, I shouldn't even say almost. It is everything.

It is. Relationships are really, really everything. Businesses. Yes. It's not business a little bit. Sure. So this is a question I often ask. So you probably have done a few businesses.

You've had many business ideas. Today is your business idea the best ever? Or do you think you'll have a better one? And it could be businesses that you've worked in. Right. So do you think today you're in the best possible place you could be? Listen, I don't think that if you always think that you're in the best possible place you can be, it's when you stop growing.

So it's the best possible place I can be today. Right? And so tomorrow, this could be the fact that we grow it to the best possible place for tomorrow, or there's something that adds something to this to get to the best possible place. So I love where I am now. I think that we have done an amazing job in growing. We are now the largest independent real estate company in the world. That's a good spot to be in. As we continue to grow this, we can continue to grow. But, you know, we always say, and I always mention, this to my team members, we don't count our current agent count as agents added. We do it as lives touched. And there's a shift in thinking there. When you say, oh, I've just got another agent to join our company. That's not as impactful as saying, I've just changed another person's life by joining my company. Wow. And I know you've shared this before, but I'd like to hear it again. Sure. You talked about, especially some of the countries outside.

of North America, how we're like literally changing significant lives. Yeah. You know, there were two stories that come to mind. We opened in India in 2020, and it was one of the fastest growing real estate companies in India. And I remember there was a team leader of another company that I won't name. And they had about 250 people on their team. It wasn't a brokerage. It was a team. It was a very large. team. And so he, before he joined us, he wanted to speak with me. And I said, of course, his name was Dinesh. And so I got him on the phone with him. And he says, Michael, I've been in the business 35 years in real estate. He says, I've been with X, Y, and Z companies. And he says, do you know

why I want to join your company? And I said, please tell me. And he said, because your model was built for humanity. And it floored me, Randy. This is somebody that wasn't even Goose bumps, right? Goosepumps. Model was made for humanity. And I was like, wow, wow. And I've used that in many speeches that I've done because it impacted me. And here was someone who was looking from the outside in as to what we were building, and he got it immediately.

It was so beautiful. And there was a second story when we opened up in Mexico. Now, I'm going to say that can only happen with the leadership that we have, because you can have the platform and the market. model, but not the leadership, and humanity wouldn't come through that. So kudos to you, the entire leadership team of who we are. And it filters right down to the newest life that we're changing. Yeah, it does. It does. And that's the impactful story. You know, I've said in the past also, this is larger than Glenn, who was our founder and visionary 14 years ago on this,

this has become a movement, right, where people are sharing stories of lives being changed and then sharing that with others. And it just becomes a snowball effect. And when you start thinking it from a way of how it's impacted humanity, as this gentleman had used, that sort of comparison, it's like, what are you talking about? We're a real estate company, right? It's like, what are you talking about changing humanity? This is like, wow, these conversations just don't happen anywhere else.

They just don't. And so that to me is just a pleasure to have a small part of that in whatever sense that is to be able to have that story. There was a second one when we opened up Mexico. And when we opened up Mexico, our leader in Mexico had said, you know, my country needed this. I said, what does that mean? And so he said, you know. Could you imagine? And so he said, look, you've just leveled the playing field.

So an agent in Mexico City will always have a great life. But now there is an agent might be in a more rural part of Mexico where no brand will ever put up a bricks and mortar. That agent has the exact same opportunity as the agent in Mexico City. And I never thought about it that way. And so the idea that we're a cloud-based company allows equal opportunity from an entire country. Wow. And that was that that was like, you know, everything is about perspective, right? I mean, we can go, all of us here can go and see a movie. And, you know, you and I and

your wonderful team here, we'll have four different opinions on the movie. How's that possible? We just saw the same thing. We each have our own lens. Right. And so it's, you can only relate to things from your own lens. And when you actually share, the lens with others, your lens expands. So Ismail's story of my country needed this. Dinesha's story of this was made for humanity changed my lens as to how this story continues. Hmm. And you know then my next question has no value because I was going to say after that, like how do you follow up that?

But my question was going to be, what's the biggest idea that you're working on or that you have to but how does it get any bigger than that? How does it get any bigger than, you know, touching humanity? It just doesn't. So true. And everything else then is like, okay. Yeah. Because we just...

Who cares what the next country is, right? Right. We just touched humanity. We just changed humanity when it comes to this concept of real estate. It's crazy. Really incredible. But maybe you do have a big idea that you're not sharing with me that you want to share with me. No.

Come on. Help me with a little secret here. Okay, so who's the best in the world at what you do? Well, I don't know, that's a very open-ended question. Because only I can do what I do, only you can do what you do. Only Dino can do what Dino's doing. So you're saying I'm the best in the world at what I do? You're the best at being yourself, absolutely.

Great answer. You're the best at that. Even your twin brother can't do any better than you. Well, that is true. Because it's you. And I can't do anything. better than he. I can I can almost match him and he can almost match me but you know we have our our own little pieces of DNA that define us yes that's it by the way we both turned 60 yesterday.

Oh congratulations and happy birthday. Yeah thank you. Why didn't you say anything? Oh my god. Because I'm humble. Oh well thank God we have another meeting. So we'll go into some speed round. Sure. Yes to it. Who's your favorite band? My favorite band, God. I don't think I have one. I listen to a lot of sort of like eclectic music, right? So I'll listen to country. I'll listen to European lounge music.

It's sort of like Hotel Costa to have every one of those. It's like, so I'm very eclectic with music. Okay, so you're in New York and Miami, and there's two great music scenes there. Yeah. If you're going to go to an event to watch an artist, where would you go in New York? In New York, I would probably go to like city winery that's down in the Soho area. That's a little venue of live music that probably has about 300 seats in it.

And they get some really great artists coming in. I think traveling so much, some of the greatest things was like in Nashville. We've had a few events in Nashville. I remember one of the greatest things. There was two other agents that had this connection to literally this speakeasy at the Virgin Hotel in Nashville. I just sort of have just out at a speakeasy. It doesn't exist anywhere on the Internet. You have to go in through the kitchen.

You have to know somebody, apparently. And it's owned by Johnny Cash's granddaughter. And it's the coolest place on earth. I mean, it is all black walls, all of these photos of Johnny Cash, and we went, there was about 150 people there. And it was Al Stasic and Jay Kinder that set this thing up. There was artists behind artists, and like two weeks later was the CMAs. Two of the artists that were in this little room of 100 people were nominated for a CMA. And we're like, oh, my God, what just happened?

And so I love experiences. And so it's like it's not like a certain, it's not much of a speed round, is it? I'm like, I'm so sorry for that. I'm giving you a really long answer. That's all right. It's supposed to 10 seconds. I open that up. So fine dining, takeout, or Uber Eats.

Fine dining, depends on the day. Depends on the day. Yeah, it depends on the mood. Again, these are not going to be quick answers. I appreciate fine dining. I also appreciate entertaining at home. And, you know, if it's, if it's, if it's, If it's for myself, then I'll just do Uber Eats all day long because I don't like cooking

for myself, but I love cooking for others. Audible or book? Audible. Okay. Text, work chat, talk, or person to person? Again, depends. It depends on, so the quickest for me is workplace chat. I'm on it all the time.

You are. You're quick. On a plane, still have Wi-Fi, can answer it all. text, it's sort of like probably the next one because it's just, again, you know, there's almost 90,000 agents that have access to me, and I want to be as accessible to all of them. It's harder if it's on a 101 or face-to-face, but always available for that as level of impact. So why don't we sort of say, mode of communication by level of impact. Okay. And I'm going to say that he is super, super quick. Michael is super quick on Word Chat. Like, we're messaging back, boom, and you respond so

quick, so I really appreciate that. Pleasure. Last question, trick question. Oh, oh, trick, trick, question. If you were a scratch and sniff sticker, okay. And we scratched you, what would we smell? Eucalyptus.

Eucalyptus. It's the first thing that came to mind. Wow. And I think it's calming without being offensive. Yes, I agree. Well, thank you so much, Michael. Thanks for joining me on this amazing podcast. Happy birthday.

Thank you. And we are excited to get this out, and I'm sure we'll have just an amazing... We'd love it. Receiving of this great podcast. Thank you for the opportunity.