KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Mastery, Intentional Leadership, and Scaling Through Operational Excellence with Leo Pareja

Episode Date: June 2, 2026

Summary:eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja shares his trajectory from a high-producing teenage agent to leading a global brokerage. Agents will learn the "mathematical equation" of mastery, which requires 10,000 hours of intentional learning rather than passive experience. Pareja emphasizes focusing on controllable activities over results, removing friction to win business, and the economic advantage of building diverse teams. The episode provides a high-level blueprint for transitioning from a self-employed practitioner to a purposeful, systems-driven business leader.

This week on Women Who Rise, I'm joined by Leo Pereja, CEO of EXP Realty, Industry Visionary, and one of the most influential voices shaping the future of real estate. His journey from top-producing agent to leading a global brokerage is packed with insight, resilience, and the kind of purpose-driven leadership every ambitious woman can learn from. We dive deep into what it really takes to rise through challenge, lead with clarity, and build something bigger than yourself. If you're ready for the spark that shifts your entire trajectory, you do not want to miss this episode. Hi, everyone, and welcome to Women Who Rise.

I'm your host, Heather Manzi. Today I'm joined by Leo Pereja, the CEO of EXP Realty and one of the most influential visionaries shaping the future of real estate. Leo began selling homes at just 19 and quickly, rose to become the number one Keller Williams agent worldwide, ultimately closing nearly 4,000 transactions before moving into prop tech and lending. He went on to co-found Washington Capital Partners, one of the largest private lenders on the East Coast, and remind the MLS data and transaction platform that scaled to over a million users, as the first Hispanic CEO of a major major. A major,

or U.S. brokerage, he's become a leading voice on innovation, operational excellence, and navigating industry change with transparency and purpose. Leo's leadership philosophy centers on empowering agents, elevating consumers, and embracing change as the engine of growth. And I am so honored to welcome him to the show today. Thank you for joining us, Leo. Thank you for having me, Heather. I'm excited to be here. Thank you so much. So let's just jump in. You started selling real estate at just 19 and became the number one agent at Keller Williams, B430.

Looking back, what early experience or moment first revealed your drive to rise, compete, and lead at a high level? Yeah. Normally when I hear an introduction like that, it surmises, you know, a quick rise. And I think that's the fallacy, right? Every successful person I've ever met is a 10-year overnight success. And 10 years is actually not a random number. If anyone wants to read a good book on success, there's a book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. And it actually is a super deep study in mastery. And there is almost a mathematical equation where it takes about 10,000 hours to get masterful at something. But one of the caveats in that book is that it says of intentional learning,

right? So I think we can all relate to a meeting someone who's done something for 40 or 50 years, and they never got out of mediocrity. And so my obsession was how do I get better at my craft? And so I took a very different approach. So for example, in my early 20s, I was spending tens of thousands of dollars, in education and really good examples of that that made me an outlier where I was spending that on like negotiation courses and not real estate negotiation courses like general negotiation where most of the other attendees were like Exxon Mobil executives. And they'll never forget sitting in that class first of all feeling completely out of place and not deserving of being in that room. and the instructor had us all introduce ourselves,

and there was two of us from real estate. There was about 40 people in the room. And the guy made it really awkward and stopped the class and said, one of them is the best negotiator in the class and we'll embarrass all of you. And the other one is the worst negotiator in the class who just says, yes, no matter what offer comes in.

So I thought it was a really interesting moment, both from like investing in myself and knowing that, you know, practitioners come in all flavors. But I spent lots and lots of time and energy purposefully learning stuff like taking Toastmasters and learning how to sell, speak publicly, control a conversation, the psychology of a sale. So from very early on, it was just clear to me that I wanted to learn the most important parts of the skill sets necessary.

And that came from paying a lot of attention, like watching people at conferences, who who had the microphone and asking them about their journey. So if I had to sum it up in one word, it's being intentional. So they've met many humans who go through life passively. And if you look at the word ordinary is to be average, right? And so I think when you look at someone who's achieved something extraordinary, it's almost self-defining in the word, right? So in order to have extraordinary results, you have to have extraordinary behavior.

And I recently talked to a group of agents, and I said all we can control is the behavior, not the result. So there are years, and again, industry agnostic, that you have to have 20 conversations to convert to one sale. There are years, you have to have 40 conversations to convert to one sale. And so it's being okay with the only thing that we control is activity versus. the result. But if you get masterful controlling the activity, eventually you get any result you want. Yes, I love that. You know, again, coming back to the idea that what are the factors you can control?

And, you know, we talk a lot in our team here about being able to set your own luck, set your own season. You know, we're having the busiest December we've ever had. And while some people may be having that, if I go to an industry convention, I might find. quite a lot of people that are having a very different experience. They're saying, gosh, it's been so slow last couple months, that kind of thing. It really is amazing what you mentioned about that. And then I love what you said about extraordinary, that it really extraordinary results. You've got to understand that you've got to go out and do something that is outside of the norm in order to start training yourself to be able to do that. Just this idea that you jumped into a room with CEOs and executives at such an early age as well, I think shows that you had the humility to

desire to learn. And I think being a lifelong student is something that we find is so consistent among so many of our guests. I know your own wife, Ariana, who was on our episode recently, was talking about a lifelong curiosity and how she felt that that was a superpower as well. Was there a specific turning point maybe in your early sales career, you know, in your perhaps immigrant upbringing or a challenge that you faced that made you realize that you were meant to build something far bigger than yourself? Obviously, you were already reaching out and putting additional training on yourself and really trying to go big with your knowledge. What may be informed to your decision to be outsized like that? Yeah, no, that's a great question. And funny enough, I could point to a concept in outliers, right?

So I read that book really early on and not that that was a catalyst, but there's a thought in it that's resonated with me quite a bit. And yes, you have to put in your 10,000 hours, but the book also talks about time and place. And so, you know, if you look at the corporators of the 70s and Wall Street and you think through many of the, moments in time. So there's a fantastically interesting stat that 80, 90% of all hockey players in the NHL were born between January 1st and March 30th. And that's because of the way the farm team

system works and how folks get promoted and the amount of experience on the ice they get. And so my reading that book in my early 20s actually upset me because I've felt. felt that the happenstance of how old I was during the financial crisis, the fact that, like, I've seen memes now that said, oh, my God, I wasted 2008 because I was in seventh grade, right? I was in my mid to late 20s and had 10 years of experience by then. And so I was able to capitalize on a market that only comes once in a generation because I was, I was skilled enough, I'd made enough relationships, and I was able to acquire real estate at a very pivotal moment in American history. But I think, you know, I give so much of my journey to what I call

luck and grace, whether it's the two amazing human beings I was born to, who both have PhDs. One's a PhD in communication and one's a PhD in psychology. So I joke that I was bred to learn how to sell. And so, you know, my mom, since I was a little kid, told me I could do absolutely anything I wanted to put my mind to. And at 18, my dad is highly, highly encouraged me to take a personal growth seminar, which, you know, there's many that I think will kind of give you the same philosophy. But I was able to unlock, by luck, in my opinion, super early that like all of the world is a construct with words and how we look at the world. And I have a vivid, vivid memory in college where I got into an argument with my roommate because I came back fired up from an event,

right? And in sales in general, it's very common to invest in in conferences, especially the motivational category. And he said, you're full of shit. Everything you just said is made up, and you're delusional. And I remember starting to get upset and then just paused and thought about it and I looked back at him and I said, you are correct. But so is your perspective on the world. And if I have a choice in it, I want to live in my delusion than yours because here's really suck, right? And so where, again, I would give it attributed to the parents I had and like the openness and the encouragement and curiosity. And when I said, I don't want to go to college or I don't want to use my college degree, I want to go be a salesperson. Like, okay, you know, it's your life,

it's your journey. Just be the very best you're going to be at it. So I don't know if the answer is a question. I was just super lucky to be born to amazing human beings. I was in certain rooms at the right age at the right time. And so I outwork most people, but I feel like the luckiest boy in the world. I love that. And by the way, you just dropped quite a bit of wisdom in the last few seconds. You said I outwork most people. But, you know, I was fortunate because that really says something different as well, which is a work ethic. And I think is something that we struggle. And I know I struggle sometimes to hire for this embedded idea of a work ethic versus like work life balance, for example, or, you know, that something will come to you is very different. absolutely love what you said about, you know, yay, moms out there, basically telling you can be anything you want in life and just letting you know that you had a limitless possibility that your

options were boundless. And I'm sure somewhat grounded because if your parents, as you, you know, as you say, they were both PhDs, they understood what heartwork was to even get to the level of knowledge that they had. That's a huge commitment on their part just to their own education. So I love that so much of this, like you said, that luck where you had a baked-in, you know, ability to be part of a family that highly valued education and absolutely wanted you to understand that you had limitless possibility. And one of the things that you said about having attended, you know, a workshop or whatever it was at an early age to give you this idea of language and constructs that made me think about like landmark education corporation or something, which I know I had done in my early age. Okay, oh my gosh. Yeah, fantastic. I did seven years of that. And people go like, wow, how are you, you seem so wise or something by the time I was 30. And it was, it was only that I had, I volunteered for them for, you know, I couldn't afford all their seminars. So I did some. And then I kept volunteering. So I could at least just be in the room because I understood at this early age that this was really something useful to be able to understand that we create our reality as humans. That's, that's amazing. And again, it's almost, like you said, it goes back to luck that you had the opportunity to be in a room like that and really try to understand and unpeel yourself so that you're

not kind of your own worst, you know, tripping hazard as you go forward in life. You've led through multiple reinventions from mega agent to founder to CEO. What was a defining obstacle or two that force you to evolve in the moment inside of these businesses, and how did that reshape the way that you rise through challenges today? So there's a concept I've kind of landed on that is important to articulate, which is we're never actually ready, right? And I think too many people get stuck in that moment. Like, no one is ready until they choose,

and now this turning into a landmark conversation, right, to step into that moment, right? And I think the most visceral one that people can relate to without having to do landmark and be part of the conversation you and I can have is actually just being a parent, right? So our first child, everyone goes through that moment where they hand you this kid and say, okay, good luck, right? And I don't know that I've had anything so intimidating happen, right? Oh, hands down. Coming home from the hospital, my mother, or my husband, sorry, he sat down the carrier,

and I had never even babysat anyone in my life before, and he set that carrier down in our entryway coming home from the hospital, and he goes, what now? So I totally get you on that. Well, and it's the best, best example, because the vast majority of the human population can relate to it, where it's terrifying. and there's no manual. There's no instructions. And, you know, depending on who you call, you get conflicting instructions.

But ultimately, we end up going with our gut, right? And if you've ever then had a second or third kid, it's like our first kid, I took off six weeks, Ariana took off six weeks. And it was like we read every baby book, every little thing gave us anxiety. Our second kid showed up the day I was supposed to be installed. for NAREP as president of the national organization. And we ended up skipping it because she literally gave birth that day. And we ended up having a party at our house with our friends and family and passed around our son like a football versus like the first kid.

It was like, you must, you know, give me a negative test for the flu and wash your hands. Rapping and bubble wrap. Yeah. And then I can give that example for every single thing. When I was 19, no one should have asked me for help with real estate. At, you know, at 28, I don't think I was qualified to be named the number one agent in the world at the number one brand in the world. We were never qualified to start a company. Again, qualified is a purposeful word, right? Like according to definitions, I wasn't qualified to do that any of that.

You know, in our last tech startup, we raised $48 million from some of the most marquee. capital allocators in the world. And, you know, I'd walk into these meetings with founders fun and Excel and battery and insight and some of the most, you know, names you'd recognize. And it was so interesting because when you know, you know your stuff, you know, like, you're terrified and then ask your questions. You're like, you'll actually know the answer to these questions, right? Yes.

But I can technically, why was I qualified to run a public trade company? I've never done it before. until you step into that moment, said, I'm going to do this. Yes. No one has lived before, right? We get one shot at this. And so that aha is pretty real. I love that.

And just this idea, again, you dropped amazing wisdom right at the end because you said no one has lived before. We're all just figuring this out on the fly. And I think we can be so hard on ourselves for not being an expert yet. And I think it's something in particular I've talked with a few coaches about on this show that women may be a little bit different than men, maybe a little slower off of that starting block. They may be prepping more, prepping more, waiting for that sense of readiness to appear, waiting until, you know, getting ready to get ready, as some, you know, Krista Mayshore would say. And it's really this idea that eventually you're going to have to launch because whatever you're up to, you'll learn so much more. when you get your, you know, roll your sleeves up and start doing, then you're ever going to learn while you're just preparing.

And I think there's an argument for both, for sure. But real life will present, you know, whatever it's going to present for those plans. Across your journey from NAARP leadership to building Remind to leading EXP, who challenged or inspired your thinking the most and what lasting philosophy did that mentorship or that collaboration create in you? Yeah, so I've been blessed to have some amazing mentors, which, by the way, I don't think most people reach out and ask for help. So in my journey, I feel like the most giving, the most open,

the most accessible people have been the most successful people I've encountered. And so I think there's this fallacy where people just don't reach out because they think someone's busy. And the busiest people I know have the most control of their time. And so, you know, I've chosen to be in relationships where I ask questions. And it's, you know, I've just been super grateful in my entire journey. I've found several folks who said, you remind me of a younger version of me and have poured into me. And as someone who now pours into others, all I think anyone looks for is reciprocity.

Right? It's like, look, if you want to learn, when you are teaching, the biggest reward is seeing people go execute what you taught them, right? Like, no one who will pour more into your cup if you ignore their advice. But if like you give sage advice and then they'll go execute, it's like a video game where you advance to the next level. And this is coming more from being a parent now and seeing our little humans self-actualize and have goals. and have their own things. And like our kiddos are 11 and 8. And our daughter sings in a school of rock band. And she's now done like two or three live performances where she's the lead singer at, she just turned 11. So she did this all at 10 years old to like a room full of adults.

And she's singing like, no doubt, spider webs, right? And that's so crazy to watch. And then there are little guys obsessed with jiu-jitsu. And he's competed in like three, tournaments and he's meddled every time. And some of the kids, like, he made it all the way to the finals. And the other kid he was competing against is homeschooled to compete in Jiu-Jitsu. And he's an eight-year-old. And I was terrified of how he looks, right? Physically, like, just all muscle and obsessed. But it's cool to be able to support and help our kiddos push past their fear boundary,

right? Like, I think there's a distinction of, like, uh, projecting. my failures in life onto a child, right? I think that there's a very obvious and, you know, persona there versus like, listen, and it's funny because both Ariana and I can care less about school, like, at all. Like, sometimes they almost look disappointed that I'm not excited about their grades. And I asked them, I said, look, all I want you to learn is learn how to socialize and learn how to, you know, I'm more excited that they're both been like student class presidents because, you know, that's like gaining consensus, selling your idea, getting to talk and represent others.

And, you know, I think school is actually a socialization experiment on like, can you play well with others? Because by the way, we're all just a bunch of grown-up kids, right? So, you know, the skill sets I developed in college were not like, you know, reading and writing. It was my ability to lead my fraternity and get voted in as president. and, you know, all the things that I think have had way more direct implication into the things I've been able to attain in doing life. I love that. Yes. And, you know, it's this concept of gaining consensus, like you said, learning to enroll others, maybe learning to create healthy debate. This ability to socialize can lead to happier, better relationships in marriage, in longer-lasting relationships, in the ability to have better relationships with extended families.

family because it's all a testing ground, a proving ground, kind of a safe place to try your hand at being a human, interacting with other humans, which as you point out, is so critical to anything we're up to in life. It really does not matter what you're up to. If you're going to swim the English Channel, you sure, that's a solo activity, but you're going to have to enroll others in the journeys so that they will fund you or whatever that is. So I absolutely love that you pointed that out. You often talk about execution, operational excellence, and frictionless experiences. What daily habits or internal mindsets have been the backbone of your ability to scale and lead at such a high level? That's a great question. I think we overcomplicate everything.

And I think we give ourselves too much credit as human beings as businesses, as business owners. You have to be to have the self-awareness to just say, okay, what is it and what is it not? And most things are a commoditized product or service. And again, I could, you know, it doesn't matter what subject or industry we're talking about. And so, you know, the first mistake people make as going from like self-employed to business owner is I'm the only one who can do it. Right. I think that's the biggest fallacy in business is like, you know, I got to do it myself if I've done right. Like, there's like actual programming that's vastly incorrect. And so first of all, just, just know that a hundred billion people have lived before you and

you're not special. If you pass, the only people will care of those loved ones, which is I talk a lot about spending time with the right people. Because at the end of the day, like, you know, the plane goes down. You guys will be sad, but there will be a new CEO. And I wouldn't expect to resent anyone for it, right? And so if a, if, if, if, you. a service or product is commoditized, to me, the base entry level, the table stake is excellence.

Right? So before I'm going to compete at anything, it's like, okay, who are my competitors? And like, if I even want to attempt this or have a seat at the table, I need to do this equal to or better than everybody else. And so I don't think most people approach things like that. Like when I took over and I joined DXP, it's like, what are we? Like, it's a philosophical question, but it's also a tactical question. And before we're anything else, right, because I think if you asked 83,000 agents, you'd almost get 83,000 responses. And that's the beauty of like an individualized journey, which, you know, it's like culture and it's camaraderie and it's learning.

No, no, it's a brokerage first. Before anything else, we give you forms, we answer broker questions, we collect escrowes, we pay you on time. Right. So before we add in anything else, like I believe that that needs to. to be the very first and most obsessive thing we do, which leads to the second question about friction. And I believe removing friction is what wins business. Best example of that is Amazon. Amazon created a button that they actually patented for 20 years, where it's just a one-click purchase.

Like, that's not an accident. They actually owned it. And for the majority of the patent period, Apple used to pay them like a jillions of dollars per year. to be the only other company that had that button. And so when you look at any product or service, you know, another thing I talk a lot about is I don't think we give ourselves enough credit as sophisticated decision-making machines.

So from gut reaction to everything. So how I mean that is the amount of conversations I've had with any entrepreneur in any category, my whole life, it's like, hey, I think I'm going to go do this. What do you think? and my first question is, would that work on you? Yes. Plain and simple.

And again, when I say I think I'm remarkably average, I mean it in a couple ways. One is I think most people think I'm saying a tongue and cheek, I'm not. I am a 43-year-old male that's roughly 175, 185 pounds, depending on how discipline not being, with a beard. There are 80 million males that fit that description in the U.S. today. you know similar demographics married two kids like all kinds of stats so the one thing that you should give yourself credit and grace is like hey if it works on you probably works on a big number right and so the amount of time someone's like i'm going to send direct mailers what do you think i'm like when's the last time you opened a piece of direct mail and made a large purchase yes and by the way

there's no right or wrong answer i'm asking a genuine question it's like oh i'm going to spend all this time and energy and money on cold calling i'm like cool when's the last time you picked up your phone and parted with dollars or cents and it is a good question right because every what I say that to someone they're like oh but the response rate is point

okay I'm not I'm not disagreeing with you I'm just asking you to give yourself more credit and then I ask a question like when's the last time a well-placed Instagram ad made you part with money right and so you know open your phone

and go to apps and you tell me how much time you spend on each app. And again, it's not a right or wrong answer. It's just the fact that you are a sample size of one that you can multiply times a very large number. So if you're spending more time on TikTok and Instagram, and again, not right or wrong, and your life journey, your age, your gender will all have an impact on it,

I would try to spend some time creating content to hit the demographic that most relates to you, because you look and sound and talk like them and have a similar shared life experience. And I don't know, put it on the place where the other people that look, sound, trust, think like you will show up. Fantastic. So much good to unpack there. You know, know the behavior of your demographic. Decide who your demographic is.

Maybe look at yourself. I love the comment that you made about you're not special. that is actually an empowerment comment as well because it means that we have mindshare with so many other people in this world. I think you pointed out there was, you know, 80 million or 8 million, you know, just in your exact sort of slotted demographic and maybe psychographic we can go further. So this idea that absolutely you have people that you have something in common with, why not work that into your own? own behavior and understand how that applies to to who it is you're trying to go after what you're trying to get from them and when in fact you yourself would have committed to those types of things absolutely love that and then again you know just going to you know we we this idea of

we don't have to do everything ourselves we don't have to reinvent every wheel as an entrepreneur I think this is you know all the entrepreneurs we talk with are basically have had to learn that at a certain point, they are not the best fit for every one of the jobs or every one of the hats that they're wearing. And so the fact that you hit on that, I think, is so precient because we really are saying, as an entrepreneur, you have to understand, like, where is your best fit job? And you are not always perfect or the best fit for every single thing that you're up to, and that that's something you can consider to allow another person to do while you go over here and make, you know, make more money or make more progress doing the thing

that you are better suited to. You and Ariana have built initiatives focused on elevating women and minorities in tech specifically. What have the women in your career taught you, or anyone, really, about leadership and how has that shaped the leader that you are today? So my vantage point is mine, right? And it's different than other folks. And I grew up overseas and I moved here until I was 12. So I've been hyper aware of diversity, not as like a talk track, but as an experience. And I actually recently talked about this on a call.

And it's interesting because I've been hyper aware my whole life that I never wanted to be, fill in the blank group, comma, anything else. I wanted to be CEO number one founder, comma, that happened to be fill in the blank, right? And so one is having a monolithic experience is weird if you're outside of the monolithic group. And so when you move to a new area and you sound different or look different,

and this goes for gender in groups of leadership, you just have this awareness. that most people don't have. And so I think having that for a large part of my life just made me aware of the importance of diversity of viewpoint. And I think diversity or DEI is looked at a like a checking the box versus I think it's an economic opportunity, right? Just look at any market, right?

Like the U.S. market is 380, 90 million people. I don't know what the census is today. Half and half are male and female. Right, 27% are Latino, you know, African American, Jewish, Indian, Asian. How big do you want your pie to be economically? Like purely capitalistic selfishness. I believe that a group of team members with a diverse viewpoint background will give you an economic advantage on a monolithic group of any sort, right,

fill in the blank anything I just said. If you have 20 team members that look and talk exactly the same, they lack the viewpoint that a diverse group of folks that is more representative of the market you're selling into will have. So I think through it very capitalistically in the sense of like this is the cheap code to sell more stuff, scale more, reach more, which I don't think most people look at it like that. It's actually an economic advantage. No, and I love that. I love that because, you know, if, you know, if you represent the world around you, then you automatically have an inroad to a shared experience with whoever is out there wanting to be heard because, like you mentioned, every product or service is

basically, you know, commoditized. And there is sales, the concept of sales, whether you're doing, you know, baking cookies or, you know, selling homes, you are interacting with the public in some fashion. And the public ultimately wants to be understood. It wants to be heard. It wants its, you know, needs and grievances or whatever to be addressed. And in the case of housing and other big, you know, big purchases, they may have a number of obstacles. But if you can understand them, at a more granular level, you have this opportunity, or if you can at least hear them at a granular level, you have this opportunity to be able to speak to their specific issues

that they may be dealing with. I think Tijuana Jackson is phenomenal for this because she actually saw neighborhoods in her town that were, and she was on the show recently, she saw neighborhoods in her town that had a low level of home ownership, and she took personal pride and mission in her ability to change that statistic. Our team, I've often said my own real estate team, I want it to reflect the world around us. I think we've got seven different languages now.

And I don't have that many agents. But just the fact that we can represent the world around us, I think it's like you said, it is a superpower because we can speak to a. broader community and we can pair people up as needed so that there is that, you know, even language or understanding or cultural understanding and needs. You're leading a global brokerage while still championing entrepreneurship, innovation, and community impact. How do you protect your well-being and stay grounded when the pace and pressure of that leadership never slows day to day.

That's a great question. And I think that one only comes from screwing it up early on, right? So one is, you know, from 19 to the time I was number one, I did not have balance whatsoever. And two things. One is it's not sustainable. I would get sick often. And I'm talking about like the common cold, the flu, take me down for three days, lose my voice. When you are young, you can afford to do that.

And by the way, I actually recommend it. I recommend to be as unbalanced as possible, as curious as possible to change your mind as much as possible when there is not much risk involved. Where like explore the world, taste different things, learn who you are, change careers. I feel just lucky that I found it early and never shifted. But even inside of the industry, I tried so many different things like, resi development lending like i i touched almost every corner of the industry not just like just one vertical of of real estate uh so even for myself as an example of of not being scared to try and learn new things and this one perspective only came from losing absolutely everything during the

financial crisis um which is one is it all can disappear tomorrow absolutely tomorrow and I'm just hyper aware that the only moment that's real is right now. Yesterday is a memory and tomorrow is a thought. But like now is the moment. So I've taken this like, how about right now? Like I'm going to hang up and call this other person and get right back to you. Right. So it's this hyper sense of urgency combined with this awareness that we're not special and we will die.

And as I'm taking my last breath on the planet, the only people I care about are my bloodline and my offspring and my family members. Because no matter how much you guys look up to me, appreciate my leadership, blah, blah, blah, and I don't mean blah, blah, blah, disrespectfully, you know, when I'm no longer here and I've, you know, playing with my grandkids, like there's a bunch of exhaustive data

and I encourage people to read of people under deathbed in hospice. Not one wished for more titles or contracts or meetings. it regret is poison and I think most regret that you can read about is things I did not try in time I missed with people I cared about and so yeah that is the most grounding thought that I can take my mind to at any point in time because in this role I've had some tenuous things to deal with and it happens every day right so it's it's it's like it's some mantras that even the whole team says like, you know, that's, I will, like late on a Thursday or Friday and there's like, there's this huge fire. I'm like, cool, we'll deal with it on one day. And, and there's a balance

of sense of urgency and then also not letting it consume you. Like there are plenty of times I've gotten bad news on a Friday and I don't even tell anyone until Monday because I'm like, first of all, is it going to change anything? Can we create actionable intentionality around it? No. So what am I going like someone already disrupted my piece. I don't need to pull other people in. it. I can wait until next week, but also understanding that this is a season of life. And I go back to this concept of, especially again, I'm hyper aware in my current season as a parent where, you know, if you've ever wanted to see someone lose their shit over nothing, you know, watch a seven-year-old, right, who just can't open the jar or their toy breaks.

And, you know, I say this to our daughter as she was growing up, like, don't let anyone rob you your piece, right? Like, which I need to remind myself of when someone talk shit about me on the internet now and it's in writing. It's like, well, it's like, wait a second, I'm not going to let anyone take my peace. I'm going to move on with my day because it's irrelevant. And an exercise that I would invite people to do is think about something that was, you know, heartbreak in your high school teen years, right?

Like college, it's like there was moments. you lost sleep over. And right now, you can't actually even remember what upset you. And so if you can go back there and just know that 99% of things that happen don't actually matter in the grand scheme of things. And sometimes I go very kind of draconian in language and say, but did you die? Like my daughter was going on and on and on about something. And it's like, but did it kill you?

And she goes, of course not. Or I wouldn't be here. I'm like, my point exactly. Right. Are we still going to, are you going to rob me of my piece at the moment now? Or do we need to keep talking about this? And then also just be like, was there something to be learned? Is there something you'll change in your behavior? Will you do something differently so it doesn't happen again? Or if it happens again, how will you handle it differently? And so, you know, so many people, I think, turn about 20, 21, 22, and live Groundhog Day until the day they die. And that's probably the one more conscious thoughts I've, I've had like, that's not what I want to do.

I want to have the most epic journey ever defined by my version of epic, which could be whatever I choose it to be. Yeah, I love that. So much good there. And, you know, I think like you said, when it comes, you know, to your death bad, you're talking about most people wanting to have other experiences and wishing that they, you know, had time with family. or I think if we're talking about, you know, hours, it might be, I'm so glad I had all these

experiences and I'm so glad that I had time with family. It's actually one of the things not to plug real estate as a career, but I used to be in corporate marketing and advertising. And it really is when I had the chance, I was literally designing my post mom with little babies job. I said, let's put it on a pros and cons list. And literally real estate checks so many of the boxes and my most important ones were I want time with those kiddos as they grow at any age, and I want to be able to provide amazing experiences for our whole family. And I mean, to this day, I think we've, you know, we're going to Japan in about four days and we've traveled to something like 32 or 34 countries. They're 20 and 22 years old. And as a result, they're almost, you know,

best friends. I have two boys that are, you know, so they're brothers. But is that, you know, family that's, you know, but plays together, stays together kind of thing. And it's been able to inform them and expand their worldview. These are all things where I was checking that box. And I was able to join real estate as a mom, which I absolutely love as a mom occupation because it gives, I think, you know, male or female, whoever, I think if you have kids, it gives you an opportunity to explore the world. And if you don't, it also gives you, I've got agents on my team right now. They're out there exploring the world, having, like you said, this epic life. And they actually have the money to fund it and it gives them a great a great sense of why when they're working hard

every day um yeah just just fantastic for uh the women listening who are ready to rise whether in real estate leadership or entrepreneurship what truth do you wish someone had told you earlier or that you would like them to know that could accelerate their path uh whatever that is that they're trying to strike out towards and haven't yet done it? Several things. One is to be intentional. So, you know, write it down,

decide that you're going to do it. Seek people who've successfully done it, right? Like it kind of goes back to, again, some life experiences that are learned, which is I heard a quote the other day, I don't know who would give credit to, but it was funny in tongue and cheek in the sense where it said,

if I ever offend you, Heather, please send me a text. And by the way, if you don't have myself, one number, I shouldn't have the ability to offend you. Right. And so, um, okay. Be careful what you let in and what you let affect your thoughts. But then also, you know, who you choose as a mentor, as someone to follow, make sure they've actually walked the path, right? Like you should not take advice from someone who's not achieved what it is you are striving to do professionally, personally. And then the number one thing I could advise any person trying to get to their next level is to ask for help and be intentional about it.

No one lies in bed at night worrying if Heather Mancy has enough to eat at night. And not because you don't have a roll of decks of folks that love and trust and care about you. It's because they're laying in bed worrying about feeding their own. And so it's a very Pavlovian hierarchy of needs. And so most human beings are reciprocating machines. So if you ask, they will give. Yes. That is so good.

Just the fact that, you know, it takes a little bit of humility, but actually asking someone gives them the chance to share grace with you. And they actually become more, you know, something in their life shifts And like you said, it's the teacher who's just so proud that the, you know, it's like the greatest result that they can have from giving a piece of advice or teaching someone is that that person goes out and actions that. So the idea that you're asking for help is not only that maybe you're taking time from someone, in fact, you're giving them a gift because they get to share their wisdom. And if you go out and really take that seriously and go conquer the world with

you know, or your day, then they actually get to benefit and see that something they said helped you. I think that is huge. If you had to narrow it down to three non-negotiables principles that you refuse to compromise on or that are a driving, you know, defining force in your life, what would they be for building a thriving business and a thriving internal self? again, season of life. And I would say you first, which is somewhat counterintuitive, but it's the concept of put your mask on first in case of an emergency on a plane. Right. Like if you don't actually control your time, first of all, first and foremost,

like, you know, the entire calendar for XP is predicated on the Riviera Day School in Miami. And I'm not embarrassed or shy to say it, right? Because if I do not get to feel my own cup, I won't show up for you guys in the confident, calm, collected leader. I have to be every single day, right? Coupled with my health, right? Like, I need sleep. I need to keep my weight in its Goldilocks zone as my doctor says it because I have bad cholesterol genetically. I don't want to be taking a bunch of pills in my 40s.

And saying I need, you know, like I at least once a quarter take a mental health day, as I call them, where I go spear fishing in the Atlantic Ocean. And, you know, Glenn just wants to know that I'm back on the boat because I'm 100 feet down chasing big fish with a spear gun. But that brings me joy. Fantastic. Yeah. And that makes me happy. And, you know, my kids call it my happy place. So I think most successful overachievers or drivers or whatever. description you want, don't proactively put themselves first from a taking care of everybody else.

Like if I burn out at this point in my life, I have 85,000 souls that depend on me to take care of myself, to show up, you know, calm, collected, not erratic, and be able to have a steady hand. But in order to do that, you have to put yourself first, which I don't think is a concept we think about enough in life. No, I think it's fantastic. And in fact, it even harkens back to being a parent, which is that if you're stressed out, if you're not getting good sleep, if you're not, if you're not managing your health, and you're not maybe getting a day away or whatever, if you're a new parent and you're not

getting a day away once a week as a mom or whatever that looks like, then, or if, if, you know, mom and dad are not going on a date, you know, periodically or whatever, then that, you know, you're not going to be able to manage the intensive energy that those little humans need and going to entrepreneurship. It is, I think, a really good parallel or any position in leadership where, like you said, the word erratic, I think, you know, if people can count on you to consistently show up as an even-keeled human being, as you mentioned, and being able to understand that there is a, and I think we're learning this so much more now, there's a really profound connection. Some of my future guests will be sleep study, you know, specialists and

people like that. I'm a stated biohacker myself because you had mentioned a lot of people are not putting that first. But I think at a certain point, if you really are a high producer and you're doing it for a while, what I see very consistently among our interviewees is that they do eventually have to figure that out. They eventually have to figure out, wow, sleep really affects me. and wow, I should take those vitamins and go take care of my health. And yep, you got the aura ring I've got I'm going to. It's absolutely incredible. And we have the power, I think, with just simple things like nutrition and sleep

to really help ourselves. And then, boy, we can, you know, when I talk to my agents about it, because I have a lot of younger people that maybe they're going to go spend a night periodically, they're going to visit their friends and, you know, tie one on or whatever. But the thing is, you know, it's like a toddler. By the time they need their nap, you know, they're not okay. And by the time they wake up again, you're dealing with what I used to call fresh human.

It's a completely different human being this smarter. I used to think mine woke up smarter and I just loved it. And I think we all have that capability as well. So I want to be really conscious of your time here. As you guide EXP into its next evolution and continue building your legacy as a founder and leader, what impact do you hope that your work leaves on the industry and the people rising within it? And then just lastly, are there any initiatives that you would love our audience to know about or anywhere they should go to learn from you?

So follow me on social. I produce a lot of content. And again, that's, by the way, I don't necessarily like it or it comes easy to me. It's just being pragmatic that that's where the attention is. And we have this like asymmetric moment in time where it doesn't actually cost anything in some like, wait a second. I get hundreds of thousands of views and I don't have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars like we did 10 years ago. It's like you have to take advantage of that. But to answer your question directly, it's the thought I've landed on, especially as guiding EXP, is we can't be all things to all people.

We are not a fit for everybody. And we should be proud of that. right and as I analyzed and spent time with who we are we're the home of the entrepreneurial agent and I define the company in about 12 words which is we are a platform to empower entrepreneurs to build whatever size dream they want right so I understand who we serve you know I can describe the three or four avatars that are the majority of our population um you know and and be okay with that right so you know when I'm talking to someone and they're just a square peg and a round hole for us, own it.

Just say, you know, this is not the best fit for you. I'm not going to contort myself and force something that should not be forced. Because at the end of the day, then someone's going to have a bad user experience, right? It's going to have friction to it, right? If you need an office and we don't have physical office for you, I'm not going to try to convince you that virtual is better. If you don't believe in it as a philosophy, You know, why force it, right?

And so I would encourage everyone to just understand that companies, communities are just collections of humans. And so I actually purposefully never use the word family with business. I think it's disingenuous. I use the word team or tribe. Because family is not a choice. And we all have family members. We probably wouldn't trust to park our car. but we wouldn't fire them.

And teams are, you draft talent and you pay them with their worth to shine. And that's a big distinction for me. I love that. That is fantastic. Well, I just want to say thank you. This has been a genuine honor. It is, you know, amazing that a gentleman with your schedule was able to find the time to fit this in. And women who rise really appreciates you.

I know that the words that you've shared with us today and, your wisdom will change lives and we'll have other people be able to see themselves in you and learn something from today. So I appreciate your generosity and I thank you and it's such an honor to have had you today. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Well, folks, that's it for today's podcast. Thank you so much for joining us on Women Who Rise, the success podcast for ambitious women. Today, Leo taught us now is the most important moment. Look to what are the experiences that you want in life and the people that you can spend time with that would fill your cup. Understanding that work is, you know, one important part of what we're up to. But like he said, you know,

at the end of our lives, we're not going to say, oh, I wish I had one more accolade or I'm so glad I won that award, we're going to be talking about the time we spent with our family, the time the experiences we had with the people closest to us. And we're going to talk about maybe what were the experiences and passions that we were a part of in our lives, understanding that as a human, we need to balance out what it is we're up to in our armed entrepreneurial world as well. The second thing you talked about was knowing the demographic of you. So, you know, what is your age? What do you do? So the demographic that you are in fact a part of, and what, by the way, what socials will they be on? What will they purchase?

You know, what is it that they have in terms of behavior and leverage that in whatever it is you're up to? Or look at the avatar of the customers that you are going after and think really clearly about what it is that they do in a behavior. So if you're talking about sending a bunch of mailers or doing a bunch of cold calling, when was the last time you responded to a mailer? When was the last time that you picked up someone on a cold call and gave them your credit card? Realizing that these modes of communication and sales may not be suited to what it is you are going after if you yourself would not use them and if you are part of the demographic that your product or service is looking to serve, think more about the analysis of that. It is the easiest customer to know because it's you.

Thirdly, he talked about gathering the tools and knowledge that you need early on. He talked about being in rooms at 19 that were on negotiation and sales for the general population and he was in rooms was, you know, CEO of ExxonMobil or whatever. So just understanding that you have this opportunity to gather the tools and the knowledge that you will need at a high level. He also talked about experiment, launch those ideas, and learn to find your place early on and understand you might pivot and shift and you may try different jobs, but you can give yourself the opportunity in your 20s to kind of be an experimenter and know that that's okay. Not every job will be your last job. Just as we say in home sales as well, not every house will be your last house. Maybe it

turns into an investment. So this is all an investment in yourself, an investment in education. Fourth, he talked about as a business owner, be intentional. Seek successful examples that have actually gone before you and created stellar results. for help, understanding that you may have a lot of people that could help you if you're waiting for them to reach out that hand and offer it, you may be finding yourself last in line. They're going to be thinking about what they need to do to handle in their life first. You've got to actually ask for the help that you need and then draft talent and be willing to pay them to rise and help you rise as well.

and just understand that as an entrepreneur, part of your job is to seek out talent. And we also talked about maybe having your organization represent more of what the world around us represents. If everyone in your organization is a 40-year-old male, you may be missing out on market segments that you could be communicating to in a different way or that could have that appeal, you know, being able to listen to you on socials. For example, if you are hiring a woman as well, or if you have women on your team or your tribe as well. So that is it for today. Visit our website to find our episode guide and worksheet that will help you use these tips to take action in

your own life. Like and subscribe and join us everywhere podcasts are streamed. We can't wait to bring you more incredible content every week so that you can rise in your own lives and careers again. Thank you so much. Heather Manzi, signing all.