Brooklyn Harmon + Kat Hitchcock - Leading and Learning with Heart

[00:00:01] Welcome to Highest and Best, a podcast for women in real estate, where we explore the freedoms and complexities of this high-intensity career. From candid conversations with top agents to inspiring interviews with coaches, researchers, athletes, and female executives, we share valuable tools to help you stay calm, confident, and continue to show up as your highest and best self. Thanks so much for listening.

[00:00:27] Welcome to Highest and Best. I'm your host, as always, Sarah Hubbard. I am so excited for our chat today. I'm talking to Kat Hitchcock and Brooklyn Harmon, both agents in the Hitchcock & Associates Compass office in beautiful Santa Barbara. Brooklyn, you and I met obviously on a coaching cohort earlier this year and have gotten to know each other. Kat, it's such a pleasure to meet you. So thank you so much for being on the podcast, you guys. You're going to be hosting us. We're excited.

[00:00:54] Yeah. I want to get into it because I think with you two, we really got two different perspectives in real estate. Kat, you've been in this for a while. Brooklyn, you're fairly new and off to a pretty incredible start. So I'm really interested in kind of the perspectives on the market from both of your seats. But before we do that, Kat, I'd love to start with you. Give me kind of your brief origin story for real estate. I know you came kind of from a marketing communications background into this, but how did you get into real estate and why did it pull you over?

[00:01:24] Oh, man. Such a loaded question. Okay. So it always is. Okay. So I sort of fell into marketing. So I'm from the South. I went to UT Austin. I was paying my way through college. And so this job landed on my lap to be the marketing manager of UT Austin. UT Austin is like the biggest media school. If you're not familiar with Austin, it's, you know, music capital.

[00:01:47] So I had all the creative and media placement for newspaper, print, radio. So I'd go in between classes and go to work. And it was like a really great paying job. Well, this company came, recruited me, plop me down Santa Barbara. I'd never heard of Santa Barbara in my life. I'm like, so country mouths, country bunking. I was like, where is Santa Barbara? But I came out here, obviously loved it.

[00:02:08] But the intent was to come here. And then they wanted me to go to New York or Chicago to their bigger offices. I came here within six months, met my husband, luckily. But it was a great career. I mean, marketing is, it's like it's a great, like, you know, jump off point for real estate. It's like half my job is marketing.

[00:02:25] Yes. But I was in an interesting niche where I was mostly dealing with the military, which is so random, but it was a great job to have at the age of 22, working with defense contractors, big accounts like Nike, Adidas. It was just a really great job to have. So I was there for seven years. During that time, I always knew I wanted to be in real estate. Early on in my life, I was obsessed with the idea of homeownership. Our family, we didn't, I didn't come from a lot of money. Again, country bunkings out in the South. We rented a ton.

[00:02:55] And thankfully, we were able to be homeowners way later in life. But I was always obsessed with that idea. I'm obsessed with the idea of building wealth for a family. So it always enticed me. One of my best friends in high school, his dad was a super successful realtor. So he did really cool farms, lake houses, things like that. So it always, you know, drew me to that. But to have 100% commission job when I have $50,000 in student debt just was not. And I'm like, well, I'm going to go this direction for a bit. It took me about a year, but I was flying from my job so much.

[00:03:25] I just took my real estate textbooks. I was just reading through them on the plane, got my license. And it wasn't until two years down the road until I made the jump. My husband, actually, we were engaged and he's like, if you're going to make a life transition, let's do it now. We had just paid off all of my student debt. We were like so proud of ourselves. And he's like, let's do this now.

[00:03:45] So going from a really good paying senior exec job, I'd been there for seven years and then going to being someone's admin assistant, 75% pay cut was the most rewarding year of my life. Like we had no money. We just crockpotted every night. We like lived in a garage apartment, but it was like great memories. And, you know, we never looked back ever since.

[00:04:07] Yeah. Oh, I love that. I have such a similar story to that as well. I'm from Kansas City. I didn't grow up necessarily in the country, but it's not hard in Kansas City to go from the suburbs to the country in about two minutes. So I'm with you on that. Brooklyn, remind me what your origin story is. I know you're kind of fairly new to this, but you've been cranking for the past year.

[00:04:29] Well, thank you. I mean, gosh, it's been crazy. So I am originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. I went to school out there. I was actually I was going to college for business law and I had a scholarship for business law. And I was going to college on a very small, small junior college on a turkey farm. It was called Snow College in the middle of nowhere.

[00:04:51] And very similar to my family, there wasn't homeownership, but we always my mom. I just have this memory of my mom always going to open houses growing up like it was just kind of always a thing. So this was kind of always in the back of my mind. But I had known since I was a kid that I wanted to live in California. Like I remember sitting on the beach when I was seven and Huntington Beach and I promised myself out loud I would move to California one day because I felt like a California girl.

[00:05:16] And anyways, I was at no college, came home for Christmas and my mom and my family could just tell that I was miserable. And I quit my ambassador position at my college and, you know, took I don't didn't have that scholarship anymore. I left and I worked at a lodge up in Big Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake City. I snowshoed to work. I literally worked as a housekeeper, a waitress just to save up to get out here and then, yeah, moved to Santa Barbara. It'll be 11 years in June.

[00:05:46] Yeah, it's crazy. I worked as an enrollment services representative at the city college. So I started giving people tours and I started learning everything I could learn about Santa Barbara to try to get people to come here and to love it as much as I loved it. And yeah, I mean, I feel super grateful. My mom just drove me out here and was like, just make it happen, you know. Oh, that's awesome. And then, yeah, I just I worked waitressing jobs, usually two at a time, went to school and then I coached tennis for a high school here as well.

[00:06:15] And then, yeah, eventually just I realized you can only get to a certain point when you're waitressing. You can make a certain amount and you just work yourself to the bone and you're never going to get past a certain point. And for me, I knew I needed to get off the hamster wheel and it felt like a natural next step to get into real estate and to help people find the love for Santa Barbara that I found here and to help people find home here. And so it's been a dream that I met. Yeah, yeah. And this whole thing. You should tell her about Abel.

[00:06:45] OK, well, yeah, yeah. It's a cool story. Well, I feel, yeah, the being a part of Compass was pretty crazy. It was I was waitressing and that day I got to choose my section inside or outside. I always choose outside. But for some reason, I chose inside that day. And our head broker here was sitting at a table with another team just chatting it up. And at the very end of the conversation, I bought myself in because I'd heard them talking real estate. And I just said, hey, are you guys real estate agents?

[00:07:13] And I'm about to take my test. I really want to just chat with people. And I asked for his card and he said, you know, I don't have a card, but my office hours are this. Come to this location, you know. So I stayed up till three in the morning writing a resume and a cover letter. And I brought it in and didn't even know if he'd remember me. But he said he was like, holy shit, you showed up. Yeah. And we sat and talked for an hour. And he gave me the time of day that other people had not.

[00:07:41] And Compass doesn't hire first time agents, but he said maybe a team under Compass would. And a month later, passed my test, texted him. And the next day, Kylie, our other teammate, called me. And the universe definitely conspired and brought me. It's crazy. We don't have like buyer's agents on our team. It's like a very new thing. And within like that first month, I asked Abel. He's like, there's an amazing girl. She has no experience, but you're going to love her. I know that y'all are in that kindred spirit. So she hugged me on the first, on her interview. She hugged me.

[00:08:11] And you're like, yeah, you're in. Yeah. Red cowboy boots. I'm like, you're high. You're in right now. Yeah. I mean, I do, as someone who also lived in a ski town for a long time, waited tables, did the thing. You were, when I first met Brooklyn, we were kind of all joking on a cohort. Both in my marketing career and now in real estate, if I look at a resume and someone has been in the service industry, like that is the most incredible launch point for basic human kindness and service.

[00:08:40] And it is such an incredible thing to have on your resume, especially going into real estate, because it really is just kind of people management, the good and the bad. Right. And so I think, and I do always tell even kind of babysitters that my daughter has, it's like you get jobs from people you meet in those jobs.

[00:08:59] I'm like, go be a guide in the mountains, go be a fly fishing guide, go make coffee in New Zealand for a year, like go do it because you're going to meet incredible people and a career is going to come out of those connections. It just doesn't feel obvious. I'm so glad Kat or Brooklyn, that was your experience as well. I have to, you know, ask you Kat and Brooklyn will probably cry, but I, even through Zoom, you know, meeting Brooklyn, like we all, everyone on the cohort immediately fell in.

[00:09:29] I think that's probably what Abel saw right across a dining table. And there is this X factor, I think, in terms of becoming a good realtor and one that I think really cares and does this in a really kind of heart forward way. But when you're hiring new agents, when you're doing interview after interview and everyone under the sun wants to be a real estate agent, right? They may or may not understand what that looks like. They may just think it's flashy. What is it that you're looking for?

[00:09:56] What's under the surface that you're like, oh, you've got the thing for our team and for this industry? Exactly. So Brooklyn was my first agent to hire on the team ever. Like I've hired other people like Kylie, who's our team lead, had she's turned into an agent, but that's why she wasn't initially hired as that. But with Brooklyn, I think we had interviewed a couple other people.

[00:10:17] I feel like I'm not a hard ass, but I have a really good read on people on who is a hard worker and who is not a hard worker. And I feel like especially in the town that we live in, we're coastal California. People are really. Yes. I'm a Southern girl. I work my ass off. And I feel that comes through conversations with people of, are you going to put the time in? Are you not going to be expecting a handout? Are you here to learn?

[00:10:44] And with Brooklyn within the first like 20 minutes, I was just like, I love you. I could, cause I felt like she was eager to learn. She wanted to be in this. She wasn't here to be like, give me all the lead. She's like, Hey, I want to learn from you absorb. And I want to kick ass and I want to help the team. Cause our culture in our team, there's like six of us. We're all a family. We're all females. We're badass. I love it. We're all 10 female, 10 woman team. Yeah. We're all here to help each other. And Brooklyn has made me want to be like a nicer person.

[00:11:14] I'm like, God damn, I gotta be nicer. She's always every day. She's like, how can I help you? What can I do? What can I do? And it's always wanting to learn and grow. And I feel like that's not found every day. Unfortunately. Especially with the younger folks. In their twenties. Right. But no, I immediately felt also just very safe is the right word, but you trust her immediately. And I feel like in this industry, you're dealing with, you know, most people's biggest investment of their life. Like that's a very important factor to have.

[00:11:41] And so like, you know, I fell in love with her within the first couple of minutes. It was like, she's my girl. And then he gave me the hug with the cowboy boots. I was like, Oh my God. You're like, damn. Coming on. Yeah. I'm like, everyone's going to fall in love with you. And the hustle was there. You know, it's like, I keep going back to the service industry. I think I hear all the time. Like, Oh, you know, I think on our first cohort, we were like, I'm still waiting tables. And everyone was like, no, no, no, no. That's awesome. Like we all look for that because you've hustled to get where you are. And we see that.

[00:12:09] And that means you're going to hustle to get to the next step and the next step. And you're going to spend your time sponging up as much information as you can instead of somebody who thinks like, I'm so great at this day one, which we see that all the time. Right? I'm glad. Yes. Brooklyn, I'm interested. Obviously, I have a little insight into your first year as a realtor. But can you share a little bit about kind of what has been going on in your brain in the past year? Like, you know, where did it seem like, oh, my God, I'm in over my head.

[00:12:37] Where did it seem like, okay, this is the right place for me? Like, what were some of those ups and downs that you were facing as you started to really see kind of under the hood of what this industry and this career looks like? Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I'm like, are you sure you want to take a look in my brain? I know. Yeah. No, I think, you know, look, this is what this podcast is about because I think so many of us got into this career not totally realizing how complex it is.

[00:13:06] There's a lot to this job. And even my friends day to day are like, wait, you do what? Wait, someone said what to you? Like, it is a lot. And so I am so interested kind of from your new-ish perspective to the industry, kind of what this first year, what these big ahas and learning points have been. For sure. Well, I mean, I think first off after, as we all know, coming out of school, the real estate school, it's like you don't really learn what this job is. You learn a lot of legalities and terms and vocabulary.

[00:13:36] And I think one of the biggest things first off was, God doesn't know this, but when I was sitting in here and she was like, hiring a buyer's agent, I was like, what the fuck is that? Like, I didn't know. I didn't know really what I was being hired as or what my position was. Like, I had an idea, but I didn't know the documents. I didn't know, you know, I didn't know anything. Because you don't. The system is not built for you to know anything when you pass that test.

[00:14:02] And I think I tried so hard to, like, in my head, I knew I didn't know, but I wanted to show up. Not like fake it till you make it, but I was like, just show up. Just listen to what they're saying and just, you know, do the thing. And I think I realized very quickly that this is a career that takes time. And it takes scenarios and it takes just so many ups, so many downs, so many lessons.

[00:14:28] And I think I really realized that one transaction is not going to replicate to the next. It's never again. It's maybe like a 1%, you know, like, okay, I remember learning something from transaction X and I can bring that little piece into transaction Y. And it's like, but yeah, I think another big thing too is just learning the work-life balance and learning how to shut off. Because I come from a career where you clock out and you leave.

[00:14:58] And this isn't really a career where you clock out. But I feel so grateful that I have an example like Kat who puts her family first. And who shows up and for herself and her team and for her family and how to separate that. And I think that's one of my biggest struggles to this day is like, how do I separate myself? And how do I just setting the boundaries? Like I didn't realize my phone would be ringing at 9.30 p.m.

[00:15:24] And I also didn't realize how emotional this was going to be for a lot of clients that need you to be there for them through this big, big thing. And it's restaurants in a way I always feel like real estate is like, I used to have a table for one hour. And now it feels like I have a table for two months or three months. Yes. In a bad way. It's more so like, wow, you really get to know these people and you create deep, deep relationships.

[00:15:53] And it's reminded me, though, that service is where I'm meant to be. Like I'm meant to take care of people. That's my number one. Like I almost went into nursing and the medical field and all the things. But it's like being able to take care of people through a transaction like this. And I don't even like to say transaction, but through just a process and through creating their dreams and their home that they get to build a family in is pretty incredible.

[00:16:20] So I feel like that's been my biggest win of this year is the relationships. And I think the biggest down has been setting boundaries with myself. Yeah. It's just if that answers the question, I hope I didn't, you know, go on too long of a tangent. But yeah, I think it's unlike really any other career that I know about in a lot of those elements.

[00:16:46] I think certainly there's a lot of other careers where you're, you know, especially medicine. You know, you're open to really big challenges. People are going through their traumas. And, you know, but it's also all the money they've ever had in the world and their biggest dreams. And you're the only one in between them and that, which I always need to tell people. It's like I have a client across the street who's so sweet and they haven't sold a house in 30 years.

[00:17:14] And when they sold 30 years ago, they all sat at the closing table together. They met the buyers before they closed. Right. All these things that are kind of a little bit separate now. And so I'm the only one that knows everything that's happening behind the curtain on the other side. And and so, you know, you are there as the, you know, sometimes the punching bag, sometimes the therapist, sometimes the whatever you need to be. And for me, I know, and we've talked about this a little bit is that was the hardest thing for me coming from kind of a marketing branding world was like.

[00:17:44] I my days were not emotional up, down, left and right. Like I was not it wasn't like that. And so I had to adjust really to the fact that this is the norm. You know, this is an emotional roller coaster. And how do I set myself up to people to hold that for people instead of taking it on? Yeah. Yeah. Look, with that, it's I feel really lucky to have a team. Like this year is how to lean on people and how to lean on my teammate. And if you don't know something, say you don't know. That's OK. Find out.

[00:18:13] And I think also leaning like on my fiance, who's amazing and just leaning into the partnerships of the people around you, because you can't. I know people do this on their own, but like you can't do this on your own. And I feel like with all the chaos, it's taught me how to lean in. So, yeah. Yeah. And it's, you know, I was telling a client the other day, I think also shifting from thinking you have to have all the answers to realizing, you know, that Rolodex keeps building and building.

[00:18:43] And I've got my guy for this. And I've got my guy that knows that one mold thing that happened that one time. Right. And your Rolodex of like experts builds. And so you don't it isn't just you. It's never going to be just you. It's going to be this whole encyclopedia of experts that you have behind you based on all those super niche, ridiculous circumstances that you're in. And they will tell you the answers you need to pass on to your clients.

[00:19:07] And I think, you know, my friend, Deb, who is the number one agent in Jackson Hole, always says, like, I tell people, you know, she's also from Georgia. She's like, I tell people, I don't know. She's like, but let me dial in 300 years of expertise. Give me five minutes. I'm going to dial in 300 years. But I think that's such a great way of looking at it. So Kat, I'm interested in your in your perspective, kind of with the ups and downs of this career, especially, gosh, in the past five years. How do you deal with those tough days?

[00:19:36] Like, what is your strategy now for when that transaction falls through, when that client has a rough day and takes it out on you? You know, when the days really take a lot out of you and you have to show up as a mom when you get home? Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm still learning. But I think with experience, like and I always tell Kylie this, too. I'm like, especially when they're like your clients upset. Maybe they're like not yelling at you, but whatever. I'm just like, it's not about you. It's not about you. It's not about you.

[00:20:04] Like, just take a breath and just be that advisor, that person for your client and just sort of try to separate yourself. Because we all get sort of heightened when like shit goes wrong, clients upset, but you're there to make it better and come together. I never want my client at the end of the day to ever be like, you know, just go into bed at night, just like completely upset. I always try to end the day with them on a good note. And as far as like getting home to my family, I mean, I try to like once I get to the door, like cut it off.

[00:20:31] But I mean, we all had those transactions where I had one over Christmas break. Like we literally canceled on Christmas Eve. And I was like literally, it was a $7 million deal. It was, I'm still crying about it, but it was tough. But I just had to be like, F it. This is not, I'm not, this is not why I work to stress myself out like this. And like, we built such an amazing team and business that like, I can't get so wrapped up.

[00:21:00] I have to give like some boundaries to each of my clients. Like I'm there for them during the day at all times, but I try to do my best to like separate. And I sound, and sometimes I'm a freaking ice queen, but I have to, because I can't do it to my kids. I used to round up and I got home. I was like, you can't do it anymore. No. Same. I mean, look, I, at the very beginning of my career, I've talked about this a lot on a podcast, would hide the fact that I was a single mom. Or I just would not, you know, I wouldn't lead with it. And now I lead with it.

[00:21:30] It's like, hey, this is my situation. Here's, in a very detailed perspective, what this means for you. During the hours of, it's 2, 7.45. I can voice memo. I can text. I cannot tell when I call with you. We're doing dinner bedtime. Like, I cannot talk to you between 8.30 and 6.30. I will be hopefully asleep. Yeah. But I'm 45, so I'm probably up at 3 a.m. questioning all my life choices.

[00:21:54] But with that, I think my, I'm very open about that at the beginning. And if I sense from a client that that is not going to work for them or they don't understand that experience, I will refer them on and not look back. That takes time, right? It's my last night, literally. They're like a young couple. They don't have kids yet. But he literally told me last night, like, we'll let you know, you know, definitely by 8 so you can have the offer submitted tonight.

[00:22:22] I was like, just so you know, I'm not writing 8 o'clock at night. You can tell me tomorrow. And I just, I nipped it. And he's like, oh, okay. I'm like, yeah, no. I'm not. Yeah, I'm not. Anytime I get a contract that has decision deadlines at midnight, I'm like, yeah. Yeah, that's where I'm the worst. I'm like, 9.30, you know. I do 7 p.m. Because like, no one's swinging up. No one. It takes time to get there to be like, I'm not doing that. Yeah. It's just, you, I feel like those clients that you burn yourself out for, they end up not ever working out anyway.

[00:22:51] So I learned my lesson through over 10 years of doing that. But you guys are cool. Yeah. I mean, look, I really need this. I've been in real estate for four and a half years. And it's, I would say, in the past year and a half, especially working alongside these nine other total rock star badass women who, for the most part, are all moms as well, right? So I'm watching these incredible examples of how you do this at a very high level of production and be a rock star parent.

[00:23:21] And it's amazing to see. And so I've, like, in the past year, just sponged up so much. Yeah. It's something you're always working on and trying to check for sure. I got really sick earlier this year, but it was just because I was working too hard, not taking care of myself. And then life was like, we're going to put you on timeout for two months. Yeah. You're so sick that you literally can't do anything. Yeah. There you go.

[00:23:45] Sometimes it's like what one of the other episodes I did was with a women's wellness physician. And she was like, your body will whisper. And if you don't listen, it'll scream. Yeah. You need rest. And so I think that's so true. So Brooklyn, I'm interested in, you know, I know a few of these things, but what had been some of those big wins? I know you've had some of your first closings and they have been very impressive.

[00:24:09] But what are the moments that have been really kind of stood out to you in the past six months to a year of confirming that this is the right path for you? Oh, my gosh. I feel just those moments of gratitude from clients and hearing their perspective. And I feel like there's so many things flooding in right now. But I feel like key drops.

[00:24:31] Like when I went and dropped off keys to my first client, my first closing, and they sat with me and the amount of gratitude and the way they spoke to me, it's sometimes really hard for me to hear. Like, because I always there's always things I could have done better. There's always, always things. But to sit and to hear from the person you are directly representing that you helped them with one of the biggest things of their life and actually letting that soak in. It's going to be really, yeah.

[00:25:00] Oh, that's been a huge win. And also just knowing who my people are around me and the people that encourage me. Like I mentioned my fiance and my team. Like when I have had those big losses or when I felt like, oh, my God, like I can't do this or I'm never going to be. The big win is having the people on the other side that are lifting you up and pushing you forward and encouraging you. Yeah.

[00:25:25] And I think just, yeah, all the relationships that I've made and honestly, just I think the big win to seeing that I can make money and support myself outside of the restaurants. Like I always had, I was stuck in this place of like, this is all I'm ever going to be able to do and I'm good at it. And I think it's taught me to leap and to get out of my own head and know that I am bigger than what I thought.

[00:25:53] And it's I'm still trying to teach myself that. But it's, you know, in bigger in the sense that we can just do bigger things with our lives. And I think my other big win, and this is thanks to Kat, too, is that it doesn't have to look like everybody else. Like I always thought of a real estate agent with like the pantsuit and like the fancy car and the that's not me. Like I am in my red cowboy boots.

[00:26:16] And I, you know, I like to skateboard after work and I don't like I don't maybe fit the mold or the norm, but I don't want to have to. And Kat always tells me, she's like, let your free flag fly. Like I'm like, wait a minute. Be your star. I know that comes from experiences you've had of feeling like you had to fit the mold. And then I think having a mentor that really wants you to be yourself and show up as you has helped me shape myself in a way that I know my younger self would be proud of.

[00:26:46] I feel like you have fast tracked a lot of the things that took a lot of us a long time to figure out. Like guiding that what I should look like and act like and be like took me a little bit. But, you know, I wear jeans every day. Like I've, yes, I've got nice pants and suits and whatever. But like I'm a jeans girl. Like I joke about it now with my clients. Like it just took me forever to get there. And I will tell you, this is so funny. About a year and a half ago, I felt the pull of like, oh, I need a nicer car.

[00:27:17] Yeah. And I've lived in mountain towns my whole life. Like my cars are workhorse cars. Like they're dirty. I have a three-year-old. I mean, there's like popcorn on the floor. And so I got a nicer car. I hated it from the minute I got it. It wasn't me. I like I would see it in the parking lot. And I was like, oh, this is awful. And after six months, I sold it and got the same car I had before. Oh, my God. It's like, and then I was just like lesson learned, right? You know, I don't have to be this way.

[00:27:45] And I think what I've learned also, and Brooklyn, I think you've probably learned this as well, is that my style of real estate, which is very personal, as is yours, is there's something very special to that. And the more I deal with other agents that I think have been in this for 20 years and I do a transaction with them, and I'm like, wow, that was cold and not enjoyable.

[00:28:13] And wow, I thought you'd be on top of it. And you weren't on top of it. And you weren't on your detail. And your contract was a mess. And whoa. You know? And so I think the perception of what it looks like at a certain echelon isn't what it is. And I have found my people, both in Colorado and otherwise, who do it the way that I do it. And every time they send a contract over, I'm like, yes, the next 30 days are going to be so lovely. You know? And even if they're difficult, we're going to, like, I've got this person on the other side.

[00:28:42] And I know how they operate. And so it has made, I think, those difficult transactions, you know, we still have the client in the mix and the house in the mix and all the quirks that come with both of those. But it certainly changes the game when you find your people, I think. Exactly. I love you. Yeah. So I have to ask. You're welcome to say dive. Thanks. I'm so cute. So, Brooklyn, are you focused just on the buyer side at this point for residential?

[00:29:10] You know, you've already expanded your empire. Yeah, I have my first listing coming up next week. That's crazy. Congrats. I'm super excited about it. So I feel like I'm leaning into kind of all aspects right now. Anything and everything. Yeah. Get after it, girl. Yeah. And I, yeah, I feel like my team's pushing me to try it all. So I'm excited about it. Yeah. I love it so much.

[00:29:32] Have you developed kind of a signature process for, like, your communication, your gifting? Like, what are you doing that feels like Signature Brooklyn at this point? Oh, Signature Brooklyn. Are we still working on it? I think having Kat's structure, she and Kylie have built this team all out themselves. And they have done such an incredible job with their systems and checklists. And everything is organized.

[00:30:00] Every escrow has, you know, buyer side, seller side, checklist, what we're doing. So I feel like having that outline is really, really cool. And I guess I love, I'm a writer. Like, I love writing cards. I love handwritten things. And if you tell me to write a sentence, I might write a paragraph. And so I think my signature is definitely, I like to write people thoughtful cards. And I like to show up in person and be there. And I guess my signature would be a hug.

[00:30:30] I just want to be a warm hug. And also just hands-on. Like, I want to be there to help with what they need. And just to show that I'm not just over the phone or the computer, but I'm a warm hug. And I'm there to help. Yeah. I love that so much. I can't wait to send you guys some referrals. It's just going to feel sad. Kat, what, as you kind of look to the next five years, you've got, you know, little kiddos.

[00:30:57] What is, what's the future of this team look like for you? I mean, are there goals you guys are trying to hit? Are there, you know, and I don't mean money. Like, what is kind of your vision of, of the next handful of years look like for your team and for yourself? Yeah. I never thought we would have a team of this size. I mean, six doesn't sound like a lot, but it is a lot of people. Yeah. Especially for our market.

[00:31:21] Someone might have like one assistant, but, um, but I, you know, we have a bunch of people on that all came on at the same time that knew nothing about real estate, which was, I'm like, why the hell did we do this? But I'm like, are we ever mine? But it was, we were hiring base on the person. So we're one of our other buyer's agent, London, who does more of an entire account. They knew like really nothing about real estate. So this past year has been a training year.

[00:31:49] Our admin assistant, Vergie, same thing. Dominique, our transaction coordinator, pretty much brand new TC. So I feel like we're all sort of on our way to being like, you know, this oiled. Well, we were already like a well-oiled machine, but I feel like there's even room for improvement where we can just hand something off Brooklyn's in a read my mind and just do it. But I think that takes time. Obviously you're being bad about reading my mind. I like to, I like to talk in half sentences and just assume that people know what I'm talking about. Am I going too fast?

[00:32:19] But I love the size of team that we have maybe. Oh, we just hired another admin assistant, Emily, who's helping doing gift drop-offs and things like that. So I feel like we have a really good size. I definitely want to still grow, you know, I think in, in metrics and numbers and their goals to hit a hundred million this year, which I think we're going to freaking do it. We're going to do it. And I want us all to be so knowledgeable in each of our fields that we have just, everyone's being taken care of. We have a really well-balanced life.

[00:32:49] We're all able to take like really awesome trips. My goal is to take a summer off in the next five years. We had crazy. My husband's like, you're out of your damn mind. I'm like, we're going. We're going somewhere. We're going for at least a month. But, but yeah, just so we can get to a position where like, we're all taking care of each other. Yeah. That's really it. I mean, we're still growing training. Yeah. Like you've just taken a big leap that a lot of agents have talked about in the podcast

[00:33:17] interviews, which is going from like just you and other agents to this other tier, right? The assistants, the TC. I don't know if you have a social media person or a marketing person, but like adding this whole nother kind of layer of support. Yeah. And I think there's been a lot of kind of growing pains for a lot of other agents with that. It sounds like it's gone pretty smoothly for you, but I'd love to hear just kind of from you. Like, how has that changed your business? Oh, was it?

[00:33:46] It's you just have all the freedom in the world to be client facing. So I've been thankful to coach. Yeah. I've been coached for a very long time. And there it's called core, core training. They're big on like lender real estate. They're based out of North Carolina, but they from day one have always been like, you need structure. You need people around you. And they're very intentional of like, I submit a P and L my balance sheet, my personal budget. They're all up in your mind. Yeah.

[00:34:14] What you're spending, what you're doing and help you with the structure. So I feel like if it wasn't for my coach, I probably wouldn't have been brave enough to do it. And they've always, you know, even when I wanted to do my next hire, my coach is like, when have you ever failed? Like, he's like, let's look back in the previous years. Have you had a terrible year? I'm like, no. He's like, no, you work your ass off. You figure it out and he's in the more people you bring in the higher volume you can do. And then you can just work at your best self, which is like being in front of a client, negotiating a deal.

[00:34:42] I don't want to call a plumber and sit and hold for an hour or go sit at a property for hours waiting for somebody. Like I need time to bring in more clients to have that green time. Just do what's best. And like, it helps me love my job too. So I feel like if I'm in the weeds too much, that's when I'm like, I hate this. I don't want to do this anymore. Yeah. It's too much. It's too much. And the weeds are where people like Brooklyn, it's like, you have to be in the weeds because

[00:35:08] you have to like read a hundred plumbing reports and have 16 sewer guys before you find your guy. Like you have to be in that section because that's where the difference is made in the transactions, right? That's where that advisory role really stands in. You have to put your years in of that. Yes. And then when you get to a point, which you will, where you have like 15 different buyers, they're talking to you every day.

[00:35:33] You're like, I just can't, or I'm going to explode if I'm in five different places at one time, because I need to be home by five o'clock and I'm not working after that, you know? Yeah, totally. I love that. You have a coach Brooklyn. And I wanted to ask you, you know, obviously we all give you a lot of kind of props on our first cohort about leaning into coaching really early in your career. What made you want to invest in that? Like what was kind of the selling point that you thought, yeah, I'm ready for this. Even the financial investment on its own.

[00:36:03] Like I'm ready to put this into my system. You know what? I got really lucky because I was sponsored to do that. And I was, I actually came to a meeting that Mel was speaking at. And I know, you know, I don't know if I, I can share that she did this for me, but I feel super grateful. And I was sitting in the back and I just got the tail end of her speaking. And I had the strongest feeling. Like I had a feeling to talk to Abel that day when I was ratressing and I chased her

[00:36:31] out of the door, handed her my card and I just said, you're, you're a badass. Like I want to, and anyways, we got to talking. She told me about the cohort. And at the time I hadn't made a deal yet. I had, I was spending my savings to pay for rent. I was having a hard time. And she was like, you know what? How about you just, I have a feeling about you. Like come in. And I, I was pretty shocked that, you know, it's again, made me realize like lean into the people around you that want to lift you up and support you.

[00:36:59] And I think, yeah, just saying yes to that was a very easy yes, because it felt that, you know, down the road I will get to invest in coaching and it made me realize that it's worth it. And I think I just tried to work extra hard knowing that someone allowed me in that space without getting, you know, monetary compensation for it. Yeah. And how can I be, you know, a good student in there and work really hard. So I feel, you know, I feel really grateful they gave me that chance.

[00:37:30] Well, you'll get a million chances in your career to do that for the next person. And I know you will, you know, the next person that pulls you aside at a restaurant and says, Hey, I heard that you're, you know, a realtor. I have questions. You're going to be like, let's get coffee. You know, you're going to tell you something about his life in the same way. And I think that's, you know, such a beautiful part of this. For sure. It's, it's, it's pretty awesome. I love it. Ladies, I have to ask you one more question, which I ask everyone in the podcast, which

[00:37:59] is what are the three things that you are binging, trying, excited about, nerding out about right now that are, that are helping you show up as your highest and best self? You go first. Okay. Well, Kat got me into F45. Oh yeah. I need to move my body or I'm not a good person. But exercise is very key for realtors. We got to get that energy moving somewhere. Totally.

[00:38:27] So leaning into moving my body. And when I start to feel, you know, cloudy, moving my body, I lean into dancing a lot at home too, you know, just dancing and getting my wiggles out. Watching, I actually, to make me better, I guess I've been watching a lot of funny shows. Like, yeah. Preparate from self-help and real estate. I just watched Big Mistakes by damn Levy. I was really like Levy. Yeah. I'll just get my mind off of real estate. I've been watching Disney movies too.

[00:38:55] Like, just, just like fun, light stuff to separate. Yes. But what about you? Let's see here. So I've been really, so I'm 41 now. I'm becoming of age. That's right. Binging. So I've been really leaning into like, I, we've hired a naturopath. They sit with you for three hours. Oh my God. Hormone levels. So I'm really leaning into my health. I was always getting sick forever. And I think it's like, you know, be mom running yourself in the ground. So I understand my body.

[00:39:23] That's it's like been like changing for me working with this naturopath, which has been amazing. What else? I was doing. I'm still doing F45 Brooklyn, but I'm leaning into, I'm doing Pilates now. Yes. Body. I love Pilates. My exercise of choice. Yeah. My naturopath was like, your core is all levels are through the freaking roof. I really don't want you doing bootcamp at five o'clock in the morning. I'd rather you do something slower. So learning how and leaning into like moving slower because you guys have worked on them like an energizer bunny. I'm like bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.

[00:39:54] Yeah. And so to be in those types of classes are super uncomfortable for me because I want to move faster and like jump around. But it's been like such incredible exercise, such good, like mental health clarity. And then I'm also a business wise. I just signed up for a new coaching company. I was at the core for God, I think seven years. And I'm going to this new one called impact. And I feel like it's sort of, it's an evolution of like core.

[00:40:22] Now it's more like, let's the coaches sort of meet you where you are and where you want to be. Core is like grinding super, super, super hard and like crazy activities. And I still do that, but I'm in a different phase of my career now. I'm trying to sustain and like build slowly and not so much like I need 20 new people a week. So I'm really excited. So I start next month. I just start, I just signed up with them. So yeah. I love it. Yeah. So cool. You guys are speaking my language.

[00:40:49] I, I used to do really intense workouts and then I switched to Pilates for a similar reason. I had a coach or a therapist friend say, Hey, you should like, and I was a new mom at the time. And she was like, you should go to a workout where your brain gets a break. And I just had never thought of exercise that way. And she's like, go somewhere where someone else is making the decisions for one hour because the other 23 hours of the day are all you.

[00:41:14] But if you're going to like this bootcamp circuit, like you're on and your cortisol is going. So I went to Pilates for that same reason. It's like deep breathing and it's stretching. And it's also a absolute ass kicker of a workout. I'm dying. I went to one class with her and I was like, okay, we need a reformer class. Like shaking. Yeah. It's amazing. But it's such a mental break for me. It's very calming and slow. And I'm like you, I need that in my life.

[00:41:44] And Brooklyn, I'm similar to you in that, like the visual side. Like I used to jam out to music all the time driving all day long. And, or I used to go, I went through a phase where it was just business podcasts. And now I just need quiet. Yeah. Because between all the calls and all the things and then coming home and being a mom and like the sensory overlord that it is having a four-year-old. But the toys that beep into this and that, like I'm like, I just want quiet in the car.

[00:42:14] Like I'm finding my little pockets of reset and it can't be what I thought it would be two years ago, which was like a month from now, I'm going to get a massage with a girlfriend. It can't be that. It has to be like inside the day here and inside the day here and five minutes here and 10 minutes here. And so, man, it's, you know, I'm 45 now, Kat. And so I'm right there with you of like, you know, you keep growing, you keep evolving. And man, my brain and my body need different things than they did at 30 and 39.

[00:42:44] So the natural path changed my life as well. So yeah. It was amazing. You guys, if people who are listening want to connect with you guys, want to chat about the Santa Barbara market, where can they find information on the brokerage and YouTube? Absolutely. I mean, you can find us on our website. Hitchcock.re.com. R-E.com. I almost didn't know our website now. Yeah. Hitchcock.re.com. Amazing. Check out our website.

[00:43:13] Give us an email team at hitchcockre.com as well. And then Instagram. Instagram is all. Hitchcock and Associates. Yeah. A really strong Instagram page. A lot of fun, a lot of content there. You can find us there as well. For sure. I love it. Thank you guys so much for doing this. I'm excited to hopefully see you in the fall. Sit down and have a meal. I love Santa Barbara. I want to learn more about it from you guys, but thank you for doing this. I'm so grateful. Thanks so much for listening. And it's my goal to have this podcast be created for and by agents.

[00:43:41] So your input is absolutely encouraged. If you know another amazing agent, author, athlete, executive, or all around badass woman you think I should interview, or you have a topic or discussion you'd love to see us cover, please email me at sarah.hubbard at compass.com.