Authenticity & Ambition: Amy Terry's Path In Real Estate (Episode 16)

Frank Hereda (00:02.222) Welcome everybody. It's your favorite business coach, Frank Harita here, and we have another awesome episode. We have a special guest today, Amy Terry, and, why don't we get right into it, Amy? So why don't you tell everybody who's not familiar with who you are, tell us a little bit about yourself. I always, I always ask everybody, tell us about your early years. Tell us about you, how you grew up and then, it'll be interesting to have the conversation today. I know we're going to go the real estate route. So, but I think there'll be a lot of benefit for everybody. So just tell us a little bit about you. Amy Terry - Realtor (00:34.451) Sure. So I work out of the Southwest suburbs of Denver, which is also where I grew up. I'm actually sixth generation Colorado and my dad's family founded Longmont here in Colorado. So we've been here forever. My parents both had their real estate license growing up, but that wasn't their career. My mom was a teacher and my dad worked for disabled American veterans, but they did flip houses and I just kind of grew up around it. and then got my first job in high school answering phones at Remax. It was back when you had to call the schedule showings. But really had no desire to go into real estate whatsoever. Went and finished my undergrad in criminology, was planning to head to law school, had worked in real estate during my undergrad just to pay the bills. And when I got accepted to law school, I just kind of panicked that I don't, you know, I wasn't sure if it was the right move. So I went to my boss that I was working for at the time and really respected him. And he suggested that I did a year deferment, get my license, he needed the help. And that was, gosh, 19 years ago this summer. So graduated in May of 05, got my license in July of 05, and it's just kind of taken off from there. And since then, I've kind of dabbled in all things real estate. I've bought and held, I've short term, long term rentals, I've flipped, I've subdivided land, I've... built from the ground up, I've done a couple of development projects. I'm a partner in our real estate brokerage, so I wear the ownership hat of the brokerage overall, and then I manage a team here in Littleton of 14 agents, and then still sell myself. So, kind of all over the place. Frank Hereda (02:13.39) So I think you should find some more things to do. That's awesome. So it sounds like you and I have some similarities there in our past. I've done a lot of those as well in the real estate space. What I'm always intrigued at is, tell me more about your parents. So what was it like growing up? It sounds like they had other jobs, but they had their real estate license. So I'm curious to understand why they had their real estate license. Amy Terry - Realtor (02:15.635) I know, right? I think I need more on my plate. Frank Hereda (02:43.15) They clearly saw there was value in it. Did they themselves invest in real estate while they had their other jobs or no, they just got them and then never used them. Amy Terry - Realtor (02:51.347) It's a combo. So my parents have a really cool story. They've kind of had a billion careers together. So for a short time in the early 80s, they both had their license and were actually practicing. And my dad was actually specifically working with bars and restaurants. And my parents had owned bars and restaurants and my mom was working more residential. Then when the interest rate shot up so much, you know, the real estate market just kind of died. And so my mom started teaching full time and my dad worked with disabled American veterans. And that's both what they did for the next, you know, 25 years until they fully retired. They flipped houses, but they didn't buy and hold. And so that was when I, you know, I bought my first place right out of college at 22. They really encouraged me. They're like, keep everything that you can. They're like, if we had just kept one property we bought in our twenties, we'd be in such great shape. So they always owned their primary. but they flipped a lot. And I think they were kind of more into the, you know, the instant gratification, yes. Well, they were into the instant gratification of the flipping, but they were really encouraging me to buy and hold that they saw, you know, at that point in their early 60s, that made way more sense for the long -term wealth. Yeah. Yeah. So that also helped, you know, I wasn't, you know, they really encouraged me to buy as soon as I could. And back then it was, Frank Hereda (03:55.63) buy and hold. Well, they were, yeah. Frank Hereda (04:09.71) interesting. Amy Terry - Realtor (04:18.419) you know, stated income. I'd been in real estate maybe three months and did a stated income loan, bought a little short sale. My dad helped me fix up and then a good friend from college moved in and rented the spare bedroom. And you know, at the end of the day, she was paying more a month than I was to own it. And from then on, I just was kind of hooked in the power of real estate and the wealth that it can create. Frank Hereda (04:21.902) Hahaha. Frank Hereda (04:41.326) There's a lot of lessons in that. So, you know, when I hear that story, I think about, I have an eight year old and I think about, you know, my wife and I are a real estate team and we invest as well. And I hope that he sees and learns and gets his real estate license when he's 16. And, you know, you have all these thoughts of what you hope happens, whether it will, I don't know. But so I'm curious to know how big of an impact it had on you because, you know, my parents, that was not their thing. Amy Terry - Realtor (05:04.051) Yeah. Frank Hereda (05:10.382) Like they didn't do any of that. And so I wonder what that would have changed for me if they did, you know, not that it was, I had a great child. I'm just saying like in general for real estate, cause I ended up in that field. So did that, did that change things for you? And did you learn from that? Amy Terry - Realtor (05:18.131) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (05:25.701) Yeah, I don't know that so much that they were specifically in real estate, but they were very much risk takers and entrepreneurs and always ready to jump on an opportunity and go for it. And, you know, I've had conversations with them now and my mom's like, you know, we've lost a lot of money. We've made a lot of money. But the most important thing is we had so much fun along the way. And so I think they took a lot of fear out of it for me. They've always. Frank Hereda (05:32.014) Okay. Frank Hereda (05:47.342) Love that. Amy Terry - Realtor (05:51.187) it gave me a really strong foundation of like, even if you try and fail, you'll be okay. And so I definitely think that, you know, I didn't grow up with the mentality of like, you've got to have a safe nine to five. You know, they just, they're like, you know, follow your passion and do what you're excited about and kind of trust that things will work out. So in that sense, I think it really helped me be willing to just jump into things in my twenties. And honestly, looking back, I can't, I think about people getting into real estate in their forties. It seems much scarier to go to a like eat what you kill business. But at 22, I didn't need to make much. Luckily it, you know, panned out well. I mean, there was a lot of hard work in that, but yeah. So I don't know so much that they were in real estate, but I think that they were always encouraged me to just go for it. And if you fail, you'll figure it out. And I've always kind of lived that way. Frank Hereda (06:46.958) I think that's interesting because I, I find that that's a, that's a necessary quality to be able to do what we do, what you and I do, any entrepreneur, right. And investing in real estate and a lot of times it's just, you gotta take action. You're never going to be perfect at it until you start doing the thing. And I think that's a lot of what you're talking about. So I think that that is important that, that you saw that and you had that out outlook and I love their outlook. Amy Terry - Realtor (07:02.451) Yes. Amy Terry - Realtor (07:10.131) And I think, yeah, and I think there's also, that's what's kind of cool about my office. I think that we have so many different personalities and so many different passions. And for being in real estate and being an investor, I'm not a huge spreadsheet numbers gal. Like I've done almost everything off of a gut, an educated gut feeling. I really follow my intuition with opportunities. And sometimes the numbers make sense and it just doesn't feel right. Sometimes the numbers are awful, but I just know it's gonna be a good, a good buy. So for me, that's also, I've just always kind of trusted my gut whether all the other factors make sense or not. Frank Hereda (07:46.99) Love it, love it. Okay, so tell me about, let's talk a little bit about real estate as far as what you've done. So you've done a lot, I've done a lot, and I've now, I'll do multiple sectors of real estate as far as investing, but there's one that's my favorite. And so I'm just curious how you. where you stand and are you going to continue to do multi -facets, multiple facets, or are you just going to do like, is there one or two that are your favorite and why? And is that a goal or no, you want to keep doing both, investing and having the brokerage? A lot of questions there, but. Amy Terry - Realtor (08:27.219) Yeah, gosh, that's a really great question and layered. I mean, I would say my favorite for building wealth is just straightforward buying a single family home and holding. I think that is you cannot go wrong. So that's my favorite. And that's where I really steer clients that are looking to build a rental portfolio and want to build long term wealth. Frank Hereda (08:31.406) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (08:53.875) So in that sense, that's my favorite. My favorite as far as like passion project, I really, really love doing like infill development. I love finding a lot, finding a property. I love the design process. I love working with the architects. I love picking all the finishes. I love being on a construction site. but those are super risky. I've done a couple that, were really profitable. I've done some that we've lost money. so that I'm torn. Like if there was like a guaranteed with development. I probably would choose to do that every day. That is what I love the most. But as far as an investment strategy, I think just simple buying and holding is the best. And then as far as, you know, I go back and forth, I'm, you know, July will be 19 years I started selling real estate. There's a part of me that feels burnout on it, honestly. And then there's a part of me that still really loves working with clients. And I absolutely love mentoring agents. I think if I hadn't started managing and mentoring, I would have been burnt out in this career a long time ago. So I don't know, that's a hard question to answer. I mean, I am, I will say this is the first year I met with my financial advisor and was like, cause he's always been like, what's your goal date to retire? And we said, I'm just gonna work forever. But this is the first year that I was like, okay, well, let's just hypothetically, like how soon could I retire if I wanted to? So I am finally, I just turned 41 and I am kind of starting now to think. Frank Hereda (10:08.714) Yeah. Frank Hereda (10:13.934) Yeah. Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (10:22.899) Okay, what strategies do I need to do in the next five to 10 years so that I really don't have to work? And honestly, right now, if I really wanted to change my lifestyle, I could stop working. But I'm also like, what would you do all day? So I don't know, that's a hard question for me to answer. I think right now I still kind of enjoy having 10 balls in the air. And I couldn't tell you what will be the first thing to kind of drop away. Frank Hereda (10:36.974) Sure. Frank Hereda (10:44.366) Yeah. Frank Hereda (10:48.558) Yeah. It's interesting. I also like new development, you know, there's so many different ways to do it. Obviously single family seems to be, you're tried and true. Do you follow any methods or any processes? For example, you know, I know a lot of people that do single family, when they buy and hold and their, their main goal is just stay below the median price in the country. Right. And that way that the stuff that's small. has only so much room it can fall and the stuff that's big can take a big hit, right? So it's kind of that methodology. So I was just curious if you use any of those, you know, or not. Amy Terry - Realtor (11:20.499) Mm -hmm. Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (11:29.523) Not necessarily. I'm more just like, I'm always prepared for a good opportunity when it comes up. All of my long -term rentals are in the Denver Metro. And I don't think I'm being overly confident that the Denver market is just so stable. There's so much demand here. There always has been demand, but especially post -COVID, we have such a lack of inventory. I don't stress about. the market here going down. I think worst case, we'd look at a flat market, which if you're buying to hold, that doesn't really matter. So yeah, I don't have any specific formulas. I just have cash ready that if a good opportunity presents itself. And honestly, a couple of my rentals are properties that I had clients that they needed to get out of it. And it was a good fit and we had a good conversation that they understood. you know, the pros and cons of going this way and if it makes sense for them or not. So I think for me, it's more about just being ready to jump on an opportunity when it presents itself than having sort of a perfect formula. Frank Hereda (12:33.486) Yeah, gotcha. So what are your thoughts on investing outside your market? Amy Terry - Realtor (12:41.427) I don't like, I don't love it. Part of me wants to diversify. I have one, short -term rental in Scottsdale, which is actually probably my most profitable rental right now. and I bought that honestly, like I want a retirement home there eventually. So that was kind of a self -serving. I bought a property with that in mind and thought, well, if it breaks even, that'd be great. And it's done really, really well. I will say my control freakness comes out, like having another agent handle the transaction, you know, working out of state. We actually have a really unique program within our brokerage. Our brokerage is something I'm just so proud of and our mission is trying to fix the broken in real estate. And one of those is that there's not really retirement for agents. So we have one of our former managing brokers started a program called Wealth Builder. And it took him, gosh, probably 18 months to figure out all the legalities, but it's basically a group fund where we buy rental properties as a group. So he's the one that now is doing research nationwide of markets that they're predicting appreciation that we're expecting a lot of cashflow. So I do invest in that as well. And the plan with those, it's a 20 year projection. So we pay them off in 10 years. have cashflow for 10 years and then at the end of the 20, we can either cash out or you can make decisions in the fund if you wanna stay in the fund and buy from other people. But it's a really unique opportunity for agents that wanna invest but maybe don't have 20 % down. It's a $5 ,000 minimum to contribute to that. But that makes me feel like I'm diversified a little bit. But yeah, I haven't done a lot outside of... Frank Hereda (14:19.918) Yeah, sure. Amy Terry - Realtor (14:24.595) outside of our markets, but I will tell you, buying now in the Denver Metro, it's almost impossible to cash flow, maybe even break even. So I was just talking to a colleague actually this week that she's looking at 1031 and some of her Denver properties into properties in Oklahoma. For that reason, it's just cash flowing way better. So. Frank Hereda (14:44.366) Yeah. Yeah, you know, and you bring up a good point. we do a lot of short -term rental and I find that the appeal is obviously the cashflow, right? It's like long -term versus short -term, but, you know, it's steady, more steady when you're doing a lot of the long -term stuff, but, but it's interesting. So I'm, I'm sure there's a big discrepancy, not a discrepancy, but a big difference between what you have in the Arizona property versus the Colorado long -term. Amy Terry - Realtor (15:15.475) Yes, yeah, for sure. And it's also it's funny that Scottsdale one's the only one I manage because short term management is so much more expensive. I've brought in help this year, which has been great. But yeah, I mean, it's definitely something I'm looking at. I would like to also have a place in the mountains. So the hard thing is in the resort towns in Colorado, they put so many restrictions on short term rentals. So trying to find the right place that makes sense for that. But yeah, the idea is I would obviously love to spend summers here in the mountains and winters in Arizona eventually. so just kind of setting myself up for, for longterm. Frank Hereda (15:50.062) Sure. Frank Hereda (15:54.446) Love it. So let's talk about the brokerage a little bit. So entrepreneurship. I mean, you've got a lot going on. You're investing, you're running a brokerage. How many agents do you have at your brokerage? What's the most difficult thing about having the brokerage right now? Amy Terry - Realtor (16:11.699) So we have, I think the last count, we were at 180 agents statewide. So we're only based in Colorado. The 8Z comes from every zip code in Colorado, starts with the number eight. We started in 2009 and we've been a pretty slow growing. We're all about quality over quantity. We require everyone as a full -time agent. We require at least a 10 deal minimum a year. So the standards are high. I think we provide a lot of value. We try to kind of be the Nordstrom of brokerages, but we also have a lot of accountability and high expectations for our agents. So it's not for everybody. Not everybody wants that much accountability. I would say really the most difficult thing, which I don't even know if I would, I think the unknown of the NAR settlement and how that's gonna play out, but we've honestly been preparing our agents for this since October. So really there wasn't a lot of panic. And we've really honestly been preparing our agents that I think it's a really great opportunity for us to gain market share. I think agents that don't have support and education and a process, it's gonna hurt their business. And I think it offers more opportunity for us. And I do think a lot of agents will transition out of the business. So I think that's probably the hardest thing we're facing now is just navigating that. And now there's still like so many unknowns, like it's coming in August. We're not exactly sure how the MLS is going to look. The nice thing is Colorado was ahead of the curve. We've always required, what would you say always? I think since 2001, we've required buyer's agencies. So that wasn't new to us. but yeah, I feel like we've really tackled that with a lot of education and training. And now it's kind of sitting back to see how it's all going to shake out and, and, just sort of calming fears. It's, we also have an in -house mortgage company and I was talking to our director of lending and. Frank Hereda (17:48.654) Mm -hmm. Amy Terry - Realtor (18:08.755) He was like, well, do you remember when CDAs had to go out three days before closing and, you know, all of a sudden closings, it just was a cluster for like six months. And then the dust settled and we all just went on with our careers. And at the end of the day, honestly, it made things kind of better. I remember the days of like the morning of a closing, like, are we closing? Are we not closing? Like, at least now we know. So that's kind of how I've been preparing my agents and what I'm expecting is that it's going to be confusing. We're going to have to work out some kinks for a while, but I think ultimately not a ton is going to change. Frank Hereda (18:43.342) Yeah, I think you're right. I think the training is a big part of it. I find that, those who are willing to lean in are going to be just fine and it will thin the herd. And I think that's kind of necessary anyway, but I find that the ones that are the most successful are doing what you're doing, which is leaning in, let's train, let's face this. Let's let's get into it and then let's figure it out. And I agree with what you said. Six months, a year dust settles things move forward, but it is interesting how it will be changing all across the country. You know, because per state you can go and do something and you just have no consistency with the process and what's required. So I find that interesting. Amy Terry - Realtor (19:16.627) Yes. Yes. Amy Terry - Realtor (19:21.907) Well, and I appreciate, you know, there's always been a barrier to entry to list a home. You've had to do a listing consult. You've had to get a listing agreement signed on the buy side. It really hasn't been for a lot of people. It's like whoever shows up to show them the house gets the deal. And so that's where I think us as a brokerage of full -time professionals, now there's a barrier to entry. If you're doing it the way that you should, there should be a buyer consult. There should be a buyer's agency signed before you look at any properties. And I think for people that don't have their act together, that's gonna be tough. And I do think it's better for consumers. I do think these are conversations that agents should have been having. It just forces a little more transparency. So I do think it's, the reason I say it's good for consumers because, and I could be wrong, but I don't think it's gonna change. I still think sellers are gonna pay the buyer's agent commission the majority of the time. But it just forces agents to have that conversation, have a lot more clarity with the buyer and seller of how this all works. And it's going to be really market dependent, right? Like, you know, right now under 750 here is still a really strong seller's market. So people can offer a lower co -op and still get sold. If you're over that 800, 900 mark, people really need to offer co -ops right now. So. Frank Hereda (20:24.334) agreed. Amy Terry - Realtor (20:45.363) Yeah, I think it'll be interesting to see, but I think the uncertainty of how it's all going to shake out and then the election and then interest rates and all the things, it's a little nerve wrecking this year. Frank Hereda (20:56.078) Yeah, there's definitely a lot of changes going on. It's interesting for sure. It's, I think it's also interesting because how do you feel like, your agents are handling or how are you preparing them to handle the agents that haven't been in real estate since before 2019? You know, I find that there's a break there between anybody who's been in real estate since 2019 only knows what happened during COVID, which was not reality. We all know. And now it's like, what's going on? It's like, well, this is what a normal, this is what's called a normal market. So how are you, how is that going for you? Amy Terry - Realtor (21:31.539) Yes. Yeah. I think, you know, at the end of the year, especially because we have that 10 deal minimum, it's going to kind of shake out who can cut it and who can't. But I've had a lot of conversations and a lot of trainings. I'm like, you have to be a deal maker. Like 2019, 2020, 2021, 22, like stuff just kind of fell in your lap. That's not the case anymore. And with interest rates, like for me, my sphere group is all move up buyers. Frank Hereda (21:42.702) Interesting. Amy Terry - Realtor (22:01.267) It doesn't really make sense for 99 % of them to make a move right now. So I have to get creative and okay, I'm going to really reach out to any first time home buyers. I'm really reaching out to like my spheres parents. They're all in a place where they probably need to downsize. They haven't sold in 25, 30 years. How do I connect with them and explain the process now and show them all the options and also just being in flow with your sphere and know what's happening and be a problem solver and. have creative conversations. So that's really, I think that's gonna differentiate the people that make it and the people that don't are the people that hustle and the people that can be deal makers and think outside the box and create solutions. I think gone are the days of, you know, just stuff falling in your lap and you're able to sell and which I, again, I'm kind of excited about having been in the business as long as I have. Frank Hereda (22:57.582) Mm -hmm. Yep. Amy Terry - Realtor (23:00.307) You know, I remember when I first got in the business, I feel like 70 % of my deals were all the same people. And then in the last 10 years, it's like, there's just so many agents and so many of them that are doing one or two deals a year. They just don't really know what they're doing. So then you're managing both sides of the transaction. So. Frank Hereda (23:19.15) I agree. I think, you know, it's funny because there's no doubt that that is important. I think it's interesting though, because so many people right now, especially like you were talking, you were saying, you know, a lot of your agents, so what if I, what if they, how hard of a line are you going to tow on the 10 deals a year? Amy Terry - Realtor (23:43.155) So we allow our managing brokers to have discretion there. The marker for me is if I'm seeing growth. Like I'm seeing, you know, I have an agent I fought for her, her first two or three years, cause she was like her first deal she did, or her first year she did four deals and then the next year she did six. But I just knew she would eventually get there. This year she's, I mean, she, as of today, she'll have already closed 10 million this year. Her goal is 20 million this year. Frank Hereda (23:51.118) Good for you. Amy Terry - Realtor (24:12.723) So for me as a managing broker, it's like, do I see growth? Do I see proactive activity? Do I see retention? Do I see that they have a drive and a good why and they want to be here? Yes. And then I have so, so yes. So I would say this year specifically, we're definitely going to give some leeway to managing brokers that they're like, Hey, this person is really trying. They've got a good sphere. They'll get there. We're, we're giving discretion for that. Frank Hereda (24:23.982) Yeah, normal stuff. Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (24:42.771) But I will say in the managing broker role, sometimes it's nice to have that. If you're like, I just know this person's not gonna cut it. I don't necessarily have to be the bad guy. I can just kind of say, you know. So yeah, we always use discretion, but I think typically I know within, sometimes people surprise me, but typically I know within about six months if they're ever gonna be really successful in this business or not. Frank Hereda (24:51.918) Yeah. Frank Hereda (25:08.878) Yeah, I would say you could probably do it in way quicker than that even like three months, but you're probably nicer than I am. So. Amy Terry - Realtor (25:11.955) Yeah. Yeah, well, it took me, man, it took me years to get to the place of like holding on that 10 deals and, you know, I'm forever the optimist, which is good and bad. Yeah, it's been even with transaction coordinators, like I would hold on to people way too long. That took me. That was one of the worst skills I had in management was knowing when it's time to let someone go. And I remember my mentor. Frank Hereda (25:25.998) Yeah, sure. Well, it's tough. Frank Hereda (25:32.814) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (25:42.899) Once he said to me, which has always stuck with me, is he said, you're not doing that person any favors, keeping them in the wrong seat. And so then it always made me feel a little bit better about letting people go. Like, go spread your wings somewhere else, this is not it. Frank Hereda (25:48.846) Totally, that's exactly right. Yes, that's exactly right. And that is so true. So speaking of that, because I think that's a great point. Obviously, you've had a lot of growth personally as you're on this journey. As an entrepreneur, I mean, there's a lot of people listening to this that are starting to get into real estate or starting a business or have a business and might be real estate, maybe not investors. What are the lessons you've learned that have helped? you be so successful in whether it's investing or running the brokerage or ones that apply to both. Like there's a lot that probably that can cross the lines, right? So what would you say are top three skills that are, that help you on a daily basis? Amy Terry - Realtor (26:27.635) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (26:32.307) I would say the biggest thing that has taken me time, but I think is so important is just basically authenticity and trusting your own instincts. I think that takes some time and some confidence to get there, but every time I ignore that, it usually bites me. So I would say that's a huge skill and being an entrepreneur and running your own business is a... You can have people all around you telling you 10 different things, but at the end of the day, you have to know what's right for you and right for your business. I would say that coupled with that, mindfulness and meditation has always been a big part of my life. I used to teach meditation. Energy work is something that I'm practicing. And so having that groundedness, the time to center, the time to shut out everything else. including the media that's in our industry. So I think having that mindfulness and having that quiet time helps you figure out what your gut feeling is and helps you figure out your guidance. So I think that is super important as well. And then I think also just remembering what's important and remembering why you're even doing this. I think sometimes... I have to take a step back and think and just remind myself like how grateful I am for the life that I'm living and why I'm doing what I'm doing. I think sometimes it can get bogged down in your goals and hitting your numbers and, you know, it's end of quarter. We're doing quarterly reviews right now. Like I think knowing your why, and as a mentor and a coach, like getting people dialed into what their why is, I think for you probably know better as a coach, but I think there's probably a, tiny, tiny percentage that the why is money. And so for me, it's like recalibrating and getting clear about my why is when I feel stressed or miserable or bogged down or overwhelmed. Just kind of going back to why am I doing this? And if there isn't a clear why, then stop doing it because it's probably not serving you. So those are probably like the things I try to live by. Frank Hereda (28:40.846) Love that. Yeah, it usually seems. No, I think that's great. I heard, I heard being grateful. I heard, authenticity and trusting yourself. And I heard mindfulness and meditation. So obviously all three of those are important. I always, when I talk to my clients, I talk about first thought when they open their eyes in the morning should be. Thankful that they're alive another day, right? Thank you for another day. Excited you get to, you get to live another day. You get to do whatever you want for another day. That's, that's a great feeling. I love the trust piece. Talk to me about the mindfulness and meditation. So I always usually would associate that with some sort of, I mean, it can obviously be in the middle of the day whenever I'm sure. I usually talk to my clients about morning routines, getting started powerfully for the day, maybe middle of the day, taking 10 minutes even just to clear your mind and get focused. And is that kind of what you recommend or since this is your expertise, what would you? Amy Terry - Realtor (29:26.611) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (29:31.571) Mm -hmm. Amy Terry - Realtor (29:41.651) Yeah, I think it's what works for you, like when you'll actually do it. And it's funny, for years I was so resistant to any type of routine or schedule because I was like, I'm in real estate because I get to do whatever I want. And the moment I embraced having a schedule, things got way better. I actually had way more freedom. So I do have a morning routine. Obviously it's not perfect every day, but I do think setting your intention for the day is very important. Frank Hereda (29:56.942) Yep. Amy Terry - Realtor (30:10.067) And then I also coach my agents. If you have a big meeting, if you're meeting with a client or whatever, that's something that you're really trying to nail. I think it's also just take two minutes in your car, take a couple of deep breaths, get clear on what your intention is, visualize nailing it, know that you have the confidence to do it. so I think, and then for me, I also, a huge reason I started meditating to begin with is I could never fall asleep because my brain was so busy. so for me, I'm always meditating at night to kind of clear my brain of the day so that I can sleep and then set my intention for what I want to dream about or what restfulness I want. And the gratitude thing that you were saying with your clients, before I put my feet on the ground when I'm laying in bed, I list three unique things that I'm grateful for. And that's been cool. I've had agents over the years that are just like... in a bad place and begrudgingly, I'm like, please, every morning, just text me three things, three unique things that you're great for. And every single time it transforms things for them. So it's I think people write that off as. You know, being kind of just woo woo, but it's so powerful. Yes. Frank Hereda (31:15.79) Yeah. Frank Hereda (31:21.358) They write off as fluffy and cheesy and yeah, they don't, they don't take it seriously. But to that point, in case there's somebody who's like, you know, I think, I think people will come over, complicate things, but let's just make this simple for them and say, if I was going to bed and I wanted to meditate or, or clear my mind so that I could sleep, what are some things that I should be thinking about or what kind of exercise should I do for a couple of minutes that would help me do that? What would you recommend? Amy Terry - Realtor (31:50.547) So there is, it depends. I know for a lot of people and I'm in that boat too, I can't, well I can now, but when I started I couldn't just like sit in silence. So I would say there are so many, I use the Calm app, there's Insight Timer, there's YouTube, there are so many wonderful guided meditations if you're new to it. And you know, start at five minutes. I mean, now, I mean I could meditate for an hour and a half and it would feel like 10 minutes. Frank Hereda (32:09.806) great. Amy Terry - Realtor (32:18.291) but when I started, so it's just like anything else, right? It takes practice, it's like a muscle. But there's so many guided meditations. If that's not your jam, I think just deep breathing, saying hello to your body, let going of tension throughout your body, sharing your gratitudes of the day, setting your intentions for the next day. All of those things are just very practical as well. Frank Hereda (32:26.222) Mm -hmm. Amy Terry - Realtor (32:46.387) acknowledging any discomfort or pain in your body and trying to release that. I think all of those are really simple and it takes a few minutes, but it does, it changes your whole system. So yeah, I would say either find some guided opportunities or just simply deep breathing, recognizing your body, get in your body. Shut off your brain, I literally sometimes visualize like. Frank Hereda (33:10.222) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (33:15.283) like old school turning off the TV. Like, yeah. Yes. And it's simple. Frank Hereda (33:16.91) Yeah, I love that. I think that's the kind of stuff that works. And it sounds ridiculous, but it's so simple that it works. Amy Terry - Realtor (33:24.723) Yes. Well, it's so funny. My dad is like not open. Well, I shouldn't say not open. He's getting better. He's not really open to this stuff. But my sister was talking about being really stressed. And he said and he had a very stressful job and he but he could always knock out at night. And my sister was saying something about, well, how did you always fall asleep? And he goes, I would just visualize an ocean and watch the waves in and out. And I'm like, Dad, that's meditation. What you were doing. But yeah, I mean, it was that simple for him. He would just. Frank Hereda (33:31.534) Yeah. Frank Hereda (33:48.334) Hehehehehe Amy Terry - Realtor (33:53.171) Imagine the ocean and watch the waves come in and out until he fell asleep. So it can be very simple. It's whatever resonates with you. It doesn't have to be. You don't have to have a shrine and you don't have to have candles and you don't have to, you know, it doesn't have to be. You can have all those things. I mean, you can have all those things. That's wonderful. But you don't. It can be very simple and it can be five minutes. Frank Hereda (34:05.198) I've been doing it. I've been doing it wrong all this time. darn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I think it's I think it's great advice. So thinking about the average real estate agent out there that wants to be where you are, female or male, that wants to have a team and wants to have a brokerage. You know, there are a lot of them out there and our industry has changed a lot over the last couple of years, right? There's different models. There's different, there's so many new types of models coming out there. what would you say to the people who are like, you know, they're scared to grow or scale there. they are the ones that need to micromanage everything or they need to do everything. What's your advice to those people? How do they break out of that cycle? And. Amy Terry - Realtor (34:40.243) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Frank Hereda (35:03.086) start to grow a team. How do they get started? Amy Terry - Realtor (35:04.659) Yeah, I mean, it's something I'm still really working on because well, when you have to kind of acknowledge the ego of that, I can do it better than anyone else and give people a try. I mean, I have a transaction coordinator now that's 10 ,000 times better than I was. So I think getting your ego out of the way and also recognizing, okay, when am I really valuable? When am I needed? Even with, let's say you just want to grow your real estate business, you know, you hit a certain point where you can't go to every inspection. You can't go to every staging console. You can't go to every sewer scope or whatever. So part of it is building a team that you trust, building a team like I'm, I'm working now to really hone in an agent that would show properties the way that I would so that I feel really confident and letting them show my buyers if I'm not available. So collecting a team that you do trust, and sometimes you just have to, maybe you don't trust them 100%, but you just have to go for it and you can deal with whatever consequences. But yeah, really looking at your day and looking at, okay, where am I actually needed and valuable and where is it ego? And even, you know, we have an agent who doesn't attend to closings. And at first I was like, that's, well, and he goes, but what do we do at closings? We just sit there and BS. There's no real need for us to be there. And he said in your clients, you know, most people are doing this once every five to 10 years. They don't have an expectation of you're going to be there or not. so also opening your mind of like, okay, I really like going to closing, so I'm going to go. but if there's things that you don't need to be at and you don't enjoy, don't do it. and then I think as far as the fears, the fears of growing or the fears of making a change. Frank Hereda (36:24.046) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (36:51.859) really looking at, okay, what am I scared of? And then questioning, is that true? Like, is that even true? Maybe. Okay, is it like 100 % true? Like, is that the only way it's gonna go? And then also flip it, okay, well, what if everything goes fantastic? What would that look like? I think just sometimes questioning the stories that we're telling ourselves is really, really powerful. And then going back to what's your intention? Like, why are you... Frank Hereda (37:16.366) I agree. Amy Terry - Realtor (37:20.083) I've seen people come in as managing brokers and they last like nine months because they were in it more for the title or perceived growth or perceived. They just weren't in it for the right reasons. And truthfully, you make a lot more as a top producer than as a manager. So you really have to want to be in it to help people grow and be a part of the bigger picture. So I think also if you are thinking about growing, get clear on why you want to and make sure it's the right reasons and that it's really aligned with your long -term goals. Frank Hereda (37:52.558) I think that's good advice. I think a lot of us have limiting beliefs and we don't realize they're limiting beliefs. And so we hold ourselves back, whether, you know, whatever the reason, there's some common ones I've, I talked about on my podcast in the past, but I think that's great advice. I always talk to my clients about three places that they need to always focus automation, elimination, and delegation. And I'm like, you need to figure out like, can you do one of those three at all times? And that's. That is a huge help for them usually, but I find that most people just can't give up. They just can't give the work up. They don't want to delegate, and then they just can't get past that point. And then after that, it usually seems to be someone who gives it up, but then they have to micromanage. And so there's like those three levels they have to get past. So did you find that that was an issue for you when you started delegating that you were micromanaging, or was it once you conquered the delegation phase, was it like, I'm past it? Amy Terry - Realtor (38:47.763) No, I mean, I'm still in it. I just hired a. I haven't. I hired a virtual assistant three or four months ago, and I'm not giving her enough to do. And it's fear. It's. I can do it better. It's honestly my personal business is pretty slow right now, so I have I have the time to do it, but I'm also like this is also I have the time to train her to do it. So when I get slammed, she can do it. Frank Hereda (38:49.357) You're like, I haven't delegated anything yet, I don't know. Amy Terry - Realtor (39:18.163) Yeah, no, I definitely haven't conquered it. It's still like, it's taken, it's been a journey. and it is having people like you as a coach or just other colleagues around you to kind of push and question like, okay, why, why are, haven't you handed that off? Why are you still doing that? and again, just getting clear and like, what are your long -term goals and is this activity aligned in that? And you know, I've hustled for 20 years. Like if I don't want to work as much, I should. Frank Hereda (39:21.102) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (39:47.571) do that. So I think that's that's honestly something I've been working a lot in the last couple years is some worthiness stuff around like feeling like I always have to be driving so hard. So taking a step back and appreciating what I built and now enjoying it. You know, it's the old adage like nobody on their deathbed looks back and is like, I wish I'd worked more. So Frank Hereda (39:48.782) Yeah. Frank Hereda (40:09.742) Absolutely. It's a tough as an entrepreneur, it's a tough balance, right? And I think everybody thinks that day is going to come where they just hit this breakthrough point where it's like vacations all the time. And it's like, that doesn't happen. That's not reality. You have to make it, you have to schedule it and take the time to take care of yourself. If you're not full, then you can't take care of anybody else. You have no team to do business. Amy Terry - Realtor (40:33.843) Yeah, I mean, and the great thing is I do really love what I do. You know, 90 % of the time, I'm really happy in what I'm doing. And so that's part of it. I think that's hard for people in my life that don't love their jobs. And so I think it's hard for they're like, God, you just work all the time. And I'm like, but it's work and play. Like when you're excited about what you're doing and what you're building, it doesn't feel like the same. So that's a piece, too, that I feel really fortunate. And I and I recognize that. Frank Hereda (40:38.19) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (41:01.875) I mean, I don't know what percentage of people actually really love what they're doing, but I think it's fairly small. But no, that is an ongoing journey. And I admire people that are able to I forget, you probably know whatever the if the 80 % rule, like if someone can do something 80 % as well as you can just let them do it. I have a really hard time letting go of that 20%. So yeah, no, that's definitely an ongoing internal battle for me. Frank Hereda (41:21.07) 80 -20. Yeah. Frank Hereda (41:30.926) Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's a, it's, it's real. I mean, it, it's, you know, I would say that's probably one of the most common setbacks that I find with, with people in general. Amy Terry - Realtor (41:42.739) When you get stuck, I mean, there's only so much you can do. So then where do you go? You're just you're capped out. And that's where I think that's what's finally pushing me now is I'm like, I don't want to be capped out and I want to evolve. I don't want to do the same things I was doing, you know, 15 years ago. Frank Hereda (41:46.126) That's right. Well, that's it. That's exactly right. Frank Hereda (41:54.83) Yeah. Frank Hereda (42:01.326) Mm -hmm. So, perfect segue, what's the future hold for you? Amy Terry - Realtor (42:09.523) That's a great question. I mean, the podcasting is fairly new to me. and I've had a really great time with it. I'd mentioned to you before we started, I have a close friend that's a social media consultant and she, and she was like, you should start a podcast. And I was like, well, what do I have to say that nobody else has already said? And, so I haven't gone that route yet, but I'm still thinking about it. But I appreciated that she was like, you know, you don't hear a lot of females talking about investing. And she's like, as a female, I would want to learn from you. you make it seem a little more attainable, not so intimidating. So that motivated me. So we'll see what happens. This has been a, it's been a challenge. It's been something new. It's been fun. I've also started teaching for our brokerage. So I've done a lot of NAR classes and that's actually turned out to be really fun. So I am leaning more towards the mentoring, managing, teaching than the production piece. So I don't know if it, you know, I would say probably in the next 10 years, I might stop working with clients. And then development wise, I bought 18 acres down in a town called Sedalia, which is just south of me. It's a fairly rural community, but a lot is changing. So it's been good and bad. I've had like three concept meetings with the county and they don't want anything to change. So, but that will be my next project for sure. Like what I want to do with that property. And so that's been fun as well. And then hopefully. I don't know. I don't know what point I'll really want to slow down and. But I do. I'm in a fairly new relationship and I've been single for a long time, but we're we've been together eight months now and it's getting very serious and he's very good for me. Like I watched two sunsets last week. I couldn't tell you the last time I watched a sunset. So he's. Yeah. Frank Hereda (43:58.53) Wow, okay. Right? Yeah, make everybody feel guilty, okay. Amy Terry - Realtor (44:05.363) But he's really, he's been really good for me of one, it's the first relationship I've ever been in where I didn't feel like I had to shrink to like make them feel okay. So that's been huge. But then also he's really encouraging me to just slow down and like enjoy the fruits of my labor. And so I think that will probably continue to shift my goals and what life looks like as well. So, which is good. It feels like an evolution. Like I'm in a different chapter. Frank Hereda (44:31.918) Sure. That's a tough thing, especially for people that are driven, like that'll be listening to this or us, you know, you always feel like, at least I feel like I'm always running out of time and I'm like, my gosh, I got to do this. I got to do that. And I constantly feel guilty cause I could have done more. And it's just that, that constant feeling, right? That you're driving, driving, driving, but you have to stop. And the reason, the good news is I have an eight year old and that forces me to do it. And I enjoy that. So I make myself, you know, it's easy to do cause I love spending time with him and my family, but. Amy Terry - Realtor (44:48.659) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (44:57.971) Yeah. Frank Hereda (45:01.838) It's tough. It's definitely something that, you know, you have to take time and understand why you're, it goes back to that why. Why am I doing this? Well, so I can enjoy some parts of my life. And so if you're not doing that, then you forget why you're even on this road. Amy Terry - Realtor (45:08.179) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (45:16.371) Well, and I was, I just over the holidays, he was so great. I do love entertaining, which is, I think partly has helped my business tremendously. Cause when people are in your home, it's like a whole different relationship, but you know, I was planning a big holiday party for my team and I was planning a holiday party for friends and a holiday party for clients. And I called him just in a rage of like all this stuff and how overwhelmed and blah, blah, blah. And he was like, honey, why don't you like take a minute to think about how lucky you are that you can even throw all these parties. and that you have so many great people in your life to spend the holidays with. And like, he's just so like, I was like, wow, that totally takes my like Costco trip out of the equation. You know, he's really good at reminding me, like not everybody even is capable of that and not everybody has someone to spend the holidays with and not everybody, like it just was a really good like, bring me back to reality of what's important in life. Frank Hereda (45:50.19) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, right. Exactly. Frank Hereda (46:10.446) I love that. That's very true though. And we all need someone like that. If we're not good at it ourselves, sometimes it takes somebody else to be like, Hey, time out. This is amazing. What you've got going on. You need to be again, being thankful and grateful. So that's exciting though. I think you have a lot of great things going on and I, I know you will have a bright future ahead of you, but this is exciting. I'm excited for you. So you've been successful so much so far. So to see what you're going to do from here on out, it'd be amazing. Yeah, it will. Amy Terry - Realtor (46:15.187) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (46:23.507) Yeah. Amy Terry - Realtor (46:35.763) So I hope it just continues. Frank Hereda (46:39.246) Look, if you, as long as you know this is it's the work ethic. So you're in good shape. So I know you're not going to slow down anytime soon. So, well, this is awesome. Where do you want people to find you? Where can they find you? What's the best place for them to find you if you'd like them to. Amy Terry - Realtor (46:54.291) Yeah, so I would say I'm probably most active on Instagram. So that's Amy Terry 8z realtor. And then from there, I have a link tree. So you can schedule an appointment. You can check out my website, all kinds of stuff on there. If you don't use Instagram, just old school email. I check my email still. So it's amyterry at 8z .com. You can reach me as well. Frank Hereda (47:16.91) Cool. Well, if anybody has any questions for her, please reach out. We'll put your links as well. And anything that you mentioned in the notes below. And, I appreciate everyone listening to another episode and, we'll catch everybody next time on focused free fit. Take care everybody. Bye bye. AMY'S INFO: https://linktr.ee/amyaterry FRANK'S INFO: https://linktr.ee/fhereda