Innovations in Real Estate with Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty

Buying a home is one of the biggest, most personal decisions you make in your life. No one knows this better than Tami Bonnell, the CEO of EXIT Realty. 

In this episode of The Innovators, host George Davison talks to Tami about what you can learn from martial arts, how her company survived the housing crisis, and what the future of innovations in real estate looks like. Find out how she went from cleaning new houses for two dollars an hour to becoming CEO of over 30,000 people and 600 franchises. 

For more information on innovations in real estate, head to TomorrowsWorldToday.com.

Transcript

Introduction: 0:09

It all starts with one idea. Have you ever wondered how today's top CEOs, business leaders and people who work for the most innovative companies in the world found success? Join host George Davison, as he explores the innovators that are shaping tomorrow's world today.

George Davison: 0:33

I have a surprise for everybody today. We have Tami Bonnell, and she is the CEO of EXIT Realty. U h, just a little background on her. U h, she's very accomplished. She has about 30,000 people who work under the brand of EXIT Realty and 600 franchisees right now, out there i n their world and adding about 10 a month. So she's doing a great job as a CEO. So welcome, Tammy.

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 1:05

Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

George Davison: 1:07

I'm hoping that today, uh, you can talk with our audience a little bit. Um, you know, we, we really enjoy getting as much mentorship for, uh, for these young folks as we can. And, uh, so maybe we could take two different directions today. Um, if we could map your journey a little as an individual and how you accomplished what you've done in life, and then we'll map another journey like the business that you're working for and how that came to be. That sound fair. Yeah, that'd be great. Okay. So, um, I'm sure you didn't start out as a CEO when you were in your high school days, did you?

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 1:50

Absolutely not.

George Davison: 1:52

So what were the days like when you were first starting out? Can you take us back into some history?

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 1:57

Actually, we started working really young. I'm a daughter of Irish immigrants. So, um, we started, I started cleaning houses for new construction subdivisions that were being built. I think I started when I was 11 and I worked on weekends cause I could be dropped off in a subdivision and picked up at the end of the day. Cause obviously I didn't drive and I could still go from house to house and I didn't need anybody to drive me anymore. So I started out at$2 an hour, cleaning home, scraping windows, getting, you know, all the new stickers off of everything and making the home immaculate for somebody to move in. And, um, when I was 13 and still doing that, I actually had, I was sitting in a window, scraping the window and buyers came in for a final walkthrough on the house to see the house. They were relocating from another part of the country and they came through and the wall between the kitchen and the dining room was not supposed to be there. It was supposed to be more of an open concept and the realtor never shared that with the builder. So the screaming and yelling and everybody's fighting and a woman's crying and I'm just in the window going, dear God, please make me invisible. And um, when they left, he put his fist through the wall because he was so mad. Now you have to take down the wall and he's got so much more work to do. And it was because they didn't do their job. And I said, I think you hit a stud, I think you broke your hand. And he said, drive me to the hospital. I lied about my age. And so I drove him to the hospital and he did break his arm. And so we're driving back and forth and he's complaining about how hard it is to find somebody that's professional and how hard it is to find somebody that can sell. And he's so frustrated. And I said, how hard is it to sell a house? And we started having this conversation and I said, you just have to paint the picture for them of what it's going to be. And he said, uh, you think you can sell houses? And I said, yeah, I do. And he said, good start Saturday. And so I got paid$500 a house and um, my world changed dramatically, but it was, I think it all the way back to even being really young, my dad always said, watch your opportunity. And it didn't matter whether that was an opportunity to help a neighbor with, you know, that looked like they was struggling or, um, an opportunity to teach somebody something. Or if it was an opportunity for you to grow, he would say it all the time. He would drive that by something and say, that's worth money and that's not. And this is why. And he would, I loved, I used to beg to go to the planning board meetings and watch him work. He was masterful with having conversations with people and remembering them. And I just begged, please just let me go. And I don't know too many kids that really got a kick out of that, but I did. I loved working with people and finding out how they ticked. And um, I took him at his word, I guess I've watching for opportunity. So it was very lucky.

George Davison: 4:43

Uh huh. Yeah. Wonderful. Your dad shared that with you, you know, for an innovator and inventor, you can't do anything if you're not looking for opportunity, right. You're always seeking the challenges what's, what's uh, causing the challenge for that person over there or these groups of people. And uh, if you can find solutions, then they reward you with their business or, you know, bringing you on board, so.

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 5:10

That's my statement to everyone we have in leadership is solution. And I think that that's really where it starts, right? You can solve people's problems and help them with issues. And, but you have to really pay attention. And I think the most important thing is that you have to meet them where they are. So often people want to lead somebody and they take them off into here, but that person's right here. And so you have to meet them on their level. You have to meet them on their turf in order to be able to be the solution and help them go to the next level.

George Davison: 5:39

Thank you for that because that's a good transition. So can we go to the high school level? Let's say that our audience is listening to this right now and they're trying to learn about how to navigate into the world, but they're young. Right? And what can we, what couldn't we give them today that might provide some insight? Um, if you were in high school, again, the only advice on let's say classes or, um, let's say clubs or work outside of the school. What, what thoughts might.

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 6:14

Yeah. Well, I think that it's so nice now because of technology that you can Google, literally anything you're interested in so that you could go to a library and take a course, you could find out what other courses are available, where you are. You could get a job in it, but it all starts with being interested, right? Having that healthy level of curiosity. I think you should also just like this, listening to podcasts is wonderful way to grow because you get exposed to so many different ways of life and so many different experiences and you never know what that aha moment is going to be. If like that feels like me, that sounds like me, right? I also think you need to surround yourself. And I say this to my children and my grandchildren. You want to surround yourself with people that push you out of your comfort zone. People that make you want to be a better person, people that just make you want to be better. And you also want to keep a few people around you that keep you grounded. You know, that tell you working too, you're getting too carried away or, you know, you gotta be prepared for that. So having somebody that's a little bit like the last boy scout around, isn't such a bad idea either, but um, you want to expose yourself to experiences and the more you experience, the more you can see that there are so many choices out there for what you can be. And a lot of times we stay in a little bubble, you know, whatever our family worked at and then immediate close family and friends around us. That a lot of times we see that as the bubble and that's the picture of where we are, or we look on people that are famous and think that that must be a wonderful life with technology, unfortunately has brought that to us. And I think that you really need to find out what are those things, when you feel the best about yourself, what, what are you doing? And really isn't such a bad idea to really put together a list. What are the things that I really enjoy? What do I really love doing? I know for me, the best part of my job is that I get to catch somebody doing something good all the time. And so I can see something in someone and whether I point them one to five degrees in a different direction or completely turn them around, people become what they, you tell them they can be. So finding somebody that can mentor you, that you feel like you've really, you really resonate with that person. But even at, you know, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th grade, it's a great idea to mentor other people too. It's amazing how much more the teacher learns than the student. And I think that makes a really big difference.

George Davison: 8:37

Yes. So if you're in high school and let's say you're in 11th or 12th grade, and you can help a ninth grader, then you may get more out of that than the ninth grader.

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 8:46

Not only is that the biggest difference between happiness and fulfillment fulfilled, when you really feel like you're making a difference and you're adding value somewhere, um, and value definitely equals income. So over time, the more value you add, the more you're going to have, and it's not just income in dollars, it's really in that fulfilled life. Right. But you've got to try new things in order to find out what are you really good at and what, you know, you really do need to expose yourself to more experiences. That's why it's so wonderful to do things like this podcast, because you're going to be able to hear so many different ideas that maybe just didn't come into your world.

George Davison: 9:25

Nice. Well, that's, that's wonderful. Cause it's, uh, I'm sure there are some young folks out there right now, wondering what is real estate? What know how that, what does that mean? You know, so can we, let's chat a little bit about that so they understand what real estate is and maybe how some real estate is more valuable than other real estate, so they can get a little vision there, right? And you provide some insight there.

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 9:53

Sure. Well, the number one dream in the United States is to own your own home. So it's a pretty good thing to represent. Usually people, um, especially in that first home, it's the most rewarding thing to help people. There's a value in home ownership of really feeling like you belong to a community. In fact, they show that communities are improved. The more people have home ownership instead of renting. So you start to see a value there. Um, there are a tremendous amount of people that are making a great living listing and selling real estate so that they're a real estate agent or they own a brokerage. And they're really good at getting more and better out of other people. But they're also great people that represent a certain lane. They represent strictly working with people, serving in the military and helping them understand what their benefits are and working down that lane, or they work with just selling waterfront or they work with, um, widows and single moms to teach them how to understand finances better so that they have a more solid future for themselves and their families. I think the more you tie a purpose to it, the better it is. Um, and there are a tremendous amount of people that invest in real estate and it's the biggest return you can possibly get. And so the more educated you become about it, the better off you are. Um, we find that it doesn't matter what your personality type is. Most people will find a lane, whether that's helping people, you know, and you love that idea of helping first time home buyers, then you need to definitely be more fused to technology because they are, and you need to communicate with them the way they want to be communicated with. But we have people that are helping seniors and helping families stay together so that they're not finding out about what their parents' wishes are when it's too late after there's something up, right. People that are representing new construction, people that are being amazing innovators, we're seeing shopping malls turned into 55 and older projects because of where we are right now, right. We're seeing hotels going into affordable housing because they're not as many people staying in hotels. So it's so often, and this advice by the way, for anybody, not just real estate, but in everything, I've always had a perspective of, I do a six week action plan so that I plan in advance for the next six weeks, right. How I want people to feel what I want for expectations, what I need to be learning, who should be surrounding myself with. But I also look at what I'm, what I should be paying attention to. So I have the 30,000 foot view. So you kind of have the world view of what, whether that's your industry or something else you're interested in. So if I was interested in money, the wall street journal would be part of that 30,000 foot view, right? Um, and then you want to have the 2000 foot view, your individual province or state so that you have a perspective of what's available where you live, if that's where you want to stay, because you have to find a need, you can feel better than anyone else and fit the demographics of where you are. So you really need to understand that state mentality and what is, what is there and what are there for opportunities. But then you need the street level view of exactly where you are and really having a perspective. And there's two other places you need to have a perspective, the person that you're serving, whether you're working in a restaurant or you're owning the restaurant or whatever it is, I need to have a perspective on you and then more important than anything else. I need to have a perspective on myself. What am I really good at? What are the gifts that I have? Because we'd all don't have the same gifts, but we could, every single person, regardless of their gift could be in real estate or another field. Hopefully they find a love for it because you really want to love what you do, but they can find a gift. We have people that are not necessarily people, people, but they're so good with technology that they can get all the information and they can do so much background work, that they really help somebody, or they can get all the information so that they can really help understand new construction to really help make the help that person make their best decisions. Right? Somebody that's amazing with numbers can become an investor. So it's just making sure that you are down the level of your genius. You know, you're staying in that lane of genius,

George Davison: 13:47

The field of real estate buying and selling homes or buying and selling buildings, right. Or land that's a whole industry in and of itself. And, uh, you can make a good living, selling, um, selling the, uh, the, the real estate, right. Or managing it. Uh, there's all sorts of different jobs that make up that space

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 14:12

Short-term rentals. When I were seeing with all the Airbnb and all that kind of stuff, right? So there's, short-term rentals. There's people that have property managements that are managing rental. Some of them are doing it for commercial property. Some are doing it for residential. We have people that are investing in real estate. We have people that are fixing and flipping, right? So that they're going to make money. On the other side, we have people that are representing strictly buyers or people that are representing strictly sellers. And then we have people that own the brokerages that are actually better at they're the kind of people that get more and better out of each individual than they do out of the actual real estate. Right. But there, we're going to see so many changes coming down the pipe. We're going to see so many things that are going to change, um, that where I'm suggesting to all my people, they pay attention to municipalities and planning boards because there's so many zoning changes that are happening. We're seeing properties because of affordability, um, being, um, literally shipping containers, turning them into a home right now, not just finding homes, but we're also seeing lifestyles. So we're seeing a subdivision that is, uh, a hundred percent organic and they're all growing things together. We're seeing a shopping mall, turned into a project and they're all entrepreneurs and they all share all the tools in the middle. So there are so many opportunities. It's just being honestly aware of what's out there and looking at is there, is there a lane here that feels good to me? You know? Right.

George Davison: 15:32

Great advice. Great advice. Thank you very much for that. I, um, so let's, let's turn for a moment now that we're, you know, that we have some of that, uh, that we think we understand that, and then let's look at EXIT Realty because we want to understand not only, you know, what, you know, how did this person like yourself, how you started out, how you got here, uh, but the company, how did the company start out? Was it, did it start out in a big international building or did it start in a basement? What happened? It started by

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 16:07

Literary renting a very small part of a sod company. I thought they owned the building. It was in a very small part in the back of the sod company. They actually only had one room as a training room. They didn't even have an office when they first started, uh, they sold regions in Canada. So they were individual provinces, uh, actually smaller than a province, about a million in population each. And then they, when they came to the United States, we bought individual states. I started off as a regional owner. I bought the rights to the New England states. And by the second year, our founder and chairman recognized that I had some skillset. So I became vice president over the U S the following year. I became president over the us. And in 2012 I became the CEO. But, um, what I love is that, you know, Arianna Huffington wrote an article. And I think this will really resonate with, um, the people that listened to your show. She wrote an article a couple of years ago on the top 100 companies. And how so many of them signed an agreement? Peter Drucker, who's a great business writer. His entire focus was that a CEO's responsibility is to make a profit and we've evolved over time. And it really took a lot of other companies. Literally they didn't start until a couple of years ago. The consumer felt, feels that 65% of the consumers feel like a company should give back to the communities they serve. They feel like they should make sure they help with mental health. They help with an opportunity for all of their people to grow where it was just the bottom line before. But we started that as a company, as an entire organization. We knew the foundation when it started. So our founder and chairman in 1996. So think of how long ago that was money from every transaction goes to charity. We've actually contributed over$6 million to charity. We started off and we're always because we're privately held. We can move like a speed boat. So we started off with partnering, with Habitat for Humanity, donated$4 million to habitat, and we all built houses together. And then we asked those questions. What If and boy, is that a great question to ask yourself? What if we just did something a little different? And so we wanted to touch more lives. So now we have the spirit of exit, so we can touch thousands of communities at a time. And so our offices or agents, they put together a charity and do a fundraiser and exit matches the fund. And so we're able to touch so many more lives in such a short period of time. And the office gets closer. They create a culture they're part of the community, and it really makes a difference. We wanted to make sure everybody felt part of. So our company has residual income. That's provided for anybody in the company can introduce the agent, an agent into the company and receive residual income, but administrators don't end up doing that. So we actually do a bonus for the administrative staff. So money from every transaction goes into that. And in January they get a bonus from exit international. So we can retain really good people by treating them well,

George Davison: 18:56

That you're, that you're attracting, you know, hardworking people who have found something that they like, and they can make a good contribution to what you're trying to build. Right?

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 19:07

Right. So we looked at the top seven things that people in this industry want. Number one, they want leadership. So we made sure that we sold regions so that people would own individual states or provinces. We taught them public speaking because he or she, who speaks leads to make sure that they really understand that opportunity. And we actually turned down more people than we accept as franchisees so that they know that it's going to be a good leader. That's responsible. That's in that marketplace. Then they want education, people that are taught in the business one education. So we provide education from every single angle. I just got my license while what do I do now? All the way to the consummate professional, making millions of dollars, webinars, seminars, live interactive, total immersion, so that we can teach them the way they learn best number three, they want help with technology. And that's so important. It's the help with, because implementation is the issue, right? Getting them to be able to implement the tools. So we actually have a vice president of technology engagement. She speaks English, Spanish and technology, and she teaches them how to utilize it. So they actually bring their device and learn hands-on so that they will actually apply it instead of leaving them to fend for themselves. Right. Number four, they want help with the details. We had a conversation about that earlier, but how would the details? So technology single entry user-friendly now I have helped with the details. So I can be in front of people, which is where I want to be. Right. Uh, number five, they want a marketing program. They can track. So our marketing is intuitive. Number six, they want image what better image than people giving back to people like our, a charitable organization and giving back to everybody within the company so that we're really paying attention to it. And number seven, they want a vested interest. So that's why residual income. If we're in the same office together, I'm going to want to help you because as you do better, I do better, but it creates this unbelievable culture and synergy in the office. So that it's much like a family. Everybody can't wait to help each other. That's made a huge difference. We knew that foundation going in, we weren't winging it. That was the foundation we were going to build on. So our entire organization was built on human potential.

George Davison: 21:08

Wow. Oh my that's wonderful. Yeah. So you believe in the human potential. That was going to be one of my questions, uh, that close to one of my questions for you today. I'm going to skip that one because you just hit that one right out of the park. I, um, okay. So let's chat a little then about, um, what led you in the business to achieving this CEO position? You didn't get here overnight, and I'm sure you had some ups and downs along the way, right? We all fall down. We need to get back up. Can you talk a little bit about some of your, um, let's say, uh, failing your way forwards as well as some victories.

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 21:48

Yes. I think actually failure is a gift. I'm a martial artist, right? My whole family does martial arts. And the first thing they teach you in martial arts, when you start taking it seriously is how to fall down. The first thing they teach you is how to fall cause you will. Right. And I think that that's such a good thing to know that at the very beginning, that you're gonna, that you're gonna fall if you're not taking chances and you're not, um, jumping in with both feet, you probably missing some opportunities. I was really lucky to be around. Um, my dad, the biggest thing he said all the time is watch for opportunity. Right. Um, and so it didn't matter what that opportunity was. And I think that was really a great, um, great chance at jumping in, but, you know, we've been through a few recessions. And so I was in the middle of companies that, um, a couple of perfect examples. I was working with a company and we hit the worst recession and we were selling our home in Tennessee and moving back up to new England with three young children and the sale to our house fell apart because the market tanked and I needed to be up to do the job and in the middle, because we couldn't leave the home behind, I actually had to get a different job. And it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I actually sold labor and, um, I had to do it for 12 weeks until we got the house sold to be able to move up to a new area. And it taught me so much about people in such a short period of time. It was absolutely incredible. In the beginning, I was scared to death. I was finding people that were, uh, homeless, finding people that were, um, coming in and getting paid by the day that had, um, health issues, uh, some mental health issues and some people that even had addictions. And so it was a very scary environment, but then I realized that people are just people and I realized most of them, they were just really hungry. And so I started baking bread, no kidding. I baked banana bread and all these kinds of bread. And I would bring it in there so that I could feed them before they went to work. And a lot of them would take that food with them because they had family to feed that they didn't have the money to feed. They got paid by the day. And it just that humility from that lesson was just unbelievable. I was really successful, very young. And so it was really good for me to have it come up and, and, and really realize that you don't have everything instantly. You cannot develop character. If you haven't had experiences where you failed. Um, I've failed in jobs that I was not qualified for and I definitely didn't belong doing. And, um, in fact it was exit when we first, um, we were really building and we were building like crazy. And then the recession hit and our company, even with looking at all of these obstacles, we were a company in Canada. They don't have any foreclosures in Canada. So when the recession hit in the United States and they saw all these transactions that weren't coming together, they didn't understand because they have the best banking system in the world in Canada. So these people with so little of a down payment and now struggling, we had all these homes that were underwater and short sales back then weren't really short, right. They had to go through a foreclosure process and there was just a tremendous range of emotion. And so myself and the founder, I was president over the U S at the time. And, um, we got a call from our chief operating officer. And here we are sitting in a hotel lobby on this phone call and she said, we're going to run out of money in 90 days. Oh my goodness. And I'm responsible for thousands of people that are in the company. And I introduced them into the company, a good chunk of those brokers and regional owners into the company. And, um, the most magical thing happened, all three of us at the same time said, we're not laying anybody off. We built this company on human potential and humans are too valuable. And so we decided we would outsell and out-think our way out of the recession. And we did. And so that builds a position of trust with our people. And I'm telling you, I would go, um, two weeks time, at least two nights a week. I never went to bed. I would go out till five o'clock in the morning, drive home, take a shower and do it again. It was unbelievable, but the respect and the, um, level of trust that we got from everybody when COVID hit our competitors were laying people off with just, uh, a broadcast email. So nobody even got a person personal conversation, 150 to 300 people just letting them go like that, where they do a zoom call, but not look at anybody's faces. And we said, what are we going to do? And it wasn't just us. We said, we're not laying anybody off. We'll take a cut and pay. Everybody in leadership were responsible. We're going to take a cut in pay. I tell everybody all the time, my responsibility is for our people. First, nothing else matters. We will, the rest will take care of itself. And so we put together a stimulus package worth an excess of$50 million. And we taught them Eckrich totally. And we taught the meditation and yoga and also how to ramp up their business for us to get back out again when they were sheltered in place. And it wasn't just the people in leadership this time. It was everybody all the way down to the person answering the phone because they felt trust from how we handle the crisis during the recession, they all trusted us and had complete trust. And everybody raised their hand and said, how can I help?

George Davison: 27:13

That's wonderful. So you brought these skill sets into the organization and you're teaching and leading your organization with these kinds of basic principles. And, um, that's how you build a stable organization. So people trust you and, uh, as a young adult and you would without a whole lot of experiences yet, uh, you know, you're not expected to have a whole lot of life failures yet, but if this kind of thinking sounds attractive to you, if you're the kind of person that likes to help others, uh, gets out of bed and wants to go do things, be proactive. Um, you know, this is what it sounds like to be a leader and to be in business, to help others. So that's very helpful information. Um, can we continue? Absolutely. I think there's a lot more here. We're going to unearth that, Tammy. I, um, so did you go to college?

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 28:11

I didn't finish. You didn't finish. I didn't finish. I started making so much money. I decided to stop.

George Davison: 28:16

Good for you. And it's been

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 28:19

Through wave, so it's not, it wasn't just about the money, but I found, I found my passion, right. So I didn't finish. I, I stayed passionate about the lane I was in.

George Davison: 28:28

Yes. So that's important because sometimes students are saying, Hey, you have to have to have a college degree in order to get anywhere in the world. And that's not true. I mean, it's sure that's, that can be your path. If that's the path that's right for you. Or maybe you go and get a couple years under your belt and you find your passion or you're in high school, you graduated from high school and you find your passion. Um, but sometimes it seems as though, uh, uh, people paint this as there's only one path and that's just not accurate. Um, one of my mentors said to me when I was young, so what's, you're going to get a degree. And I said, oh, why is that? And he said, well, because you need that piece of paper. And if you don't have that piece of paper and everything gets bad in the world, at least you have a leg up on somebody who doesn't have the piece of paper from the college. Right. And I thought, wow, that's pretty interesting. Well, I later found out he never had that piece of paper. He only went to high school and his whole life, he wanted to have a college degree. It was important to him. And, uh, so he reflected that upon me. Uh, but of course everybody has their own path. So if you find what you love and you're passionate about it and you put the hours in and you're helpful, people will notice that won't, they

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 29:45

Absolutely. And you know, you can get involved in, uh, other organizations that you're passionate about. Even if it's some sort of charity or, um, some sort of club in school. A lot of times you just, you can find your passion by accident. I mean, just getting involved in other things. Yes.

George Davison: 30:03

I got involved with Boy Scouts and I love science when I was younger and that led me to innovation and invention. And so, I mean, they didn't have a class on invention when I was growing up, you know, so we had to kind of invent the class and it's fun cause it's always different and you're challenged, but you have to really want to solve challenges for people. If, if you can't do innovation or invention, if you really are looking at things as it's just going to be a job, no, you must bring your own observational talents and the desire to do good. And then opportunity will be filed.

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 30:42

That's right. And you know, that the happiest you are is while you're growing. And so you don't want to be in a job that you're just going to atrophy and that it's just a job it's just about going and getting that paycheck. You really want to find something that can be a passion project for you.

George Davison: 30:56

So knowing what you know today, what advice would you give to a young person who might say, I want to get into the real estate or, you know, the buildings and selling houses business?

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 31:08

Well, you know, what's funny there, they actually, you can go to college for real estate now, which they did not have prior to you. So you can actually go to college for real estate and study a lane that you want to be in. But I would recommend going, even being an intern in a real estate office where you live you'll, if you have any programs like that, that are in high school, a lot of times they have give you an opportunity to be an intern or maybe even go and be an intern on, you know, for half a day on Saturday mornings, or see if there's an opportunity to shadow someone, answer the phone, those kinds of things, so that you get exposure to it. And you can say, see, does this fit me? But you know, the wonderful thing, and it's not to put a plug on exit, but we really wanted people to have a work-life balance. We really wanted people to have a lifestyle. So we have, when you kind of know what you want, you can go down that lane. We have a lot of people that served in the military. So they strictly work with military and they teach them all their benefits and they help them get into the opportunity for home ownership. We have a group of women in Texas that they call themselves a Wolf pack and they wanted to be parents first. So five women bonded together. They make more money than they ever would. All of them are in six figures, they work part-time and they cover for each other so that if one has a school play, um, the other one covers, they all cross train so that they can serve that person, that person's getting five people for the price of one, all of them are making more money, but they're getting to be where their priorities are. They're getting to actually raise their kids. So

George Davison: 32:38

Audience means over a hundred thousand dollars a year. Right. Okay. Just want to make sure that they understood that that's more, a little more business lingo. Um, okay. So, uh, let's see here. Do you believe anybody can become successful? So if I am from a broken family, maybe I don't, maybe my mom and dad are divorced. I may have been, uh, like I grew up in a foster home, let's say. And, um, but then I have students who are coming in from wealthy families. They have a mom and a dad, each groups, each, each of these groups have their challenges. Uh, the wealthy kids have too many things given to them usually, and that makes them not work hard, which doesn't lead to opportunity eventually. And then you have a young, some other children who may not have a mom or dad around, they don't have exposure and good advice from mom and dad. So they don't really know where to go in the world. And they're curious about or scared, what am I going to do? Um, so do you believe that any child, young person can navigate the ladder of success?

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 33:48

I absolutely do. And I've, I've witnessed so many people that were, uh, I just had a conversation with a broker yesterday that, um, the only time they ever got Christmas presents was when, um, red cross showed up. Right? And so they have so many stories of the salvation army coming in and that being their only gifts and that being their only food. And so many of them not knowing we have a regional owner that's in Mississippi and Alabama, she didn't have running water and they didn't have any running water. And they had no electricity. Wow. And she lived on a farm and they had to literally grow or kill what they ate. And that was it. And she didn't know that she didn't have anything until she got to school. And then she was so, uh, abused by other kids from, uh, the way that she grew up. And, um, she was bullied like crazy. And you wouldn't believe what a strong, elegant, professional woman she is and how many people she's helped and how many people whose lives she's changed. I've witnessed people that were addicts that are now helping entire communities and build rebuilding entire communities, building homes, all across the community. You can do anything you set your mind to. And I think, you know, now we have such an opportunity for exposure because you can have a cell phone or be on a computer and you can Google. Absolutely anything you're interested in. You can watch Ted talks. You can listen to podcasts. You can. I'm a bookaholic, I am a chronic Rita holics, there's no 12 step program. Um, I probably read about 300 books a year and it's always giving you another level of curiosity and another opportunity to grow. And all of those things, especially with there being a library, even if you don't have the technology at home, you can go use it somewhere else, or you can go use it at the school. And once you show interest, it's amazing how many people are going to be interested in you and wanting to help you because you showed interest. You know, it takes, I say this to my kids all the time, but it takes 10 seconds of courage. That's it? 10 seconds of courage to ask somebody for a little advice or a little help or say, I'm interested in this. Can you give me a suggestion on where I should go? And you wouldn't believe how many people, most human beings are inherently good by nature. And you wouldn't believe how often they're willing to absolutely help you. I go, I travel. And I normally, when we're not in these circumstances, I speak a couple of hundred times a year. And right now it's probably this year, it'll probably be about 60. And then it'll go up over, over that. And I always go into communities and find an opportunity as long as my time permits to go into a school or to go into a university. And I know there's tons of other people that do it too. And sometimes it just takes somebody asking, right. Hey, I'd love for you to give us some advice or I'd love to bounce something off you. Or do you have a few minutes? And um, most people that are successful by the way, they went through a lot to get there. So they know what it feels like. So they're absolutely willing to help somebody else.

George Davison: 36:49

Oh, that's great. So there's hope out there, all of you out there wondering where you're going to go in the world, as you, as you get a little older, uh, just stick with it, build, build your basic building blocks. And speaking of building blocks, it sounds like in your industry, one of the building blocks is storytelling. And that's part of our course. We actually, a third of our course is all about how to be a good storyteller, because if you're an innovator and you can't get out to the world, what it is you're trying to do, no one will understand. And your innovation won't go in

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 37:28

You, Simon Sinek said it better than anyone else. People don't buy what you do. They buy, why you do it, why you do what you do. And so when you can come up with a compelling story of why you're doing this, if you're selling any type of innovation or you're delivering any type of message or why you want to see it happen, and you can just paint that picture for somebody it's amazing on how far it will take you. I believe firmly in storytelling. I can tell you for sure. That's probably the couple of things that I've done that have made it so that I have gotten to where I am. And I sold my way to where I am really, uh, is I did more homework on the person than the product. So I always made sure I paid attention to the person that I was in front of and built a strong connection with them, so that if they had a passion project, I'm not going to share something that's mine. I'm going to find out more about what's really important to them and where they want to go. But there's always a story that you can share around it and have that conversation. So, um, I'm going to give you this handful of things that the younger you start at, the better, uh, personalizing, so that you find out what's really important to another person. You will have so much more rich relationships and you will be incredibly fulfilled. I've always done my whole entire career, a six week action plan. So halfway through the month, I plan in advance for the next month. And for you in school, that might be, I have a science project in four weeks. Who should I be talking to? What should I be learning? What should I be listening to? What should I be paying attention to? You have an opportunity to go interview somebody and you can go look them up first so that you can get the most out of that mentoring opportunity. You have a family event that's going on. How can I make everybody feel like a million bucks? It doesn't matter what it is. It works while you're in school and it works afterwards. And you know, the more you do it, the better you get at it, we should be living with deliberate intent, not by default.

George Davison: 39:15

Okay. So let's, let's kind of break that down a little for our audience. Okay. So I'm a student let's say, and I know that in two weeks I have a big test coming up. So if I plan my time properly and I get to studying earlier, rather than waiting till the last day or the last evening, before the test to study, my stress level goes down, right? So we have, we have good stress and we have bad stress, good stress in my, in the world we are in is well, sure. We know that test is coming in two weeks. I feel the stress, but I'm already preparing for that. So I'm not under intense pressure right before the test is going right. And it sounds similar to your six week.

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 40:09

Let's get down into chunks, small chunks, and then it all becomes achievable and it doesn't become overwhelming anymore. There's a great book called the Kaizen way. And it's doing small things to impact really big change. If we were, if I was flying a plane from California to Pennsylvania and I adjusted at one degree, I'm probably going to end up in Boston by the time I get across the country. And you don't realize that that's how severe it can be. So, you know, wanting to exercise, just putting my sneakers at the end of the bed is much more likely than I'm going to exercise that next day. Right. Just putting them on. It's just making those small changes and the same thing with having a test or any type of homework, if I can break it down into chunks and then I'm not going to be as anxious about it. If I have anything I'm anxious about, the more I learn about it, uh, the more equipped I am when I get in front of it. So, um, and you can do it for your personal life too. It doesn't just have to be, you know, your professional life. You know, if you were in a play and you're rehearsing every day and you're breaking it down in small chunks, by the time you're there, you've got everything. Totally. It's not just memorize. You're actually acting because you've owned the, on the,

George Davison: 41:15

So we don't have our confidence in the beginning, but we keep trying and we keep getting up and doing it again and again, and eventually we get conference and we go in and take that test in two weeks where we get up and we do the play and it comes out beautifully. And that's planning celebrate

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 41:31

The wins. Yes. Know when you did it really look back and try and hold on to that. It's the beginning of every day, I close my eyes and I take two minutes and I asked myself, how do I want today to go? And I visualize the whole entire thing. And it comes out closer to that every time because of the fact that you have a picture, but at the end of the day, and this is more important at the end of your school day, at the end of your Workday, when you're going to bed, ask yourself what worked today and write it down, because then you're starting the next day from a position of strength. And that really does make a difference because you'll start to see the steps you're making instead of the things that you're not achieving.

George Davison: 42:06

So you have routines, it sounds like you put shoes out that helps you to know that you want to get your exercise in, or when you're writing down your wind from the day. That's a great thing. What other similar do you have any other routines that might be helpful to pass along?

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 42:22

I think that you always challenge yourself. So you know what? You start to get to know yourself and you know, what's going to bring the most in the best out of you. For me, I need a big challenge physically for me, I need a big challenge. So right now I'm a third degree, black belt in TaeKwonDo, and I am studying to be a master and it's going to take me for four more years, but it's worth it for the, because I have a mission, right? Um, I've done a triathlon, a marathon, and it's always been that I needed to have a big goal in front of me. It might be that you have a big goal in front of you, or it might be that you need to just take some really small steps today and look at, okay, I'm making progress. You know, uh, our, our founder and chairman has this great statement. If my sailboat is in the water and it's pointed in the right direction, even if I don't feel like it's moving, I am making headway. And it's so true because some days you don't get tons done, but there's always something that works. There's always something that you have accomplished. And I think that writing down as much as you can possibly journal about what your dreams are and, you know, really picturing, visualizing. So I do this exercise with my kids all the time, and I think that it works really well and actually grandkids now. So December 31st, 2021, you've accomplished X. How do you feel close your eyes and feel that feeling. And then they're like, that would be so awesome. And it just, I said, so every time you feel like you're going to slow down, or you get frustrated, or you miss a step, close your eyes and picture that December 31st, 2021, this is where I'm at. How do I feel stay tied to that emotion.

George Davison: 44:02

So then imagination and emotion can serve you well in life. Absolutely. Tami, you've been so, so kind to our guests today. I can't thank you enough for being on the show. We wish you the best of luck. And, uh, I always behave myself when I'm around you. I know that though expert now, but, uh, thank you so much for know

Tami Bonnell, EXIT Realty: 44:22

It was great. Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 1: 44:31

For more information about the innovations and ideas changing tomorrow's world tune into Tomorrow's World Today. Now screaming on Science and Discovery, or visit TomorrowsWorldToday.com

Speaker 2: 44:51

[inaudible].