Welcome to Action Solves Everything, the show for those who want to stop overthinking and start producing. I'm your host, Alex Montagano, broker, leader, and founder of Lockstep Realty. Around here, we believe movement creates momentum, clarity comes from doing, and the agents who take action are the ones who win. Every episode is built to help you grow your skills, your confidence, and your career. Now, let's get to work. Thanks for tuning in today. We've got Ryan Foxworthy with FC Tucker here in Carmel, Indiana. If you don't know Ryan, he is an absolute stud in the real estate space. Ten million bucks, rinse and repeat every single year. And one of my favorite things about Ryan is that if you spend any time with him, he never blinks and neither does his business. Ryan, Yeah, absolutely, dude. 10 million bucks year over year, all the time. How do you do it for those that don't do that and don't know how How do I do it? I mean, that's a loaded question, man. I think there's so much that goes into it. You know, for me, my biggest thing is when I when I got into the business back in 2019, I got let go from a company that I wasn't expecting to be let go from. And I had three kids. I didn't really have a choice. Right. I've got to be able to provide for my kids. I've got that, you know, I played D1 soccer butler back in the day in college. So I've got that competitive mindset. So I wasn't certainly going to go just home after I got let go and just sulk on it and cry and do all this that and the other. I put my foot down and figured out what my next step was. And I had also just lost my dad as well. And he was big into real estate. And he's the one that kind of encouraged me to get into real estate. He was more on the commercial side, but He suggested that I get into the real estate business. So I lost my dad, and three days later, I signed up for the FC Tucker real estate class, and I've been going strong ever since. But at the end of the day, man, I don't really have a choice, right? And at the same time, too, I love what I do. I enjoy waking up every morning not knowing what the day is going to bring and figuring it out, right? I love going to bed at night knowing that I get to wake up the next morning and do something that I love doing. I truly mean that. It's something that I wish I would have gotten into. I got into it when I was, what, 40? I'm 48 now. I wish I would have gotten into it when I was just right out of college, you know? But That's, that's awesome. There's a lot there. Um, I appreciate you sharing all that. Um, go dogs, right. Former D one baseball guy here too. So I appreciate that. Right. Like, I think the dogs are cut a little different. Um, but like, talk about this, like 2019. One day you got a job, the next day you don't. And then you're getting your license, trying to pave your path and make your own way. And I think I've been fortunate. You and I have really fostered a relationship over the past year. And I've always had a ton of respect for what you do and how you run your business, but getting to know you more over the past year, I think one of the things I've learned the most is that like one, like you're steady Eddie and as consistent as can be in your day to day, like every single time I talk to you, you're methodically working through your business, but also your commitment to your clients and the energy that you give your business, like it never changes. And so like that to me in a business that begs for the roller coaster, I think is incredibly impressive, but also like to build that in the short window of time that you've done it, I appreciate it. I mean, at the end of the day, it's my clients are my everything. Right. My, my clients, if it wasn't for my clients, I wouldn't be seeing the success that I've seen. Right. So I make it a point to go and be up and be above and beyond for anybody that chooses to work with me. Cause let's be honest. There's how many agents in, in Indy? I mean, thousands of us, right. There's plenty of us. Right. There's way too many. Right. So I want to make sure that, that my clients have the best, um, you know, working relationship with me from start to finish, right? I don't want them to ever feel like our commission or my commission is more important than their, their wellbeing, if you will. Right. You know, at the end of the day, the, we have, I mean, we have one job as real estate agents and that's lead generation. Right. So like, what am I going to do? I'm not one of those agents, Alex, that's ever, when I got into business, I've never been one to buy leads. I've never been one to, I mean, I don't do many open houses. I've been blessed where most, if not all of my clients have come from word of mouth, referrals, previous clients, right. And I want to keep it that way. Right. And it's kept me busy enough to be doing $10 million a year on average, consistently for the last few years where I put a lot into the fact that my clients know that I'm not just their agent for the time of the transaction, right? It's after that. I mean, over the weekend, I had clients reaching out to me about certain things. They're asking about the interest rates going down. Should they refinance? I'm gonna text them back just as quickly on this past weekend as I did when I was in the middle of a transaction with them. So at the end of the day, I'm gonna do whatever I can to make sure my clients want to come back and use me again next time they wanna buy a house or Yeah, dude, that's, I mean, I think it's incredible, right? I mean, look, like there are so many folks in our industry that take this and they, They do a deal, they move their client off the assembly line, and then they hope that they reach back out again in 3, 4, 5, 10 years, whatever it may be. But having spent time with you and learned about how you conduct your business, it's like, you live in the trenches for your people. And I think from my seat, it's incredibly admirable because when you do as much business as you're doing, it's hard to juggle both sides of that. Like you have a lot of deals going, you have a lot of people that need you. And then also like, we can get into this later, but like you're also a dad and a husband and like those types of things are super important to you. How do you juggle Oh, man, my calendar, my calendar is full of different color coordinated, you know, what my kids have going on, what's what's for certain, you know, transactions and whatnot. I mean, my calendar plays a huge role. But I mean, at the end of the day, I'm very good about setting expectations up with my clients. They all know just, you know, whether they've known me from the past, they know that I have kids. They know that my son's a little mini me of myself and a little soccer player and my girls are in cheer. And at the end of the day, I mean, I'm going to, like I said earlier, go above and beyond for my clients, but my kids and my wife come first. Right. But at the same time, like I don't, I don't ever want a client to feel like they're not like a priority for me. I want every one of my clients to feel like they're my only client. I want every one of my clients to know that if they need to call me, I mean, I know we have boundaries and whatnot that we like to set, but if my client has a serious question at like nine o'clock, 10 o'clock at night, I tell them in my upfront conversation with them, text me. I might respond back to you at 10 o'clock at night. I might not. If I don't, it's probably because I'm asleep, right? But at the end of the day, if you have a question for me, just let me know. That's what I'm here for. That's my job. If you have 15 houses that you want to go see out in Brownsburg, I mean, I live in West Carmel, but if they're out in Brownsburg, 35 minutes away, then ask me to go show you 15 houses. Don't be afraid to ask me to do my job. I mean, that's what I signed up for. Right. So a lot of times I get clients like, oh, I feel bad. There's seven houses I want to go see. Why? Why would you feel bad? Like, my role is to help you not buy a house, but it's to help you advise you on the best way to go about getting to your end goal, and that's purchasing a home or selling your home, right? So like, don't ever feel bad about asking me to do my job. But at the end of the day, it's, you know, like I said, it's my calendar keeps me in line. You know, my kids and my wife are always gonna come first, but at the end of the day, I'm gonna do whatever I can to make sure my clients feel like they are my only client, Have you always felt this way with like the energy that you're putting into your clients. I mean, look, you started in 2019. So you worked through the COVID market, which was like wild, wild west. And then you've seen this drastic pivot back towards like a more realistic real estate market where buyers and sellers feel like they're light years apart. So have you always felt this way? And how have you navigated this and evolved over time as like, not only the family guy who cares so much about being home, but also like, how have you I feel like, to be honest with you, I mean, the involvement with my clients has always been the same, really. I mean, I've always been high energy, very personable, very authentic with my clients. I mean, it's the first, like, I had a listing appointment last, what was it, Tuesday, with a client that I'd never, it was a referral, and I swear, by the time I left there, I mean, I had her laughing, I had her, I mean, we were like besties, right? So, like, that's always just kind of been the way that I am. I've never wanted to, sway away from that. You know, I've always wanted, I've always wanted my clients to know that I take this job, my job very seriously, and it is a business for me, but at the same time, I also want to be your friend, right? Like, that's why I'm not afraid to ask, or not, I'm willing to have them ask me questions at 10 o'clock at night on a Tuesday. I mean, I think within the last, you know, seven or eight years that I've been doing this, obviously I've evolved as a, real estate professional and the way I go about doing my business, but like my, my authenticity and the way that I just interact with my clients, that's always kind of been the same. I mean, that's how I was before I even got into real estate. I'm a high energy guy. I like to joke around, but I also know when to be serious too, right? So, you know, that's, that's, that's been my, my, one of my, I think the best things about what I do is just People, they know me, they, I'm authentic. Like they, they don't, I'm not telling them one thing and then doing something else. Right. If I tell you I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. Right. Um, I don't over-promise on or deliver by any stretch. Right. So that's kind of how I've been What, um, like, so when you're getting these clients and you're working with them and you're trying to build this business. through repeat and referral business, like what is the big goal for you? So it's like 10 million bucks every single year. And you and I talked about this the other day, and I'd love to dive more into this. It's like, what goals do you have? Like you leave 24 and you do north of 10 million bucks and 25, you do north of 10 million bucks. But like, where is Ryan Foxworthy headed? And like, what is important to you running have, you know, a five year 10 year plan. I mean, I don't I don't like to look too far into the future. I like to focus on now and what I have going on. But I'd be, I'd be lying to you if I said that I didn't think about what, you know, what am I going to look like from a, you know, real estate perspective in five years, and even 10 years, I mean, I, and we've talked about this before. I mean, I'd like to get to that, you know, $20 million a year on average. You know that I'm all by myself, like I'm solo independent agent. I don't have a team. I don't have an assistant. I don't have a transaction coordinator, no buyers agents, none of that stuff. I do think in the next probably two or three years at the most, I could see myself hiring an assistant. If not, maybe even this year, I might even look into getting to an assistant. We've talked about that a little bit. I think that if I get once, not if, but once I'm able to get to that $20 million a year on average, I know I'm going to need an assistant, right? I know I'm going to need somebody to help me stay, you know, on course and make sure I don't miss anything, right? Like I'm very good about making sure everything's crossed and all the I's are dotted and all that kind of stuff. But that's only with me doing, I mean, I'm doing what? 20 to 25 deals a year or so. I mean, if I'm essentially doubling that and I'm doing 50 plus deals a year, I'm gonna make sure that I have somebody working with me that's gonna help me make certain that I don't miss anything, right? Because at the end of the day, like I said earlier, there are so many agents out there that all it takes is one little hiccup on my end that could either just kill a deal or it could just really upset a client of mine and I don't ever want that to happen. So what am I going to have to add to my business in order to keep a good, I mean, to stay true to myself and still allow time for me and my, with my kids and my wife, while running a really good business, right? Like, I mean, what you have over there at Lockstep, it's, I mean, it's, it's churning and burning, right? You know what, you know, you know what you got going on over there. And I'm, while I'm still newer to the game than you are, I envision myself with a transaction coordinator and an admin, and maybe even a buyer's agent or two in the next few years. But again, just like our market, we can't predict the market, right? I can't really predict what it's gonna look like in five, 10 years, but at the end of the day, all I focus on is what I can control. And right now, that's just making sure all the clients that I have right now are taken care of, and any Well, I think, look, I think what I appreciate about that is like, and for the listeners that don't know this, like the way that the industry has evolved since you got in the business, particularly we had COVID hit in 2020. And so like all the changes and requirements with that. And then in the last couple of years, like 2022, we had the interest rates go from high threes to eight. They started coming down in 2023, so the balancing act of that, buyer agency contracts in 2024, clear cooperation conversations in 2025, brokerage mergers every single year all the time. As somebody that was a former athlete and as somebody that's like, hey, I'm just worried about my clients and my family, how do you handle all that change? especially since like you've got in the business and that's all you've known, like talk about that I can't, I can't control any of those changes, right? I can't control interest rates. I can't control the buyer's exclusive agency contracts. I can't control inventory levels being low or high depending on where exactly you are, you know, you're looking at whatever. Right. So I, I, I, I can't control what other agents are doing either. Right? So like, I focus on what I can control. And at the end of the day, whether interest rates are at 3% or they're at 8%, people are still buying and selling houses. And I want a piece of that, right? So what can I do to better educate those potential clients of mine as to what the market looks like? I'm not gonna worry about what I can't control. Like, I don't know if you remember, but when the MLS or the BLC changed a couple of years ago, all of us agents were freaking out. Like, why would you, like, people were standing on the doorsteps of my board downtown, like arguing, like, but guys, come on, like, don't focus, like, you need to be out focusing on your clients and getting more business, right? Real estate agents don't like change. We don't. But at the end of the day, like, if we, if I can't control it, then I need to, I need to move my focus back over to Well, I think, look, you, you nail it. I actually remember that. I remember coming in the office and a couple of our agents on our team were like having a real hard time with it. And I was like, I don't care. Learn it. It's not going anywhere. Yep. Like it's not. And, and look like I wasn't living and breathing in connect BLC at that moment. But what's funny is like, If you zoomed out 10,000 feet and then said in 60, 90, 120 days from now, will this conversation matter? The reality is, is like, we all figured it out. We're all still using it. And so I think it's so funny. I think, and I think like as agents, we live in this society where there's like, there's the only constant every single day. It's like death taxes and change, man. Like, like there is change all the time. And there are folks that are hung up on anything and everything that you possibly can. But the reality is, is like, we control how we treat each other. We control how we work for our clients. And look, that work can be different on every single front. It can be like how you navigate a deal. It could be how you find a deal. It can be the relationships that you have with those in the industry. And for a long time, like how I was taught to do this business is it was it was like, don't look at my homework. I'm not going to collaborate with you. I'm just going to put my head down and do my job and then go home and do my thing. And over time, what I've learned in this, too, is like, The job is better, COVID forced this upon us as agents. We are better when we work together as realtors. And so like, when you look at transactions, the transaction is better when I'm on an end and you're on an end and we're working together and pulling the rope in the same direction. Now, early on, I got in the business in 2012, it was like two agents pulling a rope opposite ways to see who could win. And the real win here is, when your seller is, you know, accomplishes the goal that they want to go achieve and the buyer accomplishes the goal they want to achieve. And so understanding and giving you respect to the notion of like, you can control what you can control. Like, look, when a buyer walks in the door right now, they're likely strained to the max on what an interest rate is, or they're likely leveraged to the max on affordability. So when you get a seller that can communicate at a high level, like a professional, it creates a better experience for everybody. And it is, it helps evolve the notion of like realtors are a bunch of money hungry schmucks. And it says, look, like these pros help navigate the largest asset in our life all while doing it alongside us. And look, kudos to you, man, you do a killer job of that. And our industry is better because Well, can I, can I say something more into that whole, collaboration with other agents. I think that's one area that I really specialize in, if you will. I don't wanna just make sure that my clients are happy and wanna do another deal with me. I wanna make sure that that agent on the other side of the deal wants to do another deal with me once that transaction's over with, right? I've had one agent in the 100 plus deals that I've done since I started in real estate that I kind of just didn't really jive too well with. everyone else, and I'm not just saying this, everyone else would be more than happy to do deal with me again. Because I when I whether it's me submitting an offer or me accepting an offer on behalf of my sellers, I'm talking that agent, I tell them straight up, I'm like, listen, you might hear this from other agents, but you will have the best experience you can as an agent with me working alongside me. Because I'm not going to come to you with problems. I'm going to if there is an issue, I'm going to I'm going to come with solutions. And we're going to work together for that one common goal. And that's for your seller, your buyer to buy or sell their house or whatever the case is. And it's just, I know that I can walk into a room with agents that I've done deals with and every one of them are going to come up and be happy to sit down and chat with me. And I think we need more of that because there are agents out there and I'm not obviously going to name anybody, but there's agents out there that have bad reputations. It Well, I mean, look, I see posts on social media, you make them, I make them, we all make them where it's like, I have a buyer that needs this. I have this coming on the market and I have a seller that needs this. And what is so interesting is like when you gatekeep and you house everything for yourself, like you're doing a disservice to your clients in that instance. So when a client says, can you go do this? It's like, well, yeah, I've done hundreds of real estate transactions. I have, all these people are basically my friends. I can go find you that opportunity even better. And look, I think the interesting thing is, is like, if you called me and had an off-market opportunity, I know how that would go. And then if I got a call from some other folks in the industry, I also know exactly how that would go. And that education that we are able to give our clients to go, hey, look, I've worked with Ryan Yeah. Or on the flip side, that house that you want, Mr. Buyer, the list agent, I've done a deal with him or her before, and it was an absolute nightmare. Not saying this one's going to go that way, but just let me prepare you for what this agent's capable of doing or been known to do. I Well, and look, like part of doing our job really well, I mean, you've, you've hinted at it as like setting proper expectations for a transaction. And I think what's so funny as realtors is we do this as like, we don't sit in the seat of our clients. We do deals all day long and We expect our clients to just have no emotion and just navigate through this deal. And the reality is, is like, largest asset somebody's ever going to own, high stakes, tons of stress. There's likely some life event that's causing a move or encouraging a move. And drop in the mix a big surprise on a deal. And so often it's like, well, this isn't that big. Well, this is maybe not to me or you, but to the person on the other end, who's uprooting a family or moving something, or a partner just passed away or a kid's off to college or what. Or the deal is every penny that somebody has to be able to get into a home. It is the big deal. And so we do such a poor job as an industry of like sitting in the seat of our clients to connect with them and help them understand like, hey, like we're at the inspection. We talked about this. This is where turbulence happens. Remember that turbulence? We've all been on a flight. There's nothing worse when they tell you it's going to be a smooth flight. And then all of a sudden the plane shaking and you're like, Oh my gosh, what the hell's going on? And so like those expectations are critical. How do you do that? Like, when Yeah. Well, I mean, if I'm, if I'm working with a buyer, I mean, I mean, if it's a first time home buyer, obviously the, um, the initial conversation is a lot more in depth, but for the most part, I mean, it's kind of like a, I mean, if it's like I go over how the whole process is going to work on the upfront call, coffee meeting or whatever, like this is how it's going to play out. But at the same time, I also don't like to inundate my buyers with a ton of paperwork and just a ton of just stuff. I give them kind of the overview as to how it should play out. But I also tell them, hey, once we get to the point of putting a contract together, obviously we will sit down and we'll put the best and strongest offer together we can. I'll explain the whole purchase agreement to you. Once we get the offer, next steps will be the inspection. When we get to the inspection, I will be there with you and I'll talk more about things that could or could not happen during the inspection. And then we got the appraisal and then we got to just deal with getting the lending documents and all that. So I kind of I say a decent amount up front. but I save a lot more of it for the nitty gritty of stuff, like getting into like the, the, the nuances and like just the, um, uh, the specifics, like as we get closer or to that part of the transaction, right. I just don't want to, it's like when I go to listing appointments, there's agent, one good, one thing that I love about our business is every, every agent runs their business differently. I personally, like for the listing appointment that I just had last Tuesday, I didn't take any paperwork or contracts or anything with me. And I never do. My objective for that first, when I'm going to see that first meeting is I just want to see your house. I want to meet you. I want to get to know you. And then I even tell them another, I kind of joke about it. I'm like, listen, I could have brought, there's going to be contracts for you to sign. There's going to be paperwork for you. I didn't want to bring, bore you with all that crap right now. But for today, I just wanted to just get to know you better, find out what your motivations are, what your expectations are, and just get to know your house too. So like, again, I do a decent amount upfront, but I really lay into it as we get close Yeah. I, um, I wrote down a question for you and I'm going to tell you what the question was, but I'm going to change it. So I was writing down what's important for you in the day-to-day of your business. But I'm going to scrap that. And I'm just going to acknowledge that relationships are your currency. And I feel like that's pouring through this conversation right now, whether it's a relationship with an agent, a vendor, a potential client. I love hearing that you don't bring contracts and paperwork. Look, I've had coaching companies that I've worked with and I've worked with people that are like, bring the contract, Yeah. I just think of like the concept of selling how you want to be sold. I think I wrote down too, like, you're a pros pro. Like, and I think so much of that comes from, I won't answer where it comes from for you, but I know for me, it comes from playing sports in the past of like, I coached kids how I wanted to be coached. I lead how I want to be led. So yeah, dude, it's impressive that for you, like this relationship thing, It's just the driver in everything. And so like every question that you could be asked about, how do you grow your business or how do you build something goes back to the notion of like, I just need to have more conversations and build more It's all about conversations. And I don't know exactly how many listings I've had since I started, but I have never once lost a listing. It's because I don't come off as salesy and like, Hey, nice to meet you. Love your house. I'm a, I'm a listed for this amount. Well, first of all, that's BS. I don't, I mean, I don't know what I'm listed for before I see it. Like, come on, let's be real with ourselves. But like, I, I come off as very authentic and I have yet to have a situation where they just chose somebody else because wasn't salesy enough, like, it's all about relationships. They know, everyone that's been referred to me, or just knows me, whether it's from social media, they know that I do business, I'm buying and selling houses for people, I'm helping out, right? They know that I can get the job done. It's how am I going to be able to interact with that person for the next, you know, what, 30 days to fricking couple years, right? Like, let's be honest, some clients back in the COVID days when it was impossible to get a house, cause everyone was, paying 100,000 over list and giving their third child away. Like I had clients, I had buyers that missed out on houses, but I think we all did. I know we all did. Right. So what is it, what kind of attitude or what kind of relationship am I going to build with these people in order to make sure they keep coming back to me? And don't give me one of those, especially now with the buyer's exclusive agency, one of those, you know, how you got to get them to fill it out, how long it's going to be. I don't want somebody to be like, no, I'm just going to let you, I'm going to give you two weeks. What? No, like, no, you're going to give me. Well, it's like who you want. You work with people that want to work with you. And look, I think part of that for you and like authentic is a word you've used a couple of times, like, you know, what is super important to you. And I think some of the my most enjoyable conversation I've had with you is about your family, like your son's soccer and where he's traveling and where his games are. And then your girls cheer and and you like throwing the balls in the air and juggling all of these things. And look, like my kids are three and a half. We just started them in school. Before I know it, they'll be in sports. And I'm my wife and I are like talking through our calendar right now. And I'm like, I feel like my head's in a blender trying to juggle it all. And so like for you. I know we've talked about goals and how much business and how to grow and all those things. But I think for you, like falling back to this idea of like, as long as my family still gets this, and as long as I'm at every game and as long as I get to go here for that. And I just really appreciate that. And I think the listeners should know that like, not only are you a kick-ass agent, like No offense, but that falls second, third to like all the other stuff that's so important. Like the fact that you don't waver on that Well, and there's time. Don't get me wrong. There's been times where I've, I mean, I want to say I've missed any of my. any of the games or the competitions. But I mean, maybe it's driving to practice or picking up some I've maybe had to pivot because some I want to go see a house, whatever I, and I'll do that. But at the end of the day, too, like I, yes, I want my kids to know and my wife know that they're first, but I also want my kids to know that their dad works hard. Right. And like, it's funny, like my son, I mean, he's 15. Now, like, we'll literally be driving, you know, down the street or whatever. And he'll just start talking real estate with me. Like I'll be on the phone with a client or whatever. And then I'll get off the phone. And then like Carter will start talking the length, the lingo. Right. And it's because he's heard me talk too much, but I want Carter to be able to, you know, down the road, like Carter's even said to me that he wants to get into real estate when he gets older. Yeah, well, we'll talk about that when you get older. But, um, cause God knows what the, what, you know, the industry is gonna look like then. But I just, I want them to know that I'm one, they are my priority, but two, that dad worked hard to, to afford them the things that they're able to do. The nice vacations we can go on, or, you know, my son's going to be 16 this summer and he's going to be driving soon. Like, you know, am I going to get him a hoop deer? Am I going to get him somewhat something, something somewhat decent, right? Like, but it's all because of my hard work. And I've told them, I've even, I've been at dinner with them at times and with my wife, and I've been like, guys, like, you understand, like, I wanna be with you guys as much as possible. But if I have to go and take this phone call because it's one of my clients, I'm doing it for you, right? Like, this is, you four, my three kids, you're my why, right? I'm doing this all for you. I don't wanna miss a dinner. I don't wanna miss a game or whatever. But at the end of the day, I guess what all of us started at $0 on January 1st. Right. I have no closings in January. I've got a listing that won't sell. Like I gotta, I gotta be on my, a game for the net for, for the very long term, obviously, but like, I gotta be. finding ways to get more business. And it might take me away from being at, you know, taking my son to soccer practice or something. And they get that, which is nice. But at the end of the day, dude, like I, I just don't, I, I'm not going to change. how I go about doing my business, my clients are always gonna feel like they're number one, right? Like I've got my calendar and I've got a good enough system where I can adjust things around so I don't have to do open houses. I've got a couple agents that I work with that I know all I gotta do is text them and they will absolutely That's awesome. Right, so I'm gonna keep that going. I think It's important to highlight, like, your kids knowing that you work hard, you're passionate, you're fiery, you care about what you do and you care about who you work for, and I think those lessons infiltrated through, like, I think of how I parent, and I hear this from you, and look, I just think it's so valuable for kids to learn that it's okay to have fun, it's okay to travel, it's okay to do things that you enjoy or whatever it may be, but like, hard work. Look, I'm sure you didn't roll out of bed as a soccer superstar when you were 15. You worked for it. Your son works for it. And then you play D1 and you work for that. And then you get into real estate and on day one, you don't know what the heck you're doing, but you know you have to. And I think for the listeners and with anything in life, You know, I remember when I started, I was at Century 21, I was sitting there and they were like, Hey Alex, there's like no ceiling on the income you can earn. And the first deal I ever wrote was$120,000 split 50% plus paying Century 21's royalty fees in the splits. And me going, okay, I think I'm going to walk away with a thousand bucks. And then I got 30% to save for taxes. So like, I got to do a hundred deals a year to make a hundred thousand dollars. Like there is a ceiling. Fast forward to today where it's like, there isn't because you could do whatever you want by working as hard as you choose to do. I had a meeting with an agent this morning that did 132 deals last year on his own with an admin. And it's just, it's unbelievable. No kids, but you can really do whatever you want if you, are clear on your mission and you work insanely hard. And that's a good thing. Like Carter, we talk about him a lot and it's like, you want to play D one soccer. Here's the work you have to do. And here's the stuff you don't get to do. Here are all the things you don't get to do. Do you still want to do it? And look, I think sitting in your seat reminds me of when I was a kid and my dad pulled me aside and I was like, hey, dad, I don't want to play basketball anymore. I want to go all in on baseball. And he he just said, Alex, look, if you want to go all in on baseball, you have to earn a division one scholarship and you have to give it every single thing you can to earn it. And that was the deal. And you know, there was some things I didn't get to do with my friends or the family trips that we didn't get to take side summer ball or whatever it was. But I wouldn't like, as I sit here at 39 years old, remembering what I was doing 25 years ago to earn that, like I wouldn't change that for anything. And those are some of the best lessons I ever Yeah, and I've told Carter this, I said, Carter, if you want to get to, because it's like my twin brother and I have identical twin brother, and he played at Butler as well. And we played here at Carmel High School. And, you know, my mom or dad, you know, when we were growing up, they wouldn't know where we were. And we would, it would be because we would just be outside playing soccer. by ourselves without somebody telling us to go out there and do it. And I told Carter, I said, listen, if you want to, well, first of all, my son doesn't think I knew how to play soccer, but that's a whole nother conversation. I said, if you want to get to the level of like a D1 level, especially nowadays when, you know, 75% of these D1 teams are foreign kids, like I need to not be able to find you in the house and look outside and you're out there doing your own drills and you're like, you know, conditioning or whatever it is. Like, you need to do things without being asked to do those things, right? Like, if you have the discipline to do that, you'll go far. If you're just going to show up at practice Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, come home, get on your phone or your Xbox, whatever, you're not going to excel. You need to be doing things that the other players aren't doing. And I think that kind of, for me, that kind of also goes into real estate. Like, I'm not just doing my deals. I'm listening to podcasts every single day. I'm listening to at least one podcast. I'm not even kidding you. Cause when I go to the gym, I don't listen. And I go to the gym Monday through Friday. I don't listen to music anymore. I listen to a podcast and there's quite a few that I listen to that are really good. Um, but every day I'm listening cause I'm learning. I always want to be learning. I'm also calling other agents. just to pick their brain and an agent that's in my office. I actually called him today and I was like, Hey, haven't talked to a while. Hope you had a nice new year. What's been going on? And he's talked to me about some of his deals and the issues that he had. And then I'm taking that in learning, right? Because I might not have experienced that yet. And while other agents are just, you know, sitting here, just waiting for that next phone call to come in, or they're not just, they're not going above and beyond. Right. I'm doing it not only for my clients, but I'm also doing it for myself. Well, I think there's a lot of things that like informational acquisition does for you. And look, I'm pretty transparent on this, like knowledge is not power. I think, you know, hey, knowledge is power. I call bullshit like it's the implementation of the knowledge is where the magic happens. And so I think for you, it's like that conversation with an agent is downstream information in the marketplace that you get to give to a client of yours. It's education that like, or it's a, Hey, look, I've experienced that too. Here's what I did differently. And all of a sudden you go from being a T from being taught to being a teacher. And that's where you truly become an expert. And I think, look, our best conversations are when you and I are like, Hey, let's free roll this conversation. Like, what would you do? How would you handle this? What do you think about this price? And You always being someone who seeks out education is something I just, I appreciate so much. It's like, but here's the other side of that. When I called you in December and I said, will you sit on, or in November, and I said, will you sit on this panel? It's an opportunity to give back to other agents. You didn't ask when it was, what time it was or anything. You just said, yes, just tell me where to be and when to be there and I'll do it. And I think that's- That's, Dude, knowledge is power, right? Like it boggles me, like all the masterminds that you put on, or I've been to a few with even with, with Megan Wise, right? Like, even though we're not in the same brokerage, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't all still be working like together and learning from each other. That will never change. I don't, I mean, I'm what seven, eight years in the business now when I'm 18, 20 years in the business, I'm still going to go to masterminds minds. I'm still going to sit on panels. I'm still going to go to these panels that real producers puts on. Right. Like, like why not? And if anything, even if I don't learn anything at those masterminds, like I'm, I'm networking. Cause guess what? Like who's to say that the next day after a 10 minute conversation with somebody that's at one of Alex's masterminds, I'm talking to somebody for 10, 15 minutes. And the next day he gets a listing that hits the market and I've got a buyer for That's how you're going to find a buyer for your Fisher's listing. I promise. I I can't believe that. It's insane. Dude, this has been fantastic. I asked this question at the end of all of these and it really is centered around, you know, action-taking and so if you had an agent who was like stuck and they didn't know how to move or they didn't know what to do what advice would you give them and then when the concept of agent and I have that's kind of stuck. I mean, I've been stuck before, right? Like we all have, you know, I mean, there's a handful of agents out there that are, you know, they're gonna do $100 million a year without even closing their eyes, right? I'm a big proponent to positive mindset, right? And realizing that I'm not the first one that's having a down month or, you know, where I'm struggling in this area. There's thousands of other agents in Indy that are probably dealing with the same type of stuff that I've dealt with or am dealing with, right? Like, so I try and keep a positive mindset, but I also keep showing up. Like, you gotta show up. Like, for those agents that I've talked to, because at my brokerage, I'll find that, you know, a lot of these newer agents will come to me and chat with me, and I'm just not getting any deals or I'm not getting clients. Okay, well, what are you doing? I mean, are you doing the things that newer agents need to do, the open houses, Are you dialing your entire sphere? Are you asking other agents if you can shadow them when they're going to a listing presentation or showing a buyer? I've got one agent right now that she's just getting into the business. And she went with me to that listing appointment on Tuesday. I called her, I'm the one that called her up and said, Hey, I think this would be really beneficial for you to come and watch because this seller's son is also thinking about buying. So I'm going to talk about listing her house and we can talk to her son about buying a new house and how that looks. She was all about it. So if you're in that rut, like do things that maybe you're not, that you haven't done in the past. Like I said, calling other agents, see how they're doing. do open houses, you know, get on the phone, like dial for dollars as they used to call. Like that's never been something that I've done, nor do I want to do, but I mean, let's be honest, man, you gotta, but at the end of the day, my biggest thing is it's, and I tell this to my, like my listing and fishers, that's not selling. I always tell this to my seller and she kind of laughs at me now, but let's positive thoughts only. Once you start going down that negative, road, it's going to just snowball into more negativity and more negative. And then you're going to start surrounding yourself with agents that are just always negative. And then what's that going to do? It's going to bring you down even more. So on top of that, it's surround yourself with agents that are like, like me, like happy go lucky, if you will. And, and, and fun to be around and fun to learn from, or just to collaborate with and go hang Dude. That's awesome. I could do this all day with you, man. But this was fantastic. For those listening, how can they find you Instagram, Facebook, just Ryan Fox for the realtor. I mean, I do the TikTok thing, but I don't really, I'm starting to get into a little bit more, but I will say, I didn't know this, Alex, but so my listing, I did a video for it, which I was getting a lot of good feedback on and I put it on Instagram or not, well, I put it on Instagram, but I put it on TikTok. And I had like 320 views or something like that. I was sitting, I think I was watching the IU game, the football game, and I'm just messing on TikTok. And I didn't realize that I could like push out my videos. So I had 330 views or whatever, and I paid like $13. And then today I think I have 3,800 views. that, like learning things I didn't know, like 13 bucks. Now I have like 3000 views or whatever. So, so yeah, so tick tocks one way, but I don't, don't hit me up on tick tock, hit me up on Instagram or Awesome. Ryan Foxworthy Realtor. Hey guys, thanks so much for tuning in today. Ryan Foxworthy Realtor, if you need anything or you want to connect with him offline, I tell you what, if you get an opportunity to spend time with him, you're not going to, it won't go on without learning something, that's for sure. So thanks again, Ryan. This was awesome. And Thanks for listening to Action Solves Everything. If today's episode pushed you, challenged you, or helped you even take one step forward, send it to someone else who needs that same nudge. We all get better when we grow together. And if you're looking for a partnership that actually believes in coaching, collaboration, accountability, and actually becoming the best version of yourself, shoot me a message. online at all social handles at Alex Montagano. That's A-L-E-X-M-O-N-T-A-G-A-N-O. Remember, success rewards the ones who move. Take action,