GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset

A lot of team leaders are trying to grow right now, but very few know how to scale without burning out, losing culture, or drowning in problems that show up the moment the business gets bigger. That tension is exactly where Lindsay Stevens built her strength. And the way she talks about these challenges will make every real estate leader stop and think.   On this episode of the GRIT Podcast, Brian...

What does it take to go from solo agent to community leader? For Sandee Payne, the answer came from a single moment of saying yes before she was ready. A military spouse turned interior designer, Sandee spent years helping families feel at home across the world. That love for creating spaces eventually led her to real estate, where she built a thriving business centered on listings and design-driv...

Many teams in real estate are struggling with how to grow without overspending on leads or losing control of profitability. At the same time, leaders are facing shifting interest rates, limited inventory, and the challenge of keeping agents productive in a competitive market.   On this episode of the GRIT podcast, Brian Charlesworth sits down with Robert Conway from the Jeremy Orton Group in Idaho...

Real estate is an industry where the market can change overnight, making it harder for agents to know how to stay consistent. Some try to solve this by chasing more leads or working longer hours, but that often leads to burnout instead of growth. What if there was a way to build a predictable business no matter what the market does? That is what Zoocasa has been doing. Starting as a small brokerag...

Many agents are feeling the pressure as deals get harder to close and the market shifts. Some are waiting for things to improve, while others are putting in the work now to get ahead. The difference comes down to skills, systems, and long-term planning.   Jim Amen has lived through challenging markets before. He started in real estate during the 2008 housing crisis, first as an appraiser and later...

Some teams reach a point where the leader can step out of production without losing momentum. That usually takes years, but in under five, Brian Buckley grew his team from just a few agents to 35 and positioned himself to focus solely on building the business. From his background in construction and development to leading one of the top teams at his brokerage, Brian has made systems, culture, and...

Some real estate teams are growing even in down markets. And that is not because they have doubled headcount or dumped money into leads, but because they have doubled down on data, service, and systems. That is exactly what Courtney Gauchman, COO at Wilson Group in Massachusetts, has helped her team do. With a background in the beauty industry and over a decade of operational leadership, Courtney...

What happens when you stop building your real estate business the way everyone tells you to and start building it around who you really are? On this episode, JD Reese shares how he rebuilt from that exact moment and what came next. He takes us inside Genuine Real Estate Group, one of the most consistent teams in Southern Utah, where 60 listings stay active and under contract, and agent turnover is...

This week on GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset, Brian Charlesworth is joined by Jace Gillies, team leader at Utah Life. They talk about growth, leadership, and building a team that performs with consistency. From closing 29 deals in his first year to now leading over 90 agents, Jace shares what it looks like to scale while keeping culture intact. Jace talks about his start in real estate, comin...

In this episode of GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset, Brian Charlesworth sits down with Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp Realty, to talk about the journey from selling nearly 4,000 homes to leading one of the fastest-growing brokerages in the industry. Leo shares how he started in real estate at 19, thinking he would be an investor, and became one of the country's top agents. Leo dives into how market cy...

In this episode of GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset, Brian Charlesworth welcomes Desi Williams and Elizabeth McNally,  two high-performing team leaders who are breaking records in small markets. Desi Williams from Burley, Idaho, and Elizabeth McNally from Medicine Hat, Alberta, share how they've captured over 40% market share in communities where most agents settle for 20 deals a year. Desi sh...

In this episode of GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset, Brian Charlesworth talks with Veronica Figueroa, a leader in real estate team operations and growth. Veronica shares her journey from managing a complex business that sold over 2,200 homes a year to building a streamlined, sustainable model. Veronica opens up about the challenges of scaling too quickly, explaining how a focus on simplicity t...

In this episode of GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset, Brian Charlesworth hosts Ken Hirschmann and Brandon Verlinden from Best Life & Co., a rapidly growing real estate team in Michigan. Ken and Brandon share their unconventional journey from managing grocery stores to leading one of the most productive teams in the state, highlighting how their background in high-accountability roles shaped...

In this celebratory 150th episode of GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset, host Brian Charlesworth welcomes Jon Cheplak for a powerful conversation on mental resilience, personal accountability, and building a business that lasts. In this special episode, Jon dives into the highs and lows of his career and shares how his journey from addiction to success shaped his approach to life and work. Jon d...

Join Brian Charlesworth on this episode of GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset as he talks with Matt Smith, a real estate leader whose journey from managing a small team to becoming one of the top performers in the Missouri market offers invaluable lessons in leadership, strategy, and accountability. Starting with just 8-10 agents in 2018, Matt now oversees a team of 27, but his success hasn’t co...

Join Brian Charlesworth, founder of Sisu, as he interviews Steven Myers, the visionary owner of Urban Cool Brokerage. Steven shares his journey from corporate aerospace engineer to leading real estate investor and team owner in Wichita, Kansas. From selling his first property to growing a team of over 60 agents, Steven’s story is a testament to the power of grit and resilience. In this episode, St...

This week on GRIT, host Brian Charlesworth welcomes Shahar Plinner, founder and CEO of Formations, to discuss an often-overlooked aspect of running a real estate business: taxes. Shahar brings decades of expertise in tax planning for the self-employed, particularly real estate agents and team leaders. From his roots in Israel to building one of Seattle’s top accounting firms, Shahar has always bee...

In this episode of GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset, Brian Charlesworth sits down with JD Reese, founder of The Genuine Group, one of Southern Utah’s rising stars in real estate. JD shares his evolution from selling over 1,000 homes as a builder agent to creating and leading a team that’s now ranked in the top five in just three years. How did he do it? JD credits much of his success to the sy...

In this episode of the "GRIT" podcast, Brian Charlesworth sits down with Zach Geisendorfer, Director of Client Relations at FAM Realty Group, which started with five agents and is now at nearly 40 in Orange County, California. Zach shares the ups and downs of growing quickly, including the hard lessons learned about the need for solid systems and a strong team culture. “We thought we were on top o...

In this episode of "GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset," Brian Charlesworth welcomes Glen Baker, founder of the MorrisAgent Team, for a conversation about growing a business when the odds seem stacked against you. Glen shares his fascinating journey from selling a tech company for $91 million to diving into real estate after a personal tragedy, driven by a passion for improving customer experien...

This week on the "GRIT" podcast, Brian Charlesworth is joined by Ryan Young, a third-generation real estate expert and the innovative mind behind Fello. Ryan's journey is anything but typical—from a burnt-out chef to leading a team selling hundreds of homes yearly. He looks back at how starting in a down market gave him the grit and know-how to tackle today's challenges. Ryan dives deep into the c...

In this week's episode of "GRIT: The Real Estate Growth Mindset," host Brian Charlesworth sits down with Quintavius Burdette, a top-performing real estate agent who’s breaking records and defying the odds, and who recently made waves on Survivor. From humble beginnings in Mississippi, Q, as he is known, has made a name for himself in the real estate industry by selling over 900 homes in his first...

Join Brian Charlesworth, founder of Sisu, and George Laughton, founder of The Laughton Team. George shares his remarkable journey from entering real estate during the challenging 2007 market to building a team that handles over a billion dollars in transactions annually. George discusses the importance of identifying market opportunities and adapting quickly. He emphasizes building a strong core b...

Join Brian Charlesworth, founder of Sisu, as he interviews Desi and Tyson Williams, a powerhouse couple in the real estate world. They discuss their move from Orange County to Burley, Idaho, and how they turned a part-time real estate venture into a full-time success story. Desi shares her journey from starting in real estate as a stay-at-home mom in 2013, selling homes as a hobby, to making a sig...

In this episode of GRIT, Brian Charlesworth, founder of Sisu, talks with Jeff Glover of Glover U, Michigan's #1 realtor for nearly a decade. Jeff takes listeners on a tour of his daily life, managing a high-volume listing schedule while also leading one of the top real estate coaching programs in the nation. He discusses his entry into the real estate world and how he has managed to stay on top th...