Next Level Agents: The Kevin & Fred Show - Interviews with the best and brightest minds in the real estate industry

What if the ceiling preventing your growth isn't the market, your systems, or your skills—but your own identity? Steve Castle spent two years knowing he needed to transition from top producer to team leader before he actually made the leap. The barrier wasn't knowledge or capability. It was the internal work of letting go of who he'd been to become who he needed to be next. In this conversation, S...

What if failure wasn't an option for agents on your team? Craig Reger has built a revolutionary system where every single agent - including brand-new licensees straight out of real estate school - sells a minimum of 20 homes in their first year. No exceptions. While most teams accept the industry's 90% failure rate as inevitable, Craig's operation closes 500+ units annually across six markets by m...

What if the secret to dominating your local market wasn't expensive lead generation, but a systematic approach to something most agents treat as an afterthought? Mary Gilbert went from 200 to 380+ Google reviews in just 18 months using her admin team and strategic thinking. The result: measurable inbound calls from prospects saying "we saw you have the most reviews, we want to work with you." She'...

Most real estate teams are completely backwards when it comes to training new agents. While they're busy building elaborate training portals and comprehensive onboarding programs, their new agents are burning through savings accounts waiting months for their first deal. Julie Youngblood has cracked the code on getting agents productive fast. Her team averages 33 days from start to first contract,...

Most real estate agents are working twice as hard as they need to. While the industry obsesses over lead generation volume, the top 1% have cracked the code on strategic prospecting that cuts their effort in half while doubling their results. Bob Stewart, Director of Agent Experience at Brivity, has analyzed thousands of real estate databases and discovered the exact patterns that separate million...

What if Harvard Business School just cracked the code on why some real estate professionals not only survive market chaos but actually dominate it? Kevin Kauffman dives into groundbreaking research that analyzed 4,700 companies through the 2008 financial crisis and reveals the one trait that separates the 9% who emerge stronger from the 91% who barely survive. This isn't about market timing, perfe...

This isn't a bad market. It's an exhausting one. And according to Josh Cooley, the top team leader in Eugene, Oregon, that exhaustion is exactly where your competitive advantage lives. While 54% of agents in his county haven't closed a single transaction this year, Josh's lean team of 10 agents just hit their 100th closing. But here's what separates them from struggling agents: they stopped waitin...

Are you struggling in real estate while watching other agents dominate in the exact same market? The problem isn't interest rates, inventory, or leads. The problem is staring back at you in the mirror. Matt Smith and Dustin Runyon, who collectively move 1,400-1,600 homes annually, just exposed the 10 brutal reasons why most agents are struggling right now. But here's the kicker: every single reaso...

Most real estate agents operate like emotional teenagers—prospecting when they feel motivated, avoiding calls when they're scared, and making excuses when the market gets tough. But what if there was a way to remove your feelings from your business operations entirely? In this episode, my business partner EK sits down with Marshal Nathe, a 7-year real estate veteran who just crushed a $200,000 mon...

Think building a real estate team is just about hiring more agents? Think again. After 18 years of scaling teams and surviving every market condition, I'm breaking down the brutal truth about why most teams become expensive disasters instead of profit centers. This isn't another "rah-rah, build your empire" conversation. This is the real talk about what it actually takes to transition from solo pr...

Making $400K a year but can't afford eXpCon? You're not alone, and financial coach Matt Plumer explains exactly why this happens to so many high-earning real estate agents. In this eye-opening conversation, Matt breaks down the "transaction treadmill" that keeps agents constantly chasing the next deal to fund their lifestyle instead of building real wealth. He shares his complete financial transfo...

What separates agents who build empires from those who stay trapped in solo success? Nashville powerhouse Erin Krueger went from selling 300+ homes as a solo agent to leading a team that's generated over $2.5 billion in sales. The difference wasn't luck, market timing, or connections—it was the courage to implement championship-level standards that most team leaders would never dare enforce. In th...

What if everything you've been told about real estate success is backwards? While everyone chases the dream of going solo, Kody Weitzel cracked the code on team leverage, closing 200 transactions and earning over $1 million in his second year—all as a team member, not a team leader. This conversation with Kevin Kauffman destroys the myth that you need to build your own empire to reach seven figure...

What if the difference between struggling and thriving in real estate isn't about lead generation or market knowledge—but about something most agents completely ignore? In this episode, Kevin Kauffman sits down with Nate Palmer, founder of Million Dollar Body Method, for a raw conversation about what really separates top performers from everyone else. This isn't your typical real estate strategy d...

Ever wonder why some agents thrive no matter what the market throws at them while others struggle to stay afloat? The secret isn't in their lead generation or closing techniques—it's in something most agents completely ignore: building a personal brand so strong it works harder than any market condition. In this game-changing episode, my business partner Katie DeWitt sits down with marketing power...

You know what works. The phone calls, the follow-up systems, the prospecting schedules that successful agents swear by. So why don't you do them? In this raw and honest solo episode, Kevin breaks down the psychology behind self-sabotage using insights from his business partner Chris Suarez. This isn't about finding new strategies - it's about understanding why you avoid the strategies that already...

Most agents think quality prospecting should take 8-10 hours a day. They're wrong, and this limiting belief is costing them deals, momentum, and market share. Michelle Early, Director of Growth for Apex Real Estate (one of the top teams in the nation), reveals how two agents completed 20 quality real estate conversations in just over an hour—and why this breakthrough is separating winners from wis...

What if everything you think you know about business partnerships in real estate is wrong? When successful agent Erik Kelly brought his partnership question to our mastermind, it sparked a deep dive into one of the most critical scaling decisions in real estate. Together with Katie DeWitt and Brittini Bowers, we explored the real motivations behind partnership desires and uncovered strategic alter...

The marketing game has completely changed, and most real estate agents are still playing by the old rules. In this episode, EK sits down with Wendy Forsythe, Chief Marketing Officer of eXp Realty, to uncover why "perfect" marketing content is actually making agents invisible, and what's working instead. Wendy reveals her revolutionary "power of the scroll" concept that's transforming how top agent...

Most real estate couples who work together end up resenting each other, burning out, and watching their relationships crumble under constant shop talk and blurred boundaries. But what if there's a completely different approach that actually strengthens your marriage while building a real estate empire? My business partners Katie DeWitt and Brittini Bowers dive deep into the reality of successfully...

The real estate industry has been feeding agents a lie about prospecting success. While everyone obsesses over contact numbers and call quotas, the agents who are truly winning have thrown the volume playbook out the window. Houston-area agent Brandon Snyder scaled from new agent to over $20 million in production by focusing on one revolutionary approach: going a mile deep with human connection in...

​​Most real estate team leaders are avoiding the uncomfortable truths that could transform their businesses overnight. They're stuck in cycles of mediocrity, tiptoeing around the very conversations and actions that separate empire builders from order takers. In this powerful solo episode, Kevin Kauffman shares 10 battlefield-tested principles that determine whether you build a culture of high perf...

Real estate agents don't retire—they expire. It's a harsh reality that most of us know but rarely discuss. When was the last time you attended a real estate agent's retirement party? Exactly. In this episode, Kevin Kauffman sits down with financial coach and transformation expert Matt Plumer to expose the brutal truth about why most agents never escape the transaction treadmill—and more importantl...

What if your biggest competitors became your biggest referral sources? Most agents would rather delete fellow agents from their database than risk "helping the competition." Katie DeWitt did the exact opposite and built a referral empire that generates multiple six figures annually. In this game-changing episode, Katie reveals the counterintuitive strategies that made her the go-to agent for compe...

While most agents are complaining about interest rates and market conditions, Matt Chick's team is absolutely crushing it with 32 pending transactions and 45 prequalified buyers in the pipeline. Same market. Same challenges. Completely different results. Matt joins Erik Kelly to expose the brutal truth about market excuses and reveal the systematic approach that creates consistent success regardle...