Hustle Humbly Podcast

What if the smartest move you make this season is not making a move at all? 2026 has been a heavy year. Buyers are hiding, sellers are anxious, and even the sweetest clients are asking for reassurances nobody can give. Alissa noticed something she'd never felt in over a decade of selling real estate: the work just wasn't calling her back the way it used to. So instead of pushing harder, she paused. In this episode, Katy turns Alissa into a real-time case study. Alissa just got back from back-to-back travel (teaching a class with Katy in Indiana, then ten days of scuba diving for her dad's 70th birthday) with no one covering her business. She shares how she prepped, why she told every seller she'd be gone, the two offers and two cancellations that bookended her trip, and why she came home still not ready to jump back in. This isn't a "quit" episode and it isn't a funk. It's an intentional pause. We talk about why the holiday season is the perfect time to take a breath, how to coast without guilt or scarcity, and what Alissa is doing now so her business is ready to go in January. Here's what we cover in this episode: Why 2026 has felt different, and what it looks like when the work stops filling you up Going quiet on purpose: pulling back on social media Why the kindest clients can be the hardest ones to carry right now Telling your sellers you're gone (and why they bother you less when they know) Front-loading five listing appointments before a trip Using your listing-to-buyer ratio as an honest conversation with sellers Running the affordability math and why buyers are struggling to qualify The real reasons agents pause: kids, maternity leave, caring for parents, renovations, and plain exhaustion Letting your savings dip on purpose and giving yourself permission to breathe Why business conferences are starting to make room for mental health Doing Christmas cards early, with a personal sticky note in every envelope Digging back into your database now so January pays off Feast or famine: why agents are high cortisol when they're busy AND slow Key Quotes & Takeaways: "You can't ask for more business if you're not handling the business you already have." Alissa "Until I can believe in what I'm selling, I need a minute." Alissa "Your sellers are less likely to contact you for something silly when they know you're gone." Katy "We are high cortisol when we're busy and we're high cortisol when we're slow." Katy "I'm not in a funk. It was an intentional pause." Alissa Products, People & Previous Episodes Mentioned: Episode 20: Embracing Your Season of Life and Business (hustlehumblypodcast.com/20) Episode 57: Take a Day Off! (hustlehumblypodcast.com/57) Episode 102: Vacations: A How To Guide (hustlehumblypodcast.com/102) Episode 331: A Realtor Leaves Their Phone for a Week (hustlehumblypodcast.com/331) Claude (AI assistant Alissa used to type up seller homework emails) Hustle Humbly Community (hustlehumblypodcast.com/membership) Want to toast someone on the show? Send us a voice or video message with your name, who you are toasting, and why! Email it to [email protected]. Leave us a review at http://ratethispodcast.com/hustlehumbly Get your FREE Database Template: http://hustlehumblypodcast.com/starthere Email Templates 101: http://emailtemplates101.com Agent Systems 101: http://agentsystems101.com All Resources: http://hustlehumblypodcast.com Submit your topic ideas and toasts to [email protected] Music: Straight A's by Connor Price → https://connorprice.shop/ The Good Life by Summer Kennedy → https://soundcloud.com/summerkennedy/the-good-life Be The One by Matrika → https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/be-the-one  

How many subscriptions are charging your business card right now? Are you sure? With the new year around the corner, we decided to do something extra transparent. We each pulled out our actual business budgets and walked through them line by line. We also asked our email list to tell us the one thing they pay for every month or year that they could not live without (and what it costs). Y'all delivered. Your answers were eye opening, a little surprising, and honestly very sweet. We break down monthly versus "as needed" versus yearly expenses, why busy seasons can quietly cost you more, and the simple math that tells you what it really costs to be an agent each month. Spoiler: it ain't free. Then we get into what agents are cutting right now, from fancy CRMs to pricey coaching programs, and why trimming expenses is a win, not a failure. Plus, one of us confesses to a Facebook ad that ran for over a YEAR on an open house for a home that had already closed. The views were in the millions. The results? You'll have to listen. If you've been meaning to take a hard look at your spending before 2027, consider this your pep talk and your permission slip. Here's what we cover in this episode: Why we opened up our real budgets (and asked our email list to do the same) Using AI to categorize your business expenses and spot patterns Organizing your budget by monthly, as needed, and yearly expenses Why busy months cost more The real monthly cost of being an agent once you add it all up Designations, dues, and the question to ask about every expense: do I need it, do I use it, am I using it to its fullest potential? Survey results: what agents say they can't live without What agents are cutting right now Why every marketing dollar needs a way to be tracked The pressure new agents feel to pay for social media services Paying for help vs. leaning on AI The subscription audit trick of canceling your business card once a year What we're cutting and keeping heading into 2027 Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Do I need it? Do I use it? Am I using it to its fullest potential?" Alissa "It's like 530 bucks a month to be an agent. It ain't free." Katy "If you're paying to reach people, you best be knowing how many people came to you from that thing." Katy "I don't think you're a failure if you make good choices in your business and cut out expenses." Alissa Products, People & Previous Episodes Mentioned: Episode 376: Being a Leader in a Loud Industry (hustlehumblypodcast.com/376) Episode 352: What to Do When Money is Tight in Real Estate (hustlehumblypodcast.com/352) Episode 220: Free Things to Grow and Run Your Real Estate Biz (hustlehumblypodcast.com/220) Episode 185: Website Woes (hustlehumblypodcast.com/185) Hustle Humbly Community (hustlehumblypodcast.com/membership) Hustle Humbly Freebies (hustlehumblypodcast.com/freebies) Join our email list (hustlehumblypodcast.com/newsletter) Deals Week starts November 23 ChatGPT, Claude, Canva, Inman, Dotloop, Showit, Trello, Google Workspace, Google Drive, QuickBooks, Squarespace, Flodesk, Forewarn, Homes.com, Zoom, designations Want to toast someone on the show? Send us a voice or video message with your name, who you are toasting, and why! Email it to [email protected]. Leave us a review at http://ratethispodcast.com/hustlehumbly  

Would you buy a haunted house if it came with a big discount? Before you answer, you might want to hear what our listeners found behind closed doors this year. It's Halloween week, which means it's time for our favorite tradition on the show. Every October, y'all send us your creepiest, weirdest, and most unexplainable showing and listing stories, and every year we think we'll finally run out. We never do. Here's the fun part: neither of us has heard the stories the other one is reading, so every gasp, laugh, and "nope nope nope" is 100% real. Fair warning, a few of these get gross, scary, and not exactly kid friendly, so if the little ones are riding along, maybe save this one for later. This year we've got a gutted bathroom that smelled like a can of Axe body spray, a lockbox that died seconds after it was installed, twin sisters standing in the yard holding baby dolls, a squatter who left a muffin wrapper behind, and a spirit with a white mustache who showed up on a baby monitor. We also share one story that has nothing to do with ghosts and everything to do with professionalism, and it comes with a lesson every listing agent needs before their next open house. Grab the lights. Actually, grab all of them. Here's what we cover in this episode: The investor showing where only the Realtor could smell the cologne A lockbox that went dead and footsteps that only played along with the music The "tapestry" over the primary bed that turned out to be something else entirely Adult twins, matching outfits, and thousands of baby dolls in an English estate The vacant listing where someone had been living (and snacking) "I have a gun!" and the bonus room storage door that kept moving A face-to-face possum encounter in a dark cabin attic A grandmother who still checks on the dusting Mr. Mustache, the open house guest who vanished How to send us your haunted house story for next year Key Quotes & Takeaways: "I am pretty sold that they are haunted now. I am a believer at this point." Katy "They do listen. They take instruction." Katy "I was worried about them stealing. Now I'm worried about them poisoning me." Alissa "I get the most chills when there's multiple people who see the same thing." Alissa Products, People & Previous Episodes Mentioned: Previous haunted house episodes: #221, #273, #325 Hustle Humbly Newsletter (hustlehumblypodcast.com/newsletter) Email Templates 101 (emailtemplates101.com) New York Post (haunted house survey stat) Want to toast someone on the show? Send us a voice or video message with your name, who you are toasting, and why! Email it to [email protected]. Leave us a review at http://ratethispodcast.com/hustlehumbly  

Who gets called a leader in real estate? The agent with the billboard? The one on the magazine cover? The one with the most likes on her latest listing? Sometimes the industry has it a little mixed up. Real estate is a loud industry, and it often rewards the loudest. But visibility and leadership are not the same thing, and we think it's time to talk about the difference. This chat started because Alissa just did something she hasn't done in almost a decade: she applied to serve on our local board of directors. Back when she got her license in 2011, she was a 22-year-old rising star wearing every hat in the industry. Board committees, the state association, NAR conferences in D.C., teaching classes, her office's agents council. Then she found out she was pregnant with her daughter and took almost all of those hats off. Now, with her youngest in kindergarten, she's ready to dip her toe back in, but with a whole new perspective on what leadership actually means. Katy, on the other hand, would never sign up for a weekly board commitment. And that's exactly the point. You do not need a board seat, a plaque, or a viral post to be a leader in this industry. You just need to care, stay educated, and conduct yourself in a way that makes the industry proud. Oh, and we did not agree on everything in this one. Stick around for the $500 magazine debate. Here's what we cover in this episode: Alissa's leadership journey from 2011 rising star to stepping back for motherhood Why she's applying for the board again (and why she does not want to be president) Leadership vs. visibility and why the two get confused so often Realtor prom season and why your clients don't care about your plaque Leading by example in every transaction, especially with newer agents If you hired you, would you fire you? Why boundaries are a leadership skill, not a weakness How many transactions it takes to stay in touch with the market Why brokers need to show up in person in their market Your reputation is built when no one is watching Posting vs. interacting: which one actually grows your business The $500 magazine ad and the friendly disagreement it sparked What to do if you just want to sell houses and don't care about leadership The award that matters most (hint: your peers vote on it) Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Real estate often rewards the loudest. And it's not really leadership. It's visibility." Alissa "I don't look at boundaries as a weakness anymore." Alissa "Your reputation is built usually when no one is watching." Alissa "Leadership doesn't mean top producer. You can sell six houses in a year and still be a leader in the industry." Katy "Leave people better than you found them." Alissa Products, People & Previous Episodes Mentioned: Episode 129: How to Be a Great Co-op Agent (hustlehumblypodcast.com/129) Hustle Humbly Community (hustlehumblypodcast.com/membership) Leigh Brown's "Realtor prom season" talk CRS (Council of Residential Specialists) webinars National Association of Realtors (NAR) Want to toast someone on the show? Send us a voice or video message with your name, who you are toasting, and why! Email it to [email protected]. Leave us a review at http://ratethispodcast.com/hustlehumbly Get your FREE Database Template: http://hustlehumblypodcast.com/starthere Email Templates 101: http://emailtemplates101.com All Resources: http://hustlehumblypodcast.com Submit your topic ideas and toasts to [email protected] Music: Straight A's by Connor Price → https://connorprice.shop/ The Good Life by Summer Kennedy → https://soundcloud.com/summerkennedy/the-good-life Be The One by Matrika → https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/be-the-one

Your database is the most important system you'll ever build, so start there with our FREE Database Template: hustlehumblypodcast.com/starthere. Want the rest of the tools we mention? They're all on our products page: hustlehumblypodcast.com/products (and that's why there are no ads this week!). The humidity is finally breaking in Louisiana, and with it comes that fall urge to buy pumpkins, clean out the database, and get the holiday cards going. If you've been in survival mode all year, this is your sign to take a deep breath and take inventory. In this episode, we're sharpening our systems in preparation for the next year. We walk through the systems every Realtor needs, the ones that are nice to have, and the shiny things that try to derail you every fourth quarter. You enter your next season the way you leave this one, so let's tidy up now. Plus, Alissa shares the listing appointment that sent her into a comparison spiral (glossy brochures were involved), and what happened when she stayed true to her own process. Here's what we cover in this episode: Why fourth quarter is the perfect time to tidy up your business How to clean your database and reach out to people while you do it The must-have systems: intake, presentations, database, listing prep, contract to close, email templates, safety, and tracking Why your intake notes from a slow year could make next year your best one The listing appointment that almost made Alissa ditch her process Nice-to-have systems: closing gifts, Friday shutdowns, newsletters, office days, and vendor lists A fun, unexpected email idea for your list using your Realtor resume Shiny things: why new software, CRMs, and broker switches ramp up this time of year Polishing the details like headshots, bios, and online profiles Being intentional with volunteer commitments, expenses, and marketing budgets Taking stock of your happiness and fulfillment in this career Key Quotes & Takeaways: "Simple systems, stronger relationships. That's really all you have to focus on." - Katy "How I work with these people next year is only as good as the notes I took this year." - Alissa "If you find yourself writing an email over and over, write it well once and save it." - Alissa "Whatever you want next year to look like, that is going to happen now." - Katy "Sorry, my marketing dollars have already been committed." - Katy Products, People & Previous Episodes Mentioned: Episode 58: Why Systems Are the Answer Episode 166: Email Marketing/Real Estate Newsletters Episode 178: Spruce Up Your Biz Episode 188: Task Frequency/What To Do and When To Do It Episode 310: The Four Core Systems Every Realtor Needs Hustle Humbly Community Buyer & Seller Transaction Checklists Listing Agreement & Buyer Brokerage Cover Letters 3 Day Resume Trello ShowingTime NAR NXT (New Orleans)   Leave us a review at RateThisPodcast.com/HustleHumbly Get your FREE Database Template Email Templates 101 Agent Systems 101 All Resources Submit your topic ideas and toasts to [email protected] Music: Straight A's by Connor Price The Good Life by Summer Kennedy Be The One by Matrika