Jodi Casella: Casella Sells Real Estate

Tracy Hayes  1:01  
Hey, welcome back to The Real Estate excellence podcast today, I have the best of the best, and I search out those best of the best. And my guest today, I have been observing for a few years now, she is doing a great job with her social media presence. So happy to see her at the Jacksonville Real producers magazine event a couple months ago. Go back in December, it's good to see her there, and that's when I invited her on the show. And more I research, as I do, research every one of my guests, obviously, and find out a little bit more about them to make the show more interesting, the more interesting content I think we're going to have today, because my guest has a story, and I am really looking, hopefully we can pull it out of her and inspire others. And that's really the purpose of the show, so her experience is going to be invaluable. So let's welcome behind the Casella sells real estate. Jody, Casella Tracy, thank you. Thank you for having us. Glad to have you on. And you know, like I was saying in the intro when I went on and started studying, where you've been a little bit, I think there's something there. Because one of the things I like to do on the show is for, obviously, inspire other real estate agents. But then I think, you know, there's a cross rent service, even for loan officers, but anyone in any sort of industry that they're in, and as our life takes us, life has taken you through the real estate career you've been with several brokers. So I'm really curious. We don't have to mention their names. That's not really important. But what you learn from others in the industry, because it's been roughly about eight years you've been in the industry now. So as always, I like to kick off the show, you're from Minnesota. I am. Tell us about that Minnesota right now. I'm sure they're buried. Minnetonka, right? Yeah.

Jody Cassella  2:38  
Minnetonka, that's where I grew up when my family split up, my parents divorced, my mom moved out there, and it was a great opportunity, because Minnetonka has great education. I met a lot of great families there, and then once I graduated, I went to St Cloud State University for two years, freezing my butt off, walking to campus.

Tracy Hayes  2:59  
How do they do they is the campus mostly enclosed. I think it's one of the experiences when I came down just looking at the like high schools here in Florida, you know, especially the old school high schools, a lot of it with the doors open to the outside.

Jody Cassella  3:10  
Yeah, you just have to rough it and bear the cold. Yeah, that's just part of life in Minnesota, closer downtown, or my mom worked, they had sky walkways and things like that. But right? It wasn't that fancy where I was going, right?

Tracy Hayes  3:23  
I always, I remember as a few years ago, I was talking to a friend of mine who I grew up in Massachusetts, and he lives in New York now. And he said, Oh, I would never live in Florida. It's so hot. And I said, Well, dude, because really, September to May is why we live here. It's June, July and August. Yeah, we run from air conditioning air conditioning. But it's those other months that and why you guys are coming down here now, even though it's it's cool here this week, because we'll blur, yeah, I think we had the coldest day was yesterday. I think we've had so far this year, probably will be for the year, but I can break out my boots. That's right, right? We actually put, we actually will put pants on then and wear

Jody Cassella  3:59  
sweaters and sweaters. Yeah, right, yeah.

Tracy Hayes  4:02  
So what did you, I mean, you went to St Cloud, and then you had on your LinkedIn Friends University.

Jody Cassella  4:07  
So that's a small campus in Wichita. I ended up in Kansas. I followed my heart, okay, which led me to really get into real estate. Heart means a man, and it's funny because I ended up meeting my husband there, who's from things happens for a reason. Yeah, yeah. I always believe that there's people put in your life for a reason, and that definitely happened with him, but he came from Massachusetts as well, so I lived there about four years. I managed a bar. I got really invested in this group at Johnny's tavern, which was a pretty prominent bar that we really into the March Madness season. So I learned from them great management. So even though my heart didn't lead to anything significant in marriage with that gentleman, we got invested in this really awesome bar, sure, and then one of the owner's wives was in real estate, and she said, Girl, I need to steal you. Do you need to come

Tracy Hayes  5:01  
Interesting, interesting. So one thing we talk about, pretty much, and probably on every other show, is how many agents actually started off in the hospitality, yeah, in this case, the restaurant bar that you were working in, and then how it migrated over. So you actually started working as an agent in Wichita, actually.

Jody Cassella  5:17  
So Overland Park, Kansas, overland was the one of the other bars, yeah, Overland Park team. Johnny's came from Lawrence, Kansas, where KU was, and I was living there for a summer, and I ended up going to friends just because it was a school that I liked, because I could do it remotely in Overland Park. Okay, Johnny's hired me there, and I was really doing well with my schedule there, going to school, managing, you know, pretty much working every working, go to school every day, staying up late nights. So but with the transition into real estate, was really property management. Robin, who was one of the bar owners wives, which they ended up managing properties, was her shift from real estate. She worked in Arizona as a realtor, came home to Kansas, and then kind of our friendship turned into me helping with her management.

Tracy Hayes  6:05  
So you're getting a taste of a little bit of real estate. Yeah, there a lot of real estate. Because I saw really, the first one you had really mentioned in the broker you work for was in Fort Lauderdale. So how do you transcend from Kansas to South Florida?

Jody Cassella  6:18  
So I actually spent 12 years in Massachusetts. Okay, my husband and I got married, I

Tracy Hayes  6:23  
moved out. There were some other jobs in there. I just skipped right to the Okay,

Jody Cassella  6:26  
so the property management career, I shifted and moved to Massachusetts because I then again, somewhat followed my heart, but was more let me see if the career will take me somewhere and if we end up together, which we did, yeah. So I was there 12 years, but I worked with Avalon Bay communities, which was essentially six years of lease up communities doing all new construction. So what we would do is I'd be there to go through construction, fill up, put heads on the beds, but also with a very good background of learning customer service, how to manage people's emotions during move in, move out, all those things

Tracy Hayes  7:06  
you know to not learn enough. I think about, you know, there's a lot of industries, but we're specifically talking about real estate, and we see that's a whole nother Avenue. And I mean, if you're listening to podcasts or reading these books, there's so many facets to our business. It's not just, you know, the single family home you're talking about. You know, leasing new construction. There's so much involved. And obviously new construction in Northeast Florida, that's where all the inventory is at right now, having to deal with that and the struggles and tribulations. But putting that on your belt, really belt of experience has to pay off today. So how do we get to Fort Lauderdale

Jody Cassella  7:46  
was, yeah, back to your original how'd we get down to South Florida? Kind of the same thing I heard you say, like, why would you move to Florida? Your friends are asking you, why wouldn't we move to Florida? But I was able to kind of sell my family there. My husband's family is Italian. They had liquor stores. They owned five of them. When the kids were born a year apart, in December, I had been kind of home all the time, right? I took a break from my career since the kids were born two years like one year apart, right? So when my son turned about 18 months, I started to kind of figure out how I'm going to get the family to relocate down to South Florida. My in laws had been the Snowbird. They got

Tracy Hayes  8:26  
a place. So you guys were traveling back forth, because they had businesses.

Jody Cassella  8:30  
They were there. Got a taste of that. Yeah. And then my brother lived in Sunrise, Florida, so there was some family for me there. And we were all really close. My in laws were really close to my brother and their kids. So over a course about two and a half years, I finally convinced I was able to make the jump. Talk to the family. My father in law was ready. My mother in law wasn't quite ready, but everyone together moved. Oh, sister in law

Tracy Hayes  8:53  
moved. Oh, you must really love your in laws. Yeah, I do. Yeah.

Jody Cassella  8:58  
We're about four miles apart. All of us, right? If my father in law, who's passed had his way, we would all live together like some big compound. We were close enough, right, right? So it was great, like my husband kind of switched roles. He became the corporate guy. Went into distribution side on liquor and beer, and I started down there. I did manage a property called beachside village resort. It was a renovation property. It's doing amazing, little cute, 30 rooms on the beach in Lauderdale by the sea. So I did that, and then I did a renovation in Boca for two years. And during that time is when my father in law kept saying, get your license. You're just your path. Do it. And he wasn't the only one who said that to me. I heard that from some of my residents. So what

Tracy Hayes  9:42  
makes you besides encouragement? What happens when you go and say, Okay, I gotta go do it.

Jody Cassella  9:47  
My husband was ready for me to be mom. Give me more flexibility. He was always taking the kids and picking up and so on. Probably two weeks before my daughter started kindergarten, we were sitting outside having our coffee. We always did. And he's like, So today you're gonna quit your job. And he was serious. And I was like, Are you crazy? I'm so busy. I have so much to do. He's like, you will continue to say that for the next five to 10 years, and then your kids will be, yeah, in middle school or high school. So he was right. I went and I gave my notice, and my boss said, Casella, what are you doing to me? And I said, I don't know. I it's just the path I have to choose, right? It's the right decision.

Tracy Hayes  10:25  
So you go cold turkey, you quit next week, you're in the class. I go to

Jody Cassella  10:29  
gold, gold coast School of real estate in Boca. I loved it. I loved my instructor. I loved what I was learning. Yeah, I just felt like it

Tracy Hayes  10:37  
was so because everyone enters a little differently, and especially, you know, not everyone's, you know, an Ella and kills it the first year, that sort of thing, you're diving in, you know, hey, hopefully the parachute opens, yes, but what was the comfortability? Obviously, your husband's, he's got his full time job, so, you know, you're going to eat every night. How does that make you feel? You know, obviously he gave you the confidence and said, Go do it. But obviously there's still that drain on us that we're always like, you know, we got to contribute. You know, as a spouse, you want to contribute. But making that jump, how does it feel when the spouse, that partner, just tells you, hey, I've got it. Go chase it.

Jody Cassella  11:17  
For me, it was a struggle. I was it's hard that fear comes over you and that that need to provide, and I'm extremely independent, so that was a struggle. But yes, having that support and that partnership with him really made a difference. And I think we had gone through those types of conversations and challenges to begin with, like even me moving from Minnesota, and so I think the trust in him was a big part of it, and then the trust in myself just knowing, like, Okay, I know I'm not going to get this paycheck every week, so it's up to me, kind of like I paid myself through college. So you're gonna do, yeah,

Tracy Hayes  11:51  
you've been going on 100 miles an hour, and having some sort of return, whether it was your degree or you were working, you were getting money coming in. So you saw that reward, but you may go wild now without your reward, we dove in.

Jody Cassella  12:02  
Yes, yeah. And I had some relationships. My realtor, friend who was a broker that sold us our home in Florida. We became really close, so she was a good mentor to help, kind of also instill confidence in myself, like, I know you can do it. I can see you doing it well.

Tracy Hayes  12:16  
I think it points out also too. I mean, whether you're in this business, to find the right person. Because I think unfortunately, we see a lot of relationships, not to be a relationship counselor or anything here, but some people can be a little selfish and be like, Oh, well, I'm working every day. You better be working and grinding it too, you know. And where he knew you weren't really like, Hey, I'm gonna stay home. And you know, you want to be part of it, but knowing that the real estate would just open. So much more for you. Yeah?

Jody Cassella  12:44  
Division, yeah. He saw being an entrepreneur from a family of entrepreneurs. He saw that I was locked into this schedule, constantly working. And during lease ups, if someone comes in after hours, you're there till seven, eight at night, writing a lease. And so the paycheck is for myself, but it's also for someone else. So he was good at that side. And my dad was also an entrepreneur. So I started to see where that shift could be like, as long as I give it my all, and I can do it

Tracy Hayes  13:09  
in the hours you were putting in. I think the one thing a lot of people, you know, someone said to me, when I went to, well, when I was the first 12 years I was in that call center and loan depot call center, the Quicken Loans call center. They do give you the small, little base salary. It's just, you know, the law and that sort of thing. But when you jump out the retail you and I are paid on what we produce. Yeah, whether it takes us an hour or 100 hours, we get paid on what we produce. And you know, to know that the work ethic that you have, the entrepreneurial spirit that you're obviously your husband has in the scenes. You have, obviously, as well, to know that really, now sky's the limit right now, you're like, how do I get the next one? And I want to make my check bigger this year. And you have the ability where, if you're working for somebody, you generally don't have that, you don't unlimited cap,

Jody Cassella  13:53  
yeah, there's a ceiling of what you can produce, or yourself, really, in payroll.

Tracy Hayes  13:58  
So this is 2013 ish, yes. So you go get your license there. Do they just recruit you right out of broker that you were working with down there? How do you run into that

Jody Cassella  14:07  
broker you're going to work for? So Amar, with Bella coastal real estate was one of my brokers first. I still stayed on with beachside village resort, which was a big thing for me to realize, like I have to stop, but I stayed on it knowing I love that job. So balancing the two. I did some deals get those first checks. Well, then I went to balustrari. So I left the boutique brokerage, Amara and I are still, like, very close, but at that time, I knew what I needed was better training, right? Just she was, you know, a smaller boutique. I loved her. I would shadow her. But then when I went to balustrari, it was doing the fairy scripting and learning the things that some of our top producers were able to do. So I was in the office at 7am we had like a little call center. Our desk would stand up, and I would just listen to these agents around me making calls, making calls, and what they're saying

Tracy Hayes  14:56  
and interesting. Yeah, because we mentioned as you came in, you know, you. Sneak in to some, even some of the other brokers doing trainings here in our building. How important is it for an agent to really you've got to have a thirst for everything real estate, because it sounds like you did. You want to learn everything. You already knew something, but you already had one side of the industry, because you've been somewhat in it. Now you're on the sales side and getting out there and earning your own training. And earning your own check, and it sounds like you're in there. You're listening in to what everyone else is saying. How important is it to have that kind of are you gonna say hunger or thirst for knowledge?

Jody Cassella  15:29  
I mean, the drive that's in you, it's where do you drive to that produces the result, right? I mean, I was finding myself doing all the things and realizing there's really a few things I can let go that I will learn when I get there right kind of the fake it till we make it thing and we say it on the so true, especially when you're a new agent, and people are like, so how many houses have you sold and you're like, so you have to come up with answers. Like the people that I worked with at beachside village resort would script with me and lucky would always say it. So tell me how much as you've sold, and I'm like, and she's like, you stop, like, just scripting with people helping you learn, yeah, learn how to pivot your business and take it till you make it. I think for me, the biggest part was there's so many activities that once you know where those activities serve you best, continue to do those so with my first experience, it was following someone who knows business is doing it, opposed to going to a big brokerage where I'm getting access to training, that shows me, here's what you need to learn to get comfortable with your listing appointment, here's what you need to learn to get comfortable on phone calls. Here's what you need to do to door knock and open houses. So those things I listened to, but I wasn't putting them into action soon enough, right? So we ended up moving up here, and that's when I went full you kind of reset? Yeah, I said when we moved here in 2016 once my husband, we wanted to get out of South Florida, it was just the cost of living, and schools weren't what we were loving and the community life wasn't for us. So when we started looking, and we found Jacksonville, when we settled in, he's like, that's just today. From here forward, you're just real estate business. Give yourself the opportunity and run a business, right? Don't fill it with a little side job here or a side job there.

Tracy Hayes  17:09  
So you led on to something there, so you felt you made some mistakes in South Florida. Oh, yeah. Coming to Jacksonville allows you to reset. Tell me something that you even today. I mean, I was talking about an old high school friend the other night, and you talk about those, geez, I wish I'd this, or I wish I did that, you know, regret someone you've known for most of your life looking back on South Florida, you know, and maybe you have a new agent you're talking to, or someone just started in the business, knowing your trial and tribulations in South Florida. What were some of those trial and tribulations? You're like, I should have done one a different direction. I shouldn't have done that. I did waste some time, but obviously you learned that that's a positive spin. We definitely learned what not to do, but help us express to me what those things are. Some of those things might have been

Jody Cassella  17:53  
sure for me, it was kind of my why and who I am as a realtor, what value I provide, because the confidence level when you first start is low and you're comparing yourself to other yourself to other people, right? So you're seeing like, Oh, they're doing this. They're doing that. So I think my mistake was not learning kind of who I am as a realtor, what my purpose is, my why, and then containing that confidence that I can do this, even though I wasn't doing it full time or I wasn't serving this many families and producing this much volume

Tracy Hayes  18:23  
because you were comparing yourself to someone else, you kind of put you down because that other person's probably been doing it for 10 years, was doing it or eight years in, like you are now. So you know what these new agents coming in feel like when they look at someone like yourself and how well you're doing, right? And so trying to compare yourself to someone's been in the business a while. There's a learning curve

Jody Cassella  18:43  
there is. And also, one of the things I learned when I started following people and learning more about this Jacksonville area and how big it is, and I found myself kind of all over the place and not staying in like a system of some even though I was learning some of those things right early on, even when I went to like the mike fairies, which now is Tom Ferry retreat, I did this like three day conference. You have so much to learn. What you put into action that's going to make a difference, right? And you have to find those right things to put into action, right? So you

Tracy Hayes  19:14  
may go to one of those, you go to one of those conferences, or, you know, maybe you listen to Ryan Sirhan or something, and there's so much information, yes, which it can become overwhelming to this point, it paralyzes you, right? Yeah, but you've got to pick out. And you may sit there for three days at a Tom Ferry thing, but you know, as I've mentioned before in previous podcasts, it might be a 30 minute segment you take from those three days that you go, you know, I want to take that. I'm going to use that on a 10x that in action go. He may have given you 100 different things, but you got to choose that one or two that work in your game, right?

Jody Cassella  19:46  
Because a lot of us are different, I mean, and that's what I've learned again, there's different agents doing different things, but that one thing I learned when I first moved here, finding the mentor, having that person who I sat down with, who. Who was previously with Keller Williams, like, here's my first advice in the next 30 days, brand yourself. Who are you, what defines you and what kind of agent you're going to be. I was listening.

Tracy Hayes  20:09  
It was another real estate podcast. She does a great job the shit that happens in real estate. It's a great podcast. She is out of Charlotte, as I think it was where she lives now, but their guests that she had on was talking, and I can only express this somewhere. It's not a quote, but in so many words, he was saying because he was talking about scripting, you were talking about how to talk to people on the phone. And he said, If you are not talking to the buyers on the your possible clients on the phone the way you would talk to a family member who's calling you about the same situation that, hey, they're looking to sell your house, that's your problem. You need to talk to them like they are your family. It's basically what he was saying that's

Jody Cassella  20:47  
so true. The relationship you make with your customer is the key thing to me that defines you from other agents. Are you listening? Are you hearing their wants? Do you then match up the search to their wants? Are you just doing the work right and trying to impress who I am as an agent.

Tracy Hayes  21:05  
You know, you've been doing this eight years. Was there a time where, because, obviously, you've evolved to this, and we're going to get deeper into what you're talking about, or a time where you really were chasing the money, or like, Hey, I got to sit down and really not, you know, giving that full that what we're talking about that relationship building with your buyer or seller. You weren't asking all the questions because you were more just about, okay, that's what you want. You know, let's go slam them into a new construction home. And here's the contract, boom. I'm done with that one. Let's go on the next one. You've never been that way.

Jody Cassella  21:35  
I've seen agents that way. I'm mentoring now, and I have people that I mentor that are like, they have a need for that right now, like, I've been blessed that I've had that second income that really helps support me, right? So for me, I never did chase the money, but there was a time where my husband and I, when we moved to Florida, we just quit our jobs. Got here and we figured it out, right? We did some jobs that we weren't like, these are our exact jobs.

Tracy Hayes  21:58  
You did it to feed yourself that money was tough.

Jody Cassella  22:02  
Yeah, yeah. But for me, I do feel Avalon Bay really taught me that it isn't about the money, it's about an experience, and with that experience you provide, you're going to get paid money from it. And it's been instilled in me even when I worked at Johnny's, because one of the owners, there was four owners, and one of our owners sat down. You know, you sit at a bar and you pass some beers across to one of your favorite customers, right? And it's not accounted for. Well, he sat down at one of our meetings, put all of his change on the table, and said, You guys are taking all my money, my family's money, right? So he taught us, I will give you compensation to treat those customers that are our favorites, that do deserve a free beer here and there a free meal, but in the meantime, you're just stealing from me. So that instilled a lot in me that no matter how much money you're making, it's about the value of what you're doing and how you're providing a service to someone. And for me, that just stayed with me forever.

Tracy Hayes  22:57  
Well, for those who were in that hang up of chasing the money. Because anyone that I've had on the show, any of these guys in these books, Tom, Ferry, whoever you want to talk about it, are going to talk about, you know, creating that relationship. Don't chase the money. But it doesn't take any in my opinion, and I want your opinion. In my opinion, it doesn't take any more time, just some thought, to put value into that relationship, because the sales still going to take 30 or 45 days. How are, you know, to take a few minutes up front to, you know, chit chat with them and what they're looking for and have that conversation while you're looking up the homes for them. It's really a thought. Not time. Do you agree

Jody Cassella  23:37  
it is? Yeah, I guess, for when it comes down to when you are meeting with your customers, time is money, so you're going to meet with your customers, and I need to know all your thoughts and collect all of what you want to do. So we know we're looking at the right places, right and most of my customers are coming from out of state. They don't have a clue where they want to live Jacksonville, so big St Johns County Schools are what they're searching but maybe they like acreage, and it's hard to find anchorage here, so maybe we compromise schools, but that's really what's important to you,

Tracy Hayes  24:06  
because you're taking the time up front, sitting in, you know, maybe having conversation over the phone, or maybe you're having coffee with them, or whatever it is, versus being quick about it and going out and driving all over Jesus, showing them 30 homes, which we don't have 30 homes to Show them. But, you know, just a couple years ago, you know, everyone jokes about that. Agent is running around showing them all these homes, and all it does is it creates just confusion, because you give them way too many options, versus just really focusing in and having that initial conversation. So, so since we're on that subject, when you're initially interviewing, say, a buyer that's coming doesn't know the area. What are some really key things that you're asking for to draw out their wants and needs?

Jody Cassella  24:48  
Lifestyle choice. Where do you spend most of your time? Are you a homebody, or do you go out and adventure? You know, obviously those typical questions, how many people in your family? Where do you work? Do you work from home? Do you need a. Home Office, obviously. Have you been pre qualified? Have you talked to a lender that you have a partnership with? Right? And then, when I get to know how much they want to afford, whether they can afford this much, but only want to spend this much, it really determines where our markets,

Tracy Hayes  25:13  
those are the better clients. Yeah, only want to spend this much, but they can afford that much. We like those, yeah?

Jody Cassella  25:19  
Well, especially now, our markets change so much, but and then, really, we have the master plan communities not getting river town, beach walk, beach walk, a special one in its own, you know, because of the different cdds, then they don't understand CDD Fees. Explain those to me, right? I was one that coming from Massachusetts and Florida, South Florida. I was like, What is

Tracy Hayes  25:39  
this? Yeah, the HOA concept

Jody Cassella  25:43  
was kind of like now I get it 100% and I literally delve in right away to my class. Yes, yes. I think my notes that are still in my notepad, and I refer to it all the time, and I saved that, and I just shoot it in an email, like your CDD is simplified, yeah, yeah, customer.

Tracy Hayes  26:02  
That's the one thing I obviously, I preach in the class. We're so different than yes, if you're listening this from up north, maybe you're going to be your realtor, and you're listening to there is so many different needs and wants. It's because Florida, and that's why we're so hot right now, because we offer so many lifestyles. We do. You know, whether it's acreage or that's tougher and tougher every day, unless you want to move in further and further away from the ocean, right?

Jody Cassella  26:24  
Which those areas are growing, yeah, they're gonna get there. Oh, I'm

Tracy Hayes  26:28  
waiting for the Hastings area to explode. I really am, because it's on the river, because the river is water, and that whole area is ready to explode. So we talked about, you've been in the industry now for eight years. What would you done differently?

Jody Cassella  26:41  
Done it sooner, full time, I would have probably put systems in place right away, follow the people like momentum has taught us so many valuable lessons on how to better run your business. Work smarter, not harder, which I learned a lot of that at my last brokerage, and I had a great relationship with our broker in charge, and I had a mentor there too. But I think my problem has been implementing it, making sure to stay on that

Tracy Hayes  27:06  
system and stay as a mentor. Have you used a coach

Jody Cassella  27:09  
before I did? I've now mentor because I had those experiences, and I wish I had a mentor or coach right away. I honestly think that is one of the keys to success.

Tracy Hayes  27:22  
So getting in because a lot of people get into real estate, and it's just because it's an opportunity for a career, flexibility, money, and they don't have any money, but if you have the ability, like any business, you know, in a change of career, and you're like, hey, I want to open my own business, and real estate is one of the things you can do investing in a coach, but really shortens your curve real quick,

Jody Cassella  27:40  
yes, and honestly, momentum gives you so much value to our agents. We don't necessarily need a coach anymore, because we have our back office called Thinkific, which is created by our founders, John. It's like an internal coach. It's absolutely there, so you literally all you need to do is sit in front of your computer, block your time, like you're going to meet your coach at 8am every day, go sit on your Thinkific and as I'm a mentor to mentees, I'm like, here's your seven first videos to watch right before we even start talking.

Tracy Hayes  28:10  
That is a great ad for momentum. Yeah, right there. And in not to say the momentum is the only one that does that, but to have that back office experience that is available for you. Because, as you say, how valuable coach? Obviously, they must have seen the same thing, and that's why they've created the atmosphere that they've created there, that they're going to provide a coach for you and work you through. Because there is no doubt any of the great people that I've had on the podcast, they have all, I guarantee you, I wouldn't say all of them, but I guarantee a high percentage of them either still use a coach. Have had a coach, but have had someone where they are compensating to provide, you know, to tell you what you need to know, and obviously, shorten your curve. Yes, shorten the curve. That's the key. Yeah, because you can get in here, and I'm sure you've seen many agents still three, four years in, and you know, they're just doing a million or $2 million where then you have someone like Ella, who is with momentum, and we had on last week, boom, first year, she's right there. She's a top producer, well,

Jody Cassella  29:09  
and she's learning from the top, like Michelle was with the Brooks group. So she's giving those agents that we bring into momentum, that are new agents, or newer agents that aren't performing the coach on staff, yeah. So yeah, because when we first started, it was you had to produce 4.5 million. That's not necessarily the or value anymore, but it is like minded people, as we call it, our tribe. We want everyone to be positive.

Tracy Hayes  29:33  
So Jody, I've got, obviously, we talk about these books and so forth, but in you basically express how important just constantly educating yourself about the business, but it's even more about real estate, because you're dealing with people. Are you a book reader? Do you listen to podcast? Do you just like, you know, is it or is it, just absorb everything that momentum, or the local boards putting out, where do you and how much do you spend, say, in a week on, you know, whether it is listening to a podcast or reading, you know, you spending, you know, 30 min. Or an hour a week. How do you measure that for yourself?

Jody Cassella  30:02  
Um, so when it comes to education, like, who I'm following, when it first started in being like, I'm money conscious, free anything I could do at neat bar I was there, right? I learned how to pay for the membership

Tracy Hayes  30:15  
anyway, yeah,

Jody Cassella  30:16  
and that's what I tell everyone, like, don't pay for anything you have free training. Take an education is key. I would say I'd educate myself three times a week for at least an hour when I first started blocking out as much as I could, just to learn, like, how to find the right houses to search. But now that I'm more, you know, experienced, experienced in that, I think even still, like, I'm trying to remember how to print my contacts, you can get free labels from me. Far, it's a lot easier, right? You can do a lot hitting the streets when you're door knocking, but regardless, free is important, whether your experience or not.

Tracy Hayes  30:48  
There's a lot of it out there. There's a lot of content and so forth. That does not cost you

Jody Cassella  30:52  
any Instagram. You follow people. I mean, obviously, when I was with exit Stevie and I were working at the same time, and I started following her right away. And then, you know, being in the same office as Marissa Scott. I mean, I took her peak producer class, which is a Brian Buffini class game changer for me. Still follow him, still listen to his podcast. Brian Casella, not only because the last name, but he kicks ass. And he left California and moved to Miami. Think he's awesome, right?

Tracy Hayes  31:17  
So those are probably so there are some people you're following and occasionally getting their content.

Jody Cassella  31:21  
Yeah, the local, locals are like, Stevie and Marissa. I'm just replaced most everything with momentum, like anything that they put out for us agents, like today, I missed a podcast or one of our speakers, Paul, and it's all about the market, the conditions of our market, and I know it's being recorded. So I was like, Absolutely,

Tracy Hayes  31:38  
I want you back in later. Yeah, whether it's on YouTube or, like you said, if you're following individuals on the podcast, there's so much information out there. And this is a question I've asked several others. How does it make you feel? You know, when you're listening to that podcast, do you take a moment? Or maybe, when you're listening to training today, or those who read a book or go to a Tom Ferry training, you get a positive energy is basically what I'm getting out of that absolutely.

Jody Cassella  32:03  
And you're not gonna learn everything, and you kind of walk away, sometimes overwhelmed, like, wow, how am I gonna remember to do all of this? But you take your own little nuggets of gold and try to put them into action. I'm gonna be a part of this lift retreat that Megan Farrell,

Tracy Hayes  32:20  
yes, I saw that. Stevie's involved in that and, well, tell us about that.

Jody Cassella  32:24  
So the lift retreat is exactly that we always try to do something the beginning of the year that resets you, gives you some new ideas to implement in your business. So Megan wanted to just put there's like 10 of us on this panel, and mine is Road to 10 million. But mostly what I'm focused on is not that my sales got there, about how I got there, how I leveraged my business being a mentor, being able to not only get from my mentees extra help, but also them serving back to me, right? Because that is one of my biggest prides, is sharing what I learned to see them put it into success. It's like, oh my gosh, it works. Yeah. So that's kind of that premise of the lift retreat, lifting each other up. It is specific to women. No offense guys, but I

Tracy Hayes  33:05  
saw the pictures a lot of beautiful women that are going, Yeah, you're a single guy. You might want to pay to show up, right? Serve drinks or something.

Jody Cassella  33:13  
Yeah, we have a private chef and mocktail cocktail, awesome. But yeah, it'll be really exciting. And the reason we try to do those things the beginning of the year is because everyone's looking to reset after the holidays, you know? And you're like, Oh my gosh. I look at my numbers from last year, what can I do to get there this year? And how am I going to plan my goals? So rebar used to be another great one, which Cole's just listed. It's coming back up in April. So I'm going to that

Tracy Hayes  33:38  
these things when I'm trying to express to those who are listening on there. And those are, you know, obviously getting inspired, you know, taking some things from Jody, which hopefully, if you reach out to her, she'll, you know, she's a mentor. She enjoys doing it. You get energy from it, especially when people listen to you and actually implement it, even in their own way. But say, hey, Jody told me how to do this, and I did it, and it worked. You know, you get energy from that. It's like you're absorbing that energy from them and their excitement and keeps you engaged. But you know, these different events, the lift event is a really to take in a lot of energy from a lot of great other female realtors. They're great. Share ideas, the energy of sharing. You know, everyone likes to hear themselves Express. And hopefully, you know, there'll be people taking notes on things that you did great. And you'll be taking lots of notes, and your synergy is there amongst them, and it gets you pumped up, because this business, you have to get yourself up in the

Jody Cassella  34:30  
morning your mental status, let alone just life as difficult that it is. Then the competition of real estate, I tell my girls and kids, my husband, everyone like you are the thoughts you think every day. Yes, so try to follow if I mean, social media is such an influence over us all, and as soon as my kids get in a bad mood, if I see they're on their phone, I'm like, what did they just see? What interesting point. What brought you down right that moment? Because we were just perfectly fine, right? Same thing with us. I've set a goal this year to only be on social media. From like 5am to 7am eight lately, and then, like at night, when I go to bed, nine to 10, but then from 10 to 11, like watch a video or read a book, right? Reading, I'll just pass out. So now it's in my ears. I do better at listening, right? I guess it's changed. I used to love a good book, but Right? Busy mind. Well, you

Tracy Hayes  35:19  
know, that's an interesting point you make about the social media and the negativity. And I put this out there for everybody because, you know, after November of 2020 I shut it off. My wife's like, stop posting. I got away from all of that. I don't get those posts. Occasionally, someone, a friend of mine, may throw something up there. I don't even like it. I don't even from that standpoint, I definitely don't share it, and I don't post any of that stuff anymore. Yeah, and so now, obviously, in the things that I'm reading and doing, it sounds like you're doing with the social media. You're posting the positive stuff. You know, there's some pod there's some, you know, little reels on Instagram or something in the last couple days, just some motivational stuff that just positive things and sticking them out there. And it's great to see others, you know, like because I shared that, but I stole it from someone else. Shared it. They liked it because somebody got something from that, and I got something from it, so I shared it. And when you clean your social media up of that, the negativity stuff, I think it changes you. You're not hopefully.

Jody Cassella  36:20  
I mean, people are looking at us. Who is this person? If they don't know me, like I just got a Facebook lead under contract last week. They were interviewing and so when I did my Zoom buyers consult, they certainly did some pre qualifying me on Facebook or social media, whichever avenue I know they were on Facebook. So that's probably where they looked for me after they were

Tracy Hayes  36:40  
google yourself and see what comes up. I'm telling you, people are googling you.

Jody Cassella  36:44  
Thankfully, I haven't had any of that where I had to clean up my past on any kind of Instagram social media, but you got to be careful. Yeah, and it's definitely something. I'll be honest. There was one time I posted during the whole political stuff, and that one post that I was just kind of sharing my own feelings, I got attacked, like on so many levels that I took it down, and I was like, I'm good. I don't need that engagement, right?

Tracy Hayes  37:08  
Exactly, what is the value of it, right? What are you What value those your personal feelings is, no doubt, you're welcome to call me and tell me what you feel about it. Do a debate. I think we probably are, hopefully, on the same side. But, yeah, I will listen. But yeah, just, is it really worth it, putting it out there so that the agents that are out there listening social media is a tool, and there's people making your presence are out there, and just different stuff I've listened to consistently, and podcasts again, talking about the other day, putting your stuff out there. You're in down in St Augustine, you're in Jacksonville, you're at the beach. They want to see the lifestyle. You have people from this area looking at moving here for opportunities in the great schools or whatever. If you're the person out there that's giving them the visual content that you're probably going to be chosen as a ruler.

Jody Cassella  37:57  
Yeah. And it's hard sometimes because you're busy so creating content before, like I told my mentee, it's like, you guys know I'm here right now, but in about two hours, I'm gonna be at beach walk, but I'm not really there. I was there all weekend, right? Did I have time to post during I'm with my customers? No, I'm not gonna take away from what I'm doing with my customers, but I'm gonna share it again later. Now, does that mean I was there Monday at two o'clock in the afternoon. No, but you also have to think about when you're posting like There's certain times of the day you get better capture. Sure, all that.

Tracy Hayes  38:27  
Well, I think it's tagging people. Yeah, there's, there's no doubt. The one tip, though, I heard this week is a lot of people are doing is finding those virtual people who will act like them on Facebook or whatever. And they say, you know, even though they're really acting like you really need to engage. You know, even if it's liking, you know, the circle you're trying to influence, you know, liking, making a positive comment on their post, or whatever. If you're trying to influence a person of influence, or you have a client in process, or have a past client, they post something, say something, because hopefully there that's going to be your next referral, right? Because you're staying top of mind. Oh, Jody commented on me post. She was such a great ruler, and then all of a sudden she they're talking to someone else about that. They need a realtor. Oh, yeah, Jodi, yeah.

Jody Cassella  39:13  
Just yeah, and that stuff is natural, yeah. Like, I kind of stalk my people after they move in, because I'm just like, so excited to see them posting like, my one family is at Disney, like, every week. I don't know how you get to do that every week, right? Take advantage of it. You know, when you first live here, in your first year, you're like a tourist you're gonna go to every Yeah, I

Tracy Hayes  39:35  
keep telling myself, we've been there enough times, haven't we? Who has been the most influence on your career,

Jody Cassella  39:43  
like my real estate career, like, who really pushes me as my husband, my father in law, was a big part of that. I would say myself too. Like I really pushed myself.

Tracy Hayes  39:54  
Your husband's in the lending now, yes, switched it up. So you guys are talking. In every day. Yeah, real estate. I mean, that's how my wife and I, Chris, now she's in real estate now, but we were in telecommunications together, cell phones together, so talking shop was part of the island to come in and, you know, sometimes you just need somebody just to tell your stories to the season. Do you think this is as crazy as I think it is that

Jody Cassella  40:16  
perspective, and now that he's in it with me, it we have such better advice for each other. I couldn't really help him when he was selling liquor and right, how to propose new cocktails, like he took over a big section of something he had never done, which was great, right? But the whole shift for him was really just give it, try it, see if you love it. If you don't, you can always go back, right? But so far, he's loving it, right? I love it. He was like, I don't want to work with you, though. So far, he likes that too. What are you best at? What I'm best at is listening to my customers, not necessarily my family. I think I'm best at empathizing with people, like really trying to put myself in like, what's it like right now for them, and how maybe providing some solutions.

Tracy Hayes  41:05  
Do you have to think when you're interviewing, and we talked about earlier, interviewing that potential buyer and taking the time? Do you have to internally? For me, I have to internally think to myself, slow down. I do this every day. They don't Yes, slow down. Ask all the right questions that you know you need to ask be empathetic, whatever you know you actually have to think about that. Or does that come natural

Jody Cassella  41:26  
to you? I think now I have to think about it because I'm so much more busy and I tend to forget that not everyone knows the terminology we use. Like, if you say POA, they're like, what is that? I'm like, oh, Power of Attorney. Yeah, there's things we have to be really conscious of that they might not know. And I had a lender I worked with before that. He would get on the line with me, and I'd say, not to say his name, teach me. Like I'm a kindergartner, like I don't know any of it. I want to know all of it. And maybe you're not the person to do that because you're too busy, but who in your office down a little bit. Yeah? Like, teach me. So now I do that because I know in my own purchases of homes or refinances, that's to me, that's like, your biggest part of the transaction is, how do we get them to afford it, unless they're cash, which we have a lot of that going on here, right? But, yeah, so I think I try to be a good listener and educator, right?

Tracy Hayes  42:21  
Okay, Jody's three keys to success. Would you say one of those would be listening,

Jody Cassella  42:26  
listening one, okay? Consistency, getting up every day, showing up every day, but also giving yourself

Tracy Hayes  42:33  
the grace of being present, being involved in the board, going to classes, being consistent, social media, yeah.

Jody Cassella  42:40  
So there's so many things we can do, right? I don't love social media as much as I used to. I do know it's a tool, and I need to put it into action, right more. So what I shifted my pivoted my business to, is being a mentor. So a lot of my time I meet Mondays and Fridays, from nine to 12 with my girls every Monday Friday, I'm putting in the time so that, I think the three key things is blocking your time. Where is your time best spent, and shifting your business accordingly.

Tracy Hayes  43:08  
Do you take, for lack of better words, momentum from your mentoring?

Jody Cassella  43:12  
I do because I show up every day. I'm more involved, I'm more aware. I even had

Tracy Hayes  43:17  
that helps you, that helps not everybody would wouldn't necessarily want to be a mentor, but for you, it's you're taking that as momentum, because you're excited about going in and sharing your ideas, which, I think anyone has heard the phrase, basically, you know, you want to learn it, teach it, yes, and you keep drilling that. And then, of course, obviously, there's a subliminal thing that says, I just told them to do this, I need to be doing it myself Exactly.

Jody Cassella  43:43  
Right. Preach, right. Do Yeah, do as you say, exactly. And I think, like for even me, yesterday, one of my mentees said, I need you to slow down like i She could feel that I'm a little bit over burdened right now with some things that I'm doing, like take some of it off, see where it best serves me. So even that feedback was amazing, right? You know, and I do look to them like, give me your honest opinion. Tell me what you really feel. Tell me why you feel it, and are you happy with what's going on, you know. So asking those questions, listening. So number one, listening to consistency, you know, maybe pivoting your business when need be. And then my third thing that has definitely brought me success is just maintaining the relationships with my customers, bringing them the value, not only after we've closed, because honestly, I've sold and closed homes that I sold to you, and now we sold it, and now we're moving somewhere else. I've sold homes in New Hampshire, Indiana, Texas, right? So those partnerships, relationships with other

Tracy Hayes  44:43  
agents, it's so it's so important in our industry, whether it's on the real estate side, on the loan officer side, or even, you know, business in general, I think the follow up on the past client, you know, and amazing. We were listening to a podcast not a couple months ago on their time. Talking about, oh, you know, they had these problems. Why they were having the loan. You know, there was some issues. Whatever it may be, they got the closing and got the house, but there was some issues. And the reality is, so many people, when they get there and they sign and they got their keys, they realize that that battle is over, and they oftentimes forget whatever it was, you know, to consistently reach out back to them. Those are your I grew up in Cape Cod. We had lobster traps. My dad had

Jody Cassella  45:27  
a separate off screen.

Tracy Hayes  45:29  
Yeah, so I'm going to use this analogy. So everyone hang with me. We had lobster traps. We knew lobstermen, and obviously big commercial lobstermen has hundreds of traps. Think of each and every one of your past clients as a new trap, because those are going to continue to trap you, new lobsters, new clients all the time by their referrals, but you have to tend to them periodically. You have to go out once a week or twice a week, or whatever that tending takes. Or in our world, once a quarter, once a month, once a year, something in reaching out to them, letting you know you're still in the business. You're still thinking about them, but you got to tend that trap. And those past clients are traps for future clients. That's a great analogy. Thank you. You like that lobster analogy, so I'll remember that. Yeah, that's a great one. I just made that all up right here today, off my feet. So ask what you were best at, and I'm gonna, we'll finish with this question and go into our my two minute warning questions. Where do you think your biggest area of improvement

Jody Cassella  46:33  
is letting go of control all of Oh, that's

Tracy Hayes  46:37  
a big one that is so that is so big and important in the podcast I'm listening to as you reach the level that you reach, whether it's virtually or as an assistant that can do a lot of your stuff, but you oftentimes feel like you're the only one

Jody Cassella  46:50  
that can do it. Yeah, I trust like I have a great partnership with my last mentee, Erica Smith and I, we met, we were meant to be in each other's lives. It's consistently been a relationship I trust, but she's busy too, so we're trying to think, like, Can we do something more leverage with an assistant or right? I mean, even just like with my family, my home, my mom, I'm trying to get her to move to Florida, just letting go. I've given you all the tools. I've given you the value I love.

Tracy Hayes  47:15  
Kristen Lunsford from from the the magazine, real producers magazine, she says they got to the point where they have someone doing their laundry.

Jody Cassella  47:25  
That's her husband told her to fight our personal leverage. Yes, it's implementing it right now that we have the knowledge. I did have a cleaning lady. John said, If you don't, we love cleaning you. My daughter love it. Yeah. So if you don't want to pay the cleaning lady, because it's something, you get inspiration or energy out, like, I think while I'm cleaning, right? So I stopped doing that, and now I'm going to leverage someone to do my shopping, like all my home shopping, like my sister in law said, you ship. Do this,

Tracy Hayes  47:54  
do that, right? The grocery shopping can be delivered or whatever, yeah, taking those little chores, because we get to a point of success. Now you want to actually utilize the fruits of your labor. You have two children. They look like young, 15 and 16. Oh, my goodness. So, you know, they have activities. You still want to be involved in your life, but you don't want to be, you know, having to go to the grocery store, when you could be spending an hour with them at their ball game or whatever it is, yeah. Look right, yeah. So, so leveraging others, that's so important. All right, so here's our Two Minute Warning questions as we wrap things up. Here, is it more important who you know or what you know,

Jody Cassella  48:28  
who you know? Because who you know will teach you what you know. And I wish I would have paid more attention to that when I knew the people I knew. And one thing I will say, Avalon taught me this amazing thing that we would hang on our fridge every year, letting go of the toxic people in your life, even if they are some of the closest people, yes, yes. So who you know and who you're giving that

Tracy Hayes  48:50  
you were a little inspirational because you were talking about your father in law and left us, but how, I guess he was a positive influence on you, as your husband's been. But to have him say, Jody, you can do it. It means a lot.

Jody Cassella  49:03  
He was a great and my mom, too is, like, the work ethic. Show up on time, put some lipstick on my mom. But she was that, but yeah, and he was really the behind the Cassell sells real estate. I picked this bridge. We did my logo. I call them. I'm like, okay, my logo from the bridge. Because of the bridges in Jacksonville, all these bridges connect us from our community, I'm also the bridge between the buyer and the seller new home. And he said, Well, your Casella sells in our last name, why can't you just do sell? Sells real estate, right? Like, simple,

Tracy Hayes  49:35  
yeah, right. No, that's a great slogan. There's no doubt about it. But just because family members can be the most toxic, as you said, people, sometimes they can be the most negative. And I think you learn as you mature, but some people never actually reach that. But I know as I've gotten older, your time will come. You may be jealous of the family member or friend being successful, because you don't feel you're successful at that time in your chapter in your life, as I've. Posted something, and your journey will come if you are present and doing the things that you need to do, like listening to mentors, finding out who's who. And Stevie Hahn talked about when had coffee with everyone that had anything to do with real estate, because so she could shorten her curve. Yeah, and how that's shortened your curve? You know, there's people out there who want it like you want to give back. You've been doing this eight years. You're a top producer. If you're a new agent, you need to be calling Jody. And she's she wants to

Jody Cassella  50:26  
help too. They call me all the time, and I'm really very transparent and honest. Like, you know, yes, my hours are flexible, but you're gonna have to work weekends. You're gonna have to work night. Your phone, I can turn my phone off now for a couple hours because I know I don't have anything like you're blocking your time. So yes, I will be a resource to anyone

Tracy Hayes  50:45  
who's in our businesses. Feast or famine, yeah. So get it while you can gather all your nuts while you can, because tomorrow may not be as good. Now, if that goes on for three or four years, and you've gathered a lot of nuts, you're

Jody Cassella  50:57  
probably in a good spot, the right place with the right people. Exactly what's

Tracy Hayes  51:03  
up, Brian, right, is your husband? Joey, Joe Joey, okay, Brian on my Joe, because

Jody Cassella  51:07  
I have a lot of Brian's that I've meant Brian Buffini, Brian Casella, oh,

Tracy Hayes  51:11  
because you mentioned you had Brian. Casella, okay, all right, Joey, you enjoy what is on your travel bucket list?

Jody Cassella  51:18  
We want to go to Italy. Being his Sicilian, we already

Tracy Hayes  51:21  
did. He wants to go to Sicily. He's got a

Jody Cassella  51:25  
Ireland with his company, and luckily they were ones to put the bill. So that was cool. Yeah, that's always nice. And he has got amazing Breckenridge plans with our son, who loved snowboarding over Christmas, so a cool trip planned

Tracy Hayes  51:37  
for him. I have been skiing once, and it was the Breckenridge and we definitely had a good time, for sure. That was, unfortunately, probably, that was before we moved here. Geez, that's been a good 12 years.

Jody Cassella  51:48  
12 years ago, right? That's how fast,

Tracy Hayes  51:51  
yeah, would be a great guest to have on my show. Oh, one of the momentum, that's what I was gonna say. Who? What momentum you think would be one of your Michelle Weaver's gonna come on. I already have her booked.

Jody Cassella  52:03  
She's coming on. Well, I love following Madison Beal, because she her story rocks where she came from.

Tracy Hayes  52:10  
So I would Madison deal. Madison Beale, okay, so I'm gonna invite her. You tag on to invite. We'll see if we get our schedule scheduled up. Jody, I appreciate you coming on today.

Jody Cassella  52:19  
Thank you. Thanks. I know we can talk for hours.

Tracy Hayes  52:23  
We talk about Cape Cod, yeah, maybe try to get up there this summer. I haven't been back and Well, the reason why last time I went back was in January, was not for obviously, fun times. Unfortunately, someone

Jody Cassella  52:34  
had passed away, but that's why, yeah, well, weddings or bring us all together,

Tracy Hayes  52:39  
we got to go there in the sunshine in July and August. Yeah. So I appreciate you.

Jody Cassella  52:42  
Thank you. Appreciate you.