The Agent Podcast - EP 87 - Alex Young - I Am Enough
[00:00:00] Alex Young: It was emotionally mentally and physically draining. I was at my lowest spot and throughout this entire time I'm very grateful to be married to my wife Amanda, who has been my rock through most of this. And it was to a point where I needed to, something needed to change. One thing I've learned throughout this process is, If you have the ability to back up from something that is uncertain or something that is difficult, more often than not, the body and the mind are gonna choose the path of least resistance, and that is avoiding uncertainty, avoiding difficulty, and just backing away from the situation.
[00:00:36] Alex Young: While it was to a point where I had two choices, I had. I leave real estate that my wife has supported me through for the, the first year and a half in encouragement and everything else, and leave real estate entirely and go back to a nine to five job, which wasn't off the table or double down on knowing that I can do better and just being backed into that corner.
[00:00:59] Alex Young: And it was a fight or flight moment. It was a, I need to make this work or I don't.
[00:01:34] Ray Sjolseth: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Agent podcast. Today I'm here with my buddy Alex out of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
[00:01:40] Ray Sjolseth: Alex, welcome to the show.
[00:01:42] Alex Young: Hey, good morning, and I appreciate you having me.
[00:01:44] Ray Sjolseth: Glad you're here, man. Alex, why real estate?
[00:01:47] Alex Young: Why real estate? So, growing up I never thought beyond. Where I currently lived. And part of that was I didn't have a great upbringing and I thought, you know what? The fact that I'm in a home is, is wonderful, but I don't know if I'm ever gonna achieve that.
[00:02:02] Alex Young: 18 years old until about 30. I went through and I, every year, new apartment, new apartment, new apartment. And I realized, you know what? There's, there's a better way of doing this. There's somebody that's gotta be in, in my demographic in my age that's going through the same struggles as me. And I didn't see that in my area.
[00:02:18] Alex Young: So I thought, you know, I'm gonna do it myself. So, after a crux of a situation at my previous employer, I decided to jump in full fledged into real estate because I figure if I need to figure out how others that are in my same boat need to be served, I might as well do it myself. So I jumped in and have been serving people for the last five and a half.
[00:02:40] Alex Young: Well, congratulations on making it five and a half years. That's a thank you. Huge accomplishment. Oh, so Alex, we were that myself. Yeah, myself back. Yeah, a hundred percent. Right. Like, let's do it. So Alex, before we started recording, we were talking and you had said that you started with a team and then went solo.
[00:02:56] Alex Young: Yes, sir.
[00:02:57] Ray Sjolseth: Can you tell me a little bit about why you chose a team, number one, and then how you made that decision to go solo when things changed for you?
[00:03:05] Alex Young: Yeah, absolutely. So when I jumped into real estate, one, I knew nothing. And the best way that I've learned in my life is one, participating on teams only because I have that mentality.
[00:03:17] Alex Young: I like winning with others and losing with others. So when I jumped into real estate, knowing nothing, I knew I had to partner with somebody. One knew what they were doing, and two did it at a very high level. So I did that, and by happenstance, my wife actually knew somebody in real estate who was on a team.
[00:03:33] Alex Young: So I had met with him and then he was a part of a team. So I was like, you know what, this is gonna be my logical first step. And so I jumped right in and thought I was the bees knees. I had served quite a few clients in the first couple weeks and thought, oh, this is, this is easy. I don't know why everybody doesn't do this.
[00:03:49] Alex Young: And then I struggled the first year and a half nearly left the business a couple times. I was donating plasma to, to get the gas money so I could go to showings to help clients. And I realized that something had to be different. And after a year and a half, that team dissolved and I had two choices.
[00:04:03] Alex Young: I had another choice of doing it with others and winning with others and losing with others, or do I go all in on what I know and what I was successful at and what I felt I was good at, which. Marketing and PR and relationships and relationship building. And I decided, you know what, there's no time like the present.
[00:04:22] Alex Young: The team wasn't there. So I decided to go on my own and I'm fortunate to have been doing it now for an additional four years. Beyond that point in time have won a couple different awards here in our area, so I'm at least doing something right. But it led to. Me really doing a lot of introspection at that, that year and a half mark of which direction do I go?
[00:04:44] Alex Young: And can we unpack that a little bit? Ah, let's go,
[00:04:47] Ray Sjolseth: let's dive in. All right. So from donating plasma to get fuel in the vehicle for showings. Yeah. To, oh, I'm gonna leave a team, even though it's disintegrating or choosing not to join another one and do this so, Tell me about that transition and what that looked like and how you powered through that.
[00:05:07] Alex Young: It was emotionally mentally and physically draining. I was at my lowest spot and throughout this entire time I'm very grateful to be married to my wife Amanda, who has been my rock through most of this. And it was to a point where I needed to, something needed to change. One thing I've learned throughout this process is, If you have the ability to back up from something that is uncertain or something that is difficult, more often than not, the body and the mind are gonna choose the path of least resistance, and that is avoiding uncertainty, avoiding difficulty, and just backing away from the situation.
[00:05:43] Alex Young: While it was to a point where I had two choices, I had. I leave real estate that my wife has supported me through for the, the first year and a half in encouragement and everything else, and leave real estate entirely and go back to a nine to five job, which wasn't off the table or double down on knowing that I can do better and just being backed into that corner.
[00:06:06] Alex Young: And it was a fight or flight moment. It was a, I need to make this work or I don't. And from that point forward, there was a fire lit under me and I. Taken off. So it was back and unpacking that it was all about getting backed into a corner and realizing I didn't have any other options. I had to either figure it out or I had to leave, and I'm not one, I don't do well with quitting.
[00:06:28] Alex Young: I don't do well with not being good at something. So it was at that point where I had to realize, okay, this is, this is that time. This is where I need to either put up or.
[00:06:38] Ray Sjolseth: So Alex, in that situation where you said something that resonates with me, where you had to kind of zoom out or back up. Mm-hmm. Right?
[00:06:48] Ray Sjolseth: In order to refocus on what is my next step on Yeah. Path A, path B, path C. What's some of the mindset. That you had at that time when you were backing up and kind of calculating your next move? Like what were some of the things going through your head?
[00:07:04] Alex Young: Absolutely. First thing was vulnerability. And when I say vulnerability, I mean not sugar coating or looking at the situation with rose colored glasses.
[00:07:13] Alex Young: Really seeing the situation for what it was, which was. We have no money in our bank account. I think we had like $6 and 26 or 28 cents to our, our combined bank account and donating plasma. I was using that card again to be able to put the gas, to be able to do what I needed to. And it was at that point where I realized I couldn't get much lower than this.
[00:07:35] Alex Young: I, I was not only that, I was looking at things for. Food security, like we were skipping out on, on eating certain meals. We had difficulty in terms of paying bills. We sought help from friends and family and that's not something in how I was raised. You ask for help if you need it, but you try to figure it out yourself first.
[00:07:54] Alex Young: And it had gotten to a point where I just mentally thought I exhausted all my options and I'd had a couple conversations with people that really gave me that encouragement of like, Hey, you need to set a time. And if you do it by that point, keep going. And if you don't, then you need to do something else.
[00:08:10] Alex Young: Like there's nothing wrong with failing. And that was a bitter pill for me to swallow. So that vulnerability of knowing that, you know what, I might not be cut out for this because I've succeeded at most other things that I've put my mind to in life. And if this was gonna be the first one, I mean, that's a blow to.
[00:08:27] Alex Young: My ego, it's a blow to my mental health. And it, it was tough. So it was a very, very dark place and I had to be vulnerable and open about that. Not just with my wife, but with the people that I worked with. So that was the first part. And the second part was just that, I don't wanna say grit and determination, but when you get back in that corner and you only have two options, you really figure.
[00:08:48] Alex Young: Not creative ways, but you, you really figure out who you are and, and what that looks like going forward. And for me, that was winning, that was success. That was not being a failure. Those were things that personally, I did not want to have on my conscience. And so that drove me to take the actions and the steps in doing the activities that are necessary to truly be, at least on a very small level, successful in this industry and in this career.
[00:09:19] Alex Young: So it was it was a lot and it's an ever-growing process. It's not something that I'm away from, it's. Moving from scarcity to abundance is a long and sometimes lifelong journey, and that is something that I'm a hundred percent still on. I still look at my bank account and I have that scarcity mindset of, well, oh my gosh, this is, this is going to all go away and I'm not gonna have this anymore.
[00:09:43] Alex Young: And that just keeps pushing me to continue serving others and adding value as best.
[00:09:48] Ray Sjolseth: Did you grow up with a scarcity mindset? Like, is that the family dynamic you came from?
[00:09:52] Alex Young: A hundred percent. It was we did not grow up wealthy by any means. I was very good at being able to select selectively eat meals because I knew I was not going to eat other ones.
[00:10:05] Alex Young: I could stretch a dollar. Probably better than almost anybody that I knew. And that served me incredibly well. But at the same time, when you are for so many years in that fight or flight and that scarcity mindset, it takes a lot to, to break that. And that's the only, you can't, you can't change it.
[00:10:23] Alex Young: You have to break it. And that point, A year and a half into the business was really a, a true breaking point because it wasn't just about me anymore. I, I had my, my wife to think about and to worry about our dog to think about and worry about. And I, it was more than just me. And now that scarcity mindset, I knew that it had to change because if not for my sake, if it, it had to be for their sake.
[00:10:48] Ray Sjolseth: Okay. So roughly four or five years ago Yeah. You. Took ownership of this scarcity mindset, and while it is a work in progress [00:11:00] mm-hmm. How did you get to a point where you were able to move past it to create abundance for yourself? Right? Because yeah, that's some of the pain, right? Is either A, not knowing the roadmap, or B, knowing the roadmap, but struggling to work through it and do the things it's gonna take and have.
[00:11:21] Ray Sjolseth: Mental power. That emotional power, like all of this resonates with me. Yeah. Alex, like I grew up in a very blue collar family. You have to work hard. Money doesn't grow on trees. Mm-hmm. You know, money is hard to make, there's never enough of it. You run outta money before you run outta month. Right. Like all these different things.
[00:11:38] Ray Sjolseth: And it's funny, it, I thought I had a lot of that handle. Until Covid happened and all of this shit came flooding back to me, man, like a dump truck just on me. And I'm like, what the hell just happened? Right? So I would love to hear how you work through that and what are some things that maybe you continue to do to build yourself stronger?
[00:12:02] Alex Young: Yeah, absolutely. So the two things that I've leaned on heavily, one is mentorship. Mentorship from not just a financial standpoint, but from a physical health, a mental health, relational health business savvy. I seek mentorship from the people that I would want to trade places with, and I'm very fortunate and very grateful that the team leader of the team I was originally on that dissolved in that first year and a half is one of the most business and family minded who I viewed as successful people.
[00:12:36] Alex Young: That I've ever met, hands down, runs multiple businesses. They're all successful. He has a, a healthy life. But he also came from a very, like you had mentioned, blue collar work for it. Rough upbringing. And so I opened up to him and he personally took me on not just myself, but both my wife and I under his wing to coach us financially.
[00:12:57] Alex Young: He saw the financial struggles. He, he's like, Hey, This is something that I can help you with because I've had to go through it myself and we coached with him and he did it out of the goodness and kindness out of his heart because he, the thing that sticks with me. He said, it's not enough to be wealthy.
[00:13:15] Alex Young: It's enough to, to build wealth for others. So it's, and that's what really, again, solidified my mindset of my purpose here is for the service of others, the adding value to others. And he helped us do that financially. Where over the la the following few years my wife and I paid over six figures worth of debt.
[00:13:34] Alex Young: I was able to increase my business. I was able to, he's that person. I was able to lean on and learn from him because one, he's gone through mistakes themselves. It's similar to reading a book. You read a book because that might be somebody's entire life work put into 250 pages. Great. Now, I, I, that's a cheat code on life in, in getting ahead, on business and in relationships and marriage and health and mental health.
[00:13:58] Alex Young: I was just fortunate that I was able to do that in person and not just read a book. So that was one aspect of it. The the other aspect when it came to what I leaned on was really, how do I say this, coming from contribution very simply put, I had to. Really shift that mindset from, it's not about just me, it's about others and what I can do for others.
[00:14:25] Alex Young: It's what I do in my business and in my life is not so that I can have a better business and a better life, but it's so that I can have created opportunities for other people that I can multiply that by bringing that service to others the ripple effect. And then the third part, and this is kind of the bonus one is garbage in, garbage out.
[00:14:44] Alex Young: It was very much removing a lot of the not just negativity, but the. Information and social medias and other aspects that I brought into my life that changed my mindset to being one that was more negative and, and less helpful to what I was hoping to achieve. And at that point forward, it really changed.
[00:15:04] Alex Young: I predominantly listened to podcasts such as this and audiobooks and I read a little bit more, although not as well as my wife, who is a librarian. So I'm, I'm trying, I'm trying. But same thing with social media and, and other aspects. I'm only letting things into my life that are going to put me mentally, emotionally, and physically in a better state.
[00:15:27] Alex Young: Than I was before I encountered it. The po the better things he put into you, the better things you'll get out of you. So that the mentorship and then the, the ripple effect have really been the, the cornerstones, the trifecta that I've leaned on these last few years.
[00:15:41] Ray Sjolseth: Have you read the book by Benjamin Hardy, be your Future Self now?
[00:15:45] Alex Young: Ah, I have not, but I'm gonna make note of that now.
[00:15:47] Ray Sjolseth: Yeah. I'll text you a reminder after we're done. That book is amazing. All of his books are amazing. He also wrote Who, not How he Wrote, personality Isn't Permanent, but specifically Out of Be Your Future Self. Now, one of the things he talks about is inputs versus outputs.
[00:16:02] Ray Sjolseth: And to your point that he has a rule which I adopted before I even knew about it Yeah. Was that 80% of my input is education. Only 20% is entertainment. Right. So whereas a lot of people choose. To either binge social media, Netflix, you know, whatever. I'm binging. Education through podcasts, through YouTube University, through audio books, right?
[00:16:28] Ray Sjolseth: But then I don't feel guilty for watching that, you know, show with my wife every night as we're going to bed, right? Because she's a huge TV person, right? Yep. So, okay, fine. We'll watch our show, whatever. And I know that the majority of my input from the time I wake up in the morning throughout the day, I, my average daily audio input is four to five hours.
[00:16:51] Ray Sjolseth: Yeah. So like last year I read 200 books, all audio books. Right. I did a ton of mindset work via YouTube, like learned about various therapies, right? Yeah. On top of consuming things that are relevant to real estate or investing or money or whatever it is, mindset work. So it's interesting that you say that because I think it's very, very relevant that inputs do equal outputs and.
[00:17:15] Ray Sjolseth: They're also, what's important about that is that there's a delay, right? Like it doesn't happen immediately. Mm-hmm. But it can happen sooner than later if you adjust those inputs sooner than later.
[00:17:27] Alex Young: Absolutely. And one of the best phrases from the mentor I mentioned earlier is education. Without implementation is just entertainment.
[00:17:38] Alex Young: And that and that part at the same time, because I know plenty of of people in my life that love to consume and learn and learn and learn and learn, but at the same time, you gotta do something with it. And if you're not, then like you had just said, it's just entertainment. You're bing on something that isn't serving a purpose in bettering your life so that you can better the lives of others. And it's, it's fascinating to be a.
[00:18:02] Ray Sjolseth: So Alex, let's talk about that. Let's talk about three things you've learned over the last four to five years that you've implemented that have been game changing for you.
[00:18:12] Alex Young: Ooh, three things that have been game changing for me. All right. Number one, the value of saying no.
[00:18:18] Alex Young: It sounds super simple, but especially in, in our industry, in, in real estate, but in life as a whole and for relationships and, and mental wellbeing and everything else, the ability to say no to something so that you can say yes to something else. Has been tremendously powerful in not just the opportunities that I've been able to participate in and create, but in the people that I've been able to serve and the people that I've been able to add value to because there are plenty of times where there Hey, let's get together and do this.
[00:18:51] Alex Young: Let's go here. Saying yes to that means I have to say no to something else. Saying yes to that showing at seven 30 at night means I'm saying no to spending time with my wife and our dogs, or saying yes to a coffee meeting with a, a potential, let's say lender or somebody else means I'm saying no to creating content to add value to my clients.
[00:19:15] Alex Young: Just knowing that it is okay to say no, and when you say no, you need to protect that with ferocity that nobody else has seen because it's very difficult for people to relate. It's very difficult for people, especially those that are. Maybe earlier on in their journey than you are or of, of smaller mind than you are to understand that it's very easy to take it personal when it doesn't have to be.
[00:19:39] Alex Young: So that's the first one. Say no and protect it. The second one, second thing that's made a large impact in my life. Has really been that vulnerability and honesty. It is very easy in a time of social media and online interaction. Especially you had mentioned earlier back in pandemic season one when the whole.
[00:19:59] Alex Young: Livelihoods of, of many of people had to, had to pivot and adjust. It is. We lived through our phones, we lived through computer interaction, and it's very easy to go through and compare yourself internally to the highlight reels of others. And that is a very, very slippery slope, not just. A business perspective why am I not doing as well as that person?
[00:20:25] Alex Young: What are they doing? But also from a mental health perspective, I'm a huge proponent of mental health and the ability to go through and be open and honest that, you know what? I have struggled financially. I have struggled in my marriage and in my health and in my mental health, and I'm very upfront and honest about that.
[00:20:42] Alex Young: I'm happy to have conversations with anybody even if I just met you to talk about these things and I can't share the number of times I've had people come up to me after conversations like that cuz I have done public speaking that say, I appreciate the fact that you had, that you shared your story about your struggles with marriage or your struggles with your mental health.
[00:21:05] Alex Young: Because you know what? I'm struggling too, and I don't know what to do. And the best way to open and start and begin those conversations is knowing personally that you have to be open and honest about the conversation you have with yourself. And the only way to do that is being vulner. So vulnerability and transparency, incredibly, incredibly powerful.
[00:21:25] Alex Young: Is there a direct monetary response or anything else like that for people? It doesn't matter. Like, it's not, when, when you get to a point of abundance the abundance isn't about dollars and cents. And, and that's important for a lot of people to realize. When you don't have it, that's all you get. But it's like a dog chasing its tail.
[00:21:42] Alex Young: Once you get it, then what? Then you have everything else. So the sooner you get that, the better. And the third one is really been building and creating how, let me take a step back. It is creating opportunities that I call bookends. You wanna bookend the beginning of your day and you wanna end the end of your day.
[00:22:02] Alex Young: And when I say bookend it, I mean. You need to create a routine and a structure that puts you in the best place mentally, physically, and emotionally at the beginning of the day. You, if you can control and own that, the rest of your day can go to hell, it can fall apart, it can be terrible. But you know what?
[00:22:19] Alex Young: You still had that time that you took to invest in yourself, whether that's education wise and learning new skills and new and new material for your business or for your life, or for your relationships. Going to the gym. I am one of those weird, crazy people that my, both my wife, especially our dogs and friends of mine probably get annoyed by.
[00:22:40] Alex Young: Cuz I am that person that's up at 4:00 AM I'm at the gym at four 30 and I'm there till about six 15 to six 30. That's not realistic for a lot of people, especially if they have other commitments or families or anything else. But I know. In order for me to be my best self, I need to be in the right mind space.
[00:22:56] Alex Young: And part of that comes from doing what I think is the most difficult thing in the day, first thing in the morning. The book, eat That Frog. Same concept. If you have something coming up, like don't, don't push it off, push it off, like tackle that first because then everything else is easier from that point out.
[00:23:12] Alex Young: But it's the same thing. It's the end of the day as well. So making it a point to not just start on a high note, but end on a note that you have control over, just puts you in a better mind space. So those would be probably the biggest three things that have made the largest impact in my life is going through again having that honesty and transparency going through saying no and pre protecting your no with ferocity.
[00:23:34] Alex Young: And then really bookending the, the first and last part of.
[00:23:37] Alex Young: So that's a good segue. We were talking about Ryan Shan and his team. Mm-hmm. And you did some work with them Yeah. To help you and your business. Can you tell us a, what inspired that? What that was like and what you got out of it?
[00:23:52] Alex Young: Yeah. I'm eternally grateful to Ryan and his entire team over at Serhant to New York.
[00:23:56] Alex Young: Shout out to everybody, but for me, I live in northeast Wisconsin for better and worse. We are incredibly insulated from the craziness of most other parts in the United States. We don't have the crazy natural disasters as often or at the same severity that somebody on the east coast or west coast or down south is.
[00:24:17] Alex Young: We also, real estate wise, don't experience the high spikes in the low lows that a lot of other people have had to weather. We are the best way I can describe this. The furthest ripple on a pond when a rock or a boulder had dropped on the other side of it. We'll feel it a little bit, but things take a while to get to us.
[00:24:36] Alex Young: To that point though, I realized that I needed to, in order to better my life and to better my business and, and my service to others, I needed to get outside of the Northeast Wisconsin, not just mindset but area and really learn from those people that are performing at an incredibly high level elsewhere in the United.
[00:24:55] Alex Young: I had a few years ago when Ryan had first come out with his book Sell it like Serhant. I, he had just started his YouTube channel at the same time. And I was watching, I'm like, okay, his personality, the way he does things, like, I can relate to this. I don't have cable. I never watched Million Dollar Listing New York or anything else like that.
[00:25:11] Alex Young: So I was like, I don't know who you are, but I liked the way you're doing things. And I just followed along with the journey. And part of that was not just in how do you work with people? And with clients from a business perspective, but how do you become the best person? So he was one of the people that influenced my book ending first part of your day, last part of your day.
[00:25:30] Alex Young: Cuz he does something similar. But he does that at a high level and I realized that the resumes of the people that I get to learn from here in northeast Wisconsin are great, but. We're, we're Green Bay, Wisconsin, 110,000, 115,000 people soaking wet New York City quite a bit larger. Yeah, the resumes are quite a bit bigger and quite a bit more impressive to, to some, and, and challenging for others.
[00:25:54] Alex Young: So I figured if I'm gonna align with somebody, I wanna align with who I think I best resonate with, and who I think is doing. In a way that I can relate to and I can translate it back to northeast Wisconsin. So he and his team over at Sirhan on the cell like Sirhan community. Have been a huge impact in not only how I brand myself and how I present myself.
[00:26:17] Alex Young: You only ever get a first impression once. So I've, I've learned a lot from that and especially in a world of online living how to portray myself and, and put myself out there. But again, doing so that is authentically in a way that's authentically. Again, with that vulnerability, the coaching, the, the life story to go through and share.
[00:26:36] Alex Young: So I'm eternally grateful for that and I still actively participate both in trainings with him in coachings with him and his entire team, because again, you never enter the same river twice for you are never the same person, and the river is never the same. So I know that that journey is never gonna stop.
[00:26:54] Alex Young: So as long as he keeps doing things, I'm gonna keep.
[00:26:57] Ray Sjolseth: So let's segue that to your business.
[00:27:00] Alex Young: Absolutely.
[00:27:00] Ray Sjolseth: You mentioned book ending, so what does your day look like in your business? How do you have it structured?
[00:27:05] Alex Young: Yeah, so I can run you through again, when it comes to book ending, I'm, I'm serious in that I control the first part of my day and the last part of my day and everything else.
[00:27:15] Alex Young: Is, doesn't matter. It, it doesn't matter. I'm up at 4:00 AM I dogs out by four 15. I'm back on the road at four 20. I'm to the gym by four 30. I work out until 6, 6 15. I do a hydromassage therapy over at Planet Fitness, Eastside Green Bay represent for 15 minutes. I then head home. Get cleaned up.
[00:27:35] Alex Young: Take care of the dogs again. Eat breakfast. Spend time with my wife before she leaves for work. At about 8:00 AM eight to eight 30, I'm checking in on any emails that came through overnight or anything that's upcoming. I start reaching out to people online to wish them happy birthday. Because I think that's something that everybody deserves to hear.
[00:27:51] Alex Young: Yeah. Especially if it's your birthday, it's more fun. If you mistake though and you send a message to somebody that's not their birthday, then they go, thanks, here's 362 days early. But I appreciate it. You have that message and then it's catch up with emails and then I really take that first probably until about 10:00 AM to really lay out, okay, what are the big things I'm accomplishing today?
[00:28:13] Alex Young: That I need to do to get me 1% ahead of where I was yesterday. That might be reaching out to somebody via social media. It might be creating a newsletter. It might be creating a short form video. It might be learning about the market or observing or learning information from the hundreds and thousands of available resources online when it comes to business and mindset and real estate.
[00:28:37] Alex Young: Have lunch and, and kind of get the day going and, It's chaos from about 11, 12 until probably four to five. When I said that I protect my no feverishly, I've been trying to make it a point for the sake of my marriage with my lovely wife to be home as often as possible in the evenings. Now, obviously there's always one off [occasions and I do try to participate in things outside of that.
[00:29:03] Alex Young: So my evenings are usually pretty condensed, but I'm usually home. At the latest seven 30, maybe eight, so that I know that, that eight to 8 30, 8 to nine spending time with her, getting all the the dog snuggles I could possibly get. And then I'm in bed by probably nine 30 and I. Much to my wife's dismay.
[00:29:24] Alex Young: I fall asleep in probably 45 seconds, so I, I hit the, hit the bed and I am done and then alarms off and I do it again the next day. And it's a wonderful thing to do. But at the same time, if you wanna have a day off it's difficult because if I'm not waking up with my alarm, my body will wake me up.
[00:29:43] Alex Young: And if that's not the case, my dogs who are definitely hungry are gonna be waking up too, being like, Hey, why, why are we outside yet? It's like 5:00 AM like, no, no, no, we're not a fan of this. Like, get up. So I have them to thank for that lovely, lovely schedule.
[00:29:59] Ray Sjolseth: I like that. So your afternoons from 1112 to. As an example is that when you're commuting with clients, doing showings, going to listing appointments, all of that kind of good stuff.
[00:30:09] Alex Young: Absolutely. So for me, a lot of my business and how it's driven is from relationships and from people I know. So it's, I realize that most people. Have jobs that take them from eight or 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and so with that, I'm not always able to go through and show them directly.
[00:30:27] Alex Young: So I will have evening appointments, I will have weekend appointments, but during those afternoons, I'm doing what I tend to be the expert in r in real estate in our area as it relates to the market. So it's, it's looking at the trends, it's looking at what areas. Picking up in activity, which ones are not, what activities or events or.
[00:30:48] Alex Young: Construction is taking place in the area. How is that going to be impacting things? How can I communicate that to people? How can I share a message? What can I do to create content and create information [00:31:00] that would be of value to other people? And then how can I share that as much as I can? So a lot of times what I'm doing is interacting online and sharing information to put other people in a better spot, cuz I'm not the person who's gonna go through and.
[00:31:13] Alex Young: Show a home and then say, all right, let's write an offer. Like I will, I will coach and guide somebody through that process, and I will also be the first person to tell someone, eh, I, would've, I would pass on this like this. This is not, I think what, what you need for what you're trying to do. And that I think, surprises some people that, well, why aren't you trying to make a sale?
[00:31:33] Alex Young: Because I realize that if I take care of my clients and I take care of the people that are around me, That they're gonna continue to trust me to take care of the people that they know. And it just amplifies and amplifies. And it's the same thing like with what you're doing on this podcast. It's how can I not only learn and get information that would better you, but how can I share this with other people so that they can go out and serve others at a higher level?
[00:31:56] Alex Young: And I try to do that as often as I can.
[00:31:58] Ray Sjolseth: Alex, what are some things that you feel you. Different in your real estate business than most other agents that have helped you get to where you are?
[00:32:09] Alex Young: I am comfortable with online presence, video, social media which in our area, again, 115,000 soaking wet, northeast Wisconsin, maybe 300,000 people.
[00:32:22] Alex Young: Quarter a million, somewhere around there. We are very small compared to some of these other aspects. So being able to take some of the information and knowledge and skillsets that I've learned from people elsewhere in the country and be able to disseminate that in such a way that it adds value on a local level is one part.
[00:32:38] Alex Young: And being able to really lean into the marketing and the branding side of it and doing so again in an authentic way. That's probably the main aspect. The other part is I'm very relationship driven. I, I, I think it was Bob Berg and the Go-Giver one amazing book two. One of the things he talks about in there is a similar story of new person starting the business.
[00:33:02] Alex Young: Who's gonna be the most successful? It's that guy over in the corner while I never see him leave the office. And part of the reason that's the case is because he's the. He's the person that takes, Hey, you have an issue with this. Let me connect you with somebody that I know that's over here, but it's not for me.
[00:33:15] Alex Young: It's like that, but it's not just real estate. If somebody's going through and they're going to be celebrating an event or looking for an awesome place for a date night dinner I know people, and we are the world's biggest small town. Everybody kind of knows everybody, but to know people in those places that you can create experiences whether that's at stores or at shops or at restaurants or at bars or taverns or anything else like that, is just one way to continue to add value.
[00:33:43] Alex Young: So being. And to do that on a consistent basis outside of just real estate, I think is another aspect that that shows that I'm not here for the paycheck, I'm here for you as the person. People over profit is something that drives me [00:34:00] a lot, and that drives a lot of my messaging and a lot of the content and things that I do.
[00:34:05] Ray Sjolseth: How do you prioritize content? Right. I mean, I know a lot of people are scared of media and they don't realize that they are a media company walking around with a camera crew, which is their phone. Mm-hmm. But how do you prioritize, prioritize content? Because a lot of people, including myself at one point prior to, honestly, the Covid, right?
[00:34:24] Ray Sjolseth: Like I spent the majority of my career creating products. Mm-hmm. And while I was always in real estate primarily as an investor, which has changed since Covid, but it. Like when I first started creating content, like I didn't feel like I was doing something of value or I didn't do, I didn't feel like, oh, this is important.
[00:34:44] Ray Sjolseth: And some of it was a self-value, self-worth issue. Mm-hmm. And some of it was just, It was a different way of working and a different way of providing value out there. Now, today, it's a no-brainer, right? Like, boom, we'll just light this up, go live, do whatever we gotta do and get out there. But it took me literally years to get to that point where it was like, dude, this is a priority.
[00:35:03] Ray Sjolseth: You have to do it. Yeah. So for somebody out there that's struggling to prioritize content and doesn't understand the value, or doesn't understand the impact, And you know, I'm sure you're a Gary V fan to some extent. Yep. If you're follow Ryan Sirhan. Yeah. And he put out a post, I think it was yesterday, on LinkedIn and I'll text you the screenshot that said, if you are still not creating content, basically you don't get it.
[00:35:28] Ray Sjolseth: Like stop messing around and you need to get on this because people are consuming at scale. It is no longer a small game. Yep. So how do you do that?
[00:35:37] Alex Young: One great question. You need to first shift your mindset from consumption to creation. When you are on social media platforms, it is very easy to get sucked into the scroll, and if just by simply, If you, if you're looking for a very tactical way, write time block a portion of time for you to go on to social media, let's say half an hour, let's take Facebook as the example.
[00:36:02] Alex Young: You take 10 minutes to create something of value and what, how you define value and how somebody else defines value might be entirely different, but something that you think would be valuable and you put it out there and then take the other 10, 15, 20 minutes and get your scroll on and then be done.
[00:36:19] Alex Young: It's, it is an addictive. Resource that can in two larger quantities, can, can cause you to suffer. I mean, it's just like with anything in life, moderation is key. So if you have to do so tactically by time blocking it, that's one way to do it. But can move from consumption to creation. The second aspect is understand that you are, you are the same person in real.
[00:36:43] Alex Young: Like if, if I see you and I were to meet you on the street and we were to have this conversation, not via this podcast, I'm still gonna be the same person. You're still gonna be the same person. It's understanding that you don't need to put on a separate persona. And that transparency and honesty in a world of highlight reels is valuable by itself is valuable.
[00:37:04] Alex Young: One of the phrases that I learned was, which would be more exciting to watch Michael Jordan. On a, on a basketball game with the bulls or the behind the scenes documentary explaining the process and all the craziness that went through, getting them to that point. And then they went and created the the Michael Jordan's documentary series that they had released, and it was a tremendous.
[00:37:34] Alex Young: It was, I believe, more watch than any of his games ever, because some people like watching the final experience. But people love to be a part of the journey and to know that they got to watch that take place. So if you are a new agent, you're an existing agent, you're a veteran, you're somebody that's struggling.
[00:37:49] Alex Young: Ge, Gary v it's document the journey. It's share your experience as you're going through this. The positives and the negatives, cuz a lot of times that's not what's gonna get shown on TV and other media outlets. And that is fascinating to watch. So if you don't know what to create, share something that you're going through, that you're working through that's a part of your journey.
[00:38:10] Alex Young: And then the last part is, Look to others, not for what you can rip off, but from what? Like look to what you're watching if you don't know. For part of the things that I, some of the things I share online. Are are direct parodies of what I've seen other people do because I thought it was funny, but I know I have my own voice, my own way of spinning it, and I just wanted to share that in hopes that somebody else finds it funny.
[00:38:37] Alex Young: So that's one quick way. Create what's entertaining to you and, and do it with your voice. And then the last piece I'd leave someone with is the time it takes to meet other people in person on a one-to-one basis. Is far greater than on the one to many basis that your content is capable of achieving.
[00:39:00] Alex Young: Whether that's video or podcast, or in a book or on social media, whatever, it's going to be my ability to go through and go hop on Facebook live for half an hour and create a video and interact with people that hop on or start watching that video. I'm able to communicate one to hundred. Whereas if in that half hour my ability to meet every single one of them in person for a half hour it would take me weeks.
[00:39:28] Alex Young: So just your abilities to understand that if you want to scale your life, some of the actions need to be done in a more efficient and effective manner. And content specifically short formm and long form video content allows people to achieve that.
[00:39:42] Ray Sjolseth: I love all of that. It's all amazing guys. For anybody listening, I hope you take the time to re-listen to that segment a couple times.
[00:39:51] Ray Sjolseth: If you pull one thing away from this podcast is the ability to authentically be yourself and put yourself out there to communicate it. It will [00:40:00] be a game changer for your business over time. Like real estate business is a long play, but it will be a game changer over time. Alex, the, I think the last thing I want to ask you.
[00:40:09] Ray Sjolseth: How do you find your dream clients? How do you attract the people that you want to work with?
[00:40:16] Alex Young: How do you find your dream clients and the people you wanna work with? First, I want to work with people that I can see myself being friends with. The nice thing with that is those friends. I have friends that can afford a hundred thousand dollars homes, and I have friends that can afford million dollar homes.
[00:40:36] Alex Young: But I realized with the amount of stress and anxiety and emotion that goes into the real estate process, whether buying, selling, investing, whatever it might be, even just educating it is one thing to do it with somebody that you don't like. But it's another thing entirely to do it with somebody that you want to spend time with.
[00:40:56] Alex Young: That's when the whole, I never work a day in my life [00:41:00] really comes up. I, I'm addicted to what I do for a living because I genuinely day in and day out, get to spend time with the people, the clients, and with the, the fellow agents and teammates and, and partners elsewhere in the industry because I genuinely love spending time.
[00:41:20] Alex Young: So I get to wake up every day and spend time with my friends and get compensated to do so. So if you're trying to figure out who your ideal person is again, it's not just about the money. You take care of the people, the people will take care of you. So find the people that you want to spend time with and that you wanna serve, and then do so on an incredibly high level because then they're going to connect you with the people that are going to be similar.
[00:41:46] Alex Young: And now, not only is your friendship circle going to grow, but your business is gonna grow exponentially. And that's something that, again, is scalable. It takes time, but it is something that is going to be consistent [00:42:00] and not transactional. Nobody wants to feel like a number. Everybody wants to feel like they're spending time with friends and family.
[00:42:06] Alex Young: And I'm, I love that. That's what drives, so my ideal client is the people I wanna spend time with. I also am gonna be officiating some weddings for, for some of those clients because those relationships, when people think it ends at real estate, it does not. So find the people that make your life more fulfilling.
[00:42:24] Alex Young: And I guarantee you will find the people that you wanna serve and serve at a high level.
[00:42:28] Ray Sjolseth: I love that. It's awesome. Alex, where can people find you if they wanna connect to reach out, say hi, buy a house in Wisconsin?
[00:42:35] Alex Young: Absolutely. So one, you can find me online Alex Young of the Bow Tie Group.
[00:42:39] Alex Young: Today, I'm not wearing my, my fun bow tie right now, working from home, spending time with the dogs. But Alex, young of the Bow Tie Group, Instagram, Alex Young realtor. Same thing on Facebook. I connect a lot on social media, so if you reach out, I'm more than happy to. Otherwise, if you go to the bow tie group.com, you can reach out directly to me there.
[00:42:58] Ray Sjolseth: Alex, this has been incredible, man. Thanks for sharing and thanks for being transparent. I
[00:43:02] Alex Young: appreciate you having me on. Have a great rest of your day.
