Turning Challenges into Opportunities on the Journey to Empowering Realtors with Tanya Bugbee

Transcript

[Mattias]
Welcome to the REI Agent, a holistic approach to life through real estate. I’m Mattias, an agent and investor.

[Erica]
And I’m Erica, a licensed therapist.

[Mattias]
Join us as we interview guests that also strive to live bold and fulfilled lives through business and real estate investing.

[Erica]
Tune in every week for interviews with real estate agents and investors.

[Mattias]
Ready to level up?

[Erica]
Let’s do it.

[Mattias]
Welcome back REI Agent gang, or tribe, or flock, herd, gaggle, I don’t know. I don’t know, guys. We’ll come up with a good name here soon.

It is Mattias Clymer. I am not only doing this alone, I am doing life alone right now. My wife is at a therapy conference and it has been a challenge.

I have had to get the kids ready for school in the mornings with lunch packs, lunch packing, breakfast, the whole nine yards. My one daughter is also on a elimination diet to sort through some health issues. And nothing too serious, but good information to know to make her feel her best.

And it’s just been a challenge to know how to cook. With the things I normally cook, we gotta make sure that all the ingredients are gonna fall in line with this selective diet. And so it’s been hard.

It’s been a challenge. And I have been trying my best to get through it and have a good attitude and not get upset, not get overstimulated. I wanna be like a G.I. Joe that has a military vest strapped with bananas or something. Because the kids wake up and they’re hangry and they need food now. So I wanna be able to rip that banana and throw it at them and they can eat the banana and then they can be happy again. Or maybe when they come home from school and they’re tired and hangry again, having that snack on hand.

A lot of this is about being prepared. It’s hard to wanna have dinner ready before they get home because you have a lot of other things with your business to do. That would make things a lot easier to have lunches packed the night before so the morning’s easier to get them all ready because there’s still a lot to do.

A lot of that stuff would be a lot easier with more preparation. There’s only so much a person can do. And so kudos to all the single parents out there doing it.

It’s not easy. Kudos to just parents in general because it is hard. I’m sure every age has its own challenges.

All I can say is right now with the young kids is just there’s a lot of emotions, there’s a lot of meltdowns, there’s a lot of needs and fighting for attention and picking on each other and all that wonderfulness that I get to take on myself and then not really having much time outside of their waking hours for myself. I have made a point to still go to the gym. I won’t be able to today but I’ve made a point to go to the gym every day which that just always helps get my mind right.

That’s kind of my me time, if you will. Today I don’t have time. I have a number of things that I’m doing including I’m going to be a guest panel for JMU class at the local university.

They are doing a housing simulation about buying a house and I am gonna be a guest realtor that can give them feedback about their decision and things they took into consideration and other things they might wanna take into consideration. I am really interested to see what that looks like. I think that a lot of the value I tend to bring is gonna be in person at a house and a lot of the value I think or the things that they need to learn kind of is by being in person and going through houses.

I think that even if you bought 10 houses in your past, when you were looking for a new house for yourself, it’s kind of a discovery process and I think that going to see houses in person is kind of one of the best ways to really learn more about what you want at this time. There are some people that are extremely decisive and could sit back on the sidelines, wait for that perfect house to come, that they have a list of the criteria and that finally one comes and hits those check boxes and they’re able to make a purchase on it. But I think a lot of people, if they haven’t seen a few houses that don’t quite fit their needs, they’re gonna have a hard time making that decision if they wait until they actually find one that does.

So all I have to say is it’s gonna be interesting. Maybe I’ll come back on here at a later time to talk about how it went if I have any insights from it. But yeah, while Erica is out sharpening her saw, I had this amazing opportunity to talk to Tanya Bugbee who is a coach.

She is a business coach in general but has had experience in real estate, is a real estate salesperson. She has a lot of realtors she coaches, mortgage officers and brokers, et cetera, and other businesses as well. But she has found a bit of a niche or has a natural inclination towards, I guess, realtors because she really understands that business.

So it was a good conversation. We are getting closer to business planning time. I mean, it is business planning time for 2025 and we touched on that a little bit as well but it was a great conversation and I always look forward to hearing from other professionals that are in the coaching space that just help bring about motivation for people, help bring about focus.

I think you really need to live intentionally or else a life just kind of happens to you. And so she helps you create a life that you want and helps you stay accountable to achieving the goals that you set forth for yourself. So it was a good conversation.

Without further ado, Tanya Bugbee. Welcome back to the REI Agent. I am here with Tanya, Tanya Bugbee.

Did I say that right, Tanya? You did. I should have asked you that before we got started.

Tanya, thank you so much for joining us. It is bright and early. You are coming from the sunny San Diego and I am over here in Virginia and I have probably more hours and caffeine under my belt than you.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Right now, I suspect you have.

[Mattias]
Thank you so much for being on here, Tanya. You are a coach of many sorts but you do a lot with real estate agents. Is that correct?

[Tanya Bugbee]
I do. I absolutely do a lot of real estate agents, lenders and brokers.

[Mattias]
Cool. Well, tell me a little bit about how you found yourself in this career path and what brought you here.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Oh gosh, it’s such a long story. I’ll condense it, otherwise we’ll be here for a while. I have had many hats in my career.

I lived on a sailboat for eight years. I got my pilot’s license and ran a flight school. So I have had, I wrote for Cruising World Magazine.

So I’ve supported myself in very non-traditional ways for most of my life. And I did get into real estate. I think it’s my mother’s fault because she was a real estate agent.

And then I was in between moving, I’ve moved a lot. And so I became a real estate assistant and then I saw what the assistant was making and I went, oh heck no, I can do that. And so I got my license and became a real estate agent.

And my ex-husband was a corporate trainer for Burger King and we moved a lot. So I have been licensed and started over in Florida. Then he was transferred to California.

So I got licensed and started over. Then we moved to Houston, Texas where we parted ways and I was raising two young teenagers. But again, got my license and started over.

And what I attest my success to and the ability to keep starting over is my real estate coach. So I was coached through all of that and became the second top producing agent in Houston with Better Homes and Gardens Gary Green in a matter of just a couple of years. So I landed in Houston and I remember when my kids now are going to college and my coach was setting goals with me towards the end of that year, whatever year it was like 2012, don’t remember exactly the year.

And I’m in Houston all by myself, great business, successful, closing about 50 to 58 homes a year. However, my kids are going to college in California, all my family’s in California. I’m like, I gotta get back to California.

So they recruited me and I became a coach for this real estate company and had to relocate to California for it, which was no problem. So I gave up my career as a realtor and became a coach and it was the best move I ever made. Loved coaching and then I decided to become, start my own coaching company after about seven years.

I was out of 72 coaches, I was ranked fourth. And just some corporate changes. And again, I’m not gonna say I hated being in the corporate world.

However, there are a lot of constraints for this free-spirited woman. Started my own coaching company and I’m very grateful that I did. So I know that’s a very short and condensed version of how I got here.

However, I am now almost, March will be three years of having my own coaching company and it’s the best thing you’ve ever done.

[Mattias]
Yeah. Wow, we could probably spend a whole episode talking about all this, because living in a sailboat, oh my gosh. And yeah, I mean, having to start over every few years or whatever, that is not easy.

I know a lot of people feel a little bit trapped in their business and then feel like they can’t really explore other markets or, you know, personally, we are looking to spend a year abroad at some point and you lose a lot of momentum whenever you make a change like that, when you’re not in an active in your business with boots on the ground per se. Like I say that, but we’ve interviewed a few people that do a lot of things remotely. And so I’m gonna say, just talking about the fear of having to start over.

But you obviously have made that a reality. And one of the things I thought of is, you know, that is something that we could think about every year is like we’re starting over.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Right, well, nobody likes rolling into January and not seeing any closed in their CRM, right?

[Mattias]
Yeah.

[Tanya Bugbee]
That is a big, I mean, I remember that happening when I was a realtor. You know, you go into January 1st, you open your CRM and you look at your closed for whatever that year is and it’s zero. And I needed that zero.

Yeah.

[Mattias]
Yeah, and it’s often, I mean, I don’t know how California and Texas is like markets are with the weather being warmer, but I would imagine with school seasons and everything that it is still the hottest time would be summer, spring, et cetera. So you’re kind of getting through the holidays, don’t have a lot of momentum going into January. So it, I mean, in all a lot of ways it is starting over.

And I think, I don’t know why I’ve never really thought about it that way, but I feel like that’s probably a really good mindset to have is, hey, we are starting this year over. We’re gonna make it the best year possible and talk about, you know, how are we gonna get there?

[Tanya Bugbee]
Right. And that’s, again, great mindset, right? To reframe versus, oh gosh, I’m gonna roll over into one, one, 2025 with zero closes versus what can I do better?

You know, what worked well, what didn’t work well. I don’t wanna do what didn’t work well over again. And you get a fresh slate to do it better, more efficient, more effectively, whatever that priority is.

Or if you do have to move, you know, and start over again, really start over with a new database, hit the ground running.

[Mattias]
Yeah, what are some ways to do that? I mean, how does one, if somebody’s been like, you know, I would love to move to sunny San Diego. It’s cold, it is cold and flat and lonely here in Kansas.

How do they do that and provide for their families or, you know, that’s a lot of fear that they’d have to overcome.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Well, I actually, well, I’ve done it. So I can speak from my own experience, but I actually do have a client right now who’s moving from California to New York. And so we’ve had a whole year to set her up to get ready to do that.

So it’s being proactive. Like if you can get your license online, get it now. Don’t wait till you get there, right?

So that’s one way. What are we gonna put away for savings so that you have three to six months worth of money in the bank so that you’re not stressed. You’re gonna be stressed anyway, but we wanna reduce that and work on, you know, having a resilient mindset.

And, you know, every time you go back there to visit family or whatever the reason for her, it’s family, right? Start your database, make a list of people you know. When you get there, don’t hide in your, you know, condo.

So we can be proactive. However, having money in the bank is the most important piece is to save so that you get there and there’s not zero money. And if you do need to get a part-time job, you need to get a part-time job.

And I encourage a part-time job, not a full-time job because then, yeah, we’re really swimming upstream then.

[Mattias]
Yeah, for sure. Especially if you have kids and other obligations, it’s hard to put in the hours needed to really get full-time jobs.

[Tanya Bugbee]
And that’s the key is putting in the hours, right? So yes, I was fortunate enough that I did not have to get part-time jobs. Although I don’t wanna say that.

In Florida, I actually did get a part-time job. I was working for a grocery store in the deli department and I hated every minute of it, but I did. And then as soon as I started having a close, I’m like, that’s it, I’m done.

I’m gonna focus on my career and best decision. And I also hired a coach. So you don’t need to do it alone.

[Mattias]
Right, yeah, I mean, and that’s a fear for people too is, you know, a coach is an expense. It’s not gonna be necessarily cheap, but obviously you would argue that it’s worth every penny.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yes, and it is an expense and it’s an investment. So I have a coach, so I put my money where my mouth is. I actually have a phenomenal coach and yes, it’s an investment.

I do the best I can to full pay it for the whole year. So I don’t have to see it in my credit card every month because I don’t like it, right? So I’m like, okay, I’m paying for the year.

I don’t have to see it. And it is an investment. And my coach saves me from a lot of bumps and bruises that, you know, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be successful, but it would probably take me longer and I’d have a lot of more bumps and bruises along the way that, you know, she sees things that I don’t see or kicks me in the butt when I need to kick in the butt.

I’m not perfect, but I’m not easy to coach.

[Mattias]
I feel like we might have some of that fierce independence in common. I can see that in myself as well. But so, yeah, so they can give you that tough love.

Like if you are in a slump maybe, or what’s some of the ways that you would be, yeah, getting that tough love or the help that the coach is giving you?

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah, well, and sometimes it’s just the voices in our heads that pop up, especially if you’re tired or stressed and we’ve had NAR changes and we’ve had elections, right? So there’s a lot going on that are distracting. So it’s helping with keeping me focused.

And when I get off track, I can SOS my coach and say, okay, SOS, I can’t wait a week. I’m really kind of off the rails. And it’s just helping knowing who I am and how to get me refocused into what’s important and what I can control and what I can’t control because most humans stress and worry about stuff that are out of our control.

[Mattias]
Yeah, the elections is such a good example of that. I’ve been preaching that for so long. Like I go and vote, but at the end of the day, that’s all you can do.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Or you can help people get to the voting booths that are gonna vote the way you’re gonna vote, right? So there’s things we can do that are in our control, but bottom line, the result is out of our control. And the more we stress and get derailed, and I mean, I’ve had clients, I’ve never had so, so I offer SOS calls.

I offer the same for my clients. I remember when we got stayed home orders with COVID, I had a ton of SOS calls. And then the day after the election, I had even more SOS calls than COVID.

[Mattias]
Yeah.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah.

[Mattias]
Yeah, and well, I mean, it’s, I don’t wanna go down this rabbit hole too far, but I think it’s unfortunate that our media has, they’re intentionally making us hate the opposition, to hate the other side, to try to make us act and vote. And I think that just causes this doom and dread and hatred to the other people. It’s crazy.

And I think, so that’s one of the things I do to not get wrapped up into it, is not pay as much attention. I don’t turn on the news to try to get my information. I do make informed votes and I have ways of doing that, but I try not to hear all the noise because it just, all it does is make you mad and stress you out.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah, it’s mad and fear and hate. And even after the elections, I’m still seeing hateful posts, slashing the other person and it’s done. We know who our new president’s gonna be.

And there’s still just hateful, nasty posts on the opposition.

[Mattias]
It spills over for a while. I mean, it seems like it always does. And I think that within a year, even if you’re not happy with the results, your life will be normal.

I mean, it’ll keep going and there might be things that happen that you don’t agree with, but yeah, I’m ready for that to fast forward and for people just to kind of go about their lives again.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah, and focus about, like yesterday I ran a workshop and one of the gals on the workshop is still fearful of and not real confident about new buyer rep agreements and how am I gonna talk confidently to a buyer about my fee and focus on that, right?

[Mattias]
Yeah, absolutely.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Showing confidence, practicing, whatever you need to do to get that confidence and clarity on how to explain that to a new client. That’s more important right at this moment. I don’t wanna downgrade any of the, again, we don’t wanna go down the rabbit hole of how important some of the future decisions are.

And I don’t wanna downgrade that. I’ve got grandkids that are important to me. However, we can control right now is the money we make and being involved in our community.

[Mattias]
Absolutely. And we should get into that a little bit because speaking of reframes like that we talked about earlier, I’d see this as an opportunity for agents. I really see this as a way for you to look at yourself differently.

I think that before the brokerage agreement, I forget, does California, was that already a thing for California that they had to have the brokerage agreement? Okay.

[Tanya Bugbee]
It wasn’t a have to, it was suggested.

[Mattias]
We’ve had to have it since 2012, but it was kind of more lackadaisical, I’d say. And anyway, so I think this is a good opportunity to let’s start thinking of ourselves as attorneys. Well, if you walked into an attorney’s office and said, hey, I wanna lease agreement, I want it to be customized, but I’m gonna look at your version of it, I’m gonna look at three other versions of it from other attorneys, and I’m gonna decide who I’m gonna pay for.

That’s not how it would work. I mean, that attorney would be able to say, this is my experience, this is what I can do for you to create this agreement. This is gonna be my fee for it.

And when it’s done, you would not expect anything other than to pay for it, right? Right. And so it is a bit of shift of thinking, but I think that at the end of the day, it’s a positive.

I mean, we can really explain our worth and have more of a professional view. We want people to see us as the professionals, like an attorney.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Right, right. And so many consumers are not thinking that a real estate agent, buyer’s agent is out there working, showing homes, doing a phenomenal job, negotiating, and doesn’t get paid anything until the end. And if they change their mind, good reasons or not, oops, I lost my transfer, right?

That agent walks away with no money, right? And most people don’t stop and think about that.

[Mattias]
Yeah, what that really, the impact of it is really hard. And to get going is really, really difficult when that happens. I remember one of my first buyer clients, I showed them houses for months.

And then they gave me, they called me and said, you know what? We found a for sale by owner, we’re gonna buy that house and I’m gonna take you out for a steak dinner. I really appreciate your time.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Right, and we all have those stories. I have the same thing. I remember I was in Florida and I was working with buyers and back then that was a lot of money.

They had $600,000 cash and we’re talking a long time ago. My kids are in their late 20s and they were not even in school yet when this happened. So 600,000 meant a whole lot more then than it does today.

And I had my in-laws in town so we went to Orlando to Disneyland, Disney World, and Monday I get a call, while you were at Disney. And every weekend for like six weeks, I was there showing them homes. They went walking to an open house and the agent at the open house said, don’t use your realtor and we can get you a better price and that’s all it took.

We all have those stories.

[Mattias]
Yeah. And so this is an opportunity to prevent that from happening or help prevent that from happening. And you just have to explain all that you’re doing and challenge yourself to get better.

Like, deserve your commission.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah, be confident in the value you bring. Even if you’re new, right? Because I do coach a few newbies, right?

And then it’s like, you still bring a lot to the table. Your past experiences like, you know, sailing boats and because I was flipping boats is what I was doing. Right, so I started with like a 24 footer, then went to a 32 footer, then went to a 64 footer and I was flipping them.

You know, all my experiences is what brought me here today. So you might not have sold a home yet, but what were you doing, you know, in the past? And you have a broker behind you and whatever that is.

Learning how to speak with confidence, what you bring to the table is the first step. If you’re gonna be wishy-washy and kind of like, I don’t know what I bring to the table, they’re gonna pick another agent.

[Mattias]
Yeah.

[Tanya Bugbee]
I would.

[Mattias]
And, you know, in the conversations I’ve had to try to get better at this conversation with a buyer in an early buyer meeting, they understand that I have to get paid. They’re never like, what?

[Tanya Bugbee]
Like I said, I didn’t realize, right? So sometimes it’s just lack of knowing or understanding or just not really thinking it through. And what I like about the change is that it’s across the board, right?

It’s not like just one broker just making you have this sign. So it’s an even playing field now.

[Mattias]
Yeah. Yeah, so it’s really an opportunity. And I think that you can master this.

And that’s a thing that we should all be practicing and getting better at every day and thinking through everything you do as you help buyers currently and think about ways that you can increase what you do to help buyers. One of the things that I get into a lot and I preach a lot is how investment real estate, investing personally in real estate, no matter what way you do, can really help you as a buyer or a listing agent. And some of that is something that I can use to preach to my clients so that if I can say, you know, I flipped houses, I can say that I have a list of contractors, I have a pretty good knowledge from seeing houses go from, you know, a really dire look state to, you know, something really nice that I can help vision a property what it could be.

I can connect you with lenders that could help you do this as well. And, you know, I can give you rough ideas, you know, you don’t wanna go down this rabbit hole and give them specific dollar amounts for how much things are gonna cost, but I typically have a pretty good idea of a range of what a repair or, you know, new countertops, new refrigerator, all that kind of stuff. I have a pretty good idea of what all that stuff can cost.

And that brings a lot of value to them that they may not have otherwise. And so I can preach that, save them a lot of money because I have good contacts, good contractors and save them maybe potential big headaches from a house that may have some big problems that somebody may not see otherwise.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Right, yep. And I do, with my coaching clients, that’s one of the first things I want them to do other than their, you know, their book of business, their clients, their database, whatever you wanna call it, is growing a solid business to business one right alongside.

[Mattias]
Yeah.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Right, and they’re also business owners and no business owners. And you can, you know, do videos with them. You can do workshops with them.

You can shout them out on social media. I’ve got one gal every year, and this is her third year that I’ve coached her three years and this is her third year, she does Small Business Saturday, you know, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and does a bingo with Small Business Saturday. And I don’t wanna go into all the details, but she has a phenomenal book of business with local business owners that obviously her clients benefit from.

You know, discounts, speed of service, whatever you need. Yeah.

[Mattias]
Yeah, yeah, totally, it’s huge. Well, let’s get, let’s go into the business planning since we’re at that time of year. I know that it’s something that people probably often set aside or don’t think it’s that important or don’t go into the detail.

But, you know, at the time of recording, we are in the middle of November. Tell us a little bit about what you suggest for people to do with business planning.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Well, what I’m finding, and it’s interesting, is clients that are new to me, I’ll say, you know, let’s start with your business model. And again, they’re not really clear what that means. And so I give them the clarity is, are we focusing only on your database to grow your business?

Is it your database and your book of business? And you’re gonna focus on business networking? Or are you gonna focus on your database and farming?

Like, I need to know what your model is, and then we’re gonna go from there. And so that’s the first step. So, and I don’t want somebody having, you know, six legs of that model, especially if they don’t have an assistant, right?

So it’s like, you’re spreading yourself too thin. Let’s pick two or three. And then they think they’re done.

I’m like, oh no, this is just the beginning. Now that I know, let’s just say you’re gonna focus on your database and business networking. Now I need the tactics underneath.

Like, what are we gonna do with your database? How are you gonna network? How often?

With whom? And I wanna see the tactics under each one. And that’s where most people, unless they’ve been coaching with me for years, who already know, they don’t even turn in their plan to me until that’s at least an outline.

One of my superpowers is looking at it and knowing if it’s enough. So if someone says, I’m gonna make two calls a day and I’m gonna close 50 homes, I’m like, hmm, I think we need to add some more tactics to this, right? And so I’ll get an outline at minimum from my existing clients.

My new ones, no. And then yes, we need to go through each leg that they’re gonna focus on and make sure every single month there’s enough tactics in there to get them to their end result. They’ve gotta execute, but I know that each one of my current clients right now, every month for the year, I know there’s tactics in there.

And halfway, like quarterly, if we’re not, or monthly, we’re not executing at least three, and no more than three months, we might have to change the tactics. I don’t want them to think they’re failing, but maybe they’re gonna, one of their tactics is to make, I don’t know, five calls a day and they’re only making five a week. We might need to change the tactics or first of all, for most people, they don’t wanna sound salesy, they don’t wanna be pushy, and so they struggle to pick up the phone.

And I’ve gotta work on the mindset and reasons to pick up the phone that feels authentic to them, and then it’ll happen. But if it’s really not happening, that doesn’t mean that they’re failing. We’ve just gotta find another tactic.

Or another pond to go fishing in.

[Mattias]
Yeah, I mean, it is really personality dependent. I think that some people will thrive in areas that others will not. I personally don’t have any desire to just call a bunch of random people.

But I mean, to check in with a friend, to make a connection with somebody that I have an established relationship with, that’s totally different.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Right, or even a past client. Call them and either wish them, hey, I can’t believe it’s been a year and happy one year purchase anniversary, or if it’s a first time home buyer, hey, we’ve got really rough winters here. Have you blown out your sprinkler system?

Are you prepared for the winter? Because they might not know, right? So having a really good, solid, authentic reason to pick up the phone once I give them that, then it’s like, oh, I can do that.

Right, and then on occasion it doesn’t hurt to say, hey, who do you know that might need my help?

[Mattias]
Right? But that doesn’t have to be the purpose of the call. Like, it’s your intro.

[Tanya Bugbee]
And not every single call. I’m not saying it has to happen on every single call. And so I’m like, oh, during the month of November, let’s just show our gratitude.

Do not throw the ask in there this month. But come January, who do you know that has a real estate goal this year for 2025? Buying, selling, or investing, I’m here to help.

I want you to ask. You just took two months off of asking, right? You just showed your gratitude, appreciation.

Popeye brought him a pumpkin, or whatever you’re doing. But come January, I need that ask again.

[Mattias]
That makes sense.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah.

[Mattias]
I think that’s, there’s a few elements I wanna tease out here from what you’re providing. There’s the, first of all, the planning. I think that living intentionally is incredibly important.

We talk about this a lot, but I think it’s important with your family, with your health, everything that you do. If you’re not living intentionally, you’re letting life happen to you. And so you can really have whatever you want in life if you’re intentional and you take the steps to do it.

So doing that with your business makes a ton of sense. And then, obviously, on top of that is you’re holding them accountable. And you’re not only holding them accountable, but you’re making adjustments if needed.

Because sometimes what we think we can do, what we plan on doing is not gonna result in actually happening or not getting the results that we hope. So that’s a huge part of, I think, everybody I talk to, pretty much everybody I talk to that is a high-achieving person is in some sort of mastermind, is in some sort of coaching program where they are getting this accountability and they are living intentionally and getting what they want out of life by being intentional and accountability.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah, and being intentional, having the steps to work every day, I don’t expect perfection. I’m very driven. I’m very focused.

I’ve got a great coach. I’ve got a plan. And it doesn’t mean there are days that I don’t hide.

Right? I’m watching my language. And it happens.

The news happens or your kid is sick or I have a daughter that’s having a baby in a few months. And so yes, there’s distractions. However, I get back on track and sometimes SOS my coach.

It’s kind of like off track right now. Help me get refocused. Because we’ve had distractions.

It’s normal. And we have more and more distractions. We have a cell phone that beeps on for every reason.

So I don’t want anybody to feel that this is easy. Being a business owner is really, really hard. I got into being a business owner at a very young age.

I had great role models with parents and grandparents. And it’s still hard. It’s a lot of work.

And one of my favorite questions with all my clients, and I did it very recently with a broker who asked me to do a class for her agents. I said, if you look back at your week or if you look back at your month of November, just hover over your business. Sit in a helicopter 3,000 feet over your business and look down at what you’ve been doing the last couple of weeks of November, would you hire yourself or fire yourself?

And the eyes just got big in the Zoom room. Like, ah, fridge, I’d be fired. It’s so easy as a business owner to get off track with working on our business.

[Mattias]
Yeah, yeah, it really is. There’s a lot of things that come in to play. And if you don’t have that guiding star to really recenter yourself and the methodology behind it to get yourself mind right, to move forward towards that guiding star on a regular basis, it is easy.

And I think my business has definitely fluctuated a lot. I’ve been president of my real estate board twice now. And I think that that often can be distracting as well.

I mean, in a way that I’m happy to do, but it could also be distracting on my business. And I’ve seen my business fluctuate from things like that in the past, so.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah, so it’s waking up in the morning and realizing I can do both. It’s a both end. And I can still be a good dad or whatever the other goals are for you.

It’s a both end, not an either or. And so if we have an either or mindset, one’s gonna suffer the or. And if it’s a both end, how do I calendar this?

What are the steps to be? I want you to be efficient. So let’s find the efficient, effective steps and calendar it.

And then check in. How am I doing? Am I gonna get fired or hired?

[Mattias]
Yeah, in a similar way.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Most of my weeks I’m hired. But I’ll have weeks where I’m like, oh, I’d fire myself. But that might be four weeks a year, not 44 weeks a year, right?

That’s normal.

[Mattias]
Yeah, and I think another way to look at that too is like either your business is growing or it’s dying, right? I mean, if you’re not working on it, it’s gonna be dying. So yeah, it’s taking those steps and working on it.

Tanya, do you have any favorite books or fundamental books that you would suggest with a real estate audience in mind that you would suggest them to, that you think everybody should read or you know, work with that however you want?

[Tanya Bugbee]
Gosh, I don’t have one favorite book. And so that’s a really tough question. However, I do love books around what my clients are struggling with.

So if they’re a team leader and they’re struggling with leadership skills, I recommend Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. I love that book. Atomic Habits, when we’re looking at our habits, I love Atomic Habits.

Miracle Morning. I have a lot of clients who struggle with money and their relationship with money. So Think and Grow Rich is a phenomenal book to read.

So I’m, like with my coaching, I pretty much tailor the book to what my client first needs. There’s a phenomenal book, Mindset, called Your Inside Team. So like, you know, the inside team piece, that’s a great book.

So if they’re really struggling with mindset, I’m too old, I’m too fat, I’m not good enough, I’m new, who’s gonna hire me? We gotta start with the mindset. So I’m kind of going around in circles with your question.

But yes, reading is great.

[Mattias]
Those are all great. My wife would be very happy about a Brene Brown recommendation.

[Tanya Bugbee]
She’d be great. And I love the book, it’s easy. It’s just like basic and solid leadership skills.

[Mattias]
Yeah. Yeah, no, those are great. Those are, I’ve definitely read a few of those.

So I can definitely recommend them as well. I love this podcast. It’s a gift and a curse because I always have so many books to read from the recommendations.

But it is so powerful. I mean, having that growth mindset, right? I mean, just, if you’re listening to this podcast, you’re on the right track reading books, listening to podcasts, getting your head filled with more helpful information to get you what you want.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Yeah, we need to grow and we need to better our craft. I read books intentionally to better my craft as a business coach, right? So my realtors or my clients are roofer or Google exec I coach.

It’s like, what book’s gonna help that person grow in their craft?

[Mattias]
Yeah, I love it. Well, if somebody wants to reach out to you about your coaching services or follow you in any way, what’s the best way to do so?

[Tanya Bugbee]
It’s easy, it’s my name. So my website is tanyaBugbee.com. I’m on LinkedIn and Facebook.

I have a YouTube channel. I go live with a lot of my clients a couple times a month. And so there’s a lot of my lives are on YouTube.

And again, they’re all under my name, Tanya Bugbee. It’s not hard. Google me and most everything will pop up.

[Mattias]
There’s probably not a ton of Tanya Bugbee’s out there.

[Tanya Bugbee]
I love my last name now. Didn’t as a kid, a lot of teasing and bullying as a kid, but I love it now.

[Mattias]
Yeah, that’s awesome. And it’s easy to pronounce, Mattias is not as easy. It is unique, but it’s often butchered.

So, but hey, this has been a great conversation. I feel motivated to work more on my business plan for 2025. Thank you so much for being on here.

[Tanya Bugbee]
Thank you very much for having me. It was, it’s really fun. I enjoy doing this.

Thank you.

[Erica]
Thanks for listening to the REI Agent.

[Mattias]
If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week.

[Erica]
Visit REIAgent.com for more content.

[Mattias]
Until next time, keep building the life you want.

[Erica]
All content in the show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.