The Secrets to Success in Real Estate: Insights from Ashley Massey

Dylan Silver (01:32)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. I’m your host Dylan Silver and today on the show I have Ashley Massey, fellow Texan, both of us here in the DFW area. Ashley is a global real estate advisor and author of Fast Track Agent. She brings her life overseas as an economics professor back to the US to elevate the real estate industry with market insights, mindset, and pure magic. Ashley, welcome to the show.

Ashley Massey (02:00)
Thank you so much for having me. I’m so happy to be here today.

Dylan Silver (02:04)
Absolutely before hopping into the meat of the show here. I always like to ask folks how they got into the real estate space

Ashley Massey (02:12)
That is a journey of itself, but cliff notes of it is one, I’ve always been interested in real estate. It was always gonna be the next chapter. So when one door closed, I knew this was the next one I was gonna walk into. And then I also went through my own home buying experience a few years ago and had a terrible experience. And I said, you know what? I need to get into this industry. I’m gonna elevate it. I’m gonna bring it to the next level. And that is what I’m doing.

Dylan Silver (02:39)
I think a lot of people when they talk about ⁓ professors and people in higher education, they say, they’re teaching but they’re not doing. You’re doing every side of it. You’ve been the professor and now you’re active and you’re a teacher in it. Do you have a preference which one or the other if you could only do one?

Ashley Massey (02:56)
I don’t think I could ever separate mentoring and coaching and teaching from the career and from what I do. Even prior to real estate, I was doing international marketing for a company based in Germany. And I would find myself just constantly sitting there teaching, whether it was about marketing trends that we’re seeing in the industry, skincare ingredients, things like that. So it’s always in my heart to really just like bring up those around me. And I think one of the ways to do that is just through education and inspiration.

Dylan Silver (03:26)
Where were you living overseas? I love to travel and I love being outside of the country, honestly. Where were you overseas?

Ashley Massey (03:33)
Yeah, so I actually moved to South Korea. So I was in Seoul for my MBA program and I was there for about 13 years. And then from Seoul, I did a stint in Germany and then the German company actually relocated me to Dallas, Texas. So that’s how I ended up down here.

Dylan Silver (03:49)
So you speak Korean.

Ashley Massey (03:51)
I speak a little Korean. I talk about that in my book though, how I’ve kind of been able to fake my way through these foreign languages. ⁓ But it depends on the time of day that you catch me, whether my Korean or my German is any good.

Dylan Silver (04:06)
So how long were you in Germany for?

Ashley Massey (04:08)
I was in Germany for just a short stint, about three months, and then I was back there every quarter. So I traveled there a lot, and I was with that company for a few years.

Dylan Silver (04:17)
And so is Dallas now home base or are we only gonna have you here for a couple months or years?

Ashley Massey (04:22)
Dallas

is home base. I love it here so much. I’m originally born and raised in Montana and I just can’t deal with the snow and the cold. So I will take triple digit degrees, poolside any day other over than the cold.

Dylan Silver (04:27)
Okay.

I know. ⁓

grew up in New Jersey, lived in Boston for six years. It’s very cold and I believe Montana probably is comparable, maybe even colder. And I tell people, I’ll take the heat. just don’t wanna, the cold, I feel like I might, know, sometimes I don’t know if I’ll make it through the cold. I can survive the heat, I’ll survive the heat. Find me some nice, cool area and a water bottle, I’ll be okay.

Ashley Massey (05:00)
Exactly. And it’s like, feel like my bones hurt now when I get cold. I’ve got, you know, I’m not showing my age at all, but I’m like, my, my body aches when it gets cold. But when it’s warm outside, I can always find some shade.

Dylan Silver (05:05)
you

Yeah, no, I don’t know how people are able to opt for the cold over… I mean, you never hear of people who are like winter birds. You hear of, of course, snowbirds, people going avoiding, but you never hear of like, this heats too much. I’m going to move up to, you know, someplace where it’s freezing to enjoy the winter. ⁓ Pivoting a bit here, Ashley, ⁓ you’re involved as an advisor, fast track agent. What is that?

Ashley Massey (05:31)
Right.

So Fast Turnip Agent is actually a book that I wrote a couple years ago for new agents. I found a lot of fast success and I was honestly under the impression that all agents knew what I was doing. I thought that it was kind of ⁓ just common information and the more I spoke to new agents and people kind of coming up right behind me in the industry, I realized they’re very lost and I know exactly what we should be doing. So how do I kind of guide them and bring them along with me?

So this book was very much born out of just having too many conversations with brand new agents. And I figured let’s write a book, let’s put it out there on Amazon so people can get it. And now from that, we’re evolving it into a course so people can be able to get more in-depth information online and hopefully get a lot of their questions answered maybe even before they get licensed to find out if this really is the right fit for them.

Dylan Silver (06:27)
that.

Did you do your courses when you were initially becoming an agent? Did you do your courses online or in person? that’s tough. I tell people I tried to do it online. I did. I bought it, and then it just kept going on and on and on. Finally, I ended up going in person, and I’m glad I did. I’m glad I did, because I felt like I learned so much faster in person than online. Would you give any advice to people who are trying to get licensed online?

Ashley Massey (06:43)
I did, I did mine all online.

I think it comes down to what is going to motivate you the most. I knew for me, I wanted to get my license essentially as quickly as possible. I have a very strong background in business and entrepreneurship, economics, finance. So I knew I had a lot of the basic knowledge that I needed to be successful. I just needed to knock out the courses and get that exam taken. So for me, it really worked best to just hone in on online learning. I did do test prep in person.

And that was a very interesting experience because while I was in the classroom for two days, I was surrounded by a lot of agents that were just complaining about being there. And I thought, you’re here on your own accord. You’re here to go into an industry that’s very self-motivated. Why are you complaining about staying late on a Tuesday night to study for an exam that you’re choosing to take? So that was very eye-opening to me about the people that are trying to get into this industry.

And again, it’s so self-motivated. Do you have what it takes from the start? If you’re sitting there complaining about being in a class, maybe this isn’t gonna be the right fit for you.

Dylan Silver (08:11)
I thought the actual exam was very hard. I passed on the first try, I don’t know how. I studied hard, I guess I do know how. But I’ve spoken to brokers who are from other states who took our exam and didn’t pass. It’s a hard exam, am I wrong? Is it a hard exam? It was hard.

Ashley Massey (08:26)
Texas is a hard exam and for as much education as I’ve gone through, I will say this was one of the toughest exams I’ve taken in my education careers. ⁓ And I’ve heard that Texas does have one of the most difficult training courses as well with the hours that we have to do to be able to get licensed. I am also licensed in Oklahoma and so that exam was, that was pretty easy compared to what I had gone through in Texas.

And so yeah, it’s definitely something to keep in mind. I’ve had agents that have reached out to me that are moving to Texas from out of state asking about the exam and things like that. And I just told them to hold on, hold on to their hats because it is definitely different from most states.

Dylan Silver (09:10)
Yeah, they handed me the you pass. There was a little I didn’t know at the end of the exam. They just handed me a piece of paper. It said you pass. I said I’m getting out of here before they change their decision. Let me just get on get on out of here. And I think Texas is so different in a lot of ways. ⁓ I mean, even I’ve heard attorneys, right? So if you’re an attorney, the exam is entirely different as well. Or so I have heard. And so we’re having to deal with, you know, mineral rights. And of course, you’ve got farm and ranch. It’s just an entirely different landscape.

versus you know I’m from New Jersey versus New Jersey for sure.

Ashley Massey (09:44)
It is, and I work with a lot of relocation clients who will come to me and say, you know, I’ve bought and sold houses my whole life. And I’m like, but have you bought one in Texas? And they’re like, well, no, like it’s totally different. Right? So I get that. I get that a lot. It’s a completely different ballpark down here.

Dylan Silver (09:58)
loops.

So fast track agents. So you ⁓ really have a system and you developed it based on your own experience, but how did you learn? Where was your information coming from when you were starting out?

Ashley Massey (10:15)
I honestly think a lot of my information has come from all of the lives that I’ve lived to this point. Going from university, I’ve got my background in marketing and fashion merchandising. I moved overseas when I was 21 years old. I didn’t know a single person, didn’t speak the language, lived with a family who spoke no English, survived Asia. I went through a cult, let me just be honest. I was in religious organizations.

I was in changing careers left and right. So I would say everything that I’ve gone through in my past has like led me to this point where I can say, ⁓ okay, I have the confidence, the skills and the abilities to do this. And now I can teach other people how to do it too.

Dylan Silver (11:47)
⁓ So talking about going from here to South Korea, many life changes, and then now agent, real estate agent in Texas, would you tell people who are, let’s say, just getting out of school, that they need to narrow it down and kind of figure out exactly what they want to do? Or do you think, you know what, if you want to go try a bunch of things, I did it, I think it’s great, and you should do as much as you possibly can?

Ashley Massey (12:13)
I think a lot of it comes down to how you’re designed as a human, right? And what it is that we’re drawn to. So for me, I definitely lean into trying all of the things and my friends and family will see me pivot, you know, left, right and center sometimes. But in every pivot that I make, I find the next level of success. So I think that it really comes down to everybody’s individual, almost character. I know some people that have come out and gotten right into the industry and have knocked it out of the park.

I’ve seen some people kind of go the roundabout way, but really it’s just what is going to work best for you.

Dylan Silver (12:50)
What do you think about this Ashley? I’ve heard many people say this, two degrees to touch the cheese. If you want to make money, you gotta get two degrees. I feel like you can’t go wrong with getting two degrees. If you’re gonna be that dedicated, you can’t go wrong. And then along the way, you probably might have a better idea of what you want to be doing. Hopefully you get those two degrees in something that you like anyhow, right? But it’s like a tremendous, if nothing else, you’ve got two degrees and then you can go specialize even further or you could go… ⁓

know, embark an entirely different career, but you’ve got those two degrees. Is that a sensible plan? I think a lot of people might start doing that.

Ashley Massey (13:26)
Yeah, I think that is a sensible plan. And it’s also interesting because do we even need the degrees if we can go and just gather the information on our own? Like if we can just be curious enough and inquisitive enough to find that information and really lean in as an expert in that area, do I actually even need a degree for that? So I think as we see the progression of technology and AI and what higher education is going to look like,

Do we even really need a degree to be able to be the best in social media marketing or online digital advertising or things like that? So I think we’re going to run into a really interesting pivot in all of our industries. But if you can come into real estate with a background in business, economics, finance, marketing, any of those, they’re going to really help you lay the right foundation, not only for how you run a business like a business.

but how you interact with your clients and how you serve them at a really high level.

Dylan Silver (14:25)
I completely agree with you. on the camp personally of ⁓ you don’t need a degree to do a lot of the things. Definitely I would say that real estate agents do for the most part. However, for folks who maybe want to have a…

a traditional career path, but also want to do real estate. I think it just goes hand in hand to be highly educated and a real estate entrepreneur. The doors that are open for you are tremendous. I think the teachers that I had at the real estate school that I went to were highly educated, and they were some of the best teachers that I’ve ever had. You could see that they were personally passionate about it, and also they were active agents themselves.

Ashley Massey (15:07)
Exactly. And they’ve gone through, they know the struggle, they know what it takes. They’re not just up there reading theory out of a book and hoping it sticks.

Dylan Silver (15:17)
Yeah, no, not at all. When you were writing your book, was the impetus to write the book because you saw that other agents didn’t know the information that you had picked up along the way? Were you having people coming to you saying, hey, Ashley, I need mentorship. Are you open to hopping on a one-on-one with me?

Ashley Massey (15:35)
Exactly, that’s exactly what it was. I was having the same conversation over and over again, and I’m like, I need to sell some houses. I can’t keep having this conversation, but I can direct you to a book that I wrote on Amazon that breaks it into 90 days because you get your license and you’re so excited. And then you walk out of that exam room knowing you passed. And then you say, now what, what do I do? So how do you know which brokerage is going to align with you and your goals?

How do you ask the right questions when you go into those interviews with brokerages? Because remember we’re hiring them. They’re not hiring us So we have to go into those interviews with a completely different mindset and then once you get under that brokerage How do you maximize the resources that they have without getting completely overwhelmed in everything you need to be doing? So I found having a step-by-step guide. It’s really you know, it breaks it down very easy 90 days

Dylan Silver (16:11)
Yeah.

Ashley Massey (16:31)
weeks one through and then gives you kind of an outline of what you need to be doing.

Dylan Silver (16:36)
So it’s very much logistical. It’s not just theory. It’s not like broad. It’s very much do this, this, this, and this, and this is how I got through the first 90 days.

Ashley Massey (16:46)
Exactly, exactly. And things as simple as check your voice message. What does your voice message sound like? Are you announcing that you’re now a real estate agent? When people call and leave a message, is it actually activated? There’s nothing more furious as an agent than calling another agent and their voicemail isn’t set up, right? So it’s those little things that we might not even think about or consider as we’re just basically.

running to get business and to do what we need to do in this industry. We forget all of those little things along the way. And how do we actually run it like a business?

Dylan Silver (17:18)
What’s going on here?

Ashley Massey (17:57)
I have walked through agents through everything that they need to do from figuring out if their voicemails are set up so that when people call them, you know, they’re able to actually leave a message that they have their brokerage information, walking them through, cleaning up their social medias, because you want to make sure that people are ready to see your face in your new industry and what you do.

Dylan Silver (18:04)
film.

Dylan Silver (18:20)
Yeah, it’s absolutely critical. I’ve heard my mentor tell me as soon as agents get their license, they lose their phone. And I don’t know how true that is, but I’ve heard that before. And I’ve even heard now that there’s like speed to lead AI that’ll answer your phone when you’re not available to just really create that continuity of care.

Ashley Massey (18:41)
Exactly. And again, it’s just, you know, picking up your phone, answering messages, being available, having healthy boundaries around that. Of course, we all have family and things like that, but I really understand, you know, when it’s urgent and when it’s, you know, something can wait until morning.

Dylan Silver (19:00)
So between being an agent, your background as a professor economics, you have the book, right? How do you balance all of these areas? are you right now just doing real estate or are you involved in education at a higher level to this day? ⁓

Ashley Massey (19:18)
So right now, when I got licensed, I jumped in feet first full time from day one. And so it’s been great. I got my book launched in 23. It’s already been almost two years, which is crazy to think about. And now I’m getting ready to launch my online academy. I hit top producer numbers last year, top 20 % of my brokerage nationwide. So I’m still highly active on the sales side and now bringing on the mentorship side.

Dylan Silver (19:32)
Yeah.

Ashley Massey (19:47)
Somehow I do it all. have to say it’s my superpower. I also have a seven year old. I love her to death. So we do all the things around here.

Dylan Silver (19:56)
Do you have advice to people who want to be doing many things? You’re successful doing it. I don’t know that I could be. Do you have advice to folks who would like to wear many hats?

Ashley Massey (20:10)
Eliminate any excuse. I could sit all day long and come up with a thousand reasons why I don’t have the time or I don’t have the ability or I don’t have this or that. If you can eliminate all of those excuses and really take a look in the mirror on the personal responsibility of your life, you can accomplish so much. And so I think that’s my biggest piece of advice. If I know the life I want to create and I know I’m responsible in creating that, I have no one else to look to but myself.

Dylan Silver (20:40)
You know, when I think of my day, and I have this podcast, I’m also an agent, I’m also an engineering school outside of here, I tell people if it’s not on my Google Calendar, I have no idea if it’s happening. I don’t know if it exists. It could be a very important thing to me. It could be someone’s birthday, it could be a big event. If it’s not on the Google Calendar, I’m gonna forget about it. My life is dependent on what it says day to day in my Google Calendar. Do you have a similar system for staying organized?

Ashley Massey (21:09)
Absolutely. I have my Google calendar. It is locked and loaded and the people around me like my friends, my family, they’re all very understanding. If you want to see me, we’re going to need three to four weeks in advance and I’m going to put you in there and that’s great. But I don’t have a lot of space for last minute appointments and things like that because I utilize my time in building my business and with my daughter and all of the things that, that I juggle and just time for myself too and health and wellness and those things.

Um, and so just kind of holding that and being true to myself on the schedule that I want to have and what I want to maintain. I have gotten really good with, um, you know, the professional coffees and things like that. I’ve limited those to about two to four a month. Um, and so I know when you look at your schedule, you can kind of see, I busy in my business or am I busy on my business and really be able to weed out, um, things that are just not productive for what we need to be doing every day.

Dylan Silver (21:52)
Yeah.

How, I guess, specific do you get with time blocking your day? Do you even time block things like meals and like exercise or do you slip those in wherever you can find space?

Ashley Massey (22:22)
So I am very structured in my day with a frame. I know what I need to get done, what’s within that frame, and then inside of it, it’s very fluid. So I have kind of the main things that I need to have during my day, but then how it comes to be, I like to just try to keep that as fluid as possible. But when it comes to appointments and those types of schedules, I try to make sure that those are always maintained and respected, but then things like eating or lack thereof eating.

or just the little things, know, the grocery shopping here and there and, you know, life. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re still doing life while we’re doing all of these other things.

Dylan Silver (23:00)
I know.

I was forgetting to eat lunch and I was like, man, why am I always so hungry? And then I realized it’s because I wasn’t time-blot, I was just constantly appointment, appointment, just not eating lunch. And I can’t believe this made such a big impact in my life, just blocking off a time for lunch, that now all the afternoon activities, you know, they just seem to go a little bit better. And so I think for people who are doing many things as clearly you are, you have to find something that works for you. I can speak for myself and I can say like, if I didn’t

lunch it’s not gonna happen but you have a system that works for yourself and then you know having a bigger picture like you talk about new agents first 90 days right being able to have a goal in mind and then set along the way what needs to

Before we wrap here, I wanted to ask you, without giving away all the gold, if you had to give new agents sort of one or two critical pieces of advice to what they can do to see success first year, first 90 days, what would that be?

Ashley Massey (24:48)
The biggest thing that is kind of holding agents back is their limited mindset and the limited beliefs that they have around the career that they have, the business they can have, the life that they can create. So I always say success in this industry, it’s 90 % mindset. It’s waking up every day, honestly believing in yourself that you have what it takes to be successful in an industry where 87 % of the people fail within the first two years.

We’ve got a major statistic against us as new agents. And so really just making sure that they wake up every day knowing your success is up to you. There’s no ceiling on this industry. There’s no limit on this industry other than what’s happening in our own minds.

Dylan Silver (25:34)
Thank you so much for coming on the show here today and for giving us some great value over here ⁓ Where can folks go to get a hold of you?

Ashley Massey (25:43)
Absolutely. So you guys can find me all over the internet at the Fast Track Agent. I have one again launching my Academy at the Fast Track Agent Academy so you can come and join our community. We’re doing happy hours. We’ve got bonus sessions. We’ve got everything that you need to go deep in your drive in those first 90 days. An interesting thing about the Academy also is that everyone that joins a portion of our profits is going to

help women in like ⁓ less than wonderful situations. So we’re going for female empowerment and things like that. I’ve got some great collaborations with charities in the Dallas area and internationally to help women just have more healthy, focused, empowered lifestyles. And so you can find us everywhere on the Fast Track agent.

Dylan Silver (26:35)
Ashley, thank you so much for coming on the show here today.

Ashley Massey (26:40)
Thank you so much, Dylan. I appreciate it.