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From 12 Exam Fails to Thriving Arizona Brokerage|How Mara B. Built Bliss Realty & The Benson Group

By November 12, 2025Real Estate Pros Show


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Show Summary

In this episode of the Realistic Pros podcast, host Kristen interviews Mara Benson, owner of Bliss Realty and the Benson Group. They discuss Mara’s journey into real estate, the challenges she faced, and her vision for creating a supportive brokerage culture. Mara shares insights on the Arizona real estate market, the importance of technology, and common misconceptions new agents have about the industry. She emphasizes the need for hard work, mentorship, and the value of building relationships in real estate.

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    Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

    Mara Benson (00:00)
    It actually took me 12 times to pass the test and that’s part of my story. I didn’t realize I’m dyslexic. And so I didn’t give up. I didn’t stop. That’s no measure to you of how many times you take the test. So

    I think it’s one of the best careers for women and for working mothers. And especially as the market and the industry has evolved that you can work with your children. You can work from anywhere in real estate. It’s awesome.

    Kristen (01:59)
    Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen and I’m here with Mara Benson, who’s the owner of Bliss Realty and also the Benson Group. They’re out of Arizona and I’m excited to talk about building a business and managing so many people. So thanks for being here, Mara. So you have a really impressive business you’ve built. mean, you’ve built Benson Group within your business, Bliss Realty. So talk about kind of how you got into the industry to begin with.

    Mara Benson (02:13)
    Thank you.

    Correct, yeah.

    was many years ago. have two children. were three and four, and I’ve always been into sales and ambition, always wanting more, right. Entrepreneurial type path. and being a working mother, I felt very restricted in the sales industry. ⁓ how can you excel and you know, when you’re still having to go to daycare or pick up your children.

    you’re missing out on the networking and the after in the evening events, right? So I don’t remember who told me to get into real estate, but ⁓ I did.

    It actually took me 12 times to pass the test and that’s part of my story. I didn’t realize ⁓ I’m dyslexic. And so ⁓ I didn’t give up. I didn’t stop. That’s no measure to you of how many times you take the test. So ⁓

    I think it’s one of the best careers for women and for working mothers. And especially as the market and the industry has evolved that you can work with your children. You can work from anywhere in real estate. It’s awesome.

    Kristen (03:22)
    Yeah.

    I think it’s a really good point. I do feel like the whole real estate industry gives women a lot of power, especially working mothers. So I think that’s a great thing to highlight. So when you were kind of getting into it and you were taking that test, I mean, that’s a lot of tenacity that you have to have to keep going at it. What was that like for you? Like, what did that feel? Because I think a lot of people fold under pressure or fold under rejection, so to say.

    Mara Benson (03:57)
    they Yeah,

    I tried college twice and it wasn’t for me. School was really hard for me in general and I didn’t realize till later in life that I was dyslexic. My daughter is also dyslexic and through her that’s how I found out but going I would take the test each week and it’s no no you didn’t pass so I finally just stopped telling everyone and I was like I’m just gonna go in. I know I want this and to hear yes you’re like all right but

    But no one asks when you have your license, how many times did it take you to get your test? it’s not clients don’t think about that. The public doesn’t think about that. And I think too, if you were to go meet with an attorney or a doctor, you’re like, how many times did you go in and study and test? And, you know, it’s, I think it’s just your work ethic and your character of keep going. Don’t let anything hold you back. Don’t let anything stop you.

    Kristen (04:41)
    Okay.

    Mara Benson (04:52)
    Real estate is something that you can do. I’ve had my license since 03 and so I’ve seen multiple markets, multiple climbs in technology and it’s something you can have and work full-time or part-time and just have. and I think if there’s anything that you want, stay focused and just don’t give up.

    Kristen (05:59)
    Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I feel like in real estate, the test doesn’t define you. Real estate is so much about relationship building and learning on the job anyway. you know you’d a doctor, it’s a little different, or you should know this.

    Mara Benson (06:05)
    It doesn’t. Yes.

    I know,

    we tell new agents all the time, I’m like, okay, you passed, yay, good for you. Now you’re just gonna forget all that and now we’re gonna actually teach you. We teach you how to run a business and you need to be you, because you attract your tribe, so yeah.

    Kristen (06:19)
    Right.

    Absolutely. yeah, let’s kind of dive into that. So talk about when you decided to start Bliss Realty and kind of what that vision looked like.

    Mara Benson (06:35)
    Yeah,

    kind of throughout that the process I dabbled in politics and had a lot of fun. I met a lot of great people. I served on some of the real estate boards and within the committees and one of the brokerages that I was at, I’ve always been into like a mentor supportive type role. And at the time that brokerage did not have a coaching program. And so

    I created it with the owner of the brokerage and it was fabulous. But I kept running into no, you can’t do it this way. No, you can’t do this and no, you can’t do that. And you have to work with these people. in real estate, it’s there’s kind of a brick and mortar and things are slowly changing and evolving. know, it commercial used to be a boys.

    club. A lot more women are getting into that and some brokerages are like you can’t work commercial you can only do residential. So I just you know at the time I found some agents to work with we partnered together we opened Bliss now I’m the only I’m the owner there. But that’s how it evolved was we wanted a brokerage that agents could not hear no right.

    Follow the rules, be good people and evolve your business because it is your business and the brokerage should be there to support you and what you’re wanting to do. And I think a lot of brokerages miss out on that. And that’s just super important to me, you know, to mentor, to coach agents and to have that culture that even if I don’t know something, if you ask me, I’ll go find the answer and then help you out and

    It’s we’re all doing the same things. There’s nothing secretive about real estate. share what’s working because you’re going to put your own twist on it. I’m going to put my twist on mine and this is let’s just be successful and be good agents, right?

    Kristen (08:28)
    Yeah, I think that’s wonderful. you, I mean, you saw what you wanted your business to look like. So you created it and now you’re creating that opportunity for other people, which I think is so cool. ⁓ So you work with a lot of agents. How do you, you mentioned culture. How do you bring on so many partners and so many people and kind of keep that culture within your company?

    Mara Benson (08:33)
    Yeah. Yeah.

    Correct. Yeah.

    You know, we

    have a great, the coaching team and our broker, they’re all in leadership with me. Lisa’s our broker. We wouldn’t be here without her and our coaches. They’re just fantastic. We have a great recruiting team. Our own agents help recruit and we all communicate and talk. And that’s something, you know, if agents are having a rough time or a rough life or even their wins,

    We all want to know about it. I want to know about it. I’ve been texting and talking to our agents all morning and, and I still work and have my own clients, right? But I think that’s super important that even if they’re brand new and they’ve graduated out of the coaching program, they should know the owner of the company. They should know the broker. And if they’re writing a contract at 10 at night and they’re terrified or they’ve run into a legal issue, they can reach out to me. They can reach out to our broker and

    Kristen (09:43)
    All

    Mara Benson (09:45)
    They’re not going to wait 48 hours for a response, right? Like time is of the essence and we, I want people to know that, that they’re not just a number. I think when you get at some of the really big brokerages, if you focus on caring about people and talking to them, that’s always going to be there in place no matter how big you get. Right? Like I think a lot of people don’t want to be forgotten about or just a number. You want to know that, that

    what you’re doing every day, whether it’s a struggle or a win, that it mattered. That they matter.

    Kristen (10:54)
    Absolutely, and I think, I mean, that’s a great way to keep culture, to just make people feel empowered, and I’m sure you have a lot of very loyal people who work within the company. And then you’ve expanded into property management as well.

    Mara Benson (11:00)
    Yeah.

    Yeah, Yeah, we have a lot of agents that work with investors. ⁓ They do investing themselves. We have wholesalers, have flippers, we have commercial agents, commercial transactions, development transactions. And so it just felt like the synergy, the next step was a property management that’s a part of Bliss, but yet agents over on that side.

    they can’t sell. And I think that’s one of the things when an agent, when you have investors or people that want to rent their home out, you want to be able to refer them to a property management company and know that you’re not going to lose your clients that and we have it. If an agent refers an investor to us to manage their door, it’s spelled out very clear that we communicate with the agent. They’re involved in all communications with the homeowner and that we do not sell.

    and we’re not taking their clients. ⁓ that’s actually very, important to me on the property management side.

    Kristen (12:09)
    I think

    it just feels like you’re vertically integrating is really difficult. So yeah, that’s it. Yeah.

    Mara Benson (12:14)
    trying. Yeah, it’s not easy. I’ll just tell you

    that like I you know, I, talked about this, but you know, there’s a lot of struggles and I think that you push through, you know, you don’t, you don’t, there’s agents that leave and we actually get agents that come back and they’re like, we should never have tried the other brokerages or you’re like, dang it, I shouldn’t have had that person or okay, I shouldn’t have paid for that coaching or maybe I shouldn’t have tried that CRM right but

    I think that’s how you learn and you keep going instead of just closing the doors and going, I’m done, right? I’m just not a quitter.

    Kristen (12:53)
    Definitely and kind of shifting gears a little bit. I’d love to talk about you guys serve the greater Phoenix area I feel like Arizona’s been a really hot market I would love to talk more about that and kind of what you’re what you’ve been seeing over the last five years

    Mara Benson (12:59)
    Correct.

    The growth in Arizona is awesome. ⁓ They do a great job with our highway system and the businesses coming in. The cities as much as they compete, they still work together. And so there’s plans where to put them. It brings in jobs so people want to come here and our property taxes are still affordable. When you compare us to other states around the U.S., our housing prices are still affordable.

    And business owners, even startups or ones that want to expand, you can still find places to expand and grow. And, and I love that. I, I love Arizona’s forward thinking. It’s taken them many years. I believe they were always a retirement type state and we, we benefit from that, right? But we’re getting younger people and families moving here and it’s just fun to watch. It really is.

    Kristen (14:04)
    Yeah, I feel like after COVID or during COVID, so many people were fleeing to Arizona. I’m in California, so I saw it firsthand, yeah.

    Mara Benson (14:10)
    Yes. Okay.

    Yeah. Yeah. We, you know, I’m an avid hiker and actually during COVID that was, I was hiking a lot. ⁓ I took our agents on a hike this week and I’m going to Flagstaff over the weekend to hike. And it, there’s just, there’s so many activities in Arizona. And I mean, if you want to drive an hour and a half, you can go ski.

    Right? You can fish. There’s we have elk, we have bear, we have mountain lion. And we’re minutes from the city if you want to go to a concert or museum or art. And there’s always events happening here. And I love our weather. Even in the summer, I love the heat. You know, you can go paddleboard. And a lot of people don’t realize truly how many lakes and rivers that we have.

    You know, there’s pine trees and we do have cactus and I just love Arizona. I came here from Washington State in 90, I think it was 98 now. So, so yeah.

    Kristen (15:57)
    Amazing. Yeah, I think it’s and it’s just gonna grow So yeah, and just the market in general. I know that there’s like a lot of confusion There’s a lot of information being thrown around and it sounds like yeah, it seems like you have a very positive Outlook on where the markets out right now

    Mara Benson (16:01)
    It is.

    Always. ⁓

    I think you have to, right? The news is always doom and gloom and we’re usually the opposite of the news and there’s never a bad real estate market. I, again, I got my license in 03, I experienced the housing bubble, I’ve experienced multiple booms, I’ve experienced the short sales, the REOs, condo conversion, like anything you could think of, I’ve…

    I’ve seen it and I’m blessed, right? ⁓ Blessed to have that knowledge now and any agent that has their license or is going to get their license, again, there’s never a bad market. It’s just, you need to change who you’re talking to, who you’re marketing to. ⁓ Arizona is great because we have a lot of international buyers, ⁓ investors, and people that are moving here, even if it is for work, they’re going to buy houses.

    if you’re a developer or you’re a builder, there’s a lot of opportunity. We have a lot of state land still to open up and it’s always what can, what’s next year, right? Your business planning and what can you change, implement? I know there’s a lot of talk about AI and we’ve just implemented new software at Bliss with the AI technology. And I mean, I got my license and, and we didn’t have email.

    We used fax machines, we had to hand deliver offers, the documents were carbon copy. Like think of where we are now with technology, truly. And it’s fabulous. And a lot of people freak out over social media, but that’s a tool to connect with people all over the world. And ⁓ even other agents to share business and a lot of people don’t know that, but agents can refer clients back and forth and

    and share commission and it’s a win-win and there’s just I I try to embrace instead of and don’t get me wrong change scares me but technology can help you it can especially if you have like me dyslexia ⁓ the software is fabulous it helps me a lot so if you’re an introvert there’s technology out there to make it seem like you’re an extrovert and to help you and

    Kristen (18:26)
    Mm-hmm.

    Mara Benson (18:38)
    So I just say, you’ve got to dive in and, you know, not be a secret agent and not stick your head under the covers.

    Kristen (18:46)
    Yeah, absolutely. I do feel like it’s important to adopt whatever technology update there is. And I think AI is something that scares a lot of people. But to your point, it can really help.

    Mara Benson (18:56)
    It does.

    Yeah. Yeah.

    Kristen (18:59)
    Yeah, absolutely.

    ⁓ So I’d love to talk about, kind of wrap this up, you work with so many agents and you mentor so many people. Is there something you see over and over, maybe agents entering their career, kind of mistakes or misconceptions you see all the time?

    Mara Benson (19:07)
    Yeah.

    Yeah. And this

    is probably anywhere. It’s it’s in general. I think people think real estate is going to be easy. They get their license. It’s it’s one of the quickest and cheapest ways that you can own your own business. error in well in real estate, there’s no limit to what you can make. That you can you can make as much as you want. Right. A salary is capped hourly is capped. Real estate’s not.

    but you have to work at it every day. Even I do, if I stop networking, stop marketing, people aren’t going to use me. And so it’s an everyday thing and ⁓ some people have to get past their ego or you just have to keep at it and ⁓ it’s not a quick easy, it’s not. It can be a lot of fun and you meet a lot of great people and I think that’s what’s fabulous about it.

    ⁓ that you can be in another state writing contracts and meeting people and come to find out they want to buy or sell in Arizona, right? So, ⁓ or just networking with other realtors, but it’s not you get your license and you’re going to start making money, you know, and I think that’s the shift. A lot of people have to shift if you are salary or hourly that it’s all commission based.

    Kristen (20:40)
    Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ I feel like a lot of people do have kind of that conception, but, or misconception, but I think real estate is one of those things that you really do get out what you put in. It’s like a direct reflection. Yeah.

    Mara Benson (20:47)
    Yeah.

    Correct. Yes. Yes. And we see that. And

    especially brand new agents. tell them, I’m like, you have to do what your coach is telling you. If you’re not coachable, then what are you doing? So, and I think that’s with any, anyone in any position, no matter what job you’re in. ⁓ You know, there’s a lot of growth podcasts and books. And if you’re not willing to change and evolve or do is what people are advising you like,

    People are trying to share how they are successful. So, so do it, right? I don’t know.

    Kristen (21:27)
    Yeah, get out of your own way and take the advice of people who have been there for sure. Well, amazing. Thank you so much for being here. I feel like you’ve given us a lot of great information about the market and some good tips and tricks and inspiration as well. tell everyone where to find you and how to find Bliss Realty and the Benson Group.

    Mara Benson (21:29)
    Yes. Yep.

    Thank you.

    Yeah, you can Google us. You can Google Bliss Realty. You can Google Myra Benson. ⁓ We’re all over social media and LinkedIn. I don’t know if you want my phone number or email, but yeah, my phone number is 480-215-6658 and you can email us info @ BlissRealtyAZ.com. I’ll answer anyone’s questions. They may not like my answers, but they’re honest and fair.

    Kristen (21:57)
    But

    Mara Benson (22:13)
    So reach out, they can text me, email me, you can even message me on social media. So ⁓ So yeah, thank you for having me. This was fun.

    Kristen (22:24)
    Of course.

    Well, thank you everyone for listening. I hope you learned a lot, got some good inspiration for yourself and your business, and we will see you back next time. Bye.

    Mara Benson (22:32)
    Thank you.

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