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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Q Edmonds speaks with Erin Bradley, founder of Pursuing Freedom, about overcoming burnout and designing a fulfilling life. Erin shares her journey from struggling in the real estate industry to finding success through authenticity and community. They discuss the importance of prioritizing self-care, creating space for honest conversations, and the strategies that keep them motivated. The conversation emphasizes the need to embrace discomfort and fear as part of personal growth and success.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Erin Bradley (00:00)
I disagree. think getting access to the control switch of the light within you and figuring out how to turn that light back on again is whatcreates a magnetism because when your energy is high, when your focus is clear, when your enthusiasm is through the roof, that’s when opportunities seemingly find you out of the blue. So we call that curating vacation energy because in the real estate world, it’s a running joke that if you want your business to pick up, you should book a vacation because as soon as you try to take a vacation, the phone rings and it’s like so annoying, right? So it’s like, why is that? It’s because the light is on. It’s because you’re excited.
Quentin (00:19)
Mm.Mmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Hello, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. And y’all know what I’m gonna say. I’m excited to be here. And I tell you all the time, my excitement is always because the guests that I get to talk to, man, their perspectives are always, seem like they’re always fresh. People can do the same thing, but it seems to always be a fresh take when I talk to a new person. And today is no different. You guys are in for a treat.
I don’t know, are you tied sometimes to being on the roller coaster of success? Like that roller coaster of burnout, like you work, but you get burnt out, and you work and you get burnt out. I think I’ve got somebody that can help me with that today. This person is a speaker and a coach. They help people that’s been on that roller coaster of burnout. They actually show us how to pursue freedom. Remember that because that itself is going to come back so many times during this podcast.
I am truly excited to introduce you to Ms. Erin Bradley. Ms. Erin, how you doing today, ma’am?
Erin Bradley (03:08)
Awesome, thank you for having me. I love this, this is gonna be so fun.Quentin (03:11)
Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here. Of course, we’ve been talking. I know that people are in for a treat. I’m trying to build it up. I’m trying to pull them in. And I know by the end, they’re going be like, OK, he was right. But we still got to produce, right? And so I want you to kind of take us into your world. I want you to tell people what is it that your main focus is these days.⁓ We love a good origin story. So even if you want to take us back a little bit and tell us about how you got to do what you’re doing now, I think they would love to do that. And I normally say what markets are you operating in? And you’re an investor. So I know that rings a bell as well, but maybe tell them what area you’re in. But I’d really, again, immerse us into your world so we can see things with your perspective. So my dear, you have the floor.
Erin Bradley (03:58)
Thank you so much. Yeah. So nowadays I am the founder of an organization called Pursuing Freedom, which helps train and support real estate professionals in every capacity, agents, investors, lenders on what I like to say is my motto is how to design a life you don’t need a vacation from. And Pursuing Freedom is the name of a book that I published in 2016 and later the name of the podcast that I started in 2018, which islike you, just chock full of interviews with amazing, inspiring humans that have persevered and have resilience and have overcome adversity.
And they share all kinds of everything from strategies around investment strategies to building and scaling businesses to mindset and neuro-linguistic programming, everything in between, right? But where Pursuing Freedom was born, it came because I was this free spirit who was traveling a couple years after college and I didn’t want to be
nailed down to a corporate job in the real world like all my older brothers and sisters had done. And I fell into the mortgage side of the real estate business back in 2006. And I saw the salespeople, the 100 % commission people come to work in jeans and a t-shirt, go to yoga in the middle of the day and put on their suit and go to closing and come home with a big fat check. And I thought, oh my gosh, look at that. That is the life for me. So I take the leap of faith in 2007 to go 100 % commission and
promptly fell flat on my face. I first of all, had no financial safety net. I had no confidence. I was mortified and terrified of being seen as salesy. And so I wouldn’t even tell my friends what I did for a living. So I went to all the sales trainings and everything just felt so dreadful. So by the summer of 2008, perfect timing in the real estate space, I found myself maxed out on all my credit cards and tens of thousands of dollars in debt. And I got a referral for a client.
So I didn’t have enough money for gas. So I had to ride my bike five miles across town in the heat of summertime. And I figure out what I could wear to look professional and ride a bike and not be super sweaty. So I get there early to let the sweat dry off. And unfortunately the client got there early too. And he introduces himself to me at the counter as my credit card is being declined for a $2 cup of coffee. So I’m at financial rock bottom. I am mortified and I call my dad for advice.
Quentin (06:55)
Mmm.Erin Bradley (07:01)
because he had gone 100 % commission in his twenties. And he’s like, look, Erin, do you think you’re going to be good at this someday? And I remember thinking, I don’t have any evidence to indicate that I will, you know, which is an interesting thing around belief, right? Like, do we believe we can do it before we have the evidence? And I said, I think I could, dad, I think I could be good at this. And he said, then you’ve got to do whatever it takes. And so I opened another credit card and I hired my first coach, which is interesting now that I coach full time becauseYou often hear, can’t afford a coach. Well, I couldn’t afford not to, right? It was either like, I have to figure this out or I’ve got to go find another job. And so I did whatever it takes. And it was great advice to an extent because the next several years, I literally said to the coach, I’m desperate, tell me exactly what to do and I’ll do it. So I got the playbook, right? And everybody has the playbook. There’s no shortage of information out there. There’s probably too much information. And so we take the playbook.
Quentin (07:48)
Mm, mm.Erin Bradley (07:57)
And we muscle through the activity and muster up the courage and we grind and we hustle and it’s fine. But years went by where I was closing deals and paying my bills because I was following the plan and something was still missing. And it was really just the authenticity piece. So in 2011, now I’ve been at this for four years and a friend of mine gave me The Go Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann, which is one of the most life-changing books I’ve ever read. you haven’t read it, if you’re listening, get The Go Giver.They have an entire series, but any one of them will change your life. And so when I read it, it was like this paradigm shift because I realized that up until this point, I was following all the training to do the things, make the calls, see the people, write the notes, to get the leads, to get the deals, to get the money, to solve my problem. So I was a perfect go-getter. The go-giver philosophy is that the goal is to be of value above and beyond what you get paid to do.
and to be a resource even when your clients don’t need your services. So it allowed me to develop a strategy that ultimately became later a workshop that I started teaching in real estate offices and then later became the content of my book. And the whole idea was how can you be yourself, increase your referrals and have more fun growing your business. And what I learned in that experience was that the more you give, the more you get, but you can put a strategy behind that and you can have a lot more fun. And what
ended up happening was the business more than doubled in 2012. I went from averaging 30 some transactions a year to doing nearly 80. And I had never expected that before. So I wasn’t prepared for it. So it swallowed me whole. know, at first, I was making more money than I ever dreamed of. And I thought I was lucky, but I was pregnant with my second child. I was working 24 seven. And at the end of that year in 2012, I went to a company dinner and I asked my colleagues who were doing more volume than me.
Like, how the hell are you doing this? And they all admitted that they work until 10, 11, 12 o’clock at night after their kids go to bed. So I remember coming home to my husband and for the second time in my career, I said, I don’t know if I’m cut out for this because if this is what quote unquote success looks like, first of all, why would I aspire for anything more when I’m already drowning? So I thought I’ve got only a couple options. Number one, I can suck it up and survive my own success. Like my colleagues are.
Quentin (10:01)
All right. ⁓Erin Bradley (10:11)
and pretend I’m okay, but I’m a shell of myself and kind of resenting my own success. Or I can shrink, which I tried and the business dried up and I found myself back in debt again. So the roller coaster keeps going. Or I could invest in myself and, and find the coaches that would teach me how to build systems and scale. And that’s the choice I took. So in 2014, I started scaling the business. started hiring some of my loved ones and training them up.Quentin (10:14)
Hmm.Yeah. ⁓
Erin Bradley (10:38)
And we ended up more than doubling the business again. And that journey continued for about another, I don’t know, 10 or 15 yearsstarted teaching realtors and other real estate professionals what I was doing because it was the only way to experience the true freedom that comes with exponential growth in your financial success and abundance without exponential sacrifice of your time, energy and enthusiasm. so.
long story long, I guess, that long answer to a short question is that I learned that, you know, we have infinite access to abundance. There’s infinite opportunities. But what is not infinite is our time, energy and enthusiasm. And so when those things become compressed, we start to second guess the desire within us to expand and grow. And I think as human beings, it’s our birthright.
Quentin (11:49)
Mmm.Erin Bradley (12:05)
to expand and to grow and to access the infinite abundance. And so when that starts to happen, when our time, energy or enthusiasm are compressed, it’s an indicator that we have arrived at a crossroads where the rules need to change and we need to begin to outgrow ways of thinking and behaving that won’t survive in the next level version of ourselves. Instead of saying, I’d rather not expand because it feels uncomfortable and then we shrink or elseQuentin (12:26)
Mmm. Mmm.Erin Bradley (12:33)
survive it, suck it up, pretend to be fine. We’ve seen it all the time. People making great money and grown men and women are behind closed doors in tears because everything feels like it’s falling apart even though the money’s good, right? Like success isn’t really just money. It’s so much more than that. It’s the way we feel. And so all that became just my obsession. Like as I took chances and made decisions with fear along for the ride, not without fear, with lots and lots of fear.Quentin (12:45)
Yeah.Mm.
you.
Yeah.
Erin Bradley (13:01)
Right?I found that the expansion was available. So it’s like, now I see things through a different lens and I see where people get stuck and it gets really messy in the middle. And my mission, my like life’s work is to call people up into their full potential, even though it feels uncomfortable. And yeah, that’s my long answer to a short question.
Quentin (13:17)
Hmm. Hmm.I love it. So yeah, so sometimes we got to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Like that’s sometimes the only way to grow is to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. so I’m listening as you talk and I’m taking notes. I love how you talk about time and energy and get compressed and that kind of how people kind of in a sense get stuck. Like, you know, what do I do next? Like, where do I go? And so I hear you’ve been spinning so many good strategies, but I do want to ask you, what are some of your personal strategies that keep you motivated?
I mean, I, I know you, you coach us, but what are some of the deer strategies that you keep close to the chest that keeps you motivated, keeps you going, keeps you, you know, forward.
Erin Bradley (14:00)
Yeah, so something that I have been guilty of in the past and was a witness to and ⁓ always a witness to in others is that we have this badge of exhaustion, like our ability to power through and to hustle and grind and this weird like glorified aspect of sacrifice to succeed. then you getthere wherever there is and you’re still not feeling fulfilled, which I think for me, I define success as unlimited present moments with the people I care about most personally and professionally. And so.
Quentin (14:36)
Please keep talking, but I gotta write that down. that’s so good. Please keep going. my goodness. Yeah. Mm. Mm.Erin Bradley (14:43)
Well, it was back in 2015 when my business had more than doubled again on the heels of firing myself and enlisting the help of others. And I was experienced burnout again. Like we had 17 closings in one month with myself and one team member, which is too much for two people. And so somebody gave me the book, The Miracle Morning by Hala Elrod. And I started practicing a morning routine andQuentin (15:06)
yeah.Erin Bradley (15:10)
it was very effective for me and it was a very small start to what became now over a decade of what I call unbecoming, like unbecoming, over-connected, over-committed, overwhelmed, rushing, stressing. And what I’ve learned is that giving myself permission, giving yourself permission to refuel actuallyresults in elevating your ability to be of value to others.
There’s this illusion that if we power through and we just keep giving from an empty well, that we’re doing our very best when in fact, we’re not doing our best. We’re not doing our best for anyone, not our loved ones, not ourselves, and certainly not those we’re trying to serve because we’re diluting that energy that we talked about is not necessarily infinite. So prioritizing, refueling, and reenergizing
and treating it as as important, if not more important than the action I take ends up injecting the action with like supercharged, you know, power fuel where it’s like everything I do comes from a place of energy, focus and enthusiasm. And there’s it’s so much more impactful with less effort. So really deconstructing the schedule, owning the schedule, not from a place of negative like boundaries, meaning you’re not allowed, but like
I lead with my availability and I prioritize my peak energy times of the day and of the week for engagement. And then my low energy times, which most people don’t honor at all. Like we are human beings. We have ebbs and flows of energy and enthusiasm. And you probably know when your peak energy and peak clarity and focus, and when you are working through exhaustion. And what I see a lot is when people feel that uncertainty
Quentin (17:33)
Mm.Erin Bradley (17:36)
financially or with the market or the industry or they’re in overwhelm or fear or self-doubt or whatever, because we’ve been conditioned to believe that we should measure our worth in productivity, we think that action is the bandaid to this low light feeling.I disagree. think getting access to the control switch of the light within you and figuring out how to turn that light back on again is what
creates a magnetism because when your energy is high, when your focus is clear, when your enthusiasm is through the roof, that’s when opportunities seemingly find you out of the blue. So we call that curating vacation energy because in the real estate world, it’s a running joke that if you want your business to pick up, you should book a vacation because as soon as you try to take a vacation, the phone rings and it’s like so annoying, right? So it’s like, why is that? It’s because the light is on. It’s because you’re excited.
Quentin (18:11)
Mm.Mmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Erin Bradley (18:25)
You’re having fun. You’re planning. You’re anticipating. And soWhat does it look like to cultivate vacation energy each and every day and really just genuinely lighten up? Like, how can we make this fun? How can I bring fun into every part of my day? And if it doesn’t feel fun for me, then why am I doing it? Because this is not the easy route, right? And that’s a whole other tangent is like, literally, how do we make this fun? Because that becomes the compass. Joy is the compass. Love is the compass.
when that is the purpose of everything we do, we become unstoppable because the light is so bright that you can’t be ignored, right? Like a lighthouse in the storm, the ships start coming to port. And that’s where you start to see like, you really can’t script this. It is so unlimited and so fun. You just can’t, it’s unstoppable. So fun.
Quentin (19:12)
Ms. Erne, I am enjoying this immensely. I don’t even have, I have the words, but it would take too long. We would go, I would, it would become about me talking more to you for me to really try to tell you how much I appreciate what you’re saying, how much is really resonating, how much it resonate with the people that surround me, the practices that I’ve been putting in with my community and my common unity, people who I have common unity with. And so.Um, this is really, really good. I appreciate everything that you’re saying. Um, I want to ask you, what’s the real goal for you when it comes to your coaching and your speaking. And I know you said it’s to elevate others, but I want to put that, that question out point blank. What’s the next real goal for you, Ms. Erin?
Erin Bradley (19:55)
The thing that I’m most focused on and passionate about is creating more space and more room for conversations like this, because so often people want to lead with their external achievements because of our insecurities. And it’s normal to be insecure. It’s part of the human experience. And so when we are showing up through this like filter of thispersona we think we’re supposed to play to be able to be successful and get the outcome that we desire. We play the game, we play the part, but really deep down inside, we’re not in alignment and our well is empty. Like we’re just powering through giving from the empty well. Then where does the joy and fulfillment of life exist, right? So I really want to help people reverse engineer the way that we call in abundance. And so
through the speaking I do on stages at conferences and the community that I’ve created, National Referral Network of Realtors and Lenders, what we’re doing here is we’re finding our tribe, right? Where you don’t have to go this alone and you don’t have to pretend that you’re fine when you’re not. And I don’t mean like, whoa, is me, let’s talk about everything that’s wrong. I’m just saying, let’s be honest. This is freaking hard.
And if we know it’s going to be hard, then let’s make sure that we’re designing it in a way that fully aligns with my life, my season of life, my interests, my hobbies, the people that I love and want to serve. Like, I want it to be so aligned for each individual that you’re not sacrificing your well-being in exchange for dollars indefinitely. And what that looks like is it’s like an invitation to to continually evaluate where you feel most energized.
every single day and where you feel the most drained. And then get in the room with people that remind you of your future so that you can start to borrow the confidence you see in others or borrow the confidence they see in you to make decisions to no longer tolerate what no longer serves you. Because as we ascend in the journey of life, we’re always learning and growing and we need to be dissolving outdated thoughts that become beliefs that become excuses.
for why we’re living so far out of alignment with our truth. And when we are willing to do this act in spite of our fear, it’s like we strengthen this muscle within us to just start to be a witness to what fear tries to do. It’s just part of the brain’s job to keep us safe, which means playing small and to continue to be willing to step through that, like that scary door number two, which is our next level self. And the easiest way to do that is in community, right?
Quentin (22:18)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.Thank
Yeah.
Erin Bradley (22:29)
So many people are really lonely right now, really lonely. And when you get in the room and you are hearing someone speak on a stage or you’re getting access to coaching or colleagues or just people that are going the same place you want to go, and they’re no longer willing to tolerate that which no longer serves them, it empowers you to continue to step up. And the more we do that, the more we can call others up into their full potential.Quentin (22:31)
Go.Erin Bradley (22:56)
And there was a guy on my podcast once, I loved the way he said this. He said, I’m always looking to add to my barrel of monkeys. You those little plastic monkeys with one arm reaching up and one arm reaching down. So I’m always wanting to learn from those who remind me of my future and get in the room with people that challenge me. And I always want to take anything that I’ve learned or experienced and be sharing it with as many people as possible to keep pulling people up. And I think as long as we continue to have conversations like this,Quentin (22:58)
Yeah.⁓ yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah.
Erin Bradley (23:23)
We create space for people to start to think, wait a minute, do I really need to do it this way? Do I have to do it this way? He says, who? What do I really want? And what’s holding me back? And usually it’s what’s right between your ears, your brain, right? And so it’s all of this like working with your fear, not being judgmental of your fear, just being curious about it and not letting fear drive the bus. Like just saying, okay, fear, you’re coming with me, but I’m going anyway.Quentin (23:32)
Mm. Mm.Erin Bradley (23:51)
And as we continue to do this, start to feel and experience the true essence of life and abundance. And it’s ever expanding.Quentin (23:52)
Yeah.I love it. Yeah. One of my mentors say, do it scared. like, listen, if you scared, but we gonna do it anyway, do it scared. And so, fear is going to be on a journey with us, but we gonna push past the fear and push forward to where we need to go. And like you said, just being curious about it. Like giving yourself grace. Everybody gets scared. Everybody has a fear, but I’m gonna do it scared. I’m gonna acknowledge it. I see you. I see you fear, but come on, we gonna do it anyway. Absolutely. Listen, this has been.
Erin Bradley (24:24)
Yeah.Quentin (24:27)
Absolutely great, absolutely great. Listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate, learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach out to you?Erin Bradley (24:38)
my gosh, I love connecting with everyone who if anyone heard this and got any takeaway DM Q or DM me because we when we run these shows, it’s like, is anybody listening? Hopefully we’re bringing some value to somebody. So when I get a DM from somebody, makes my day. So yeah, you can follow me on Instagram at pursuing freedom official. You can connect with me on LinkedIn, Erin Bradley, you know, YouTube, check out the podcast. And I always sayQuentin (24:51)
Fight.Erin Bradley (25:04)
If you find value in an episode of a podcast, share it with a friend because so many of us do feel lonely on this journey and we’re not alone with what we’re navigating. We’re not the only ones experiencing fear and acting in spite of it. And so the more we stay in community with others that are curious, that are learning, expanding, growing, the more exciting and fun life can be. And then we get to share that energy with those we want to serve. And it just creates this ripple effect. It’s so beautiful and fun.Quentin (25:32)
There she is. She gave you all the contact. Please DM Ms. Erin Bradley. Like make her day. Let her know we’re listening. Let her know that you’re there. But then just let her know the impact that this conversation had had because there was a ton of value that I got from this and I know you got from it. So Ms. Erin, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for your story, for your perspective. Thank you for your time. We definitely need people like you into this space.And so thank you so much for being here today and taking time out.
Erin Bradley (26:02)
Thank you. Thank you for having me and thanks for everybody who’s listening.Quentin (26:05)
Absolutely. Well, listen, y’all got the value. You’ve heard what Ms. Erin said. Go ahead and hit the like button. Go ahead and subscribe that way. When that alert goes off, when we keep bringing you these just so much nuggets and values and content that’s just really, really good, you can just come in and just view it and take the nuggets and let it shift your mind, let it change your perspective and power you on even past the fear to get where you need to go.And so, Ms. Erin, I thank you again so much and listening to everyone else, we’ll see you on the next time.
