Stop Chasing Commission Checks: Linda McKissack on Building Real Wealth Through Real Estate

Linda Mckissack (00:00)
We understand that cash flow and wealth are two different things. we just had a passion to help. Real estate industry, unfortunately, is one that dies with broke a lot. And our goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen with any of our people or people that we can help along the way.

Scott Bursey (01:49)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. You know we love bringing you the biggest movers and shakers in the industry, the ones who are truly driving innovation and success. Today, we have a legend who has been instrumental in shaping the careers of countless top performers at one of the biggest names in the real estate industry, Keller Williams. This guest brings the ultimate fuel, the knowledge and leadership structure that turns

good agents into great agents. Please give a massive welcome for Linda McKissack Linda, welcome to the show.

Linda Mckissack (02:27)
Thank you, Scott. Happy to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

Scott Bursey (02:28)
It is just,

it is wonderful having you here. And for those of our listeners who may not be familiar with your journey, please tell us how’d your career begin and what’s your main focus now?

Linda Mckissack (02:41)
Yeah, awesome. Thank you for sharing that. Well, I think our past always leads us to our future and our story is no different. We have lived in Texas our whole lives and in the late 80s and early 90s, Texas had one of the worst economic downturns it’s, it’s has ever seen even since even the 2008, 2009. And you always say, you know, once you’re successful, you kind of let your guard down a little bit and

We were successful in my husband’s restaurant nightclub business. And to be honest with you, what we should have been doing is figuring out ⁓ what’s our future self need to look like. But instead we got caught off with what I call guard with what I call gradually and suddenly the bottom dropped out. We had to sell a business for $600,000 less than we owed against it. So literally we went overnight from thinking we were successful to ⁓ no, we’re not.

And I always say the worst thing that happens to you, Scott, is usually the best thing, as long as you get the lessons you need to learn and you look for what happened. How was I caught off guard by that? And like I tell my 10X group now, the truth is 10X is either gonna be given, goals are gonna be given to you by circumstances like ours, or you can learn to set them for yourself and build a big life because you use them as a tool. And so, at the time it felt horrible.

But once we started reading books and trying to figure out how to get out of it, it forced us to have some really big goals. I always like to say we were ⁓ jumping two feet high in a 10-foot hole, and we couldn’t get out that way. So we had to start looking for people that knew how to help us get out or people who could answer the questions. we read books. And the best book we read was one by Robert Kiyosaki called Cash Flow Quadrant. And it told us that the truth is,

The people who don’t get caught off guard with Graduallys and Suddenlies and they actually get wealthier ⁓ is because they’re wealthy because they’ve invested in assets, businesses or stocks and we had done none of those. Well, we had been in the restaurant night come business, but we were just riding markets. We didn’t really understand it or know all the things you need to know about successful businesses. And so that’s what forced me. My husband had a mentor a long time ago.

that told him if you want to be rich,

real estate’s the way to do it. And so my husband probably in his 10 year old or 12 year old brain at the time thought, okay, real estate. What he thought was I’ll get my wife to sell houses, we’ll be rich forever. And I think what the man meant was buy some houses, build some houses, develop some houses, something like that. But I always like to say I’m glad he didn’t understand the man because honestly, real estate is a great cashflow vehicle.

But Scott, it’s not a wealth building vehicle unless you buy some. And so that’s kind of how I got in the real estate business. And we started climbing our way out. And quite honestly, before we were even out of the $600,000 in debt, I found a partner. Because I always like to say when you don’t have the money or the credit, you’re either driving it, wearing it, living in it, or somebody else has it. And so when I found a property right away,

And my husband said, there’s no way we can do it. Linda, they’re not going to loan us any money and we don’t have any money. Then I immediately always say, you know, when the goal is big enough, you’ll find the pathway to get there. And I woke up with my builder’s name on my head, on my mind. And I said, I’m going to go ask him if he will partner with us. And I just said to him, I’m to be honest with you. We don’t have the money. We can’t go to the bank. I’ve got all I’ve got is my little bit of commission here and I’ll throw it in if you will partner with us. And he did that on the first three properties.

So we were investing in real estate before we were even out of debt. So that kind of got us moving and we started to understand what we didn’t know before. Because when you’re successful, we usually get comfortable and just coast and get complacent. And really what we should be doing is figuring out who is my future self and what would that person be doing right now. And they wouldn’t be resting on their laurels to be honest with you. And so that’s kind of how we got into investing and we’ve always invested ever since.

Scott Bursey (07:38)
Absolutely.

Linda Mckissack (07:42)
We understand that cash flow and wealth are two different things. we just had a passion to help. Real estate industry, unfortunately, is one that dies with broke a lot. And our goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen with any of our people or people that we can help along the way.

it’s simple but not easy because they get so, I always say they like to walk over dollars to get to dimes. They’ll walk over.

know, net worth dollars or building wealth dollars to get to a commission check, which feels quite large at the time, but doesn’t really move on to freedom of time, money, or relationships.

Scott Bursey (08:22)
your passion is surely evident. And on that note, let’s dive right in because our listeners really want to know the answer to this. What is the single biggest strength in KW’s training model that consistently produces top agents?

Linda Mckissack (08:26)
Yeah.

Yeah, well I would say if we’re talking about Keller Williams training model, it’s they’re very clear about who they serve. You know, and I always say before I determine wealth for someone else, the question I’m gonna ask is what did their actions tell me is important to them? And from the very beginning when I met Gary and met KW, it was very clear to me that they were a company about helping me thrive.

and helping me win and such is our slogan, we’re entrepreneurs thrive, right? And I think real estate agents are entrepreneurs. They might not be set free yet to be that entrepreneur, but it takes some bit of entrepreneurship to even build a real estate business. And so I think we’re very clear on what we spend our time, our energy and our money on, and that is education and training. And I think we’ve also built a community where we all care about each other winning.

and we help each other. And so I think those combinations really have been a formula for success. And it’s not been cheap or fast. I mean, it’s been 40 years in the making and we’ve never not had writers and a faculty and new education coming out and playbooks that come out to tell people how to simple one pagers, how to run a play.

So I think that’s been the secret to Kellowem success, to be honest with you, is

they’re not confused about who they are and who they serve.

Scott Bursey (10:42)
Absolutely. What a great winning recipe. And Linda, if someone’s listening to this and they’re thinking, this is someone I really want to partner with or learn from, what do you want them to know first about your business?

Linda Mckissack (10:58)
Well, I think if they’re coming from how do I partner or be with someone, I always say the very first question anyone should ask when they have a big goal or a big dream is who’s already done it. I mean, that’s the fastest shortcut I’ve ever found is when I can get in proximity to those people, I can get there a lot quicker. And quite honestly, Scott, I don’t know about you, but time goes so fast, right? And if anybody asked me what do I wish I had done differently, I always say more and faster.

More and faster, that’s all, that’s it, right? And so I think you gotta learn the leverage points in classes and educations are a leverage point. Your podcast is a leverage point because people can listen to other people’s journeys and stories and learn a lot. And so, you know, being in the proximity sometimes of someone who’s accomplished what it is you wanna accomplish, I always say sometimes you, you know, if they have a book or a class or whatever, you gotta make the investment and do it and.

For me, I put it off for years, because quite honestly, I’m such about freedom that I didn’t want to have my one-on-one time always consumed. And so I never went down the coaching route, even though I have a love for training and coaching other people to accomplish it. And like I said, when I was featured in the 10X book, God just kind of tapped me on the shoulder and said, you got to figure this out. And so for me, I needed to figure it out where I could still have the flexibility.

and be where I wanted to be or needed to be. And so that’s when we came up with doing 10X challenges. Our next one of those is in June and ⁓ then put them into a 10X acceleration group where I can work with them one-on-one, not one-on-one, but in a group. So that frees up my time and then also gets them proximity and access too. But I think there’s so many people out there, honestly, that you can find someone.

who’s accomplished and that you feel like you can trust and you want to be around and you want to learn from. And you just got to find those people and then just ask, know, how do I get in there? How do I get proximity to those people so I can get my information faster? And honestly, I feel like what I’m noticing about the group, just told you, I just got off one of my calls and I’m so excited because they, start them off and they share their wins and hearing their wins, you know, the thing is so much of it is just having that

community around them that are also trying to reach their 10x goals. mean, we’re not a society that can win alone. we went through COVID and we tried all that, but the truth is we need each other. And we do better when we’re in a community of like-minded people. And I think that’s been the case forever. part of us would like to believe, well, I can just go over here in my corner or behind my computer and…

never need anybody and we’re just not finding that to be true. I know I succeed better when I get around other entrepreneurs and people who have big goals and big dreams.

Scott Bursey (13:56)
And Linda, for some of our listeners that may not be familiar with the 10x challenge, could you take us down that road of what it entails?

Linda Mckissack (14:04)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, this actually, I love Dr. Benjamin Hardy and I love Dan Sullivan. They’re two of my favorites. And if you haven’t read their books, read 10 X is easier in two X who not how and gap in the game. And I think, you know, I think the greatest people in the world are someone who can take something that feels so complicated and make it simple. And that’s, I think what happens when you understand, start to understand 10 X is easier in two X. And so when I went through that exercise with them to

to rehash my own life story of all the 10Xs, then it allowed me to really understand that people learning to set 10X goals is a tool. It’s a tool to have the biggest life possible. But a lot of us, we get a little bit of success, and maybe this is just more in the real estate world, but we’ll get a little bit of success and we’ll sit there in that success instead of realizing success is just a clue and it’s a

And if we’re not actually going out and trying to figure out what the next 10x goal is and getting uncomfortable with that, then we actually get stagnant. We don’t have growth and we’re just humans. We’re wired to grow and to become some all that we can become. And I see so many people in my group, Scott, that they got this little yearning. There’s got to be more. And because they stayed in that same perpetual loop of their past successes.

they don’t get a chance to realize, okay, if I just set another 10X goal and I use time as a tool, I use a community as a tool, I start looking for my bottlenecks in it, and I start doing this and realizing this is actually a secret weapon that anybody could use once they learn how to use it. And so I think that really is, it’s just a challenge that introduces them to it. And we do it for four days, two hours. If they’re in the VIP program, it’s two. If they’re in the general session, it’s only an hour of their time.

And then from that, some of them are gonna look up and say, ⁓ I’ve got some 10X goals I really wanna achieve. And so being in the 10X acceleration community, I think I could do that better. And it’s just fun to watch. It’s fun to watch how they help each other. It’s fun to watch how just the momentum of keeping it top of mind, I mean, and the wins that they’re getting and just, you know, sometimes we just procrastinate on something that’s so important to us and it helps us not do that, right?

And so really all it is is all the years of learning of my own 10X goals, which is why I was featured in the 10X book and really just understanding that some of it happened by accident. And I’m grateful today that it did because life handed me something, you know, and some of it came because after that we just started setting bigger and bigger goals that seemed impossible, that were scary, that we had no idea how we’re going to accomplish, but just

That alone helps us become all that we can become. And the only way we’re gonna become is to go out and try to achieve more. And it’s uncomfortable and nobody likes it because you gotta do things before you’re ready. You gotta commit to things you don’t know how to do. But that really is the secret formula. So I’m just looking for the audience and the people that say, yeah, I feel like yearning inside of me that there’s gotta be more. Or I feel stuck, or I’ve just lost my passion and my motivation.

I’m seeing a lot of that right now, Scott. They’ve just lost their motivation and their drive, and that’s sad to me.

Scott Bursey (18:11)
Absolutely. And I couldn’t agree more. And that was well said, very well illustrated and broken down. Linda, thank you so much. What do you feel is a big opportunity right now? And this could be like a market shift, a new offering, or just part of the business that you want to double down on.

Linda Mckissack (18:29)
Yeah, well right now we’re kind of having fun. We’ve done, you know, as far as our investment territory’s gone, we started with single-family houses because, you know, it was safer. We felt more comfortable. Not that there wasn’t some limiting beliefs or fears around it, but we stepped into it. And then we moved from single-family homes to doing ⁓ vacation rentals. And we built up a very large portfolio of those in Branson, Missouri.

And you know, there’s always a perfect buyer and a perfect timing. And that came along for us in Hilton Vacation Homes, which is owned by, partially by Johnny Morris, who’s very close to where our properties are there in Missouri, purchased 25 of those from us. And so that left us only six with, and some extra lots that we have up there. And we had to make a decision. What do we want to do now? Right? And so we…

really saw a movement towards RV parks and we wanted to learn about those. So in December 2024, we just dove into everything we could possibly learn about RV parks and we thought, you know, that sounds good for a while. People to bring their house and they leave with their house. This sounds great, right? Because when the single family homes, when they move out, you still got the house and the repairs. And when the short-term rental people leave, you still got the house and the cleaning and all those things.

So it just seemed like a nice, ⁓ and we didn’t know a lot about it, so we bought a smaller one just to start out. And we’ve just had so much fun. They had not done really anything to it for years, and so we started making improvements and finding other ways to get some more income in it. So that’s been kind of fun to do something different. But mostly right now, also we’re looking to buy businesses, and we are buying some businesses.

Scott Bursey (20:11)
Thank you for sharing that. this is the million dollar question, Linda. If you could implant one mindset change in every agent listing, what would it be?

Linda Mckissack (20:17)
huh. ⁓

So if I could implant one mindset listing, what I would say is, know, Bonnie Ware says in her books, Five Regrets of the Dying, that the number one regret people have on their deathbed is not living a life that was true to themselves. And I think most people do what they think is possible, and what I think they should do is try some things that they think is impossible, and just give their chance, their self a chance.

to come up, I always say my answers come in my sleep. I don’t know why, but there’s actually psychological proof, Scott, that everybody has a different place, you know, that they actually get the answers. But when you give your brain a complex problem, I think, you know, I’m a faith-based person, so always think God will help you. You take it so far, He’ll help you take it the rest. But He gives me my answers in my sleep. And so I just say, you’re probably not giving it big enough challenges, because there are…

You know, most people that live really big lives, they’re not any more talented or successful. ⁓ I just say we’re average people who decided we wanted an extraordinary life. And I think that’s possible for so many other people, but they got to be willing to set some impossible goals and some 10 X goals and, and be willing to be uncomfortable and not have the capabilities when they actually set them and just trust.

that you’ll find the pathways or you’ll find the people that can help you find the pathways. And then just let’s just see how far you can actually go. I mean, I had a mentor tell me one time that life is about becoming all that we can become while we’re here. And the only way we become is by going out into the world and seeing what else we can achieve. know, sports teams don’t win one Superbowl and go back to the field house and do nothing. They go train some more. They see how much better they can get. And I think as humans, we’re wired that way.

But our brain shuts us down trying to protect us and with our limiting beliefs. And we sometimes think that to get more, we have to put more effort in. And that’s honestly not what I found when you learn how to 10x at all. It’s not more effort. It’s more leverage. It’s more ⁓ just trusting in the process that if you set a big enough goal, your brain will go to work and try to figure out the pathways to get there.

Scott Bursey (22:45)
Linda, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with our pros. If our listeners would like to follow your journey or collaborate with you, what is the best way for them to reach you?

Linda Mckissack (22:56)
Yeah, that’s awesome Scott. finally know the answer to this. ⁓ My Instagram is at McKissack, M-C-K-I-S-S-A-C-K Linda (@mckissacklinda). And then they can also go to lindamcKissack.com and we have everything on there that we work on or do. yeah, just ⁓ either place will be great.

Scott Bursey (23:14)
Is there anything else that you’d like to leave with our listeners today any golden nugget or words of wisdom further words of wisdom anything of that nature Linda?

Linda Mckissack (23:25)
You know, I would just say, you know, keep learning and growing and ⁓ thank you for the work that you do, Scott, to help people in this area because I know what work and effort it takes to be on that side of the microphone. And I would just say that, ⁓ you know, that’s where people start. They start by finding people that have either going to bring the knowledge to them or have the knowledge and just be willing to learn and grow and, and understand that.

If anybody else can create a big life for themselves, whether through investing or just their dream job or what they want to do, ⁓ then you can do it too. You just got to find the pathways and you got to find the people who are willing to offer. And we’re wired to help. I I think about, I would love to give everybody a one hour, everything away. But the truth is, because time is so limited, you can’t do that. So I’m finding the best avenues I can do that.

But on the flip side of it, the answers are out there. Just seek as much as you possibly can from the books you can read, the podcast you can listen to, the people that you can get in their community. ⁓ Be unwilling to settle for what you think is possible and go for what you think is impossible.

Scott Bursey (24:43)
Thank you so much for joining us today, Linda.

Linda Mckissack (24:47)
You’re welcome. My pleasure, Scott. Thank you for having me. It’s good to see you.

Scott Bursey (24:50)
And to our listeners, we appreciate each and every one of you. If you got value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ve got a lineup of exceptional guests, just like Linda, who are making huge moves in the market and in the world.

Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.