Triple Net Trailblazing and Riding from Runways to Real Estate Riches with Rachel Grunn
Key Takeaways
- Niching down creates exponential opportunities for growth, credibility, and consistent lead flow.
- Triple net leases offer powerful passive income with low stress and high stability.
- Holistic wealth requires boundaries, intentional living, and a macro perspective on time and life.
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The REI Agent with Rachel Grunn
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From Paris Catwalks to Property Portfolios
In this electrifying episode of The REI Agent Podcast, hosts Mattias and Erica sit down with powerhouse entrepreneur and investor Rachel Grunn, whose journey from international high-fashion model to Dallas-Fort Worth real estate mogul is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
With a childhood shaped by tile-scraping at house flips and a young adulthood spent in Paris’s haute couture scene, Rachel’s story is proof that no path is too unconventional to lead to legacy-building wealth.
“My parents had the wherewithal to be very adamant that I started investing my disposable income into real estate.”
It wasn’t just runway glamour and flashing cameras—Rachel’s real journey began early, grounded in grit, family values, and a bold entrepreneurial spirit.
The episode opens with Mattias and Erica reflecting on their own life-balancing adventures and quickly shifts into Rachel’s fascinating timeline of daring choices and smart investments.
Breaking the Mold: Modeling, Moving, and Mindset Shifts
Rachel’s decision to leave for Paris at seventeen with just a flip phone and faith in herself reveals a boldness that would carry into her investing journey.
Modeling for 16 years across the globe, she never lost sight of her deeper mission—to use her income wisely and build generational wealth.
“I made updates to my model apartment. You always have to be doing something.”
From her first residential investments in Texas, aided by her parents as boots on the ground, to pivoting into commercial real estate and triple net leases, Rachel constantly reinvented herself while staying rooted in strategy.
She embraced the uncomfortable and used it as a catalyst for growth.
The Power of Triple Net: Passive Income with Purpose
For listeners unfamiliar with the triple net model, Rachel delivers a passionate and clear breakdown.
By selecting nationally franchised, corporate-owned tenants with long-term leases, Rachel explains how she has built a steady stream of hands-off cash flow that empowers her to live and work on her own terms.
“It's just easy, steady cash flow.”
This model, paired with her intentional use of joint ventures and traffic-heavy building locations, isn’t just about money—it’s about freedom.
For Rachel, that freedom means being able to fully show up for her daughter, her clients, and herself.
Embracing Boundaries and Rejecting Commission Breath
Rachel isn’t just successful—she’s self-aware.
She speaks candidly about the pressure of being the family breadwinner, the mom guilt, and the chaos of real estate schedules. But she’s also clear that personal boundaries are not negotiable.
“If it's urgent, don't call me—call 911.”
With the help of a trusted assistant and a structured CRM system, Rachel reclaims time and sanity, modeling how agents and investors can run thriving businesses without burning out.
Niche Down to Level Up
Rachel’s greatest piece of advice?
Don’t try to do it all. Be known for something.
Her own niche, Airbnb investments, and triple net deals has become her brand and her business engine.
Partnering with an Airbnb manager who sends her 10+ leads a month, she underscores the exponential power of specializing.
“I’ve found more business and made more money being more specific.”
Wisdom Beyond Wealth: Holistic Health and Macro Perspectives
This episode isn’t just about money—it’s about meaning. Rachel recommends the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch as a reminder of life’s bigger picture.
She and Erica dive deep into the emotional toll of stress, the lies our brains tell us, and the unshakable truth held in our bodies.
“Our problems really aren’t that big… resetting your perspective and realigning your priorities is so important to long-term health.”
The discussion crescendos with laughter and reflection about eclipses, calendars of life, and the race against time, not for profit, but for purpose.
Eclipses, Horseback Rides, and Living Boldly
This episode is a masterclass in courage, clarity, and conviction. Rachel Grunn isn’t just building a portfolio—she’s building a life.
Whether galloping through an arena with her daughter or navigating commercial leases, Rachel reminds us that holistic wealth is about more than assets. It’s about awe, agency, and alignment.
“Maybe this stressful week of your life will one day just be a blip on a calendar.”
If you’ve ever doubted your ability to balance ambition and presence, this episode will challenge your limits and expand your vision.
Your Life Is the Investment
Rachel’s journey is a radical testament to what’s possible when courage meets clarity. With passion, humor, and vulnerability, she proves that even in the high-stakes world of real estate, you don’t have to lose yourself to win.
“Resetting your perspective resets everything else. That’s where the real wealth is.”
Stay tuned for more inspiring stories on The REI Agent podcast, your go-to source for insights, inspiration, and strategies from top agents and investors who are living their best lives through real estate.
For more content and episodes, visit reiagent.com.
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Mentioned References
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Transcript
Welcome to the REI Agent, a holistic approach to life through real estate. I'm Mattias, an agent and investor.
And I'm Erica, a licensed therapist.
Join us as we interview guests that also strive to live bold and fulfilled lives through business and real estate investing.
Tune in every week for interviews with real estate agents and investors.
Ready to level up?
Let's do it.
Welcome back to the REI Agent. Erica, it's good to have you.
Good morning.
We wanted to chat a little bit about, and once you listen to this episode, you'll understand why, but just kind of like how we are able to plan fun, intentional things with the kids, meaningful things with the kids, trips, et cetera, and how big that is. And I think like it kind of makes everything more worthwhile. Like, I feel like if you're always, you know, sacrificing for the future, like if you're just not spending any money, you're saving, you're investing, so that one day you can live, you're definitely missing out on life.
And, you know, who knows how long we'll be here. But yeah, having those times with the kids, we talked a little bit about doing our eclipse trip where we were planning to be in Rochester, had everything planned out, and then it was gonna be cloudy. So we just packed up in the car.
We just kind of looked at each other. I remember it was like, we could drive to Canada. And you're just like, well, we came all this way.
We might as well. It was like an eight hour drive to a place that had a park and it was right in the line of totality. We didn't want a really populated place.
It was not a big town. The God Canada, and the French speaking part, which we don't speak French. But, you know, I was like, well, let's just do it.
Let's just do it. And we spent a couple hours there, packed up and came back. It's like 24 hours and 16 of those hours were in the car, right?
At least.
Yeah. I remember thinking it was really cool to get out of the car and for our kids to, they didn't hear English anymore.
Yeah.
It was like, you know, where are we?
Yeah. And you mentioned about how they got like special. We, did we have like a beer or something?
Did we take a beer to cheers when the eclipse happened?
Oh man, I don't remember.
We wanted the kids to have something too. So we got them like these special little like strawberry chocolate milk. Like they had like a character.
Yeah, strawberry milk with like a figurine on the lid and they got to drink it when the eclipse happened.
And so that's an imprint on their brain. But, you know, we were just talking, I think, I don't know what the conversation was the other day with the kids about, was it the best memory ever or something? What was it?
Azra asked me what my favorite memory of them is. And I said, separately, it was the day you were born. But then I asked them, what was your favorite memory of what we've done together?
And then it kind of launched into all these stories about our trips we've taken.
And it's always the trips. Like it's just, you know, a special time. Like we were in Switzerland last year, which, you know, really blessed to have family there.
And, you know, the things that, you know, the things they remembered the most or that stuck out to us the most was like being on a farm with, you know, my family and like waking up and hearing the cows come in or like helping them get to the field and walking them to the field, you know, in the evenings. But so it's not necessarily that has to take money to do, but, you know, just kind of memorable times when we're having that intentional time together. The Magog trip wasn't necessarily a super expensive one.
We did some extra stuff like going to Niagara Falls and staying at a, what was that place? Great Wolf Lodge. Great Wolf Lodge.
In Ontario, yeah.
But honestly, that didn't even come up. I mean, that was a lot of fun for them, but.
No, and they hated Niagara Falls.
Yeah, that's true.
Remember we were on the boat, everybody got soaked. Nobody was happy. Everybody was screaming.
But we made memories. But no, if we talk to the kids, and this is, I think, a key thing here is if we talk to the kids about their memories of that trip, it's probably gonna be like that experience of, like, I mean, the cheersing of the chocolate milk or whatever, strawberry milk, is imprinted. That's kind of a special thing they don't get all the time.
But I think also just like that whole buildup. I mean, we got up at 3 a.m. and drove eight hours and got there, and then we were all kind of sitting around with a group of people in a park waiting for this thing to happen. And they had special glasses.
And that was probably something they're gonna remember a lot more than being at the amusement park in the Great Wolf Lodge.
Yeah, they were also talking, we're going to Hilton Head this summer. That's kind of our, the trip that we have planned. Last year was a big Europe trip with Switzerland.
And so this year we're going to Hilton Head. And they were talking about, more so Azra, because I don't know if Isla quite remembers a lot there, but Azra was talking about remembering riding bikes and being pulled on her little seat behind the bike. And going out to the beach and the water parks and things.
So they did, they definitely focused on trips.
Yeah, and then we talked about the time we went to Mexico as well. They just were in a pool basically for a whole week. So they loved that.
Anyway, it's just a good thing to kind of keep in mind as even if you are, if you have seasons, like with real estate sales, like there's just going to be really hectic, busy seasons, that it's important to plan things like that as well. And then to set up systems and set up processes that you can try to disconnect as much as you can when you're there so that you can really make a memorable experience. Yeah, but without further ado, we can get right into Rachel Grun.
Rachel is an agent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has a pretty cool story about how she got there. So enjoy this one. Here's Rachel.
Welcome back to the REI Agent. We're here with Rachel Grun. Rachel, thanks very much for joining us.
Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm excited.
Yeah, Rachel, tell us a little bit where you're coming from.
So I live in North Dallas, so North Texas, and it's where I was born and raised and still here. If you're familiar with the North Texas area, I live in Flower Mound.
Okay, cool. Tell us a little bit about how you got started in real estate.
Oh, gosh. So I grew up being homeschooled. So I was homeschooled until high school.
And the great thing about being homeschooled is that you get so much field experience in life, right? So you're out there going out with your parents, doing stuff, and I was luckily, I luckily had parents who were real estate investors. So from a very young age, I was going to their real estate projects.
I was scraping tile at their flips. I was hanging backsplash. I was negotiating with owners.
I was going to closings. I was doing all those sorts of things from like the ages of eight to 12. So I had a lot of exposure to the industry at a very young age.
When I was 17, I actually left home and moved to Paris, France, where I was pursuing a high fashion modeling career. So I was a high fashion runway model for 16 years. I still dabble, not necessarily in the runway side of things because I'm aging out, but I still model a little bit here and there.
And my parents had the wherewithal to be very adamant that I started investing my disposable income into real estate. So at the age of 17, 18, I'm making an income, whereas most of my friends are finishing high school or starting college, and I started to build a real estate portfolio. So really, I credit all of that to my parents.
They've taught me so much. And taught me to be brave and bold and have an entrepreneurial mindset and think about creating a legacy for my family. And fast forward, entering COVID time 2020, I was living in Los Angeles, still modeling and acting at the time.
And of course the world shut down. And as a model and an actor, we could not work from home. So luckily I did have my real estate portfolio to lean back on.
Now in 2015, I actually, we can get into this more later, but I actually sold off all of my residential assets and just invested fully into commercial. So I had a good portfolio in 2020 that was cash flowing, but my husband and I were like, we wanna start a family. We don't wanna do it in LA.
So we moved back to Texas, where I'm from. He's from New York City. So this was definitely a change for him, but started a family.
And when I moved back, I said, well, what am I good at? What do I love to do? What gets me up every morning?
And it was real estate. I love it. I've been doing it as an investor for at that point, a decade.
And I got my license. And initially it was just to broker my own deals, but being from North Texas, I just immediately had a sphere of influence and it just turned into a full fledged business. And it's been amazing.
Wow. Yeah, that's awesome that you were able to build that portfolio so young. And I'm curious if that was, so were you doing mostly kind of remote deals if you were in Paris, or I guess you might've moved around a little bit after that year you talked about, but also what did you invest in?
Was it all in the Texas area where your parents were? Like, were they kind of your boots on the ground? What did that look like?
Yeah, so in the beginning, it was all in Texas. My family was my boots on the ground. Actually just before COVID, I was looking into buying an Airbnb in Indianapolis, which would have been my first residential out of state deal.
But then while I was in escrow, the world shut down and I was like, maybe it's not the best time to buy an Airbnb. So I ended up terminating. But in 2015, whenever I moved everything over into commercial, we were all across the country.
So as you probably know, these commercial deals in this JV sort of partnerships, you don't really need to be boots on the ground. You can invest across the country. So that's when we diversified.
We went more, because cap rates in Texas were just so compressed. It was very hard to find a deal that would pencil in North Texas, just because it's such a desirable place to be.
Yeah. Rachel, you've had a very unique, I would say, experience so far in your life. And I'm curious what age group of peers you have felt like you can, or even the kind of peers you have felt like you can relate to the most.
Hmm, that's a good question. Well, being a working mother, there's definitely like its own set of challenges that come with it. And so I've relied a lot on my other working mom friends who have similar struggles where, you know, we carry this mom guilt with us, as I'm sure you know.
And so it's just kind of battling that. I am the breadwinner in my family. And so there's that as well.
And my husband's so supportive and amazing. And I'm very grateful to have a very supportive partner, but I need those. I love my stay-at-home mom friends too.
Some of my best friends are stay-at-home moms, but there's something special about my working mom friends that we can connect on like this deeper level. And then also through these real estate conferences and other sorts of masterminds I've been a part of, I've met people that have made me really uncomfortable in like a growth way, which has been really important as well. So they've pushed me to think beyond what I believe my limitations were, and it's completely changed the trajectory of my life.
So I'm very grateful for them. And I just, yeah, I'm surrounded by a lot of really amazing people.
Yeah, that's amazing. How did you get into modeling in Paris? Because you talk about it like you just hopped on a plane and there you were, and it was great.
How did you get in there?
Yeah, it did it. And this was back in 2010 or 2011. So smartphones were very new.
I didn't have FaceTime. There wasn't even Netflix in Paris when I moved there. So it was like, it was really, I was cut off from the world.
So it was definitely a different experience. I feel like nowadays to move to a foreign country by yourself would be a lot easier. There's a lot more resources you have.
So what happened was I had gotten signed with a modeling agency here in Dallas when I was 14. And I was just doing it through high school. There's a lot of retailers that are headquartered out here like JC Penney's, Dillard's used to be, Neiman Marcus.
So I was just doing like day work for them, just for petty cash during high school. And then I actually got accepted to the University of Arkansas. So I was gonna go and I was gonna study equine science because I'm a massive horse girl and I wanted to merge therapy with equestrian work.
And that was my goal. And then I got a call from my agency in Dallas and they were like, hey, there's this model scout from this agency in Paris that's coming and visiting Dallas. And he wants to see a few of our girls.
Will you come in and meet him? So I went to like a casting call at the office in Dallas and met this Parisian guy. And I guess it went well because they ended up calling my agency about a month later and said, would Rachel want to come to Paris for a year?
And at that point I was about to start college. And I said, you know what? I'll take a gap year, college will be there.
Take a gap year, go to Paris, see what happens. And it just took off. And then I just never went back to school.
Wow. What was that like for you to go? I mean, being around your parents so much and not having a separation like school, you know, like some kids do and then going to a different country and being on your own.
Was that lonely for you at all? What was the transition like for you there?
Yeah, it was, it was hard. My dad came with me for two weeks and just kind of helped me get settled. Models have what's called model apartments.
And it's essentially an apartment that the agency rents and then you pay the agency a fee to live there. And so I was housing with other models that were also very young, that were very scared. And so we all kind of, you know, we'd go to castings together, we'd go to dinner together.
So I felt like I had like a little community. And there's even one girl there from Texas actually, which was awesome. We're still friends to this day.
And so there was parts of it that were, you know, very scary. Yes, uncomfortable, yes. But also I found a little community and that was really sweet.
And some of the girls I'm still friends with, but I don't know how my parents did it. Me being the daughter, me being the mother of a daughter, I just can't imagine at 17, letting her just move across the country, especially like before Life 360, before Find My Friends, before any of that, like just hoping I'm okay. I had a SIM card and a flip phone and that was it.
So it was wild. But, you know, it's molded me into who I am. So I'm very grateful.
Well, yeah, like kudos to your parents for showing you the ropes and exposing you to what they did and then creating enough of a base for you where you felt comfortable to explore something so different and so far away too. And yeah, great job for them.
I was gonna ask if you, when you got homesick, if you did, if you could retile the bathroom or something.
Yeah, I made updates to my model apartment. Yeah, exactly. You always have to be doing something.
Yeah, yeah, totally.
I did a very similar, I did a gap year after high school in Germany. And it was hard and it was definitely, it was around the same time, it was 2007. So we didn't have a lot of that technology either, but what a formative time.
It was so huge and impactful. And we're making plans to try to take the kids overseas to kind of help them see how like, you know, the rest of the world is a little bit different or they live a little bit differently to kind of expand their horizons. And I think it's just important.
So that's what we're doing.
So important.
So important. When you, I wanna hear about how you, when you got into sales, what did you do? Did you join a team?
Did you kind of go into a big brokerage? What was the angle when you started?
So I did what everyone did and I got my education at KW. And when I was there, my team lead actually was, he's great. And he was like, don't join a team for 90 days.
Just give it your best shot at being a solo agent for 90 days.
I was like, okay.
Cause you know, I joined and being from the area, having a huge sphere of influence and being 27, I mean, that's what everyone buys their first house pretty much. So I'm like, had so many buyer leads immediately. And so there was a lot of teams that wanted me and my team lead was like, don't just give it 90 days.
And I did, and I haven't looked back. So no, I've never been part of a team. I was with KW for about a year until I got my feet underneath me.
And then I moved to more boutique brokerage, Reflect Real Estate. And I've been with them for now over three years. So I got licensed in February, 2021 and KW for a year, Reflect now for over three.
And it's been awesome.
And as you're going, are you still looking to expand your portfolio of rentals, commercial, whatever? And are you still looking at the joint venture model as kind of like your preferred commercial joint ventures?
Yes, yes. I'm always looking for deals. I love my passive cashflow.
I really do like the commercial model of real estate. I really like the triple net model. That's kind of the one that I'm most interested in.
And now it's kind of taking over my portfolio. A lot of assets I'm loading off and loading on triple net.
Give us an elevator pitch on that. Just in case people aren't as familiar or they think they know what it is, but just sell us on that real quick.
Okay, I got it. Yeah, because it's the best. So a triple net lease, the triple and the net is essentially means that it's a type of lease that means that the tenant, commercial tenant is responsible for the taxes, insurance and maintenance on a building.
So as the owner of the building, you own it, but then you lease it to a company that operates it and takes care of all of the overhead expenses. So as an owner, there's really not much capital expenditure that you have. And when we're looking at our triple net properties, we are looking at large national tenants.
We're not doing mom and pop, we're doing, they have to be a franchise that has at least 450 locations nationwide, has been in business for over 10 years. And then the actual business that we lease to cannot be franchise owned, it has to be corporate owned. Because with a corporate owned franchise, with a corporate owned location of a larger franchise, they have what's called a corporate rent guarantee.
So say Dollar General in Waxahachie, Texas can't pay their rent, then Dollar General Corporate will come in and pay the rent for them. So as an owner operator, there's very little expense, very little liability. It's just kind of like cashing checks and then you bake in rent increases every five years.
And as commercial real estate property is valued, it's valued based on your net operating income divided by the cap rate. So you are baking in net operating income increases, which is baking in appreciation. So I love the model, it's been great for us.
It's just easy, steady cash flow. Yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome. So I mean, yeah, you're looking at probably pretty long leases too when somebody signs in because you just said baked in five years. So obviously you're not doing year to year.
What are your typical leases look like?
20 years. 20 years, if you're looking like a Starbucks, 20 years would be appropriate. I wouldn't do less than 10.
Yeah, that's pretty awesome. And so most of those you are doing joint venture at this point?
Yeah, most of those we're doing joint venture, which is also great because I've been learning from people that know more than me, right? That's what it's about. And that's the beauty of a joint venture.
So we brought capital to the table and just a lot of gusto and have just been learning a lot from our partners. And it has been so amazing. We bought a building two years ago here in South Lake, Texas.
And the other thing about buildings is you wanna make sure, so I went over my criteria for the tenant, but for the building, you wanna make sure that you are on a road that gets at least 40,000 vehicles per day. And there's studies that will tell you where those places are, but you just wanna make sure that you get a lot of traffic nearby just in case that tenant were to ever vacate. It's gonna make it easier for you to find a new tenant to occupy.
But yeah, it's been great.
So are there exits in the lease itself that would allow them to do, they would have a penalty or something they'd have to pay?
Yeah, they would have to break. Yeah, to break the lease, you'd pay a penalty, exactly. And then depending on how the lease is structured, sometimes they're on the hook for the rent until you find a new tenant.
It just depends. But also, even though our leases are 20 years, it doesn't mean we have to be in the building for 20 years. We can always sell it to a new owner operator and say cash flowing tenant, it's really easy to sell at that point.
So you're not only getting the monthly cash flow, you're also getting the appreciation on the back end too.
Yeah, that's really cool. I would say, I guess another thing, and one of the big points we like to make in this podcast is just kind of how that investment side of things can really help your sales side of things or just kind of your lifestyle in general. I guess I would ask you, how has this emboldened you or enabled you with this cash flow, this whatever, to pursue real estate, to have your lifestyle the way you want it?
Yeah, it's been great because in the transactional side of my real estate business, where I'm brokering deals for clients, sometimes terminations can ruin someone's day, week, month, year, depending on the size of the deal. And I'm able to be a little bit emotionally removed from terminations and other sorts of things. And then I also feel like having this cash flow and this portfolio to lean back on, it really helps me gain my client's trust because I'm not desperate for their business in order to pay my bills.
And I think that that's really important because it gets people's guards down. I work in a sales job and people can get commission breath really easily in this business. And it's great to have that little bit of distance to be like, listen, I want to work for you.
You want me to work for you, I promise, but I don't need to work for you. So I just want you to know that. I'm not gonna sit here and push you into a decision that's not gonna be financially beneficial for you.
And then I also, it's really informed my business a lot because I say this to my clients all the time that want to get into real estate investing. They're like, gosh, I want to get into real estate investing but it's so scary. And I say, well, do you own a home?
Yeah, well, I own the one I live in. Great, you're real estate investing. That is investing in real estate.
You own property. So many agents don't approach property purchases and sales as a real estate, or as an investment transaction, excuse me. And I say this, I stress this to my clients all the time.
You are gonna be buying likely the largest asset you will ever own. Don't you want to work with an agent that knows what it means to look at the trajectory of that investment, look at the appreciation schedule, determine whether it's gonna be a good ROI depending on the amount of time that you want to live there. I mean, it's really important considerations, but a lot of agents are like, great, you want to offer?
Cool, let's just offer asking price and move on. But I come at it with a very much an investment mindset, even for my clients that are purchasing their home they're gonna live in.
Yeah, I agree completely. I think it's a good perspective, even if they don't care as much or they think they don't care. But if you have that perspective, you can add to the conversation, into the mix.
I think you add a lot of value there. And completely with the commission braffing. I mean, it's, yeah, nobody wants a desperate agent.
It's not a good look at all.
Rachel, I wanna get into, you mentioned earlier the mom guilt piece of it. And this comes up a lot with, particularly with women that we talk to juggling a career and specifically a real estate career where the hours aren't necessarily set. And I'm on the other side of it since I'm not a realtor and I've adjusted my schedule to accommodate the craziness of his hours.
But man, we've talked to some people who have just really struggled with balancing being home and present with family, but then also like really loving their career and being present for their clients. And I'm just curious what your experience of that has been and how you and your partner have worked that out together and just anybody listening, I'm sure would appreciate what you've been through.
Yeah, we're still figuring it out. It has been rough, definitely rough because my business has grown exponentially the past couple of years, which also means that the demand for my time has grown. And I did bring on a full-time assistant in January who has been very helpful in helping me manage my time.
However, it has not been perfect. So for instance, yesterday even I had showings all day and my client was 45 minutes late to the first showing and I nearly had a breakdown because I had already scheduled, all great, I'll be home for dinner and I can spend time with my daughter before she goes to bed. And that was just out the window.
And I just, it's those moments where you're like, what am I doing? What is important? So it's definitely, I need to get better at setting expectations with clients and drawing boundaries with clients because I think we believe that if we draw a boundary with a client, they're gonna be like, oh, I'll just go elsewhere.
You don't answer calls after 8 p.m., you're not the agent for me. But actually when you have this conversation with clients and you build that relationship and you're honest with them about the reasoning behind your boundaries, like listen, after eight o'clock, I just wanna be with my family or even after seven, I just wanna sit down and have dinner with my family. If it's urgent, don't call me, call 911.
But if you set those expectations, they're actually really understanding. So most of the time, and if the client's not, it's not someone you wanna work with anyway. So that's a muscle I've also been exercising is setting those boundaries, setting those expectations with clients, not setting the expectation that you respond to texts at midnight and not setting the expectation that you'll drop anything and meet someone at any time.
I just don't think there's ever a circumstance where that's necessary.
Yeah, that's huge. I know that's something that we've talked about a lot too. Really, really tough to implement for sure.
Because as you both know, there's crisis stuff that comes up that has to be responded to, and man, that is really hard. We've been on anniversary trips and things, and things have come up where there's been clients that really like to call during those weekends.
Yeah, if you book the trip, it's a guarantee you'll get a fire. Yeah, I've been implementing my assistant as triage. So I'll tell people, I'm like, if you reach me, if you try to call me and I'm unreachable and it's really an emergency, contact my assistant, and my assistant knows me and she'll determine whether it's an emergency or not, and then reach out to me if it is.
But also, I'm like, if it's a real 911 emergency, do not call me. If your house is on fire, I don't need to be the first person you call, please. Don't call me first.
Yeah, I also, when I'm working with people, I think I've gotten to the point too where I think people almost see it as, oh yeah, he's really good, he's really busy, he's got a lot of clients, and I tell people that I also wanna be present with you when I'm with you, right? So I'm not answering phones, I'm not answering texts, and I think, you know, I do get back to people, but it's, I would say it's a little bit rare that I answer the first phone call. It's definitely, and you know, I get back to people by text, but it's usually, I mean, it can be a couple hours.
Like, I will be out of a podcast, out of an appointment, whatever, and have like 16 texts or something like that to get back to, and it's just, it's draining. So I try to batch that stuff a little bit the best I can. I think my clients start getting used to that kind of communication as well, is that, you know, he's not gonna get back to me immediately when I text him, or call him, or email him, but he does, he does get back to me, you know, within eight hours, or six hours, or whatever it is.
Exactly. We've, I'm curious about, you know, like how you and your husband have divided this up, because I, so I used to work full-time, and I worked for a CSB, a community mental health agency for a long time, and that was like long, intense hours, and intense work for me, and then also having, at that time, we had two little kids, and I ended up leaving that, creating my own practice, which I'm in now, and adjusting those hours according to the season we tend to be in, so that way I can be available for the kids for whatever they might need, so that he can have the flexibility with his hours. And then that also means I transitioned into like the full-time role of the household manager, which I actually really enjoy, but it's, we've had to make quite a few major adjustments just to make that balance work for our family, and so I'm curious what you guys have done, or if you have made adjustments just to help things feel good, and better, and balanced.
Yes, we have had to, and again, like it's ongoing, and every day we're checking in and seeing where are you feeling depleted, what are you not enjoying doing, those sorts of things, and just trying to find something that makes it work, like with bedtime, and dinner, and all those sorts of things. But my husband does have a W-2 job, but he's nine to five, so when I get home, I'm usually at meetings all day, or showings, and then I get home to a backlog of emails I need to respond to, a backlog of texts, so it's really hard at night, I try to be really present when my daughter's awake, and then once she's asleep, I kind of get to all my computer work, so it's kind of understood that he does dinner, he does dinner clean up, unless I'm able to step in and help, but I like to do bedtime with my daughter when I can, because I don't get as many hours with her as he does, especially on the weekends, because he gets his weekends off, and I don't. So I'm really jealous for time with my daughter, and he really picks up with the house, and all that sort of stuff.
Yeah, that's great. Where do you get your horse riding in?
So funny, I actually went yesterday. Yeah, I find time, I find time. If I time block it, it'll happen, and my daughter is at an age where she's just started riding as well, so that's actually something that we've been able to do together, which is really fun.
How old is she?
She's three, so when I say riding, I don't mean on trails, I just mean around an arena. But yeah, she's three and a half, and so that's been great, because now it's something we can do as a family, so all three of us will go up to the barn, and I'll ride with her, and my husband will sit and watch and take videos, but I do also go out on the trail with my stepmom, which is what I was doing yesterday, and typically, if I'm gonna go with the family, I'll go on a Sunday. If I'm gonna go with my stepmom, we can go during the week, which is great, because she's in school, and I can just time block it in my schedule and go for three hours, but I make time, because that's my decompression.
Yeah, it sounds so fun.
It's important to have those things, to build those into your routine, for sure. Keep you sane.
Yeah, it's also illegal, as a Texan, to not have a horse, so there's that.
If we're just visiting in a couple weeks, do we have to buy a horse, or?
No, you just have to ride one, and then you're good.
I would love to. I got into horseback riding a little bit while I was living in Kansas, actually. I got riding lessons then, and I have this vivid memory.
I went with my dad, and we were both on horses, and when the horses are coming back to the barn, they get really excited, because they know they're going home, and we were not supposed to run with the horses at all, and my dad and I just went straight into a full gallop, and this was maybe my second lesson, but it was cool, fun, and so freeing. I loved every second of it, and totally worth getting chewed out at the end. I'm actually caught up with it.
I love it. That is so fun. Wow, very brave of you for your second lesson to do a full-on gallop.
That's awesome. That's very brave.
Not sure how much control I actually had of that, but I was just on for the ride.
All right, I have not ridden a horse, well, it's been a long time, but when we're in Texas.
Okay, in Austin, yeah, we'll get one.
Rachel, when you brought in your assistant, what tasks did you have her take on right away, and what were you kind of like, this needs to get off my plate?
Database mining was huge, so that's like making sure that everyone in my database has a complete profile, including birthday, address, all those sorts of things. Organizing people in my database, making sure all of my past clients were in my database, like a lot of that, just stuff I just was dreading to do. I just don't want to look at it.
I don't even want to touch my CRM. It stresses me out, so she just went in there and cleaned up my CRM, got everyone on these schedules and emails, and then she's also been working with upcoming events I have planned. I'm renting out snow cone trucks at our local pools over the summer, and stuff like that that I'm doing.
I have my annual client appreciation event in September, which is always a huge event. We have, this year we're doing dueling pianos and catering and open bar, and so she's organizing that. She does a lot of my reverse prospecting.
She's just essential. There's so many things I can just throw out throughout the day. My Canva for Instagram posts and closings and everything like that.
Doing follow up with clients. She's also my transaction coordinator, so she does everything contract to close. She's essential.
She's amazing.
Does she ever help you prep contracts? If you're writing an offer, for example.
No, she's not licensed, so I don't know if that's something she'd be able to do, but it's something I could talk to her about. So there are limitations because she doesn't have a license, so she can write amendments for me. I just have to tell her verbatim what to put in the amendment and have record of that.
But. I think here we can have somebody prep, but we would hit the send button, so ultimately you'd be like, you know, responsible to look over it, not fully take care of it. But it is a risk, and it is one of those things that you wanna, if you do that, do you let yourself slip to not check it as thoroughly as you should, because then it's ultimately on you.
Yeah, exactly. But that's interesting. That's something I'll ask my broker about, because that would be very helpful.
I mean, the real question is, what do I do? She does so much, she does so much.
So. Yeah, and you're the brains behind the operation too.
And also, it's just, I don't think people really appreciate or understand, like when they're, you know, like sometimes when I'm getting overwhelmed with all the communication, et cetera, that like, you know, I'm in the car, I'm in the truck, like, you know, all the time. And like, how do I get anything done? You know, driving back and forth between things.
And, you know, so it is really awesome to have somebody in front of a computer. Like what people kind of expect you to be, like even though if they think about it, they know you aren't actually sitting in front of a computer, like from nine to five. It's really nice to have that second person.
Oh, huge. And also just a second set of eyes. Like, I feel like every agent, no matter how green, how seasoned, how new they are, how much money they're making should have a TC at least.
Like it's, you just should not go through a transaction without one because just to have a second set of eyes on everything, she has caught stuff. And I'm just so grateful for her.
That's amazing. How did you find her?
Well, I found her because actually one of my oldest friends went to college with her and she had posted on Facebook, I guess, and was like, hey, I'm starting a job as a TC. She was working at Southwest Airlines. Her best friend's mom was a transaction coordinator.
And she was like, you know, if you're looking for something more at home and do it on your own time, you should look into TC work. She got the gig, posted on Facebook. My friend was like, hey, you're a realtor.
This chick is looking for realtors. I met up with her, loved her, fell in love. I already had a TC, but you know, it was like someone KW had given me.
I didn't have like a relationship with them. And so I was like, yep, you're my girl. And then last year when I was ready to hire an assistant, I reached out to her because I was like, do you work with any agents that would be open to assisting work?
I don't want a new agent to be an assistant because they want your job. They don't know the industry. I want someone that's trying to get out that doesn't want my job, right?
Because I'm not trying to retrain an assistant every couple months. So I need someone that's getting out of the business, knows the business, but just doesn't want to work as much anymore. And she was like, what about me?
And I was like, I didn't think about that, but yeah, you'd be perfect because you know my systems and we've been working together for three years already as transaction coordinator and agent. So it just worked out perfectly.
Cool. Wow, that's amazing. Glad you found somebody that you feel like you can trust and that you're comfortable with and you have such good chemistry with.
Totally. It's important.
Yeah, I'm curious if you have any golden nuggets you'd want to share with our listeners that could be for new agents, it could be for just in general and maybe even something about holistic living through this crazy business.
Ooh, I love that tie in. So I do have three nuggets I want to share. Number one is to build your network across the country and internationally.
This really goes for my licensed agent listeners that are listening in because I have gotten so much business from referral partners outside of my city and it has been huge. My network of agents across the country, I check in with them every so often, I send them people when I can, but that's been awesome. My second golden nugget is ROI is more than just numbers.
So you can get an ROI on your social capital, you can have an ROI on your relational capital and you can have an ROI on your educational capital. So even though you might not see the fruits of your labor monetarily just yet, look at what you've built from a relational, social and educational standpoint and I just would encourage people to count their ROI there as well. And then the third golden nugget is specificity and honing in is your friend.
As agents or investors, we think that it's a big flex to say we do it all and maybe you do do it all. I do, I know that I do. I do a lot and maybe not all, but I do a lot, but you can't cut a tomato say with a dull blade and that's why you're meant to hone your knives, right?
In the same way, if we focus on everything, we don't achieve or attract anything. So find your niche and hone in and then you'll be known as the Airbnb girl, the triple net girl, the whatever guy. And that's been something that I've had to learn because when you start out, you want all the business, you wanna do all the things and you want people to know you do all the things.
But I've found more business and made more money being more specific, which seems counterintuitive, but it's not. So those are my golden nuggets.
I love it. Riches are the niches.
Yes, I love, that's a good saying. Yeah, I forgot about that one, but that's good.
Perfect.
So one of my niches is I've partnered with a Airbnb property manager, which I would encourage all to do in anyone listening because they need you and you need them. And this property manager that I've partnered with has a great presence on Google. And so she has people that call her all the time wanting to buy Airbnb properties.
And she's like, that's not what I do. I can manage them, but I have an awesome agent who's very knowledgeable in the Airbnb space that I can connect you with. She sends me, I don't know, 10 referrals a month probably.
I mean, it's crazy. So much of my business is from her. So we've partnered together, not really partnered in business sense, but have created a joint website because I can send people her way and vice versa, Airbnbfindersdfw.com.
And I would just encourage people to do that in your city because it is a huge niche.
That's great. Do you have any books that you think are fundamental for everybody to read or just ones that you're enjoying now?
Yes, I do. So my favorite book, my favorite nonfiction book is called The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. And it's not real estate related at all, but it's based on a real lecture that Randy gave at Carnegie Mellon University after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.
And he discusses basically just living life well with humility, with creativity, with gratitude. And it just really put things into perspective because no one on their deathbed wishes they worked more. And that's what this guy talks about because he's so successful.
And his whole lecture at Carnegie Mellon is about how none of that mattered. And so if you ever feel like your problems are really big, have you ever looked at like a picture of the globe or like the earth and you're like, whoa, okay, maybe my problems aren't that big because I'm looking at everything at a micro perspective, but I need to step back and look at it at a macro perspective. That's what this book did for me.
And it's super short. I read it in three hours. I don't know, it's like really short.
Highly recommend, listen to it on Audible or buy the book, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Really good.
You saying that, that macro perspective just like took me back to a memory of when we went up to Quebec for the eclipse. Was that last year, the year before? I can't remember.
Yeah, I can't remember.
It was last year, right? And standing there in this park, we had such a beautiful view and that 360 sunset that happens or sunrise. And just being there with so many people and everybody just gets real quiet and just kind of this sense of awe and experiencing something like that makes you really feel like the problems that feel big really don't matter when you see something that incredible.
Yeah, a perspective reset like that is like therapy in itself. It really is. And we had the full eclipse in Dallas.
It passed through Dallas. And that experience for me, I was like, I get it. I get why people chase them.
It was unreal. So I'm gonna go to Spain. My parents have a house in Spain.
I'm gonna go to Spain, August of 2026. It'll pass through Spain. So I'm like addicted.
Because it was that feeling, right? Of like awe. And you're so small in the grand scheme of things.
Our problems really aren't that big. Everyone's healthy. Everyone's happy.
Maybe you're dealing with a agitated seller. Does it matter at the end of the day? No.
And when you reset that perspective, you reset, you take control of your emotional health again. So maybe that's my holistic nugget as well is resetting your perspective. You gotta take control of your body because your body keeps the score.
If you're stressed out, if you're overworked, you might think that you can survive on coffee and you can't because your body is internalizing all of that and it's gonna come out at some point. Whether it be emotionally or physically. And resetting your perspective and realigning your priorities is so important to long-term health in your business but also in your life.
So true. I was just talking to a client about this last week about how your brain is an incredible thing and it can make up so many stories that you buy into. It's amazing.
It can make you believe anything but your body doesn't ever lie. Ever. And if you can learn to listen to it, then you can take care of yourself so much better.
So true. I love that.
You've also made me wanna get that calendar of all the weeks you have in your life.
That makes me so angry. Oh my gosh. I know what you're talking about.
Yes, and it's like the little dots.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
You fill in and you can see how many you have left in such a small amount.
So you have potentially left.
Right.
True.
It's not guaranteed. Great perspective to have, right?
Mm-hmm. It really is. Again, macro, taking a step back and realizing that this stressful week of your life will one day just be a blip on a calendar.
Yeah, yeah. And to intentionally spend time with your family and do the fun things like going to see the eclipse. Maybe we'll just run you in Spain.
Maybe we'll just run into each other there.
Come on, let's go. It's gonna be magic. I'm so stoked.
I can't wait. There's like an eclipse that happens every year. They're just mostly like in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but I'm addicted.
I love them.
So we got a house in Rochester, New York, an Airbnb right on a lake, and we were gonna have a perfect view of it, but then it got cloudy. And so we just, how long of a drive was it? Eight hours to Magog, Canada?
Yeah, this was a 24-hour round trip.
We just basically looked into the line of totality, like where it was gonna be, and then where it was gonna be clear. And then we found a park, and we're like, well, the kids are gonna be able to play there. So we just like got up super early, just drove, watched it, came back.
It was super long, but.
We got him out of bed at three in the morning, piled in the van, drove to Canada, hung out for a couple of hours, saw the eclipse, drove back, got him back into bed at 3 a.m. It was crazy, but worth it.
Honestly, what an unforgettable experience. Like that time your parents got you up in the middle of the night to drive to Canada to see an eclipse, like that's incredible.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
That's so cool. I remember the girls, like they got to drink strawberry milk with like figurines on the lid when the eclipse happened. And so that is what they remember.
Oh my gosh, that's awesome. How old are they? Now they're eight and five, and then we have a son that's three.
Aw, such fun ages.
Yeah. Rachel, back to you. What are we, where can people find you if they want to follow you on social media or websites, et cetera?
Yeah, so my website is just my name, rachelgrunn.com, and everything's on there. And then you can find me on Instagram. I'm a little bit silly on Instagram.
I post nothing serious. And so if you want a good laugh, head to my Instagram at @rachelsellsdallas, R-A-C-H-E-L, Sells Dallas. It's my handle.
And yeah, that's where you can find me.
Perfect. Wonderful. Thank you, Rachel.
It's been so good to talk with you.
Likewise, guys. Thanks for having me on.
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All content in the show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
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