When my husband asked me what in the world I could possibly talk about with my girls on Facebook chats every night, I told him everything from empires to eyelashes.
(Shhh — don’t tell him. But we talk all day long, too. One of the chat strings has almost 90,000 messages!)
I am blessed to be part of one of the top real estate teams in the country — The Belt Team. Our team will close about $70 million this year, and one of the secrets of our success (and the success of other top teams) is the tribes we build online, take offline and nourish in our chats.
Meet my tribe
#sfam
The first tribe I’m going to talk about is “Sisters from another mister” — otherwise known as “The three amigas plus Hip Kitty” (that’s me).
We label our chat #sfam because we frequently answer each other’s questions identically and have word-for-word simultaneous reactions.
This tribe is made up of three Keller Williams dynamo mega agents and team leaders: Laurel Starks of Starks Realty Group in Rancho Cucamonga, California; Vija Williams of The Vija Group in Kirkland, Washington; and Adelina Rotar, team leader of Ben Kinney’s first expansion team in Austin, Texas; along with me — Christy Belt Grossman, chief operating officer of The Belt Team in McLean, Virginia.
Combined, we will close $160 million this year.
We all first met online on Facebook in 2012, and we developed a connection through a secret Facebook group created by Lori Ballen (Mega Agent Mastermind Group).
#SFAM: Christy Belt Grossman, Vija Williams, Laurel Starks, Adelina Rotar
With almost 2,000 agents participating, it soon becomes obvious which ones are success-oriented and those who will fail quickly. We started side-chatting, and over time took the relationship offline and met in person — at Keller Williams events and training classes.
We share a love of learning and implementing. We push and challenge each other. We bounce ideas and share and shape strategy. We move fast and furiously, and we talk fashion, family and faith — often in the same thread and all at the same time.
Hence my comment “everything from empires to eyelashes.” Our chat string is endless. My phone lights up with Messenger notifications all day long — and that’s a good thing.
It’s like my cross-country friends are always next to me. We are like sisters, and when my daughter was hospitalized recently, my #sfam tribe was the first to send flowers.
There’s a great yin and yang with this tribe. If you’ve read the book “Rocket fuel,” they are the visionaries, and I am the integrator. They give me amazing insight into what it’s like to be the owner of a team and an entrepreneur, and they give me great clarity on how that person thinks and moves — at the speed of light.
On the other hand, I am able to offer the opposite point of view, along with my vantage point of 20 years of experience in running a team. It’s a magical match up and something I credit with both my team’s growth and my personal growth.
Thanks to the ever-present challenge from my #sfam tribe, I recently created and debuted (to rave reviews) my first advanced class for the administrative and operations stars of real estate teams: “Be a boss! 10 secrets of a mega executive assistant.”
Feedback from my tribe
I asked the Amigas to give you an insight into our chat. Here’s what the shared:
“#sfam is a running tête-à-tête throughout my day and throughout my life,” Laurel Starks said. “A constant hum of collegial wisdom, friendship — a sisterhood.
“We keep each other in serious check. The accountability is real time — and as pure as it gets. My #sfam girls are my biggest fans and my toughest critics. Through our organic and raw discussions, we seem to raise the bar a tad every day — reaching and climbing higher than the last; shooting for bigger and better than we could see before.
“We each continue to earn our spot because if we slip too far, the rest will keep going. #sfam boasts an unapologetic vibe of personal and professional growth — and epitomizes the fairy dust that peer relationships are to success.”
“This ongoing chat has been a foundational piece of my growth,” Vija Williams said. “I will have quadrupled my business in three years. ”
“Having a group of peers to support me, challenge me, provide resources and coach me has been invaluable. And, as it turns out, a necessary component of my growth because I don’t know if I would have done it this fast without them,” she said.
“Technology is a most fascinating thing,” Adelina Rotar said. “Relationships are a most precious thing. Combine the two and you have our SFAM chat. Counselor, psychiatrist, coach, teacher, friend [and] sister — on demand.
“When I think about our daily mastermind group — or life group — it’s impossible to quantify the value it’s given my life. These gals went through the adventure of team-building with me in Knoxville, of leading a large real estate brokerage in Oklahoma City, and, now, of building out the Ben Kinney team in Texas,” Rotar said.
Tribal benefits
“On a business level, our daily conversations accelerate my life forward at nano speeds Imagine three additional people betting on you as much as you bet on yourself,” Rotar said.
“Imagine three additional people believing in you as much as you believe in yourself (and, honestly, probably more!). Imagine three additional people who are 100 percent as committed to your success as you are — that’s priceless. That’s what our daily chat is all about,” she said.
Rotar continued, “Speaking of 100 percent commitment, it’s 100 percent — meaning, they’re all up in my business (said with love). When I think about defining exactly why our daily #sfam chat has impacted my life, it’s a heck of a lot more than business.
“These girls have been part of my transformation of becoming a more loving wife, a more engaged mom and a more authentic me. Being part of a group chat like ours builds a lifetime of relationships.
“Those kinds of relationships are the cornerstone to your success. I define success as being better than yesterday. Our group of gals gives each other permission to be ourselves and, at the same time, demands that we become better each day.”
So if you’re looking to take your real estate business to the next level — maybe it’s time to find your tribe.
Tomorrow, I’ll share more about my other tribe. Stay tuned.
Christy Belt Grossman is the chief operating officer at The Belt Team, Keller Williams Realty. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.