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As a 23-year veteran of the real estate industry, Dana Cadena takes pride in coaching the next generation of real estate mega-agents.
The New Jersey-based general manager, partner and broker associate at Lifestyle International Realty benefitted from coaching early in her career, helping to grow her thriving real estate business. Having benefited from coaching, Cadena started herself, launching the coaching network Overachiever Central in June 2013.
Through Overachiever Central she has helped several agents become seven-figure-producing mega-agents.
Throughout her career, Cadena has received the Circle of Excellence award in declining markets, worked as a mortgage loan originator and currently plays a key role in the expansion of Lifestyle International Realty following 18 years with Keller Williams.
Cadena will be a featured speaker at Inman Connect Las Vegas this year on August 8-10. Inman caught up with Cadena ahead of her appearance to discuss the 2023 market and her experiences coaching newer agents.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Inman: We’re almost halfway into 2023. Has the housing market played out at all as you expected it to at the beginning of the year?
Cadena: No! I thought in the beginning of the year things were going to be more grim than they currently are. I’m grateful though, that I acted as if. My team and I said, ‘alright, let’s roll up our sleeves.’ We had some free time in January, we can clean out our closets.
But now, we’re just really fortunate and blessed, we have a lot of ‘come list me’s’ ringing the phone. I’m almost scared to say it out loud because it’ll get taken away by the real estate gods. But the reality is the beginning of the year was feeling grim.
Interest rates really hit us over the head by increasing, it was looking pretty grim. I think that this is like a fake gift that we’re experiencing right now. It’s almost like the first child that’s so well behaved it tricks you into having another one — speaking from experience.
I feel like, we thought it was going to be so grim and so bad but it’s been a nice surprise. We’re not doing too bad over here, we’re getting multiple offers, this is cool. But I think the tide is going to roll out toward the fall and we need to just stay committed to making the calls, making the contacts, doing the things, shaking the hands, kissing the babies — don’t shake the baby, I always get that wrong.
What is Overachiever Central?
It’s my professional baby! I was coached and when coaching in real estate worked for me, I started coaching other agents. I built my program to about 38 agents. What was most fulfilling for me about that was I was able to take someone who was making, maybe 40, 45,000 a year and I was able to help them make $160,000 a year, and that just — 10 years ago, at that time, it just afforded great agents better options and better choices for their families and really upgraded how they experienced life, really. And that was contagious and I couldn’t wash it off really.
What motivates you to coach other agents?
I can say that I’ve had the honor of impacting several mega-agents that are earning 7-figure annual commissions, and I also helped rookie of the year last year. He did $369,000 gross commissions in his very first year in the business. I still get chills, because he’s just a good guy. He has four kids, so I’m like ‘My gosh, you really need to make money dude.’ So I’ve helped an array of agents with various production levels really just start to begin to realize their potential.
What’s one thing you find a lot of newer agents struggle with?
Time blocking and the good old calendar. My go-to golden question is: ‘What do you have the interest and energy to do?’ And: Tell me what’s important to you, and then show me your calendar. Because if you say ‘oh yeah, I’m really into fitness’ and then I look at your calendar and there’s no exercise or no workout time on there, well then you’re into like fitness food into your mouth. I see lunch on your calendar, but I don’t see a workout.
So it’s just a matter of what are their strengths. What do they have interest and energy for? What’s important to them and how does it show up on their calendar? And then how we strive to empower them to block their time so that they’re running their calendars and their calendars aren’t running them.