As we head into Q4 and start preparing for ‘27, a lot of us are rethinking everything, and one question keeps coming up with the agents I coach: should I have a team? People usually have a strong belief one way or the other. So I brought my friend Joel Perso back on the show to unpack it, because I take notes every time I talk to him.

Joel has been in real estate since 2012, and he reminded me how short the history of teams really is. The idea of a real estate team is only about 15 years old, and the big push to build teams was about retention, not wealth building. A lot of agents who got into the business in the last 10 years have only heard that the goal is to have a team. “Why wouldn’t you do that?” But for a lot of people it’s not the right answer.

We get into the questions to ask before you build anything: Am I maxed out on what I can do by myself right now? Why do I actually want a team? What kind of agents do I want to attract? Will I enjoy my day-to-day life as a team leader? Then we cover the different team models, how to run the math without getting drunk on the spreadsheet, and what it means for team leaders who are realizing they don’t have to keep running a team at all.

Key Topics Covered:

* Why fewer home sales put more pressure on the system

* The short history of real estate teams, and why retention drove the boom

* Decision-making and the ripple effect of saying yes or no

* The first question: are you maxed out on your own?

* Why you want a team, and using assessments like Working Genius

* True teams, teamerages, and hybrid models

* Deciding what kind of agents you want to attract

* Doing the math on leads, splits, and your own time

* The responsibility that comes with leading people

If you ask yourself, ‘Do I have to have a team?’ And the answer is, ‘No, I don’t have to,’ then it needs to be a hell yes. – Joel Perso

This one’s for you if you’re deciding whether to build, grow, or step back from a team.

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* Book your Clarity call now at 7figurecall.com

* Download the AI & Leverage Toolkit now and uncover your biggest leverage opportunities at audit.7FigureBP.com

* Discover How Agents Are Using Funnels, Content & AI to Predictably Close 4+ Deals a Month. Save your seat for the webinar: 7FigureBP.com

* Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook: @johnkitchenscoach

I’m turning 50 in March, and like I did before 40, I’ve been asking what I’d tell my younger self. Something I read earlier this year really stuck with me: the only two people you need respect from are the eight-year-old you and the 80-year-old you. When I look back, what I remember most isn’t the milestones. It’s the moments we were laughing.

That’s why this conversation with my friend Michael “Disney Mike” Collier hit home. Mike spent 12 years at Disney, went from college program student to Disney Ambassador, became a top salesperson, then jumped into flipping, wholesaling, lending and eventually real estate, where he’s now a three-time Icon at eXp. And he’s honest about something most of us won’t admit: hitting the goal and then feeling empty a couple of days later. “Okay, so now what?”

Jesse Itzler says one of the worst things we can do is accomplish a major milestone and not immediately reset the goal. Mike and I dug into the other side of that: making sure the goal you’re chasing is actually yours, and not somebody else’s goal that just looked cool from the back of the room. We talk about what you see on stage versus the rest of the story, your 168 hours, deciding what “enough” is, and choosing the right lever so you’re not climbing the ladder faster on the wrong wall.

Key Topics Covered:

* Why the peaks are great, but you learn the most about yourself in the valleys

* Chasing shiny objects vs. keeping the main thing the main thing

* Mike’s Disney journey and the empty feeling after hitting Icon

* Resetting the goal and building sub-goals toward a bigger goal

* Seeing both sides of success before you decide what you want

* Your 168 hours, and why “enough” has to be defined

* Moving to higher price points: more of the right clients, not more volume

* The Speakers Alliance, and the one thing AI can’t replace

* Identity, pigeonholing, and trading toxic fuel for purpose

When you’re building that larger goal and those sub goals on your way to it, you have to make sure that the goal is actually the goal. – Michael Collier

This one’s for you if you’ve ever hit the number and wondered, “Now what?”

Connect With Us

* Book your Clarity call now at 7figurecall.com

* Download the AI & Leverage Toolkit now and uncover your biggest leverage opportunities at audit.7FigureBP.com

* Discover How Agents Are Using Funnels, Content & AI to Predictably Close 4+ Deals a Month. Save your seat for the webinar: 7FigureBP.com

* Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook: @johnkitchenscoach

Blake Berfelz is one of the five owners behind the Benson Crew, an Ontario team formed just over a year ago when three businesses merged into one. In this Coffee and Coaching hot seat, Blake joins me to unpack what it really takes to lead a merged real estate team through a market nobody in Ontario has seen before.

Blake came into real estate from the restaurant industry 14 years ago and helped build the residential side of his original team from the ground up. Today he helps run one of the most advanced AI-powered agent infrastructures we have seen on this show. Even with the tech dialed in, the hot seat comes down to something no system can fully solve on its own: the people behind it.

Connect With Us

* Ready to get clear on where your business is going? Book your Clarity call now at 7figurecall.com

* Download the AI & Leverage Toolkit now and uncover your biggest leverage opportunities at audit.7FigureBP.com

* Discover How Agents Are Using Funnels, Content & AI to Predictably Close 4+ Deals a Month. Save your seat for the webinar: 7FigureBP.com

* Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook: @johnkitchenscoach