Welcome to the Real Tea Podcast brought to you by Tennessee REALTORS®. I’m your host, Angela Shields. This podcast is created for Tennessee REALTORS® to get the “tea” on all things real estate in Tennessee. We’ll bring you engaging conversations with esteemed guests in the real estate industry and cover a wide array of topics including current events, governmental affairs, education, and legal updates.

Angela Shields (AS): Welcome back to the Real Tea Podcast. We have an exciting episode today with our good friend Hagan Stone. Welcome, Hagan.

Hagan Stone (HS): Well, thank you very much. Glad to be here.

AS: We are excited to have you.

HS: I almost said welcome back to you. >> Well, welcome back. >> Very good. >> We are–if you don’t know Hagan, Hagan is not only just a Past President of our organization but he is the managing broker of one of the Compass offices here in Nashville. But today, he is here because Hagan serves as the National Association of REALTORS® Regional Vice President for Region 4, which is the region we’re in. And there’s a lot going on with the National Association of REALTOSr® that we are going to dive into today.

HS: Great. Let’s do it. Let’s dive.

AS: Well, before we dive, we’re going to dive into to some tea because we ask every one of our guests who comes on. What do you take in your teacup? And I know you like tea.

HS: I drink probably four cups of tea a day. So, I’m from a family that has extended family in the United Kingdom. So, I’m about some tea. I specifically like Fortnum & Mason tea–royal blend, and I take in that tea two spoons full of sugar and one square lemon.

AS: Tell me the teas again.

HS: Fortnum & Mason. It’s an old-school British brand. You can now buy them on Amazon.

AS: Yes.

HS: The Royal Blend’s been around since I think Queen Victoria’s time. That’s where it was called, the Royal Blend. So somewhere around the turn of the century–of the last century, not this one. Abd I do enjoy that. If I go rogue, I will sometimes have a tea with a splash of milk and a little bit of sugar in that, too.

AS: But that brand is so good.

HS: It is so good.

AS: So good. Alright, so instead of making this all about the tea, because I in a second, >> we are going to jump off into the National Association of REALTORS®.

HS: Sounds great.

AS: So, some people may not understand what the role of Regional Vice President is. Let’s start there. So, first of all, what is a region? What is our region and then talk about what you do in this role?

HS: Okay. So, off the bat, if something happens to somebody, I don’t become the President of anything. So, that’s first off. I’m not–I don’t succeed anybody. Each of the regions in the NAR’s territory which is the United States–the continental United States, also are territories which would include Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands all have what we call an RVP, a Regional Vice President. So there are 13 regions in NAR and we are Region 4 and Region 4 compromises the four states of Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Carolina.

So basically in this role for the year that I’m in it–it’s interesting; the role has evolved over time. In the past it was more of a figurehead role a ceremonial role of sorts you being the liaison from the NAR President back to the states and to now it’s evolved into–you are doing that to a degree but you’re also–you’re the conduit with all of NAR policy all the things that are going on there legally everything from advocacy to MLS and all the way down back to the CEOs and presidents of the state associations.

And you’re also in charge of leading the caucuses that we have before our director’s meetings in D.C. and then wherever we have our NXT. So we have those this year in D.C. RLM, Realtor Legislative Meetings, in June and then we have our NXT convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. So, I’ll be in charge of having that caucus where we discuss all the items that come up or potentially could come up as a motion in our board meeting. Tied to that, I will be on the NAR Executive Committee for two years. This year as the RVP and next year as the previous RVP. So, whoever’s in this role has the continuity of two years on the tightest governing body of the association. So, back a couple of years ago, they were given a little more power and the board is still there. and still does important work, but exec meets more frequently.

AS: So, as a liaison, it’s it’s really important because you’re able to bring information back to NAR that you see out in the field, but it uh you are also able to sit in on those executive meetings and bring information back to the states that you represent.

HS: Totally.

AS: There are so many things going on right now at NAR. It’s really hard to keep up with. So, I think as that liaison, it’s an important job. What do you see as some of the priorities here in 2026 that NAR is really focused on?

HS: Two things I will say. One is super official and it’s Kevin Brown who is our president of NAR currently. He’s from the Oakland, California area and he has been in the business for over 40 years. Has a strong background in commercial investment real estate and his theme for the year is “Back to Business.” So, our official business proposition to our member is, we want to help you get to your next transaction as quickly as possible. So, looking at streamlining everything from top to bottom at the association to be sure that whatever we’re doing is number one, cost effective and is streamlined enough so that we can provide that value ad back to a member and just explain that very easily. So, we’re looking at things right now that maybe are not fitting that description and we’re sunsetting some areas, some committees, some forums just because that work is being done in other places. There’s some duality in those roles. Some of those leaders have come to us and said, “We don’t know if we’re accomplishing really the work that needs to be done here. Let’s have a look at our committee.” So, we’ve done that.

I think just trying to make sure that whatever we do really brings value back to that member and I say a second thing that we’re doing is we’re um you know safeguarding the profession as always and we’re making sure that it’s–I don’t want to say easy but it’s a natural for us to be able to do business without a lot of u incumbrances to that. So, and then also honestly winning the trust of the members back again after about three or four years of pretty hard in the association world, in NAR’s world especially you had you know leadership meltdown happened a couple of times, you had lawsuits that were lost and lawsuits that were still pending at a certain time, and just you know the economy not being great for our work across the country. So, a lot of that is really regaining the trust of the member and showing them value and realizing that, you know, we have not done that to a degree for a while and we are now squarely back on track to be sure that the member sees that we’re doing that for them.

AS: And diving into that just a little bit, you’ve got a new CEO; new leadership team even on the staff side that has really made a lot of changes at NAR. And one of the big things that I would say–I’d love to hear your take on it–is that they’re really trying to listen to the members. They’re doing a lot of meetings where they’re listening to brokers in general and just membership in general.

HS: Right. I think that that’s been the feedback has been, “Hey, you all are essentially doing been doing good work, but you’ve been doing good work kind of on a high hill away from the average REALTOR® on the street doing business.” I kind of call it the “Wizard of Oz” effect. It’s like, you know, we’re doing our thing behind the gates of the Emerald City but do we really know what’s going on out in Munchkin Land? I mean, you know, that’s an analogy I like to say. And some people would go, “Oh gosh.” But–but I look at that and I think, you know, you have to understand the heartbeat of the mission and you also have to understand the heartbeat of the people who who rely on the mission. So, I do think we are we’re really making great strides there.

There’s two things that I can point to immediately–one is our new strategic plan which is the most robust plan that’s ever come out of NAR. I was on that committee for three years and I can honestly say it felt kind of fluffy what we were doing with not a lot of accountability on the back-end. The new plan we have that we put into place in our last convention in Houston voted in, really has a lot of teeth to it, a lot of metrics that can be, you know, analyzed and brought back and that’s the whole purpose is, now you see what is what’s possible and what is set forth as our goals and you can see who is going to help accomplish those goals and they’re reporting back in a timely manner to all different–I mean, whether to the to the committees to the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the CEO herself. We’re getting real time analysis on that. So I think the members can feel really good about that.

The second is the big brokerages. I worked for one there was not a lot of relationship between those brokerages and NAR for a long time–probably about 20 years. And as Nykia talks about–our CEO–that you know that bill has been due and payable in the last few years once we started having these issues, those larger brokerages were really asking the question where does our value stand being members and they’ve worked super hard and Nykia and her team–she put together a team very quickly I feel like–a professional people who have really specialized in getting with our larger brokers out across the country meeting. She brought in Sherry Chris as a special adviser who is a former CEO of Anywhere Brands. She brought in Jared Grasso who is a very successful state CEO in New Jersey who has tons of connections and very well respected. And then Nykea  Pippion McGriff who has had a strong leadership role in real estate. She’s also had let led a large franchise brand in Chicago and they are literally–I think they’ve had–I think in a meeting I was in last week they said 40 meetings already sit down with large brokers since January. So we’re only into the first day of Quarter 2. So and that’s going to continue all year long.

So I just think the relationship building piece of it has become so much more important and the members want to feel that connection wherever they are and I think that’s happening.

AS: She’s also brought in so many other staff members that are high quality, whether it’s in the communication, HR, the finance–I mean there’s just so many others that she’s really just–continues to move the needle and in those meetings I know that she’s brought in even the media critics and had those, “let’s pull back the curtain and let’s have these conversation and let’s make sure you understand what’s happening here” which that I think is just fabulous.

HS: It’s huge. I read an article last week and I can’t remember which publication. It was one of the real estate publications. It was a sort of a naysayer who talked about going to our office and talked about how impressed they were about everything about it and they actually interviewed this person actually interviewed several like rank and file employees. And one of the employees they talked to just basically said, “It’s a new day here because I never really saw a previous CEO before really in our offices.” And when people get here, Nykia Wright is already there. And when we leave, she’s still in her office working because she sees the turnaround of the National Association of REALTORS® as the largest job of her career that she’s had thus far. And I think that that type of commitment trickles down to everybody and makes them feel proud about where they work again and that makes them excited and passionate about what they’re bringing to the member. So, I think that’s awesome. I think that’s where we are right now.

AS: Yeah. So, you mentioned getting back to business. That’s one of Kevin’s big things, getting back to business. So, what would you say are some of the ways that NAR is working to support the member today?

HS: I think we’re doubling down on and we’re recreating our educational programming so that’s going to be we see that as a huge piece. Really,  you look at the three areas, you’ve got your professional standards area which is super critical to how we police ourselves and keep our high standards of professionalism; Code of Ethics, all those intact. You’ve got an advocacy piece, which really is super important for just staying in business and making sure that our clients and customers can continue to achieve their dreams of homeownership or or if it’s investment real estate or whatever it might be because we do–we represent residential practitioners, commercial–and that includes leasing and property management and all those things. So, I look at this and I think, you know, I think that that’s huge, that’s a huge piece of that. And then also just being able to educate the member so that they have all the–I call it “smarts”–they need to have to be able to show value to the client that they are that they are professional and know what they’re doing. So those are all areas that I think we’re keying in on.

And we’re also, you know, on the in that legal end, you know, whether that people realize it or not. We have been fighting so many legal battles and a lot of them have been copycat from the original lawsuits that we’ve had and we’re starting to see some major wins off of those, so whether they know that or not, that’s value we’re bringing because we’re we’re pushing back, you know, allegations that are just kind of like really unfounded and probably opportunistic and we’re saying, “Here is how the how we actually operate and why this is actually better for the consumer all the way around.” You know, it’s sad when you when you’re working against people who are really blinded by the next dollar. And we’re really–we’re in the business of helping our people achieve whatever their dream is and I feel really good about that. And I feel like even on our advocacy piece that the people that we work with on all different types of legislation, whether it be local, state, or national–they realize that we are one of the only groups that’s advocating for our actual client and not really for ourselves. So, a lot there’s a lot to that.

AS: You are so right. I think there’s so many things that happen on that advocacy level that members have no idea that whether it’s we’re advocating for a particular issue or we’re keeping something from actually happening that would happen if we weren’t there.

HS: Right. And one thing that I think for members that’s tough is that we don’t a lot of times talk about the things that we’ve actually preemptively, as we would say “killed” before they became. So, you know when we do that that can actually sometimes diminish some of our power. So we have to be careful about–it’s almost like the gambler, know when to hold them and know when to fold them. We have to be very careful about how we communicate what we’re actually doing. Nothing is, you know, illegal or it’s not impropriety but our strength is in sometimes what we can do quietly. I think that’s important to remind people. It’s like you know our I think our success rate in advocacy is well over 95% generally all the time and that’s there’s a reason for that people are investing in RPAC and allowing us to do that work and then we’ve got the very top people actually doing the work.

AS: Right, so you mentioned advocacy but I think you also mentioned the resources and when you stop and you think about the statistics or the economic reports that we put out with Dr. Yun and Jessica Lautz and and all of that and and they are on some of the talk shows and the news programs, and all of that comes from NAR and it’s available to the members that they can use in their marketing all of the time. I mean that is so valuable–and then RPR.

HS: Yes, absolutely. RPR is probably one of my favorite of the benefits because I use it like 10 times a day. But um it’s one of those where um you know a lot of people don’t realize it’s a member benefit. I mean, we’re paying for it at our dues but the NAR dues are like they’re between $150 and $156. So, that’s a $156. And you’re getting, you know–RPR, myself, almost like I would pay that a month maybe even. I mean, probably if I thought it was going to go away tomorrow, I would probably pay that a month to have it because that the mobile app and everything is so great. But you talked about the research. So research has, you know, of course their own website within the NAR website but they also are on all the social media channels. You can get in there and and and drill down on it. You can share that out with your clients and customers. I just think that there’s so much depth to that that people don’t realize. And even some of our partnerships that we have with brands that give us discounts as REALTORS®, there’s lots of member benefits there too. If you utilized all the benefits of all three levels of the association, you’d almost do that work for free of all your–I think your your dues would for certain be paid by all the things that you utilized. I think that’s something that people don’t realize.

AS: Yeah, I 100% agree. So, you’re in the room a lot of times because you’re on the Executive Committee. What are you hearing about the future of real estate now?

HS: I will be honest before I say what I hear about it. I’ve been doing this for almost 27 years and I’ve never seen so much change happen so quickly as in the last three to five years of our business. And the one thing that I would say is always constant is the change that comes but this has been a lot of change. So, I feel like, you know, when I’m around, I feel like people have a true optimism for where we’re headed. You know, the numbers of our our membership. We had an Executive Committee yesterday meeting and we’re just above the, you know, what we budgeted for the year. So, we we did that right and we’re moving right along. We’ve got I think one more payment left in our settlement next year and that’s going to be great to have that put away and put to bed.

There’s a lot of optimism like you said the team at NAR the highest levels have really they’ve shuffled those and some of the smartest people I’ve met in forever are the ones leading those and really, we’re able to I think move much more nimly than we were before. So, I feel like as the business evolves and as hopefully the economy improves for what we do, I know that we’ve had more housing related wins on Capitol Hill and D.C. than we have in a long time. Seemingly right now, housing is one of the only things that Congress can agree on. So, it’s helping us for sure. I’m not sure about a lot of other things but I know that housing is a concern for everybody that’s elected in D.C. They want housing to be strong and and they’ve been making decisions based on that that have been positive for us.

AS: Well, I think both sides can agree that housing, affordable housing is something that we need.

HS: Everybody’s got to have a place to live. So, that’s for sure.

AS: You know, and interestingly, excuse me. Interestingly, it is a common theme all across the globe. I think every country is dealing with affordable housing. 

HS: Yeah, for sure. And then the cost of living and you know, everywhere you travel, people are talking about that. People in Barcelona are like, just like almost revolting because of so much Airbnb there and there’s a a lack of housing. So when the tourists come in the summer, the locals aren’t liking it. So and you can go to every country and just see what how that’s working for them there. So I feel like we’re the same boat with a lot of other places and we’re going to I think we’re going to figure it out.

AS: Well, the funny thing is too, just on that quick note, is when you start looking at other countries, it really makes you appreciate where we are.

HS: Absolutely. I think we’ve not gone to some of the extremes as some of the other places, but you know, I think just the the one of the first pieces of fixing something is understanding what the problem is, I think we’re really getting our arms around that.

AS: Right. And then you mentioned the reports from the Executive Committee. I think it’s really interesting to note, I think you kind of hit on it… We were at the Association Executives meeting last week as well and Nykia shared with us that numberwise we were only down about 25,000 members and which is fabulous. Usually this time of the year you go down anyway, beginning of the year, some people get out of real estate and then your numbers grow back up before the end of the year. So that’s really encouraging to see.

HS: I think people see the value in what we do. I think they see the promise in the fact that, you know, you know, it I think you look at rates and these things. We’re we’re at a place with rates that we really have been for a long time now. I know we were like in such a great spot about a month ago and then it kind of all went crazy but you know, we’re back at a place that we’re familiar with and I think that you know and–and early on. Dr. Yun said–I guess it was like in November of last year–said that he felt like the rates would be around between 6% and 6.5% all of 2026. So here we are. We’ve been to 5.9%. We’ve been to 6.5%. I feel like we’re we’re falling within that range.

We just have to make things happen because people do have to move. They have to sell and buy and you know and if we have a time frame where the time on the market is you know 30 to 60 days. Well, in the best market I ever worked in before the Great Recession in 2006, three months was the normal average marketing time of a home on the market. So, I mean, it’s not like for a lot of us, we have muscle memory for this. For newer agents who only saw the COVID times, I mean, this is what regular real estate looks like, I think.

AS: Yeah. So, let’s get back to Region 4 for a moment. So, we have our Region. You mentioned it’s Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky. What is the strengths of all of us kind of coming together as a Region?

HS: It’s interesting because the region has been–you know we’ve been a Region 4 at those states for many years and it’s–I think right now I’ve been around our region since about–well, for about 10 years like observing all of us have grown like everywhere else we’ve grown in membership I think we have deepened and we have grown up in the way that we do things. Ten years ago we were not having a podcast in our office and I think that we–a lot of the states are now doing this type of communication to really connect with a member.

I think that, you know, all of us have our own strengths and the our economies are pretty diverse. All the associations have grown in membership number. I think they’ve grown in sophistication in communicating to their member and knowing what they need. So, I think really the job that I’ve got is really to bring people together and and almost like think tank, what are things that are that can unite us that we could work on and maybe solve together to be able to, you know, help our member get to their transaction faster, their next transaction. So, I’m really focusing on us understanding as leadership in our states, what our members are thinking and needing. So, we’re going to have a talk with Jared Grasso from NAR is going to come in and share with us as leaders what they’re hearing across the country from all the different associations and that way we can take some mental notes on where we are with maybe what our members need. That’s a big one.

And then also understanding, you know, when you look at the average home buyer now being 40 years old, that’s a lot. I mean, I was 23 when I bought my first house. So I mean and I have not worked with many 23 year olds in the recent past. So, I look at this and think we need to understand that piece of it. We need to understand the research that goes into it. So I want our our Region 4 leaders to understand that to be able to ask questions of NAR research have a presentation from them and then you know, at the end of the day on the advocacy side, you know, understanding you know our housing affordability challenges and opportunities we all have them and maybe we have ideas that we can share that we can collectively use to cross-pollinate within the states to say, “Ok, we’re doing this and it’s working you haven’t tried it maybe you try this and we try this.” So those conversations I’m very interested in having because I think that the rank and file member probably doesn’t even know we have a Region so or that we work with other states that are in our area to brainstorm together and and encourage each other.

So that’s kind of my goal for this time is to like get that going so that people can look to that and say okay there’s another benefit of my membership. we have a regional think tank that comes together to see that how we can best support me and my job, you know, and or my broker doing their job, that type of thing.

AS: I think the other thing that’s nice about our Region is we all have something in common as far as we’re in the south. We have similarities in that way. One of the things I know that I benefit from is we’ve all been impacted by the REALTORS® Relief Foundation. It seems like when one of us gets a storm, the other one gets a storm. So we we kind of are able to network in that way about how this has impacted us or how we can benefit from that.

But from a member standpoint, when you do come to something that’s regional, whether it’s the caucus or at NAR one of our where we all get together for the brief hour or whatever, so we network together–it’s a great way to meet referral, right, business because a lot of times because we are so close, people are moving in and out of our states to one of other states. So, it is a great thing for the member to get involved with.

HS: Every time you’re together, you have the opportunity to meet somebody you wouldn’t have met before that could possibly refer you business. And I think that’s where our personalities come in. So, I do think, you know, the the the majority of people that I refer out to in the Region are people that I’ve served with in the Region doing something because I have the relationship. So, that’s another reason why–there are so many reasons why you would want to come to a conference. But I I felt like in my early career, many of my friends would say, “Why are you spending all this money and taking time off your business?” And I’m like, “Here’s the secret. Every time I do this, I make more money. I have more business.” So it’s always been in my business plan to whether I’m in a leadership position or not to be where savvy people are who sell a bunch of real estate so I can get my name out there and also meet people that I might want to refer to later.

AS: And you’re a great example because I mentioned that you’re a managing broker of a large firm and a lot of times people look at getting involved with the association as, “Oh, I’m busy I don’t have time for something like that.” but you’ve always made time ever since I’ve known you you’ve made time. I would ask like would you encourage people that are busy with the real estate industry to get involved?

HS: I think that there that the busiest people sometimes have the most to share but also it’s not for everybody. So, I think if you’re called to something and you don’t do it, you’re always going to wonder what if I had. If you’re not called to it, I don’t think you need to make yourself do it. But I think that if that all of us who have done this for a certain amount of time and have the energy and the passion for it and understand sort of the plight of the REALTOR® on the street and you get a nudge, you should be doing this. Whether you sell five houses a year, whether you sell 50 houses a year, I don’t know. But I feel like the more that I sell and the more the more information I gain and the more lessons I learn that I can use to help somebody else. That’s one of the reasons why I became a broker, too.

But I look at that and I think when you I have agents who tell me they’re too busy to come to sales meeting. Well, I mean, I have agents who sell $50 million a year who come to sales meeting. So I look at that and kind of go, “Ok, well there’s an excuse for everything” but everyone is not called to leadership but those who are I think need to listen to that call and act on it.

AS: It gives you a voice.

HS: Yeah.

AS: The other thing I’ll ask you about especially coming from the role as RVP is we do a lot of talks with local associations with brokers about the Three-Way Agreement. That’s been a big topic of conversation and you’ve seen some lawsuits over that where judges have been over ruling on the challenge of the Three-Way Agreement. They’ve ruled in NAR’s favor. They’ve upheld the Three-Way Agreement. Can you speak to how a member might leverage the three-way agreement or why the three-way agreement is important in your opinion?

HS: Right. And if you’re on this and you’ve never known what the Three-Way Agreement is, that is with your local, state, and national and how they collectively work together. How we have one dues billing for all three. It’s really a partnership. It’s almost like a little a little… I almost said a quintet, that’s like four. It’s like a–three instruments playing together in harmony.

AS: It’s unique.

HS: It’s unique to our organization. So, I look at that and I think to me, the benefit of it is that they’re all seamlessly integrated. Sometimes being seamlessly integrated also makes you not really realize what it is which is you have it’s like a little bit of dichotomy but you know, there it things are integrated so that you can utilize the resources of each one and they’re talking to each other so that when something’s going on at one level the other level probably knows. One example is if you’re in a local association. I’m in the Greater Nashville Association of REALTORS®. If we have a legislative issue that comes up we have a committee that meets on that and we talk about the issue. If it needs to be elevated to a state level, we can bring that to our state Governmental Affairs Committee who hears that and then if that’s approved, recommends that for our state Governmental Affairs team to look at it and start work on either something they want to support or something they want to, you know, see not be supported.

That is a–all works in tandem so well that you know it’s like a well-oiled machine. And then even from there we have the if we see things that we have here national or state on the state level that are an issue, we can tap into NAR grants and funds to bring money back here if we have some kind of big issue that needs to be tackled here at home. So, I just think you know you don’t have those things happen in a normal situation but we do have the unique ability to tap into all that and that’s just one example of how the advocacy piece of that works but you know our Professional Standards works the same way.

So, you look at that and you think there’s so many reasons why that streamlines and gives each area a little more bump if they need it. Whereas if you didn’t have the Three-Way Agreement, everybody would be on their own trying to figure it out, scratching their head, possibly really behind potentially without having the funds or the money to really take on something that was big if they were just a loner. So, I think that, you know, I’m glad that the courts see that as something that’s really beneficial to our members and to the community as a whole that we serve at the end of the day.

AS: Right. I agree. A couple more questions and believe it or not, we’re we’re starting to run out of our time.

HS: Goes quick.

AS: It goes so fast.

HS: It takes me 20 minutes to say hello.

AS: What advice would you give a new REALTOR® who might be just getting involved with their local association, maybe getting involved with a state association or even thinking about going to a national association meeting?

HS: I think if you’re new that it’s best if you’re in your–I think if you’re in your first three to five years, there are certain things that I think just go along with it. Coming into work every day, making it look like making it look and feel like a real job. Working from home is great but my first broker told me that if he never sees me, I’m probably not going to make it. It’s kind of true. So, get in the office. And if people invite you to a Young Professionals Network, a YPN event, or to maybe a tax seminar for new REALTORS® at your local association, go and do that. Your dues, you’re paying get you access to all these things that are– First of all, knowledge is power. Second, this is a lonely business. So being with people who are like you around during that time is really empowering. So go meet some other new REALTORS® and talk about what you’re learning. Talk about the opportunities and the challenges you see. I think that’s huge and I think that when you make that part of your business plan for the beginning, that learning piece, I don’t think anybody ever complained or was sad about learning more to be better at their business or possibly making a networking connection that could increase their profitability.

All these things are just a simple yes. So, sometimes we were tapped on the shoulder by people and sometimes you need to tap your own shoulder and say, “I’m going to go find out.” Because I didn’t know anything about the association world and in the year 2001, my dues were due as they always are at the end of the year. And I didn’t know why I wrote this check back then for $500 every Christmas when I didn’t have any other money because I was pretty broke back then.

So, I went to our local association one time and just said, “Hey, what does this money go for?” and they put me back to talk with the membership director and we had a great conversation about what our dues were for and how they were all allocated and some of the benefits and when I walked out I was on the Membership Committee. So, and that’s never stopped. So, it’s been a joy. So, I look at this and I think you know local president, state president, I’ve been able to serve at NAR. And I look –I think I’ve learned something new in every role and I feel like that’s a blessing because then you can just share it.

AS: So, the moral to that story is don’t be afraid to ask. It doesn’t mean you’re going to end up on a committee, but don’t be afraid to ask.

HS: Yeah. You never know. It’s like it’s like the book from Dr. Seuss: Oh, the Places You’ll Go! You never know until you ask the question.

AS: Right. So, the last question I have for you is thinking about the future in real estate. What excites you?

HS: This is going to be so crazy. What excites me the most is in about six weeks from today, my daughter’s graduating from college and she is going to come and work with me, which we have planned on this for just forever. So, I’m so excited about that. That’s the future of my business. And it just it’s given me a whole I’ve thought about my business in a new way the last probably six months that I never have before since I started because so much new energy and vitality and promise is coming to my business.

So, I challenge everybody to say where is your promise and where is your vision coming from because you know we’re–we have such an opportunity and that should be something you revisit a couple of times a year. Where is the where’s the well of your passion and if you need to dig a little deeper, how do you do it? If you need to tweak a little bit, how do you do it? But I my my excitement comes from my next 20 years, which I’ve for sure gotten ahead of me.

AS: That’s awesome. And it really must be a good outlook for you if you’re encouraging your daughter to join you.

HS: Yes, we hope we work well together. We’ll find out soon.

AS: Oh, no doubt. No doubt. Well, Hagan, it has been awesome to have you join me today. I cannot believe the time has already gone by like this.

HS: Like that. Time is a thief, people.

AS: Like that. You will have to come back for sure.

HS: Absolutely.

AS: Maybe by the end of the year, you can come and tell us do a wrap-up.

HS: Sounds great.

AS: All right. Well, thank you again and we’ll see you then.

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Thank you all for joining us today on the Real Tea Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Then visit tnrealtors.com to submit your questions and topics for future episodes of the Real Tea Podcast. Thanks for listening.