Episode #61
Deals Are in Your Phone: Michele Roderick on Designing Business Around Your Life
➡️ Download the FREE "Content Creation Realities & Lessons: A Guide to Smarter Strategy": https://stan.store/wendyforsythe Michele Roderick has been living with multiple sclerosis for 30 years. She had her first symptoms at 19, built a top one percent worldwide pharmaceutical sales career, helped build a brokerage for a decade, and then co-founded Now Nation with Courtney Twiss inside eXp Realty two and a half years ago. In this episode, Michele breaks down the ideal week framework for designing a business that works for your life first, why no is a complete sentence and how to say it without apologizing, where the deals are already hiding in the contacts on your phone, and what great co-leadership actually looks like when two people know their strengths and set their egos aside. Her X factor? The ability to connect with people. This conversation is warm, practical, and one of the most honest coaching conversations I have had on the show. Timestamps 0:00 - Intro: Michele Roderick, Co-Founder of Now Nation 0:41 - Business Today: Supporting Now Nation's 100 Agents 1:13 - What Now Nation Is Inside eXp Realty 1:21 - MS Diagnosis: 30 Years Living With Multiple Sclerosis 2:31 - First Symptoms at 19 and the Road to Diagnosis 3:00 - How MS Fueled Her Drive to Succeed 3:29 - Pharmaceutical Sales Top One Percent in the World 3:59 - The Hustle Culture Problem in Real Estate 5:03 - Coaching the Actions That Break the Hustle Cycle 5:48 - The Ideal Week Framework: Start With 168 Hours 6:10 - Deduct Your Non-Negotiables First 6:53 - What Are Your Four Working Hours Really Worth? 7:28 - Stop Attending Things Just to Make an Appearance 8:00 - Expending Energy You Do Not Have 8:29 - There Is Nothing Left for the People You Love 8:54 - Design Your Ideal Week on the Front End 9:24 - You Do Not Owe Anyone an Explanation 9:44 - Has It Gotten Easier to Say No? 10:19 - How to Say No Without Apologizing 10:22 - No Is a Complete Sentence 11:11 - Coaching an Agent on Declining an Invitation 11:30 - Setting Boundaries With Clients Too 12:01 - Partnership With Courtney Twiss: 12 Years Together 12:30 - Integrator vs. Broker: Playing to Your Strengths 13:16 - What Great Co-Leadership Actually Looks Like 13:34 - We Innately Feel Like We Have to Do It All 14:06 - Know Your Strengths and Set Your Ego Aside 14:28 - Setting Your Ego Aside Is a Leadership Superpower 15:05 - Ask for Help Inside Your Partnership 15:30 - There Are Deals in That Phone Right Now 16:10 - How Many Contacts Do You Have? 16:44 - Are They in Your CRM? 17:10 - Go Get the Deals. Call the People. 17:39 - The Challenge to Every Agent Listening 18:35 - What Is Your X Factor, Michele? 18:55 - The Ability to Connect With People: A Beautiful Spirit 19:15 - Social Media From Zero to Fire in Two and a Half Years 20:10 - How to Find Michele Roderick: Ask the General Key Takeaways Michele has been managing MS for 30 years and built multiple successful careers alongside it. Design your ideal week on the front end, not around what is left over. Start with 168 hours. Subtract sleep, family time, and non-negotiables. Build your business inside what remains. No is a complete sentence. You do not owe anyone an explanation. The right response to an invitation you cannot accept: I looked at my calendar and unfortunately that does not fit this week. You do not need to apologize for having boundaries with clients either. The deals are already in your phone. Open your contacts. How many do you have? Get them into your CRM. Start calling. The business is right there. Great co-leadership requires knowing your strengths and setting your ego aside. Setting your ego aside is a leadership superpower. Ask for help inside your partnerships. That is part of what makes them work. Michele's X factor: the ability to connect with people. She built her entire social media presence from zero in two and a half years.
