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Call Her Creator with Katelyn Rhoades
124. 100K Followers By Being Herself: The Most Profitable Strategy on Instagram (ft. Shannon Gillette)
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- [00:02]
A
This episode is sponsored by Brevo and Collective. Brevo helps you grow smarter with email, SMS automations and AI powered marketing tools. And Collective keeps your business tax ready all year so tax season doesn't feel so overwhelming. Get started with brevo@brevo.com creator and save on collective@collective.com CHC all right guys, welcome back to Call Her Creator the podcast Powered by Stan. Today's guest is someone I've been so excited about having on the show. I got to meet her in person a couple months ago and she's gem of a human, just as beautiful as the ends on the inside as she is on the outside. Today's guest is Shannon Gillette. She's a wife, she's a boy mom, she's one of the top realtors in Arizona. She's the founder of the Gillette Group at Real Broker. She's been featured on hgtv, she's a sought after keynote speaker and she's just built this beautiful personal brand that actually converts attention into real business. So I'm so excited to have her on here. She's grown a really good Instagram following. She's at almost 100,000 people at this point. And her videos, they consistently not only pull in really strong views, but she also gets really good engagement on them. So I'm excited to pick her brain and figure out what makes her strategy different from all of ours. Today is not a fluff conversation. We're going to get very deep into the marketing strategy, the systems, the decisions and the behind the scenes effort that helped Shannon build this wonderful brand and business at this level. Hey friend, welcome back to Call Her Creator Powered by your all in One Creator Store. Stan. Stan. Stan is the easiest way for you.
- [01:53]
B
To make money online.
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A
All of your courses, digital products and bookings are hosted within your link in bio. If you're ready to start your free trial, visit my show notes and click my affiliate link to get started today. Shannon, are you ready?
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B
I'm ready and I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me.
- [02:12]
A
Yes. Yes. So I was listening to a podcast yesterday and they're like, if the podcast host asks you to introduce yourself, then they're not a good podcast host. But I'm here to say like, I can say what I want about you, but it always feels better hearing from you. Like, how did Shannon get to where she is right now? Like, give us a little bit of the backstory and then where you are now and then we can deep dive into Instagram but like, how did you get here?
- [02:36]
B
Yeah, well, a lot of people see me today, you know, leading the top producing medium sized team in the country at Real Broker, selling hundreds of homes a year, nearly a hundred thousand followers. And they say, oh yeah, Shannon, it's easy for you. You've got this big platform, you sell a ton of homes, you. But man, if you would have told 2015 Shannon that one day she'd be speaking on national stages and on amazing podcasts like this one, I would have laughed. Because in 2015 I had just left kind of the corporate world. I had been selling new homes. I never saw my family. I would drive to work crying, but I was so scared to leave that job and that guaranteed income to be a real estate agent because I knew the facts and 87% of real estate agents don't make it past their first two years. This industry looks easy from the outside, but it has a high failure rate for a reason. I had no money, no Instagram followers, and no idea how I was going to make this all work. I started from scratch. Even my own family members didn't consider me a real estate agent and they were referring out other agents so literally from the bottom to today. And people ask, well, how'd you get there? I literally only focused on Instagram enlisting videos. And in 2015, every time I would pull, you know, open up the Instagram app, I noticed the accounts I enjoyed following were creators outside the real estate space who were sharing their life. I felt like they were my friend. I knew their dog's name, I knew their kids personalities. I knew where they like to travel. If they told me to buy like a perfume, I never even needed to smell the perfume. I would just buy it because I trusted them. They had no idea who I was, but I felt like we were friends. And I was like, man, I love enjoying, I enjoy following that type of content, but the real estate agent isn't really doing that back then. And I thought, what if I could open up my Instagram to the public and not just share nonstop commercials like just sold, just listed buy a house from me, but instead share who I am besides my job. It felt really cringey. I asked myself, who wants to see my morning workout behind the scenes shot or my kids football game or Sunday morning at church. But I was like, it's working for these other creators. I am just going to start. I started with zero followers. I now have a hundred thousand followers and I feel like I'm attracting the tribe that wants to work with me right so, um, but my. My, like, secret sauce isn't Instagram post reels or carousels. It's the Instagram story.
- [05:21]
A
Mm, that's so funny. So, actually, Shannon, this weekend I was cracking up because you shared something on stories. One of your children, guys, she has boys. So I'm like, I'm not surprised. One of them left like a half eaten. I can't remember. What was it?
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B
It was a mozzarella stick.
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A
A mozzarella stick. So it wasn't even like a chip or something food that they left in the bathroom? Did we ever find out? Did they ever admit who did it?
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B
They said they don't know.
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A
She's like, who left this mozzarella stick? And they're all like, not me, not me. So I was wondering if you figured out who did that. But you're right. Like, I can follow whoever I want on Instagram, but it's like, the stories is what makes me feel like, I know you, I know Shannon, I know her whole family because I get to watch what's happening behind the scenes. And I love that about your story. When you, when you started building this brand on Instagram specifically, you know, back a couple, just a couple years ago, maybe two years ago, everything was very polished and professional. Was that intentional for you to be polished and professional? Or how did you, like, did you think everything had to be perfect? And what. What's your thoughts on that?
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B
I made a commitment to post five stories a day. So although I do have, you know, my feed with reels and professional video, you'll never catch me posting a Canva graphic on or a just listed Canva graphic. But every day of the year, minus maybe one or two days, I post at least five stories a day. And when I don't post, like, there was one day we went up to our cabin and I was just like, I'm not posting. Cause this is a lot of pressure. I was getting DMS from strangers asking if I was okay, like, where? I'm not seeing your content. Where are you? I'm like, can I just have a day? Don't open my phone. But I like to think of Instagram like a reality show where many business owners think of Instagram as a commercial space, a nonstop commercial to sell my product. But the average US Adult is spending over two hours a day on social media. They are choosing to go to social media to escape reality. They're going to social media instead of watching Netflix. They don't want to open up social media and be sold to. And I think a lot of, especially in my profession in the real estate industry, people will say, oh, Instagram doesn't work for me. You can't sell a multimillion dollar home on Instagram. Well, yes you can. Like, we just sold and closed a $4 million home. The buyer came directly from one of our videos. So it is such an incredible platform and, but it's not easy. You have to put in the work. Like the, the sweat equity is bananas. Like, I went from not being able to afford to change my brakes on my used minivan to leading one of the top teams in Arizona selling hundreds of homes a year. And I have Instagram to thank for so much of this.
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A
I feel that so much in my bones. Was there a moment when you were starting to do all this where you had like, stuff that's, that was off the cuff, like, no, I'm not going to show this online, versus. Oh, I'll be like, did you have a black and white what you're going to show online versus what you're definitely never going to show online?
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B
Yeah, it was, it was kind of. It's crazy to look back because when I started building a personal brand, there were not many personal brands as real estate agents. It wasn't a thing. Real estate agents had two pages. They had their business page and then they had their private personal page, like a Facebook page with their friends and family. So this was like, very new. But thankfully I had those creators outside of this, of my space that I could kind of mirror and like, okay, well, they, they sit in their car and they talk into the camera without makeup on, like, okay, I'm going to do that. And I think anyone in sales, especially when you have no clients like me when I started out, every client matters. You can't afford to, like, post something that might offend somebody and lose a client. But thankfully, I mean, my faith is super important to me. I truly believe it was God, like, giving me this, like, idea of just do this. I decided to write down three to four things that make me me besides my job, because that's the content people want to see. And for me, it's my faith, it's my family, we love to travel. It's behind, behind the scenes of my work. My dog. And I just post who I am. And a lot of people, they don't want to post that. They're at church on Sunday morning because what if that offends somebody? Or somebody doesn't want to work with you or they don't want to post their dog and because what if somebody doesn't like dogs. They only like cats. Well, I love dogs, and if somebody doesn't want to work with me because I have dogs, like, we're probably not going to be a good fit, right? Like, it's. I think it's weird if you don't like dogs personally. Like, no offense, but, like, dogs are awesome, right? So you just got to post who you are, and then you ultimately just attract your tribe. You attract more clients being like yourself and than trying to be for everyone. Because if you try to be for everybody, you will be for nobody 100%.
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A
Um, when you were first getting started with all of this, and then we'll get into your strategy and stuff like that, did you take the time to optimize your profile and make sure you filled out your bio correctly? Was that on your radar at all?
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B
No, I. I basically just. I'm sure there are some things I could do a little bit better. And people ask, oh, do you plan out your content? I'm like, no, I just, like, get these ideas throughout the day and. And post them. I mean, I do batch film, so I always have some good content to film or to post. I also have made a commitment since 2015 to film a professional listing video for every home I list because I believe video is the best way to market a home. So you'll see some real estate content on my feed, but I'm super intentional about, like, making these videos interesting. Having a hook posting things that I would want to watch. And, yeah, I mean, it's been an incredible platform for me.
- [11:27]
A
I love your videos. I think they're very upscale, luxury vibes too. Especially, like, I know the listing videos. You don't. You don't go too heavy on them, but when you do do them, you do them so beautifully that they definitely make me think, like, oh, she's honestly, like, she's a luxury realtor. And I know you would work with anyone, but I do want you to know I value your hard work into those videos because I know it's. It's not easy to make stuff like that. Speaking of videos, yours perform consistently very well. So let's talk about that. What types of content have actually driven the most growth for you, though? Are the. Are they those listing videos or are they you off the cuff? What does that look like for you?
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B
Well, a listing video can be tough for a real. Like, we do YouTube listing videos for every home. We list second, you know, most visited website in the world. That's super powerful for us. But thinking of Instagram, I sell Homes in Queen Creek, Arizona. Yes, I sell multimillion dollar estates, but like you said, we work in all price points. So what if I'm listing a $300,000 home with builder basic upgrades? That's not scroll stopping. How can I make that interesting so somebody actually wants to watch and it doesn't just kill my algorithm. Okay, so I've got a real builder basic home. It's a great price point. Instead of Saying welcome to 123 Main Street, I'm Shannon Gillette. Let's head inside. What if I use that listing video as a way to educate the first time buyer and I start my hook with I have exciting news. Down payment assistance is back. Which means you could buy this home with a free down payment. That is going to stop the scroll. I'm educating, I'm sharing my listing. It's getting thousands of views. Also sharing more of the lifestyle, not just the home, I think is really powerful. Because imagine if you were moving to another market. Like you may not know what neighborhoods are great or what the town is like. And so many real estate agents, they're just focusing on the house, the square footage and the fact that it has granite countertops. Well, buyers actually care more about the lifestyle than the home. We all do. If that wasn't the case, we would all live in the middle of nowhere. But the real estate community is missing out on like sharing. What does this home come with besides just the house?
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A
Yeah, no, for sure. My background, for those of you who are listening that are new to call her creator. My background is real estate marketing and I'm always big on telling realtors to become the digital mayor. So yes, you want to do listing videos and talk about homes. At the end of the day, we want to sell homes, right? Or, or help buyers buy a new home. But do you ever do content based around like the city of, of where you're at? Like, are you telling people where the best burger is? Are you spotlighting these coffee shops? Or do you do that more in stories? Tell me about that.
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B
I love that strategy. I love the agents that do that. Here's why I have not like been leaning in to my suburb. Phoenix Metro is really big. We have so many suburbs and I can get to the other side of town in less than an hour. We truly service the whole state. So I find that agents that really lean into that local content, it's great. I mean they're like, I live in a town called Queen Creek, Arizona. People know that's where I live. But if all my content was Like Queen Creek. Then what happens is somebody that lives in another city, like Phoenix or Scottsdale, they say things like, oh, I didn't reach out to you because I thought you only work in Queen Creek. And that can happen sometimes. When you list a lot of luxury homes, the condo home seller could be like, oh, I didn't reach out to you. I thought you only list luxury homes. So in a way, although I fine tune a lot of my content, I try to like, share that. Like, we will help you wherever. Like, we have sellers reaching out to us three hours away to list their cabin because they know the exposure we can get for their listing is almost impossible to beat. I do love a good talking head professional video. You'll see that a lot on my feedback. And I also love a teleprompter. It saves me time. I shoot twice a month with my videographer for an hour each time. I come with all of my scripts in advance and I read from a teleprompter. And these are things like objections I'm getting right now. In Phoenix, we're very much in a buyer's market. Homes are taking months to sell and many sellers say, oh, I don't want to leave money on the table. I want to price my home high to leave room for negotiation. I okay, well, that's an objection. I'm hearing a lot from sellers. They think that's the way to sell a home, but it's not in this market. What if I do a real educating consumers on how that is a horrible idea? So you'll see a lot of content like that where I'm helping, like, educate. But also I want to come across as the expert. Like, if I'm going to sell my home, I'm calling Shannon.
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A
Yeah. Do you ever use. I'm really big on green screen for realtors specifically. Do you ever use green screen and talk about what's going on in the market?
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B
Yeah, I love it too. Honestly, I do. And they perform really well and they're so easy to do. I. I mean, that's a great reminder. I could do more of them. Right? Like, you could put anything behind you. You could put up the highest price closings in 2025 in your market and have them scroll behind you. Like, people love that kind of stuff. Or maybe you're not investing in professional listing marketing, but you can have your listing photos in the back and get on camera and talk about the listing. I think in the world of AI and everything becoming, people are going to want that kind of organic feeling content and a Green screen feels more of like that FaceTime talking right into the camera. I think the more and more fake content that is put out there, like even you and I like, are we going to want to spend time on Instagram scrolling through when everything's just fake? AI no.
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A
I hate it. I hate it. Do you do any trends? I don't see a lot of trends from you and I just want to know what's your thoughts on trending audio and all that stuff?
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B
Well, I am a big fan of following your content for ideas because every once in a while I'll throw out a little like trending song and it will perform so well. It feels really weird for my brand. But I also don't want to come across too polished. Like $20 million listing professional video, 100,000 followers. Because then people think I'm not going to send her a dm. And then people call me and they're like, wait, this is really you? I'm like, yes. I'm a real estate agent who just happens to have some Instagram followers and I answer my phone, I reply personally to each DM I receive. So I think that like funny type of content or like voice that like voiceover of different things. I try to do it because I feel like it can make me a little bit more relatable.
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A
Relatable. I'm on the flip side of that. So I look at your content and I'm like, oh, and looks so professional. And I'm sure she's attracting luxurious clientele because she's not being, you know, a weirdo. Like I, I, I'm, I'm just so weird. I'm a weirdo at the end of the day. But I also do work with really good luxury high end clients too. I've got a really high end client right now that we're working with and sometimes I'm like, I don't know if people really trust me all that well because I do so many trends, but I guess at the end of the day you got to lean into what feels right for you.
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B
So. Yeah, and I've used so many of your ideas. I mean we even did a trending reel. We were together speaking at a conference in Chicago a few months ago and we did a, we did a reel together. I think it got a lot of views, right? Yeah, I love a good trend. It's just you, you will never find any like negative, negative things on my social media. You won't find like any profanity. Like I'm very, you know, my faith is super. Important to me. You won't find me wearing like super short dresses, that type of thing. So I try to stay true to who I am and not try to get attention from like the wrong type of followers. But, but man, Instagram is so powerful and it's, it's. If you're, if you're an agent or any small business owner and you're not building a personal brand, you're going to get left behind. Because I believe the small business owner, the real estate agent, the lender with the best personal brand is going to win a lot of the business of the future. And you may not see those immediate results. Right. Like, it took me probably six months of consistently posting before I started to get calls. And you may say, oh, I posted every day this month and I didn't get one call. We'll know that, like, the people that are watching your content, they may not be looking to sell right now, but in a year their husband could get a job relocation. And guess who they're going to think of? They're going to think of you because you are planting seeds every single day. You are showing who you are besides your job. You are posting content to plant those seeds and they're going to think of you. And, and that's the power of social.
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A
Media when it comes. Speaking of posting, when it comes to posting, how many times a week are you posting?
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B
Well, my goal is at least five stories a day behind the scenes of my life. And then my feed post. It can just really vary. I mean, I'm seeing, I'm sure as you are as well, like carousels are just really performing so well right now versus reels. I don't know, I might post like three to four times a week, sometimes maybe more.
- [20:42]
A
Okay, that's so crazy. See, I do less stories and then I post twice a day. But maybe I need to take some from the Shannon playbook and flip that script a little bit because I think stories are fun too. Plus, that's a warmer audience. They're already following you. They already kind of know who you are. So you can just build that trust. You know how they say, like, love on the people that you already have? And I think that's. You do a really great job at that.
- [21:06]
B
Well, I feel, and I appreciate that. I mean, that means a lot coming from you. But the stories, if you can create your stories in a way that they're going to get engagement, people are going to like it, they're going to comment back. Those people are going to see your content when you post on the feed. And I think that might be why I get such great engagement on my feed, is because I've got this whole, like, fan club on my stories. Like, for example, Saturday morning I was going to Pilates and my husband looked at me and he goes, why don't you bring Bailey? She likes to stretch too. And Bailey's my dog. And I go, do you think Pilates is just stretching? And he goes, yeah. I go, david, why don't you come to a Pilates class with me? I posted that sitting in my car Saturday morning, no makeup on, in workout clothes. Of course I added a little filter because who doesn't love a good filter? But I told that story from my car. My followers went nuts. All the comments of, you need to send them to Pilates. And like, that engagement is amazing. And then it's also entertaining for them. And then they're going to see my feed post too.
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A
I love that. I think people listening to this right now. And I'm gonna do it to myself. Let's challenge ourselves for the next 30 days. Need to show up on stories at least once a day. Shannon does it five times a day. I'm gonna, I am going to do that. And I'm gonna report back to you, Shannon, in about.
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B
Oh, good. I love it. Like, I love seeing your stories. Like, you were just in New York and like, you can bring people along on your vacation. And I know it feels cringy. I know it feels weird to post behind the scenes of your morning workout, but man, I was at Pilates at 5am this morning. I'm not the most in shape person in the world, but I'm trying my best. And when I post that 5am at Pilates, you know what that shows my followers? Shannon's disciplined. She's consistent. She's not sleeping in. She's the real estate agent that I want. Like, she's not lazy, right? Sleeping in. So posting your morning routine is really powerful. Posting your family traditions. I am a working mom. I work a lot of hours. I feel like I'm drowning a lot of the time. And a lot of working moms will ask me, like, Shannon, how do you do it? Like, how do you lead a team? How do you sell all these homes? I go, I put my family in my calendar like, it's a $3 million listing consult. Every Friday night is Friday night, family night, no matter what. In fact, I had a seller reach out to me yesterday. Multimillion dollar home. They're like, our only time available is Friday night. And I go I didn't tell them it's Friday night family night, but I said, how about, how about Tuesday? Is there any way you can make that work? Because all week long when I'm, I mean it is hard being a real estate agent. The stress, the pressure. We have our clients biggest assets on our shoulders. Deals are falling apart left and right. There's so many issues. I wake up at 3am often like just stressed out, staring at the ceiling. And I can look forward to Friday night family night. And my kids know that is something that is a tradition that we won't ever not do. Also, as a small business owner, as a real estate agent, our calendar, especially when you're in sales, it can fill up so fast. And that is the most important priority of your life. Like running from appointment to appointment, trying to catch the next deal. And then a month goes by. And if you're married like me, you say, I haven't been on a date with my husband in a month. Well, we schedule our date nights. Maybe it's a breakfast, maybe it's something like having that in your calendar so you can recharge, refresh, and then months don't go by and you're like, shoot, I haven't looked up from my phone.
- [24:37]
A
That is so true. I'm just thinking here, working mom too over here. And me and my husband haven't been on a date in forever. I told him the other day, I'm like, it's date night. So do you have to put those times on your calendar before we get. I want to get more deeper into that with you, especially with your faith and all of that and how you show up online sharing that stuff. Before I get in there, I have two questions real quick. When it comes to your, your video marketing and your reels, is there a sweet spot that you found as far as link goes? And then do you have a strategy when it comes to writing? Hook?
- [25:13]
B
Yeah. I cannot believe I was so late to jump on this trend. Like it sounds silly admitting this, but I didn't start using many chat until about three months ago. I thought nobody. Because I have these video guides because I want to like we have five star reviews, our clients, we want them to have the best experience ever. And I have found that filming videos of each step of the process in the home sale or the home buying process, it's a game changer, right? My clients are not ever upset or asking like well what happens next? They already know. So I have a seller guide. I use HighNote IO. I've got a seller Guide video of every step of the process. And someone told me, why don't you use Manychat and say the end of your videos comment guide for my free seller's guide. I said nobody's gonna want my goofy seller's guide. Nobody's gonna post guide in the comments. This sounds so silly and but fine, I'll try it like I was like a toddler, whatever, I'll try it. Sure enough, everybody wants this guide. I have like you could look at reels. I have hundreds of comments of guide, guide, guide, guide, guide. I'm like, this is incredible, right? So that's kind of like this new thing I've been implementing which has been around for a long time. But I just started on this. So many chat. I have a little call to action in some of my videos and it's worked really well. And then as far as hooks, what I always tell people, like no matter what business you're in, you should have role models of who's doing video. Well, there is a 24 year old real estate agent named Kelsey Blevins who is just killing it with her videos. I love this because it's like, man, I can get so comfortable. I've done so many videos. She is killing it. If you don't follow her, please follow her. I use ChatGPT and when I'm writing my scripts I say write this like Kelsey and it's like okay Kelsey. And it like it's just like her tone and that's like my secret sauce of like you could say write this like Shannon Gillette. Write this like Brad McCallum like who's doing videos? Well, and ChatGPT will help you with that hook, right? And like ask make this a viral like scroll stopping hook because your first few seconds of your video is the most important.
- [27:32]
A
Oh God. And I love ChatGPT and I love, I'm a weirdo for hooks too. Like at the agency the girls will put the most amazing content calendar together. I'll be like, that hook sucks. You need to change it. And it's actually a really good hook. But I'm just so picky about hooks. So I love that secret sauce there and I love that you are promoting another woman in business. So good for you, Shannon. Speaking of promoting, I love the most, the most thing I admire about Shannon is her love for Jesus. And you're not afraid to talk about your faith online. You've got this really amazing conference coming up. So first let's talk about were you scared to talk about your faith on social at first, definitely.
- [28:13]
B
Right? Because it feels a little weird, right? Like, it feels weird sharing your life. I lead a team of 12 women, and they were all moms. And we were talking about this in our team meeting the other day, that even sharing that you're at your daughter's soccer game on a Saturday afternoon. Because. Because all of our sellers follow us on social media and homes aren't selling fast. So they're like, oh my gosh, they're gonna see I'm at the soccer game and I'm not out hustling and I'm like, who cares if they. What are we, a robot? Like, we're not allowed to have a life. I don't care if you don't want to work with me, because I'm gonna be at my son's football game. Like, go find another real estate agent. I'm not a robot. I will take such great care of you. You will. Your home will sell for top dollar. But, like, life and I have a team behind me. The power of a team in real estate is huge because you're always going to be taken care of. Even if I'm traveling, like, got a whole team now. The faith thing, I feel like God gave me this platform for a reason. And I've always been very bold to share my faith and behind the scenes at church because Jesus and my faith is the most important thing to me in my world and my life. Like, and God gave me this platform and he's blessed me with so many sales. And I say that because I have to, like, in order for anyone to want to listen to me, I have to have some good production numbers. So it's like, man, the blessings, like, are so crazy. And I couldn't imagine being a small business owner without faith. Like, how do you sleep at night without knowing that, like, everything's gonna work out? So I have, I also have been blessed, which is so crazy because I am an introvert, shy, awkward, and weird. If you ever meet me in person, I'm just very quiet and. But I can speak on a stage in front of 6,000 people and feel more comfortable than like a one on one conversation with somebody. And I feel like, man, God gave me these gifts and I travel around the country and I speak on some of the biggest stages in the industry. And I love a good real estate conference. But at the end of the day, they're all kind of the same. We're learning how to run a Google Ad and AI and we leave feeling like, defeated. Like, oh my gosh, I'm so Far behind and everything. And God gave me this vision of a faith based real estate conference inside a church with thousands of real estate agents, worship music, incredible faith LED speakers, speakers that have huge platforms that are not afraid to share that Jesus is very important to them in their life. I've had this vision for three years. It felt so scary to me. I kept putting it on the back burner, asking myself, who am I to put on the biggest faith based real estate event in history? I why did God choose me? Oh, somebody else will do it. So I'm not experienced in this. I don't know how to run a conference. But in September, I put a reel out there. I was just feeling really led to like post this on my Instagram. I put a reel out there. I was basically holding back tears, looking into the camera, saying, would anyone come to this who would speak like, would you be interested in this? This reel has 90,000 views. Thousands of comments from real estate agents from around the world saying, yes, the industry needs this. The industry is dark. There's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of stress, there's a lot on our shoulders, like we need a faith based event. And I was like, okay, well I can't not, I can't put this on the back burner now because I have 90,000 people that are going to hold me accountable. So I booked the most beautiful venue in Phoenix, Arizona that seats 3200 people. I look back, what was I thinking? 3200. Why didn't I start small? What? I don't know. 32 I reached out to. So it's a February 17, 2026. I made a list of all of like the biggest faith led leaders in real estate and coaching and like, who are not afraid to talk about their faith. I called them all up. A lot of them don't even know who I am. They don't follow me on Instagram. But for whatever reason, every single speaker I asked said, yes, I'll be there. Some of them that charge upwards of $20,000 or more for a speaking fee. They go, I'll wave my feet, I'll be there. What? So we have this beautiful venue, this banana speaker list, a Super bowl champion, an incredible live, live music and now we just need the people to come. We already have so many agents from around the country in Canada flying into Phoenix in February. It's so beautiful in February and I am still so scared that nobody's gonna show up. I feel like I'm gonna throw up like once a day. I. It was Three times a day. This is probably the scariest, like, business thing I've ever done because, like, man, I'm going all out and I don't even know if anyone will show up.
- [32:55]
A
So I think that God is going to give you a holy slap in the face. That's what I learned yesterday. And I was talking on my stories on Call Her Creator. You're. He is going to fill that room with all the perfect people. What are some things that you're. You guys are going to be learning during that? Like, what would make someone want to come to something like this?
- [33:15]
B
Yeah. Now, although most of the audience will be real estate agents, honestly, anybody could join us. Everybody's welcome. Whether you're a small business owner that works with real estate agents or a lender or title company, like, you will find value in this event. Just the energy in the room with, like, the live music, like, worship music, and just us all gathering together because our faith is important to us is going to be, I really think, like, life changing. People are going to leave feeling motivated, inspired, and, like, feel like a new person. I feel the speakers are going to be sharing some of their testimony. Like Steve Weatherford, super bowl champion. He's going to share how he thought all he needed to do was win a Super bowl and his life would be perfect. But he won the super bowl and his life crumbled. And then he found God and he was like, wait, super bowl wins don't matter? Like, I was chasing the wrong thing and here's how much my life has improved because God is first now he's traveling the country, like, giving these incredible keynotes. Like, my speaking coach, Giselle is going to speak as well. Like Ricky Carruth, who was selling 100 homes a year as a solo agent but battling addiction. And he found God and, like, his life has changed and, like, it's going to be so good. It's going to be so good. I know that. Um, and I would just love anyone listening, like, just join us. You have nothing to lose. Arizona is beautiful in February. And I'm. I'm excited, nervous, scared, all in one.
- [34:47]
A
I'm excited for you too. And the social media strategist that I am, I want you. So I do something called sales in seven. When I launch a product or something, I post about something seven days in a row. And I really think you need to lean into the sales in seven. And you need to post about this conference seven freaking days in a row. You probably need to do bigger, honestly, like, not saying the conference is high ticket what is the cost for the conference?
- [35:11]
B
That's $99.
- [35:14]
A
Okay.
- [35:14]
B
Somebody can't afford it. I will give you a free ticket.
- [35:17]
A
Okay, Reach out to Shannon, but for bigger ticket items. I tell people six weeks. You need to go really hard posting about it. But Shannon, we need you telling us what we're gonna see. We need featured speakers who are going to be there. What are the takeaways? And we need you posting about that at least seven days in a row because we're gonna blow this thing up for you and you're. This is gonna be life changing for some people.
- [35:37]
B
Well, thank you so much. Now I love that you gave me that advice because if you go to my Instagram right now, this is called The Awaken Summit. Awakensummit.com Go to my Instagram. I feel like I'm like overly posting on the Awakened Summit and I felt like, oh my gosh, I'm sharing too much about it. But I'm also spending any free time, which I don't have much. I'm personally dming agents like, hey, will you please come to this? And so many of them are like, I didn't even know about it. I was like, how do you not know about it? I post about it all the time. But not everybody sees our post. So if you, you are the expert. Seven days in a row.
- [36:13]
A
If you row at minimum. But I follow you, Shannon. And when I, whenever I see your content, I, I interact with you and I, I've probably seen maybe one or two. So go harder. And this is for anyone else listening, you may think that you're talking about something way too many times, but go even harder on it because guess what? If it's not aligned, people will unfollow you and you don't want those people anyways. But I have so much faith that this is going to be life changing and it's just going to be something that comes every single year.
- [36:40]
B
Oh, well, I appreciate you and that's really good advice. And good advice for, like you said for any topic. Right. We have to remember we feel everyone sees our content, but they really don't. Like the algorithms are not showing it to everybody and. But man, I appreciate you helping me share this because it's one of those events. I know like once people see all the videos come back from other and be like, I wish I was there, like, it's going to be incredible. And just the community and the connections and real estate agents love meeting other agents. I mean there's literally people flying from New Jersey to Phoenix and Canada and all these. Maybe because it's so cold there, they want to come to the warm Arizona. Yeah. But it's so cool to see these people, like just this event's never been done before and they're just trusting and getting on a plane and coming to Phenix.
- [37:27]
A
Just being in the right room can really be life changing. I learned that last year with my first conference that I went to. Okay, Shannon, how can they find you? How can they get their ticket? Tell us all the things.
- [37:38]
B
Yes. Well, I would love for everybody to meet me over on Instagram at Shannon Underscore Gillette. I answer every single dm. So if you have any questions or need anything, I am here to help. And then of course, awakensummit.com February 17th in Phoenix at Dream City Church.
- [37:58]
A
Yes. I love it. I'm so excited for you, friends.
- [38:02]
B
Thank you.
- [38:02]
A
I hope you guys will follow Shannon even if you can't go to this first summit, follow her. Laugh at the mozzarella sticks that she finds in the bathroom. Shannon, you've encouraged me to show up more on stories and I hope she has encouraged you guys listening to just show up as yourself and do a little bit more connecting with the people that already follow you because they already love you and trust you. So why not just nurture that, that relationship a little bit more? Shannon, thank you so much.
- [38:29]
B
Thank you.