103. The Networking Group Blueprint: Transform Connections Into Closings With Ryan Gillen

Summary

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent Podcast

Episode 103: The Networking Group Blueprint: Transform Connections Into Closings With Ryan Gillen
Host: Jason Abrams (Keller Podcast Network)
Guest: Ryan Gillen
Release Date: October 6, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode explores how Ryan Gillen, a young and highly successful real estate agent, has harnessed the power of networking groups to drive enormous business growth. The conversation covers the step-by-step blueprint for setting up and running effective business networking groups, turning authentic connections into profitable closings—culminating in $90 million in yearly sales for his team. Ryan details how simple, recurring meetups with like-minded professionals can be invaluable for lead generation, personal growth, and cultivating a deep sense of community.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Family Roots & Early Real Estate Lessons

• Background:
  • Ryan grew up in a real estate family (dad was an agent/broker for 40 years).
  • Childhood involved open houses and observing the lifestyle, unknowingly absorbing the realities of the business.
    • “We didn’t really know anything different. So later in life... we just really know what you have to do to be successful in real estate.” (Ryan, 02:38)
• Critical turning point:
  • Attempted another career after college, but found “a very low ceiling” and returned to real estate, inspired by his father’s encouragement.
    • “If you just work the same amount of hours you’re doing there right now, you’d just crush real estate.” (Ryan's dad, relayed by Ryan, 03:32)

2. Striking Out Independently

• Couldn’t work directly with his dad, “lasted about three days,” and decided to carve his own path, gradually building a book of business from scratch.

3. Team Growth via Listings and Leverage

• Modeled early growth on examples of other agents with many listings.
• A rapid upswing in volume necessitated hiring, evolving into a team organically out of necessity.
  • “We sold, like, a house every day. The first assistant ... said, ‘This is not for me. This is crazy.’ So I hired another person.” (Ryan, 05:45)
• Discovered the value of leverage early—first takeaway from reading "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" book (06:49)

4. From Hustle to Profitable Systems

• Shifted to Keller Williams after eight years, which helped install robust systems.
  • “Went from a team that sold a lot of real estate and wasn’t making a ton of money to a really profitable, system-based team.” (Ryan, 07:29)

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The Networking Group Blueprint

1. Origin & Core Concept

• Genesis:
  • Joined a country club as a way to meet local young professionals; initiated a group chat that grew to 35–40 people.
  • Became known as the local "connector," and discovered the immense business value of orchestrated communities (08:26).
    • “I was the mayor of that group thread... If I go down that thread right now, I probably have sold a house or got a referral from almost every person in that thread.” (Ryan, 08:26)

2. Anyone Can Do It—Not Just Country Clubs

• The approach is universal:
  • “It doesn’t have to be anything crazy... It could be a bunch of guys that like playing golf and want to join tee times together...” (Ryan, 10:13)
  • Identifying and solving real problems through small, focused groups is essential (soccer fan example, 10:13)

3. Building the Group: Step-by-Step

a. Find a Problem to Solve (11:34)

• Focus the group on a shared challenge among peers.
  • For Ryan: young professionals in a “not very young” city feeling isolated; solution was a mastermind breakfast every other week (11:57).

b. Logistics

• Where: At Ryan’s real estate office—“virtually no cost” except maybe donuts (13:27)
• When: Every other week, Wednesdays at 8:00 a.m., lasting one hour (13:57)
• How:
  • Consistent reminders two days in advance.
  • Members can bring guests (14:13)
  • Circular table arrangement, 8–12 attendees from different business sectors; strictly no duplicates from the same field (14:40, 15:09)
• Practical Structure:
  • “We start every meeting with, ‘Hey, what problems are you dealing with right now?’” (Ryan, 14:13)
  • Brainstorm and mastermind solutions as a group—topics range from hiring to getting reviews to balancing family life as entrepreneurs (16:35, 17:56)

c. Focused Curation

• The group is curated—one representative per profession (agent, lender, contractor, HR, moving company, logistics, entrepreneur, etc.) (15:19, 20:24).
  • Example: During a member’s closing, everyone in the group was involved in some way (15:19).

4. Culture & Deep Connection

• Meetings often get personal:
  • “One week we talked about our spouses ... we had people crying in the group.” (Ryan, 17:22)
• Trust and openness foster rapid problem-solving and deeper relationships.

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Measuring Impact

• Quantifiable Results:
  • Group produces 6–8 million in sales annually for Ryan, with high satisfaction and effortless transactions (19:13).
    • “...You work with the easiest people...they all like you...It's just really easy, dude.” (Ryan, 19:13)

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Maximizing Community & Reciprocity (Country Club Example, 21:24)

• Key Takeaways for Club/Community Settings:
  • Be involved in boards, committees, club events.
  • Support and connect others outside the club context—referrals create reciprocity.
  • Be present and visible; join new groups and introduce yourself.
    • “If you join a club and just go play nine holes by yourself...you’re probably not going to get anything.” (Ryan, 22:56)
• Skill not Required: You don’t need to be a great golfer—just be a “good conversation” and have good etiquette (23:36).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Getting Value from Groups:

  “I just think that’s always why I think people come back is that they found a group of people that they had just so much in common with.”
  —Ryan Gillen (24:35)

• On the Power of Enjoyable Lead Generation:

  “How do I play more golf and how do I hang out with more people that I like? ... That, my friend, is an equation for success.”
  —Jason Abrams (25:02)

• On System Over Tech:

  “What you didn’t hear were all of the different pieces of AI or technology that he needs to pull it off...What you did hear: the humanist.”
  —Jason Abrams (25:38)

• On Leadership:

  “Leadership is teaching people how to think so that they do the things they need to do when they need to do them, so that ultimately they get the things they want when they want to have them.”
  —Jason Abrams, quoting Gary Keller (26:37)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:05 | Ryan describes his real estate upbringing | | 03:32 | Transitioning to real estate: making his own name | | 05:45 | How his team began—necessity and hiring due to rapid sales | | 06:49 | Reading The MREA book; first lessons | | 08:26 | How joining a country club led to networking group discovery | | 10:13 | Simplified framework for forming organic networking groups | | 13:27 | Practical details: when, where, how the group meets | | 15:19 | Examples of business synergy in the group | | 16:35 | Topics and depth—what gets discussed | | 19:13 | Concrete business results, community benefits | | 21:24 | The economics and best practices of the country club approach | | 23:36 | Golf skill/etiquette versus networking value | | 24:35 | The reason group members keep returning—community and shared struggles |

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Key Takeaways

• Lead generation can and should be rooted in enjoyable, authentic community building, not forced activities.
• Forming a small, curated mastermind group targeting a shared problem or demographic can yield outsized results—both personally and professionally.
• Systematize the meetings (place, time, reminders), keep it intimate, and be the connector—not the oracle.
• True value comes from creating a space for open dialogue, mutual aid, and camaraderie.

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If you’re inspired to launch your own networking group, remember: all it takes is a consistent meeting time, a focus on genuine problems, and the resolve to care about others' success.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome back to another episode of the Millionaire Real Estate Agent podcast. I'm Jason Abrams and this is the place where we lift the curtain on the world of real estate like never before. Every week I sit down with visionaries, pirates and mavericks. We're here to document, demonstrate and most importantly, demystify their game changing models and systems. What secrets propel them to the top and how are they living their dreams? This is about passion, it's about strategy. But above all, it's about real tangible success. So buckle up and let's dive in. This is the Millionaire real estate agent podcast.

[A]

4.

[B]

I've always wanted to do that. I've never got to do that on a golf course, friends, because all of my shots are in the fairway. You know this, you'd expect nothing less. But today we are going to talk to a gentleman who has turned golf into a family business. He doesn't own golf courses, don't get me wrong. But he tripped into something that changed his life. You see, he joined a country club and from there realized that any group of people joined by a like hobby could literally change each other's lives. This team does over 325 units a year, friends, over $90 million servicing Dayton, Columbus and the Cincinnati markets. And he does it all through putting together groups of like minded people joined in community. He is going to tell you exactly how to do it. I am talking about none other than Ryan Gillen. Friends, if that wasn't enough, he's less than than 35 years of age. There it is. Now you all feel older. Sit back and buckle up. This is Ryan Gilliam. Ryan, how are you, sir?

[A]

Doing great.

[B]

Ryan, I ask everybody, man, and you're not getting away from it. How'd you end up in the greatest industry in the world?

[A]

Yeah, it's honestly it's a family business and it's not that I work all with our family, but my dad was real estate agent or still was a real estate agent for about 40 years. Plus he was a broker.

[B]

I got to ask, so you're a kid, you're growing up, dad's an agent. Did you grow up running around open houses? Were there open house signs in the garage? Did you stuff envelopes at the kitchen table? These are the things that real estate families do.

[A]

It was really interesting because it's funny you asked that. I remember going on, listing appointments, sitting in my basketball jersey and my dad's like, hey, be quiet, sit there. And I was like 12 years old and you know, we'd be watching football and all of a sudden he'd be gone and, and come back in the third quarter. Where'd you go? Oh, I went, showed a house real fast. And so we didn't really know anything different. So like later in life it's really helped us because we just really know what you have to do to be successful in real estate. Without even him teaching us, we just kind of knew, so.

[B]

It's so good, man. I learned that real estate was a family business when my then 7 year old knocked my open house signs into my Mercedes and I realized we were all in this thing together, that the real estate business was a family gig. So you could go one of two ways though, with a family business. You either wake up hazy, reading everything about it your whole life and vowing to never do it, or you love it and build your life to end up there. Which was it for you?

[A]

A little bit of both. So my dad was pretty successful in the area, Pretty known real estate agent in the area. I went off to college at University of Kentucky and I really wanted to be known for me. And so I took a job in another industry, found out in six months that there was a very low ceiling, hated that ceiling. And I was working a lot of hours. My dad calls me one day and he's like, you know, if you just work the same amount of hours you're doing there right now, you're just crushing real estate. I quit the next day, signed up in real estate class the next week and really just kind of went from there. But I wanted so bad just to make my own name. But then I found out I can make my own name in real estate. But he definitely convinced me to come back and give this a shot.

[B]

Here's an interesting stat, right? So when you study the wealthiest people in the world, the number one way that they get rich is through inheritance. And so, by the way, if you're lucky enough to be in that group, take it. Ryan, you didn't inherit it though. You didn't walk in and dad just say, hey, man, here's the business. It does 300 units a year. It's now yours. Good luck with all the money. That's not what happened.

[A]

No, we actually, I lasted about three days working with my dad. We butted heads pretty hard and so I went out and did my own thing, you know. But he was very good at telling me to do something. I'm like, hey, I don't know what to do. He's like, you should always be doing something. I remember he came home one day at like, 4:00', clock. And I'm sitting there on the couch with my mom, like, watching a show, and he's like, what are you doing here? This is when I was still living with him. I was 23 years old. I'm like, I don't know. I have nothing to do today. He's like, you always have something to do. And that was my cue to get up off the couch and get out of the house. But, yeah, so we found out pretty quick that you don't come home very early, so.

[B]

Good man. So, okay, so you decide to go off on your own. What does that conversation look like with dad?

[A]

Yeah, there wasn't really much conversation. Just continued to keep working. Started pretty, like, you know, quickly with everything. And my real estate career saw some success there. But realistically, it was just kind of what we did. It was the same thing that he did. He was in the business for years, but, you know, never really built a team or anything. So it was just. It just felt very normal.

[B]

So you have some success, you're starting to kick it off. What makes you decide to build out the team? What happens? Because there's a big gap between what you're describing and 90 million in sales that you do every year.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So how do you take that leap?

[A]

Yeah. So one day, like, I'm talking to him in the hallway, and he said, see that guy over there? That guy's name's Mike, and he's got 45 listings right now. And I'm like, well, how's he doing? And he said, well, he just calls people. And so I figured out, like, the systems to call people and everything. And then six months later, I had about 40 listings myself that were active. And. And that was the time the market started shifting. So I built up all these listings, and the market started shifting. And I think I sold all those 45 homes in a matter of a month. And the Gillen Group really kind of grew out of necessity and ended up hiring my first assistant after two weeks. We sold, like, a house every day. And she's like, this is not for me. This is crazy. So I hired another person to help her then another person. And it just kind of grew from there. At the small brokers that I was at, that my dad owned as an independent, I was the only person that had a team. I was the only person that. And so didn't really know what I was doing. But we were just hustling and selling homes.

[B]

So at some point, you look up, you need some models and systems to go grow the team. Do you end up reading the book the Millionaire Real Estate Agent?

[A]

I read that on a plane on the way to the national association of Realtors convention. My dad's business partner was getting inducted as the president that year and I had been in the business for like three weeks. And I didn't understand anything about that book except for leverage. I understood that in my life and I understood that. So that's the only thing I remember taking from it. But I remember getting down with that book and being like, man, what did I just read? So, because, I mean, I had been in this business for two weeks. Yeah.

[B]

But now fast forward becomes, ultimately you end up building a team that looks remarkably similar to the way that it was laid out in that book. How does that end up happening?

[A]

A lot of failure, failures. A lot of messing up, A lot of saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing. We did the right thing sales wise and helping our customers. But realistically probably didn't have the best systems at the start. But everything started to fall in place more and more. And then eight years into the business, my father ended up selling that brokerage. And it was my first opportunity to really look into other brokerages. And that's where I found Keller Williams. And that's really when the systems and everything really started to come into play. Went from a team that sold a lot of real estate that wasn't making a ton of money to a really profitable system based team.

[B]

All right, so let's dig into it. So gang, we're about to unpack a model, and the model that we're going to unpack. Ryan, when you look up, you do a lot of things really well. But the way that you're running business networking groups, that seems to be an incredibly powerful lever for you. How did you end up falling into that?

[A]

When I came back to Dayton, Ohio, I joined a country club and became really good friends with a lot of young professionals out there. So I started a group thread and with all these young professionals and ended up growing to like 35, 40 people. We still have this thread seven or eight years later, nine years later. And I started to realize that I got a lot of business from it. I was the mayor of that group thread to the point where I would be on the driving range and there'd be another young professional there and I'd start a conversation with them and they'd said, hey, I need to meet a guy named Ryan Gillen. He's apparently like the connector here and all this kind of stuff. And I'm like, oh, yeah, you know, you found him. And I would throw him in the group text and, you know, introduce them to everybody. Then they would kind of be indebted to me a little bit. And so that's where it ultimately started. And I started see how profitable was. Because if I go down that 35, 40 person thread right now, I probably have sold a house or got a referral from almost every person in that thread.

[B]

That's so powerful, gang. Don't worry. The first step is not join a country club. I just wanted you to hear how Ryan saw the power in formulating one of these groups. We are about to tell you exactly how to build out a business networking group. Now, you don't have to take the notes. I'm taking the notes. Ryan can prove it. I got pen in hand. If you're watching on YouTube, you're seeing it live and we're going to tell you exactly how to do it. If you don't get the notes, they come out every Thursday. They get emailed to you as a PDF. Go to MrEanotes.com that's MrEanotes.com Sign up and you will get the notes. Ryan, tell me exactly how do I build out a business networking group? What's my first step?

[A]

Yeah, everybody thinks it needs to be something crazy, something very intricate. It really doesn't have to be. It can be a bunch of guys that like playing golf and want to join tee times together and talk about golf tomorrow actually for band and dunes with eight guys from my club and they're all my clients as well and stuff. So essentially it's the same model. And I have a business networking group as well and I have an investors group as well and it's the same model. So I want people to think about a problem in their life and how they could solve that problem with a group. It could be as simple as a guy that's on my real estate team. I talked to him. He's a season ticket holder for the Columbus Crew soccer team and he hates watching away games by himself. So I said, why don't you get a group of people together that are also season ticket holders and you guys go house to house and watch away games together. You're the mayor of that group. You coordinate it. Someone caters in the food each time and you meet up. The problem is I don't want to watch games by myself. I'm sure other people don't want to be lonely as well. You coordinate that group together, you start the thread and then you watch games Together, that's as like dumbed down as I could make it. But it's unbelievable how simple it is.

[B]

It makes perfect. By the way, anyone watching soccer alone, call our helpline. We're worried about you. An emotional level. We want to help you. Any sport where you can't use your hands, Ryan? I struggle with, okay, so what's the problem I can solve and then how would I use a group to solve it? That makes perfect sense to me. How did that end up leading you into starting the business networking group? What were you trying to solve?

[A]

Yeah, so I'm very passionate about young professionals or anybody trying to push their business forward. I'm very intrigued about the different workings of different kind of businesses. And I have a lot of friends that have small businesses. I'm always asking them questions just because I'm very fascinated about them and I'm always wondering how can I help them. One issue in the Dayton area is it's not a very young area. And so there's only so many young professionals, young business professionals that are building businesses. And sometimes it feels a little lonely. So I spoke to a couple of my friends and I was like, hey, how would you like to do an every other week meeting in the morning with some like minded people and we can talk about our problems. Some, any kind of problem we may have. We've talked about our spouses and how we're supporting them. It doesn't matter what it may be, but let's get a group of people in the same room that are feeling the same thing. And it really just kind of grew from there. People really feel great leaving that room because they just had an hour therapy session with people that are like minded and it's sometimes you feel a little lonely. Definitely in this real estate world you feel lonely. But they feel lonely as well because they're making the same decisions, you know, being leaders at their company.

[B]

So in essence you're running a mastermind. So step one, what was the problem I was trying to solve in this case? You were trying to solve young entrepreneurs in the area. It meets every other week. You said like minded and then mastermind around a problem. Let me ask you some questions. Where do you meet once every other week?

[A]

Yeah, my office, where I'm standing now. We meet once a week at 8am.

[B]

So you have this big Keller Williams office, which is an advantage. Why not use it? You have the physicality so you open up your space to them immediately setting the stage that you're the real estate guy. Because they're meeting at Your office, which is a real estate office. Is that right?

[A]

Absolutely. So. And it. And it virtually costs me no money. I think I bought some donuts a couple of times. It literally just costs our time.

[B]

Okay, what time do you have the meeting?

[A]

We start at 8. We end at 9. Some people usually hang out after just a little bit, but we try to get people started on time. End on time because we know they have busy days.

[B]

Okay, so it's at your office. Does everybody know the standing time or are you emailing them invites and text messages to remind them? How does that go?

[A]

Yeah, it's a standing time about two days in advance. I just remind them, hey, can't wait to see everybody at 8am on Wednesday. If you do have a guest, please let us know who that might be that you've been bringing. Other than that, can't wait to see you guys. If there's a topic that you want to talk about, let us know because we start every meeting with, hey, what problems are you dealing with right now?

[B]

Okay, so then they show up. Do you have a room set up? Is it set up in a certain way or they're all sitting around a table. What's the setup?

[A]

Yeah, so just kind of depends on how many people show up. It fluctuates a lot if it's just kind of depending on what time of year it is. But we just have a circular table, everybody's sitting around, and it just. It's just a big round table.

[B]

And on average, how many people do you get to each one of these?

[A]

Anywhere from about 8 to 12.

[B]

Okay. And they're all, in your case, young, and they're all business owners. So you're curating the group. Let me just take a wild guess. There's no other real estate agent in the group, is that right?

[A]

Yeah, there's no duplicates of any other company or any other genre of business. So, yeah, no duplicates.

[B]

Okay, so walk me through. Tell me some of the different industries that are represented.

[A]

Yeah. So the other day we had a closing, and I was the real estate agent. The lender in the group got the deal there. Then there was a title guy that. He's one of my best friends, owns a title company. He did that deal. He's building a deck on the back of his new house. And so a contractor in the group is doing the deck. And then the one guy owns a moving company, so help them with that as well. So it was like, hey, guys, Jeremy's closing. And pretty much everybody was excited. So it happens pretty quick. That if we get a deal, then almost everybody gets a deal. So good.

[B]

Everyone's celebrating. Okay.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I think I understand now when it happens and the setup. Walk me through the meeting itself. It's 8am what happens first?

[A]

Pretty much everybody comes in, says hi. It's pretty casual. First five minutes just talking, catching up. And then I'll just ask, is there any problems that people are having over the past two weeks that they would like the group to solve? And we just feel it's very cool that we have so many people from different avenues that are able to have a different outlook than maybe a real estate agent. So we asked the question, is there any problems that need to be solved? And then we just start brainstorming that problem after they, they announce it.

[B]

Well, give me some examples. I mean, I'm sure some of the topics have surprised you. Some of them have been great conversations, others have been average. What have you all talked about that blew you away?

[A]

A lot of them are hiring and staff related. We have a great HR person in our. And so, hey, I'm having a problem. Like I was having a problem hiring a certain position. And I kept interviewing people, interviewing, interviewing, and I'm a terrible interviewer. And they gave me all tips on, hey, this is what we do. And I took all those answers and I just laid out that was the questions. And we ended up hiring someone a week or so later. And then another position we were trying to hire. I said, hey, I'm looking for a new media director. Guy in our group's like, hey, my friend runs a media company and they educate people here, call this person. And it's just really interesting how fast the connections happen and these problems get solved just from a different perspective.

[B]

So then you mastermind on whatever the problem is all the way till 9 o'. Clock.

[A]

It usually doesn't happen all the way till nine for that one particular, you know, problem or even a couple problems. And then we have another topic that we shift to. So it might be, hey, what's the best way to get reviews in your business? One week we talked about our spouses and how we're showing up for our spouse, being that they're all married to entrepreneurs and we all know that's a difficult thing. And I mean, we had people crying in the group, everything. Because when we got pretty deep about things, so we try to do some type of problem solving and then another topic that can help improve our businesses and how we could help improve each other.

[B]

I love that. And so you're at a Company that wakes up every day and has models and systems and masterminds and you're involved in all those things.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Other businesses and other companies just don't do that. Have you found that you have a more refined perspective than a lot of them because of the education and masterminds you're in through your real estate company?

[A]

I'm in Maps Coaching with Leah Lemberg, and we talk about it all the time. A lot of the things that I'm talking about, I bring to that group. So all the different forms that she has that, you know, I'm filling out for my business, I'll bring that to the group. And it's amazing how much my real estate world translate to their world. And we're talking about the same things. I do consider myself like the mayor of this group. I did start the group, but also I feel that I'm most educated person when it comes to progressing forward through the things that I'm learning through Maps coaching and through all these different masterminds. You know, I just went to Mega Camp and I came back with a bunch of different material, like, you know, the keynote speakers and everything. And we brought those same topics up to our group. It's nice for you guys to provide some material to, you know, for me.

[B]

That's so good, dude. All right, so now quantify it for me. When you look up and you determine how many either transactions or volume, how do you think about the success of this group? Do you have any idea of what it produces every year?

[A]

Yeah. So this group this year should be anywhere from be about 6 to 8 million in sales. For me, it is so easy and it's fun and I enjoy being around these people. They're all great people, but like, you work with the easiest people. They all like you and the transactions are easier. They listen to you because they know you're the professional. It's just really easy, dude.

[B]

I absolutely love that. All right, so now it's nine o' clock in the morning and the meeting is ending. Usual gang hang around, finish their coffees and then head out and then everyone starts about their day.

[A]

Yeah, some people jet out as fast as possible, have another couple buddies that will come in and talk for a bit. It just kind of depends on what the day is, but for the most part, I mean, they might even stay. I bet people stay for an extra hour and just elaborate on a topic. So I might look at them and say, hey, I got to go, but you can stay here.

[B]

So the HR person, I wouldn't have thought of that, by the way. And it's genius that all businesses are a collection of people. We should have an HR person who's there to give us advice on people. Is there any other owners or business people in the group that you wouldn't have thought that they. Because I get mortgage, I get title, I get contractor. I wouldn't have thought of hr. What else am I not thinking of?

[A]

We have a guy who owns a logistics company. That one's always interesting to hear about his world. And then we have a guy who just launched a new app for investing, and he's like a serial entrepreneur and he's owns a restaurant. Launched all these different types of apps. And so learning about, like, the process of launching an app and crowdfunding and just a world that I've never seen before was very interesting. So you get a lot of, like, really cool personalities in the room, but they're also working on just completely different things than you are. So that's what's so fascinating about it. Their day to day is just completely different than mine.

[B]

Makes perfect sense. All right, last question for me. You started this with an anecdotal story about the country club, which I love, by the way. When you look up now, most people say joining a country club is gonna cost me blank dollars per year. I'm gonna have to pay the fee to get in, then I'm gonna have to pay monthly. Do you make money when you do the math every year based on the referrals you get from your country club? Does the country club cost you money or make you money?

[A]

I hope our GM doesn't listen to the MREA podcast. He might raise my dues, but yeah, no, I. I make a lot more money than what my dues are, that's for sure.

[B]

Well, what's the key man? Because look, the idea of the country club real estate agent has always been there. If I'm a member of a country club, what are the three hacks?

[A]

Well, I will tell you, it doesn't always work because I tried to join a second club in the area. So I was a member of two clubs in the same town, and it didn't really work for the other one as well, because I wanted to spend more time at the club with the better course and everything, but essentially is you have to get involved. You have to be connected with some of the boards and the committees and want to be involved with not only the people, but just also the success of the club. I think that's absolutely fantastic. And once people see that you're involved, they're be more likely to use you. Yeah, you got to go and be in all the events, the member guests, the member members, everything, everything like that. But you also have to show people that you care outside of the club. So if they own or run some kind of business, getting people referrals inside that club will spread like wildfire. If you start helping people that are inside that cohort, they will make sure that they take care of you as well. The reciprocity will be very, very high there but. And people will find out, hey, Ryan Gillen sent me so and did this. And so I try to see who those people are and help them outside the club. Just being involved. If you join a club and you go play nine holes by yourself on a weekly basis, you're probably not going to get anything. When I joined As a 24 year old, I used to look at the T sheet and if there was a threesome, I would join that I people that I didn't even know. And it's like once a week and I would just go join a random group and then by like the end of the year I just knew everybody at the club, but I was just joining random tee times and playing with them. So you definitely have to be involved. It just isn't like, hey, you write the check for the club and it's all this money comes pouring in.

[B]

Well, now, does it only work if you're a great golfer? If I'm joining a fourth and I golf, you know, not so well, I'm not going to be real popular. Or is it okay as long as you're respectful and having a good time?

[A]

Yeah. If you're bad, just play fast, you know, and no one's going to hate on that. I do consider myself a pretty good golfer. I did play college golf, but yeah, so that, so I can play a little slower than you can. Yeah.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Yeah, I got a little bit of advantage. I get invited to scrambles a lot. But yeah, I don't think really if anybody cares about how good you are at golf, I think they care about, you know, you're with this person for four hours, are you going to be a good conversation? Are you going to get in the way? You know, I mean, at the end of the day. So I don't think anybody really cares too much.

[B]

Love it. By the way, gang, if you are going to do this, learn the etiquette of a golf course. I promise you good conversation does not mean during a backswing. Just my guess. Ryan, final question. When you look Up. Why do you think that all of these people come every other week? What's the one thing that this gives them back the most? Is it the sense of community? Is it shared mission? Is it a group of people to talk to? What's the one thing that keeps them coming back?

[A]

I definitely think they get a lot of value from it. I think they're progressing forward because everybody wants to come to the meeting each week and say, hey, this is what I've done. But I think it's the sense of community, knowing that people are going through the same thing that they're going through through that any kind of hardships that they're having or problems, anxiety, whatever it may be, there's a group full of people that have the same problems. So to me, I just think that's always why I think people come back is that they found a group of people that they had just so much in common with.

[B]

Dude, it makes perfect sense to me. I love it. I love what you're doing. I think the idea that you can do the things you enjoy and then quote, unquote, call it Legion is one of the most intoxicating and exciting ideas there is. Because most people wake up in the morning and they ask a different question, which is, how do I force myself to do stuff I don't like? That's how they think about Legion. You wake up every day and you say, how do I play more golf and how do I hang out with more people that I like? And that, fill me up. And that, my friend, is an equation for success. Ryan, thank you for joining us today, sir.

[A]

Hey, thanks. It was awesome.

[B]

It's so brilliant. And by the way, when I say that there's a group of humans that wake up every day and ask a question, how do I do more activities that I don't like and call it lead gen, it breaks my heart. That's not why any of us got into the real estate business. We all got into the greatest industry in the world to enjoy our lives, not do things we don't like. You want to go to a place where they have you do stuff you don't like every day, all day, There's a place for that. It's called prison. And you don't have to be there. That's not this thing of ours. Listen to what he said. Any group of people that are like minded and have problems to solve is a community. They have problems to solve. The key for Ryan, he just simply gets them together and gives them a forum to mastermind the solution. He doesn't show up like Nostradamus or the Oracle with all the answers. He provides a safe space and then proctors the conversation. You see, he's part of a franchise that has huge, beautiful offices who. He's able to do it at no cost. He gets him in every other week at a standing time so that everybody falls into schedule. He simply asks the group, what's the problems that you're dealing with? And before you know it, a raging conversation has started. All Ryan is doing is adding structure and semblance to the discussion. And here's the key to this. He actually cares. You see, I got just from talking to Ryan something that I think you picked up on also. He cares about all the people in that group. Heck, he cares if you're a new member at his country club. Ryan cares deeply about people and understands that it's communities coming together that help move people forward. You know what his true genius is? Ryan is a humanist. That's what I would call him, perhaps the last true humanist. Because what you didn't hear were all of the different pieces of AI or technology that he needs to pull it off. What you didn't hear is how big of a back office he needs. What you didn't hear is how big his operations manual is. What you did here, the humanist. And Ryan said something really simple. Eight to 12 people in a room every other week. Simply solving their Problems results in 6 to 8 million dollars in closed real estate volume. Friends, Ryan is running a people development business. And when you develop people, you never have to look for business, go forth and do likewise. There it is. That wraps another episode. Friends, I don't know what you're taking out of this. I really don't. I'll tell you what I want you to be taking out of it, which is these are the people that are having tremendously big lives. And the reason it's happening is because they're setting up the models and systems to do just that. Gary Keller told me that leadership is teaching people how to think so that they do the things they need to do when they need to do them, so that ultimately they get the things they want when they want to have them. And that's what I want for you. You're all leaders, but it begins with leading ourselves. If you're enjoying this podcast, I want you to click the subscribe button anywhere that you get your podcasts. We want to be the voice in your head every single week. And every week, we're dropping new content. We also send out a newsletter at the conclusion of every show to make sure that you get the highest points in the models and systems that were discussed. So if you want to sign up, I need your name and your email address. Head over to The Millionaire Agent podcast.com millionaireagentpodcast.com Enter your name and your email address and every week that newsletter will be in your box. Friends, you just went on a journey. I hope that what happens is between now and the next time we meet is absolutely wonderful for you. Thanks for listening. I'll see you next week.

[C]

This podcast is for general informational purposes only. The views, thoughts and opinions of the guest represent those of the guest and not Keller Williams Realty, LLC and its affiliates and should not be construed as financial, economic, legal, tax, or other advice. This podcast is provided without any warranty or guarantee of its accuracy, completeness, timeliness or results from using the information.

[B]

Must.

[C]

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