68. Leading Through Natural Disasters With Colette Ching and Molly de Mattos

Summary

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent Podcast

Episode 68: Leading Through Natural Disasters With Colette Ching and Molly de Mattos
Host: Jason Abrams (Keller Podcast Network)
Guests: Colette Ching (Hawaii/California) and Molly d’Amato (Asheville, NC)
Date: February 3, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the profound impact and challenges real estate professionals face when leading through natural disasters. Jason Abrams welcomes Molly d’Amato and Colette Ching, industry leaders who navigated their teams and communities through catastrophic events—Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and the Lahaina fires in Hawaii. The discussion explores not only practical steps and systems to manage crisis but also the human side of leadership—serving clients, supporting teams, and building resiliency amid tragedy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins & Backgrounds (02:44–15:46)

• Molly d’Amato’s Start in Real Estate (02:44–07:25)

  • Entered real estate after a disappointing career shift prompted by a bad boss.
  • Motivated by her family background in real estate.
  • Experienced “accidental success”: $125,000 in her first year, far surpassing her previous $18,000 salary.
  • Key Early Insight: “I discovered that relationships was where it was at.” (04:28)
  • Founded “Matt and Molly Team” on aligned values—never letting money get in the way.
  • Maintains a highly productive team (200+ transactions/year with five agents), mainly fueled by personal sphere/community and agent referrals.

• Colette Ching’s Real Estate Journey (07:43–15:46)

  • Inspired by seeing a dancer with independence and success: “She drove this great car. She had such a great attitude... I said, ‘Margie, what do you do?’” (08:02)
  • Became rookie of the year, quickly transitioning from three jobs to a six-figure real estate income.
  • Moved from Hawaii to California to expand her horizons, built business from scratch through “prospering” (not just prospecting).
  • Managed being a single mom and maintains her business via strict systems and time blocking.
  • System Tip: Hired a licensed administrative assistant to handle afternoons/evenings, freeing her to focus on business and family.
  • Empowered her team and herself through accountability partnerships: “If you ever walk in and see me like messing around... you need to call me on it.” (14:32)

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2. Natural Disasters—Stories of Leadership (16:51–47:17)

A. Hurricane Helene & Asheville Floods – Molly d’Amato (16:51–31:05)

• Event Recap (16:51–18:40):
  • Hurrican Helene brings 32 inches of rain, floods all communication and utilities, devastates communities.
  • Asheville loses water for 6 weeks; some areas completely cut off; “You can’t imagine what you’re going to see when this happens.” (19:53)
• Crisis Playbook:
  1. Find Your Think Zone:
     • “Step one, find your think zone. Give yourself some space.” (18:51)
     • Reflection and “organized thought helps move everything forward.”
  2. Communicate with Immediate Surroundings:
     • Begin with neighbors; identify what’s within control.
  3. Action and Organization:
     • Ensure every team member is safe: “Number one... making sure everyone on my team was alive.” (22:29)
     • Gather for group support, find a “gathering spot.”
  4. Expand Care to Community:
     • Begin calling clients, making ‘care calls’ just to check in, not to sell: “We just got to work making these care calls and doing them together...” (26:08)
     • Emphasized “instinct to reach out and check on our people” was conditioned through culture.
     • Team Motto: “We bring the lasagna.” — Don’t ask, just show up and help. (27:15)
  5. Structure Ongoing Support:
     • Daily check-ins allow adaptability and self-care; “What today am I willing to do and how can I help?” (28:08)
     • Accept help yourself: “Step number five might be accept the lasagna yourself.” (30:23)
• Business Impact & Reflection (28:50–31:05)
  • Culture of service strengthened; adversity galvanizes team spirit and trust.
  • Clients and database relationships deepened—community truly comes together in crisis.
  • Perspective Shift: “Letting the stuff go there too. What are we focusing on that really doesn’t matter?” (45:37)

B. Lahaina Fires – Colette Ching (31:05–47:17)

• Event Recap (31:30–36:45):
  • Fires erupt with little warning, no sirens, and evacuations become chaotic.
  • 37 agents under her charge; communication and accountability become first priorities.
  • Immediate need: “Call them now and make sure that everyone’s evacuating and figure out where everybody is.” (33:09)
  • Loss: One young agent, Allen, perished trying to save his mother; several agents displaced.
• Crisis Playbook:
  1. Crisis Communication:
     • “Get the list of everybody... call down the roster and text... as soon as possible.” (33:09–34:29)
     • Create an information hub—central office as gathering place.
  2. Immediate Needs Support:
     • Provided shelter, clothing, food, water; coordinated with hotels and community for resources.
     • “The immediate need is to get them stabilized...” (37:20)
  3. Longer-Term Support:
     • Housing critical: Leveraged client relationships for rentals and vacation homes—”go find rentals, go find hotels, see who would house.”
     • Anticipated housing crisis due to destroyed inventory and limited capacity on an island.
  4. Emotional and Community Leadership:
     • Grace and space—help agents process trauma and loss one step at a time.
     • “They were all looking to me as like, what’s next? What do we do now?” (39:45)
  5. Legacy and Change:
     • Agents now better equipped to educate clients on preparedness—insurance, documentation, fire safety.
     • “They can now prepare their clients for things... they’re now able to share their tragedy with other people.” (42:18)
• Business Impact & Reflection
  • Team becomes “much stronger. And they’re very connected because they’ve gone through this tragedy and crisis together.” (42:18)
  • Agency’s personalized support leaves a lasting impression—community-first real estate.

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3. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Molly d’Amato (on crisis leadership):

  “You can always control your thoughts and your actions. So what are the thoughts that are gonna move me into a space of next, and what are the actions I can take?” (19:22)

  “On our team, we have this saying—We bring the lasagna... just take the thing... They just might not be thinking to ask for it.” (27:15)

  “Step number five might be accept the lasagna yourself.” (30:23)

• Colette Ching (on time and relationships):

  “It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it… For me, it’s about time… People matter the most. Things don’t matter. They come and go.” (46:29 – quoting Seneca)

• Jason Abrams (on the unique role of real estate agents in disaster):

  “It seems to me that there is a group of humans out there who just happen to have real estate licenses, by and large, who wake up in the morning to answer the call when people need them most. They are there.” (47:51)

• Reflection on Loss:

  “The attachment to things is something that oftentimes we don’t even give a second thought... I have friends and clients and colleagues that all their things are gone. Like, all of their things. Right. And the gratitude around not caring anymore that they have.” (44:01)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:44–07:25]: Molly d’Amato’s entry into real estate
• [07:43–12:09]: Colette Ching’s path and building a business as a single mom
• [16:51–18:40]: Hurricane Helene’s impact in Asheville
• [18:51–31:05]: Molly’s leadership steps during the disaster
• [31:30–36:45]: Lahaina fires—first hours and tragic losses
• [37:19–42:18]: Colette’s systems for supporting agents and clients
• [44:01–46:29]: Reflections on personal change and the value of time and relationships
• [47:51]: Host’s conclusion on the hope and humanity within the real estate industry

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Tone & Language

The episode is carried by a candid, empathetic, and practical tone. The speakers share their stories with humility and clarity, emphasizing actionable lessons and the importance of community. There is a palpable sense of urgency, purpose, and compassion as they discuss both professional systems and human stories.

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Key Takeaways

• Systems Matter: Time blocking, CRM, and purposeful organization are crucial in crisis—not just in business-as-usual.
• First, Think: Find quiet, organize thoughts, and then act.
• Lead With Care: Immediate, direct outreach to team and clients—calling just for well-being, not business.
• Culture Wins: A team’s ingrained culture and values dictate real actions in crisis (“bring the lasagna”).
• Accept & Give Help: It’s as vital to accept support as it is to give it.
• Aftermath Brings Growth: Teams and communities come out stronger, bonds deepen, and priorities refocus on people and experiences.

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Closing Reflections

Both Molly and Colette highlight that, when disaster strikes, real estate agents are uniquely positioned to step up, lead, and serve—not only because of their business systems, but because of the depth of care and community they cultivate. The ultimate lesson: In the hardest times, leadership is about presence, action, and steadfast humanity.

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For listeners seeking actionable inspiration, this episode delivers both heart and how-to—guiding agents, leaders, and entrepreneurs through the darkest days and toward rebuilding, together.

Transcript

[Colette Cheng]

Foreign.

[Jason Abrams]

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 prepare, 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. Welcome to the show, friends. This is a very special and somber edition of the Millionaire Real Estate Agent podcast. As we record today, there are fires raging in California. We are in the middle of a disaster there. And I woke up this morning and asked the simple question, how can I help? And I came up with some answers. I could donate money, I could send N95 masks, I could send air purifiers. And of course, our show and our staff did all of those things. But what else could we do? We landed on an idea. Today we'd like to bring in two incredibly powerful humans to tell you their stories of when disaster struck their markets. You're going to hear from Molly D', Amatos, who after Hurricane Helene, dropped 32 inches of water and flooded her home in Asheville, how she built a model to, number one, secure her real estate agents, number two, help her sphere of influence, and number three, get through the tragedy. You're also going to hear from Colette Cheng, who was owning a brokerage in Hawaii during the Lahaina fires. And how her and her 34 real estate agents not only survived trauma, mourned the loss of someone very close to them, and helped their database get through to the other side. It's our hope that these models inspire you to take action to help others. And if, God forbid, you are ever in a disaster area, you can fall back on these friends, sit back and buckle up. This is Molly and Colette, and I am joined today by two amazing humans, Molly d' Amato and Colette Ching. Molly, how are you?

[Molly d'Amato]

I'm well, thank you, Jason. You?

[Jason Abrams]

I'm fantastic. Thanks for asking. I want to start with you and I ask everybody the same question. Molly, how did you find the greatest industry in the world?

[Molly d'Amato]

A little accidentally. I was working as a program specialist for the Girl Scouts at 24 years old and I was making about $18,000 a year. I was happy with most things. And then my very wonderful boss took A different career path. And I, all of a sudden didn't have a very wonderful boss. And I got some clarity around what it's like to be led by someone you don't enjoy. So ended up discovering real estate as a lead myself type industry and got some advice from my father, who was in real estate after his very successful career otherwise, and he said, you'd be great.

[Jason Abrams]

So I love that, by the way. But I know you, and so I know that you would be amazing at anything that you did. There were a lot of careers that offered you the ability to make your own schedule. I mean, you could have been in the insurance industry or the modeling industry, or you could have been a personal trader. You could have done so many things. What was it about real estate?

[Molly d'Amato]

I grew up kind of with a bit of a real estate junkie family. My dad was into investing and got his real estate license in Southern California in the early 90s. And on Sundays, instead of going to the park to play, we went to open houses. So I already had a little bit of the bug. And then after my dad retired and got into real estate himself in Charlotte, North Carolina, it just kind of felt natural. And when I asked him if he thought I'd be successful, and he was exuberant about that, I thought, well, this could be something that I could be good at.

[Jason Abrams]

So then you get into it. Do you have success right off the bat? You do a ton of business now and you travel the country teaching people how to live their fullest lives. Was it success from the moment you said go?

[Molly d'Amato]

In a lot of ways, yes. Monetarily, it's hard to not earn $18,000 in your real estate career. So it wasn't a high bar. So when I did the backwards math and realized I needed to essentially sell three houses in my first, I just got after it without even really understanding what I was doing and made a connection with people and that relationship. Even without knowing Gary and the KW models yet, I just discovered that relationships was where it was at. I made about $125,000 my first year. And yeah, that was.

[Jason Abrams]

Oh, my gosh. So you make 125 grand your first year, which is infinitely more money than you were making in that moment. Did you decide? I got this all figured out. And is that when you decided to start the real estate team?

[Molly d'Amato]

No, not at all. I was doing everything wrong. And it was just 2005 and sniffed around the right corners. You were going to make a lot of money. So in early 2007, I joined Keller Williams Things were beginning to slow down. We were beginning to see the shift and just kind of thought, oh, need to learn some stuff. And fortunately for me, I did align with Keller Williams, learned about the shift, and started taking things to heart. I entered this crazy, weird, beta, testy class that was called Bold. And it was in Bold, actually, that Matt and I discovered that this would be a good opportunity to at least link up. And in 2011, we built the Matt and Molly team.

[Jason Abrams]

Whenever I find somebody that has a business partner, I always ask, how did you come to meet? Inevitably, it's always in one of three places. Right. We either knew each other prior. We met in a class or a mastermind, or they were a client of mine. In this case, you meet in a class. Were your values and business ethics aligned from the word go?

[Molly d'Amato]

They really were. Matt was like a brother from another mother. We're vastly different in most ways, but in our, we really aligned and we were actually, you know, bold was pretty new, and it was an interesting experience. He and I both really loved it. We ate it up. And I think kind of being surrounded with a couple of skeptics, and we were like, we just locked in. We were like, what if we just did this stuff? Like, let's help each other. And so we, you know, became roommates, we were cubby mates, and then we got offered an office, and so we just kind of aligned. Yeah. From the jump. And then when we started the Matt and Molly team, we did so with kind of that same idea in mind. Align with your values and then just never, ever let money get in the way. Make it clear from the jump. And it's been a wonderful journey.

[Jason Abrams]

So as you sit today, how many transactions, ballpark, on an annual basis does the team do?

[Molly d'Amato]

Our goal is made up by our agents, and we never, ever want our ceiling to limit them, so we allow them to do it. And generally it falls in the 200 to 250 mark. This year it's on the dot. 200 with our beautiful five agents. And so that's typically. Yeah, about 200 transactions a year is what we're looking at.

[Jason Abrams]

Did you say 200 with five agents?

[Molly d'Amato]

Yeah.

[Jason Abrams]

Yeah. This is a highly productive group of people. Am I correct in your number one closed business source being sphere of influence and community?

[Molly d'Amato]

You would be exactly right. Sphere of influence, community followed very closely by agent referrals. We've got great agent relationships because of obviously, our love of teaching and coaching around the communities too.

[Jason Abrams]

Fantastic. I want to switch gears. Colette, I am coming to you. Colette. Where in the world are you when you operate?

[Colette Cheng]

Well, right now, currently I'm in Hawaii, so I'm bi. Coastal. I am in California and I'm in Hawaii. So, yeah, I help all the Hawaii islands.

[Jason Abrams]

And how did you end up in the greatest industry in the world?

[Colette Cheng]

So in 19. Gosh, if I tell you this year. Okay, fine, I will. In the 1980s, I got into real estate. I was influenced because I was working three jobs and one of my hobbies was to take dance. And there was this lovely lady who would come in anytime. She drove this great car. She had such a great attitude. And I was just curious. One day I went up to her and I said, margie, what do you do? She goes, oh, I'm a real estate agent. And I go, oh, what is that about? You know? And she was like, well, I sell homes. And I go, I like homes. Do you think that's something I could do? And she took me under her wing and I passed the test in Hawaii. I started out and I kept my night job and within six months I got my first commission check. So I went from, you know, working three jobs, making 24,000 a year, to quitting all my jobs six months later. I was rookie of the year and I was making like 60 to $70,000. And I was super young and I was like, wow, I love this thing called real estate. I did really well for two years and I came out to California to visit a friend. And I have been born and raised in Hawaii. And so I was like, I think I need to move. And everyone thought I was crazy. I'm like, I think I need to move to bigger pastures. And so I came back, I went to California, I loved it. I came back, I met with my broker and I said, you know, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. And I think I want to expand my wings. I don't know what I'm going to do next, but I think in six months I'm going to move to California. And she goes, what? And so she goes, okay, well, set it up so that you just got in the business. I don't know what your database looks like. And so she supported me. I found somebody in Hawaii and I referred them my business and I came out to California and I started selling real estate there in three, four hours on the phone. And I would walk in these offices in LA and they'd be like, what are you doing? They felt so sorry for me. They literally felt sorry for me. People would leave the office as I'm walking in And I remember the top agents at the time, they're like, how long are you going to stay here doing this? And I go, like, three, four hours. And then within six months, I started getting listings. And then the market tanked. And then all those luxury agents that were killing it were seeing my listings go up. And I was at the time a condo specialist, because that's what I knew. And they're like, how are you getting the listings? I go, because it's bread and butter. You guys are selling the really top stuff. And so that's not moving. Then people started, like, hanging out later to hear my prospecting, which I call prospering. I don't call it prospecting, I call it prospering. And so, yeah, I started doing, like, 50 deals. And in LA, that was a lot. My average price point at the time was like $500,000.

[Jason Abrams]

You also somehow during this time end up taking care of a little person.

[Colette Cheng]

So, yeah, I became a single mom when my daughter was six months old. And that was unfortunately not what I expected was gonna happen. And I had taken this thing that we call maternity leave, so to speak, as a real estate agent. I don't even think you get it, because as I was going to give birth, I was signing up a contract and my friends were like, stop, we'll take it over. I'm like, no, I've got to get that house. He's really wanting that house. And they're like, pulling me into the hospital. I'm like, you know. Anyway, so that was my biggest why at the time, because I literally had no family in la. I had six months of savings, and if I didn't close a deal, it would not be pretty. And so I went back to lead generating and I would bring the car seat. This is the funny story at the time. Everyone will confirm it. I would come into the office with the car seat, feed my baby, lock myself in my office, and I'd lead generate until the baby woke up, feed him again. And it would be like two, three hours. And I did that until I could afford to get some help.

[Jason Abrams]

Gosh, you know, I know that there are single moms and dads that do this every day. I know it's happening right now, and we've heard that a bunch on this show, but every time I hear it, you can knock me over with a feather. Because I look back on my career and I had such privilege. I didn't have to worry about anything other than myself and getting up and driving and working as long as I wanted. And that's kind of been the story throughout my life. Colette, as you're in an industry that forces you to take care of others, and you're trying to take care of an infant, and you're trying to break into a new marketplace, what's the one thing, looking back, that pulled you through all that? What's the key?

[Colette Cheng]

It was the systems. Because I wanted to be able to when my daughter got older, you know, as I had the money to find help, I wanted to be able to drop my daughter off at school and pick her up at school and do homework with her. So there was that time she was in school. I had to highly time block. So I'm like, okay, these are my hours, these are my working hours. I go in, I lead, Jen, I follow up, I do appoint. And they all have to be within these hours. And then I hired, my first hire was an administrative licensed help. And I said, you come in when I leave. So as I'm finishing my Legion at noon, you're coming in and you stay from 12 to 8 at night. So because I would leave the office at three to go get my daughter from school or to take her to where. And that was my rule, I had to get my connections and my contacts within the timeframe I was within the office.

[Jason Abrams]

This idea, by the way, Gary Keller, when we mentioned Gary, we're talking about Gary Keller, him and Jay Papasan and Dave Jenks, may he rest in peace. And they wrote the book the Millionaire Real Estate Agent, the namesake for this podcast, the Millionaire Real Estate Agent. And Gary always says that when you have an unlimited amount of time to accomplish a task, you end up working slowly at the task. But when you add in constraint and you don't change the goal, then you're forced to be more productive during the hours you're willing to work. And it's counterintuitive that if I have less time to do something, I can be more productive than if I have more time. But Colette, you're saying that these constraints ended up being beautiful for you and helped you, you time your management.

[Colette Cheng]

It was using the CRM and inputting. And I have a really quick funny story. So when I told my assistant to come in at noon, she would come in often earlier just to kind of we powwow and huddle and see what was left and what had to be done. And I gave her a rule a long time ago. If you ever walk in and see me like messing around at the coffee table talking to an agent and not lead generating, you need to call me on it. I said that to her. And I said, or if I'm on the phone gabbing with a girlfriend, I said, you need to call me on it because I only have so much time. So one day she saw me. She overheard me. She walked in the room, and I'm talking about a trip. And she kept looking at me, and she would be, like, trying to interrupt me. And I said, yes, what's going on? And she goes, you have to be Jen. And she gave me the list. She goes, in case you needed it, here it is. And I told my girlfriend, I've got to get off the phone. I've got work to do. And I got off. And five calls later, I took a $2 million listing.

[Jason Abrams]

Oh, my gosh.

[Colette Cheng]

And what I did with her is I said, I would bonus you on any business that I got that if I wasn't lead genning. And you made me do it. So that's why she was always on me.

[Jason Abrams]

I love that. So we're going to shift gears because you're both incredibly brilliant real estate entrepreneurs. And, Colette, you live a huge life running massive businesses in Hawaii and in Californ. And Molly, your team, you're an MREA team. That's absolutely crushing it. And we could do an episode where we just documented how you both did what you did, but we're here for a different reason. You see, we're joined together, although our stories are different by a common element. Both of you have led through a natural disaster. Now, leading through a natural disaster is both difficult emotionally, it can be difficult financially, and there is a playbook to help pull you through it. We're going to unpack now each of you and what you did and what you learned when disaster struck. Molly, I want to start with you. You live in Asheville, North Carolina. When Hurricane Helene came through, it dropped 32 inches of rain, flooding every creek and every stream and literally putting a city underwater. And that's where our story begins.

[Molly d'Amato]

So it was September 27th. Actually, the rain began on the 25th. I know because it was Matt's birthday. And it was the weird thing when the universe just decides it's going to rain. And it rained for the three days, just a totally different system on the 25th and 26th. Then Hurricane Helene came up through the Gulf. It devastated Tampa and the Gulf region first, and then it just turned into, you know, tropical storm. No big deal, except that it stalled over the mountains of western North Carolina, which brought the more devastating torrential rains. It rained all day Friday the 27th. And by the end of the day on Friday the 27th, the rain was going away, but the creeks were continuing to rise, the streams, the rivers, and they went well over any flood stage. There's a 1916, the great flood of 1916. It actually knocked over the marker sign that was kind of the historical marker for that flood. So it just devastated so many communities and took homes off of their foundations. People were swept away without even knowing it was happening. Because this is literally one of those tragedies that you could never imagine happening. We, in fact, make jokes and won't anymore that if some of these areas flooded, we would have needed an ark, and certainly that would have been helpful for that weekend. In the process, it cut off all communication. There was no cell phone towers. There was no Internet. Power was out. All utilities shut down. A huge pipeline that connects the North Fork water reservoir to the city of Asheville was completely wiped away, and people didn't have water. So September 27th brought a devastation to this area that nobody was ready for because we couldn't have anticipated it.

[Jason Abrams]

So you wake up on the 28th, and you wake up on the 29th, and the world literally has now changed.

[Molly d'Amato]

Yes.

[Jason Abrams]

What'd you do? What's step one?

[Molly d'Amato]

So step one, and I took some notes because I really wanted to make this less about my story and more about how we could all communicate in a way that would help move us all forward. So I identified kind of some of the things that really helped best. And so thing number one, it happened by accident, but now we can do it on purpose. Because I didn't have Internet or cell phone connection and I couldn't reach people, I had space to think. So I would say, step one, find your think zone. Give yourself some space. And I know that's hard in the middle of a tragedy, but you've got to stop the spiral. Because the very first thing that can happen is we can get caught up in the chaos, which is a completely natural reaction. But as quickly as you can, find a spot to get quiet and think. Because organized thought helps move everything forward, and it helps us stop that downward spiral that doesn't really get us anywhere. You know, we learn a lot about this in the systems and models like Colette was talking about to build a great business. There's some similarities in being able to ground yourself after a tragedy and figure out how to move forward.

[Jason Abrams]

Okay, so step one, breathe. Get centered and start with rational thought and control the panic you might be feeling. I love that.

[Molly d'Amato]

That's right.

[Jason Abrams]

What's next?

[Molly d'Amato]

There's a lot of different ways to do that. You know, it's kind of finding for yourself the ways that you can do that and knowing that we all function differently. But step one, find a space to get quiet and organize your thoughts. Stop the spiral. I would then say step two would be to communicate that to the people who are around you as you can communicate. So for me, that was my neighbors across the street. What can we be doing right now? So grounding yourself with understanding what is within your control. There's a million things in a disaster that are completely outside of your control. But at the end of the day, you can always control your thoughts and your actions. So what are the thoughts that are gonna move me into a space of next, and what are the actions I can take? So for us, it was okay. We're okay. You know, we don't have power. We don't have Internet. We're all safe. I have a roof over my head. We're now beginning to understand the scope that has happened. And because, you know, you're getting out and poking around, I remember coming across the bridge, I met up with our regional director, Mark Brennaman, and a crew from down in South Carolina to bring up some wonderfully donated and very needed generators to our Keller Williams family. And it was the first time I saw. And it was absolute devastation. Like, you can't imagine what you're going to see when this happens. And thank goodness I'd had that quiet time accidentally, and I was able to be grounded and move forward. So the next step is finding what you can do and then getting into action on that. I control what I think, I control what I do. Not always perfectly, but keeping your head wrapped around that and then getting into the thoughts and actions that are going.

[Jason Abrams]

To help what's next makes perfect sense to me. What's next?

[Molly d'Amato]

So for us, it was then, okay, my thoughts are organized. I'm in action. I'm helping my community where I can. Now let's organize. At the second level. I've now organized my thoughts. Let's now get into organization that's going to help the people around me, my agents and my client base. So I know not every real estate agent has a team or an assistant. So this might be really about you and how you're going to organize yourself. For those of us who run teams, though, it was, first of all, Jason making sure everyone on my team was alive.

[Jason Abrams]

The conversation gets so real the second you say that, because I was thinking, okay, you're seeing who needs water. You were Making sure your team was alive.

[Molly d'Amato]

Yeah. And that wasn't easy to find out, you know? Cause you're scared to know the answer in some cases. Fortunately, everyone was alive and safe. So then a gathering spot so that you all can organize and stop that spiral together and get everyone organized and in the same direction.

[Jason Abrams]

So, Molly, when you make this meetup spot and the first time you get together with your team, what's that like?

[Molly d'Amato]

Jubilation. I mean, honestly, just hugging and crying and just knowing that we're all together, that was magical. Our Keller Williams office was great at helping to make sure that happened in the midst of everything. In a tragedy, you know, finding space to meet is a challenge. Our roads were closed. And so helping people troubleshoot and get together where they could. But I think that's a really important thing, is finding your people and being able to have that sense of support. No one's ever going to be able to go through any of these things on their own. So finding your support system, whether that is your real estate team so you can help organize them together, or, hey, get a bunch of your buddies and your friends and create a community.

[Jason Abrams]

I get getting together with the team or your peers. Like, I understand that fully. But then you also said, and your community, how do you go about getting all these people? Because your database is huge in Asheville. How did you think about it?

[Molly d'Amato]

So I'll tell you what, the first and most obvious thing and this will happen, I guarantee you Colette's experience, that everyone who's ever gone through a massive event, or even a small one, think about relative to the fires in Lahaina, relative to a hurricane, Helene, you know, a death in the family certainly is a huge event. But on the scope of things, but even think about that, you're immediately connecting and the community is coming together. So when I said that, like, that's really what I mean is for an organic thing to happen is that anytime there is any kind of tragedy, people tend to seek each other out. So there is this massive sense of community, whether it's helping each other, finding each other, supporting each other, reaching out, asking for help. Jason, people ask for help so much more often when it's at this kind of level. So connecting with the community then almost becomes an open, organic door for us to walk through. So then organizing that in such a way that it can be not just great for the community, but frankly, this is something that we all need to do for ourselves. When you can organize yourself to be helpful, our first step was we now found our team Family. Let's now immediately get into service and start calling our clients, whether they've moved away and we're checking in on their families or they're here, and maybe they don't still have cell phone connection or power. We started making those care calls on day six, and that's really when we started getting more infrastructure back. Thank goodness for the power supply from Keller Williams. And KWRI brought in a toilet tanker because we didn't have flushing toilets. Six weeks, Jason. Asheville, downtown Asheville didn't have water. An entire city. So we just got to work making these care calls and doing them together as often as possible, reaching out to our database to literally just ask how they're doing.

[Jason Abrams]

That makes all the difference. You know, I'm taken with this idea, which is, it felt natural for y' all to make care calls to everybody in your database. I'm always. I'm not amazed, but I'm also cognizant that the vast majority of businesses don't think that way. Meaning, like, you didn't get a phone call from any of the big box retailers in your town asking if you were okay and what they can do to help. That's a really big aha for me. Molly, how do you think about it?

[Molly d'Amato]

That's an incredible aha. And honestly, Jason, you're exactly right. I think this is something that needs to be conditioned. In one of our training classes we have at Keller Williams that we call bold, we learn that spontaneity is a conditioned reflex. And your aha just gave me an aha. Our instinct to reach out and check on our people was because it's who we are. On our team, we have this saying. We say we bring the lasagna, and I'll explain what that means. So anytime there is something that happens in people's worlds, you break a leg, there's a death in the family. Oftentimes, caring friends will call and very lovingly ask, what can I do to help? Or say something like, I'm here for you. Let me know what I can do. On our team, one of the things that we've conceptually grabbed onto and conditioned ourselves to do is just bring the lasagna. When someone breaks a leg or there's a death in the family, don't ask what you can do or say, I'm here. Let me know what you need. Just take the thing. If they throw the lasagna away four months later, fine. But they might need the lasagna. They just might not be thinking to ask for it.

[Jason Abrams]

So this Is a real estate team that Garfield the cat would be proud to be affiliated with. Let me just say that.

[Molly d'Amato]

Absolutely.

[Jason Abrams]

So we started this by getting our thinking right. Then we communicated with the people that were in our immediate surroundings. Then we managed to get really clear on our thoughts and actions. We then made physical contact with the people on our team and in our life and then start getting into service for the community. Is that it, or is there another step to this?

[Molly d'Amato]

That's pretty succinct. I think that the coolest thing, too, is then having a daily check in as part of it. Keeping yourself organized every step of the way is important because, Jason, there were days where the thought of getting on the phone for some of the agents on my team, it just wasn't plausible. Emotionally, this is a big, overwhelming thing. One member of my team actually went, and because we couldn't find five of our office's agents, still, he actually put his focus on that. So rather than thinking, this is what I have to do, Asking ourselves every single day, what today am I willing to do and how can I help either myself, my community, or my business?

[Jason Abrams]

This is fantastic, by the way. I love all these steps. I want to ask you now, looking back, because there's some distance between the disaster and where you were. You didn't do any of these things with your real estate business in mind. I know that. What was the effect that doing these things had on the real estate business? Have you noticed a change in the relationships or in the community or in the way that your team operates?

[Molly d'Amato]

Definitely in the way that our team operates. Although, you know, we've been so fortunate to align ourselves with culture always. It's something that's been very important with Matt and I in the beginning of our business and all the way through. It's the main artery. And so in many ways, this is just a showcase of who we are. And I'm proud to be able to say that I think that's a beautiful thing. Yet I know it didn't happen accidentally. It's a product of very purposeful thinking and just time. And so I do think, though, that check in and asking yourself, what am I willing to do? How am I willing to show up today? And then being okay with that, however it organizes out. We had team members that spent hours and hours on the flush brigade, you know, flushing toilets. We had another awesome team in our area. They had a client with a huge warehouse, and we were able to coordinate a distribution center for incoming supplies. And so several of our agents plugged into that and Then, you know, some of our agents were like, I want to stay right here, watch my house, and make these phone calls and do these care calls. So I do think making a daily assessment and staying organized and on top of it, that was a big thing that we helped each other with as well.

[Jason Abrams]

That's huge.

[Molly d'Amato]

Bring that lasagna. Which actually, Jason, step number five might be accept the lasagna yourself. You know, during these tragedies and times, you might be out there doing all the things every day. And you've got to know, you've got to accept the lasagna, too. So take those times, take those breaths, and make sure you're accepting the love of others and the help of others, too, because it is reciprocating. You can get out there and help all day long. And then if at the end of the day, your beautiful neighbor walks across the street with a glass of champagne and one of those really nice warm hand wipes, take it. You know, accepting the reciprocating love in these times is a beautiful, beautiful gift.

[Jason Abrams]

Thank you, Molly. Colette, I want to come to you and I want to take you back to early August of 2023, August 8th through the 16th. The Lahaina fires, at the time, the fourth largest natural disaster in the United States and a wildfire, a series of fires, actually, that claimed many lives. Where were you when you first heard about it?

[Colette Cheng]

I was in California in my home. I just got back from my summer trip with my family in Italy, and my phone rang, and at the time it was just an evacuation notice. And they said, hey, we just want to give you a heads up, because I didn't know what was going on. I just got back and they said, we want to let you know that we have an evacuation notice. I said, what's going on? And they said, well, we have some fires. I go, okay, what part? And they're like, well, on the west side. And I go, okay, is it serious? How fast is the fire moving? Because Maui is known for having a lot of brush fires. This is the first time. And the winds were really picking up on that day, so it was the perfect storm. So it was like 10 in the morning when I got that. So I said, okay, I'll be by the phone, make sure our people evacuate. Because we had an office on that side.

[Jason Abrams]

I should ask, you had an office on that said, how many real estate agents were under your charge in that area at that time?

[Colette Cheng]

So we have about 37 active agents. And then we had probably another 10 brand new agents that never really came in the office. But that side, they all come to the office. It's unlike central. We have two other offices. They come in and out. But that side, for some reason, they all love to be in the office.

[Jason Abrams]

Okay, so you have this large group of people. The scene is set for the perfect storm with the winds and the brush fires. What happens next?

[Colette Cheng]

Electrical lines are down. And usually in Hawaii on the first of the month, they have a siren that goes off, and it's a practice siren since I was a kid. And you can hear it all on the islands, and it's for tsunamis. So mind you, no sirens went off. It was just an evacuation notice. So then I go and I say to everyone, can I get the list of everybody on the west side? I want all the list of all of our agents on the west side. And I said, if they're evacuating, call them now and make sure that everyone's evacuating and figure out where everybody is. So we mobilized that. Sitting in that space and being able to think, I wasn't in the middle of it, Molly. So for me, it was great because I was like, okay, I'm here, I'm by myself. I can think about this logically. And of course, this is the first disaster. So I got sent the roster and I said, okay, let's call down the roster and text the roster, because phone lines were still up and see where everybody is and have them check in. And so that was at whatever time in the morning. By six in the evening, it was a full on.

[Molly d'Amato]

Fires were going by 10 at night.

[Colette Cheng]

We were not able to find anybody. Nobody was calling us back, nobody was texting us back. We were all up all night. And the next thing I could think of was, okay, let's create a hub where people know if they can get the text or they can get information that whatever they need. We'll start central. They can get to central. We'll have a hub with water and anything that they need. I mean, we were not able to get a hold of anybody. And so it took us two to three days to start to knock down people. They would go, yes, we're safe. We're in Kihei. We're in our cars. And then there were about five people we could not reach. So we kept calling family members or anybody. And then we were down to. Finally we reached three. Then we were down to the last two. And one was a young man, and.

[Molly d'Amato]

He was on one of our teams.

[Colette Cheng]

And he was 23 years old. And we knew he lived with his Mom. So we were looking for them, and his brother kept calling us going, have you heard from Alan? And he's like, no, have you? And none of us had heard. So by day two, all the news was out. Lives were lost. People were in the water. It was disintegrated.

[Jason Abrams]

What happened to Allen?

[Colette Cheng]

He went back to save his mom. At that time, the FBI was involved in National Guard, and they wouldn't let anybody in. And the only way we knew that he was gone, it was his name wasn't registered in any shelters. When they did go back, the FBI saw the car parked in the home, and it was disintegrated. So we don't know if he even got out. He might have tried to get out because they showed him at a shelter and then when his name was there, but then we don't know if it was with his mom or he went back to get his mom, or they were both gone.

[Jason Abrams]

So now you have the burden of leadership. It sounds like your first step was to try to contact all your people, to give them advice on how to avoid the disaster. That moves quickly into step two, which is try to locate all the people that may have been in the disaster and account for everybody. You now end up having lost a member of the office, and now you're at step three, which is how do you take care of the people that are there? And you moved into action immediately?

[Molly d'Amato]

Yes.

[Colette Cheng]

So what happened is my team did not sleep for three days. I mean, basically we would all take shifts. So the first thing was call everybody, find out where they are and if they lost their home and what do they need? That's what we said. Text, call, email, we don't care. Find them and let them know that we have hubs open, the central office is open, anything they need. And remember, we're on an island. And I'm with a really incredible company called Keller Williams. So it's not like they could send us generators. So people were flying in. It was amazing to see people from all the other islands fly in. Boats were coming in, and stores were still open on our other side, the south side, in Central. So I made our alc. All went out, and they went to all their stores, and they got up all the water, all clothing. We had people drop off things so that people knew that the hub, that they could be there. Because the first thing is, when people evacuate, their mental state, their adrenaline is running at such a high speed, and when the reality hits that they've lost their home, the first thing is they have to take Care of their immediate needs. For those who left with the clothes on their back and no go bag, you know, toiletries, I mean, able to take a shower. And so we called a couple of hotels and they gave us rooms so that our agents could go if they needed to go take a shower, get some rest. We got cots in our office so that if people needed to sleep, people volunteered their homes. So the immediate need is to get them stabilized and to get them whatever they needed immediately. Because mentally, it's unbelievable.

[Jason Abrams]

Yeah, I can't fathom that. Having suffered such loss, how did you honor the loss that happened and bring all these people together? Because I can see that tragedy can bring people together, but you also interject amazing sadness into this. And somehow you have to lead these people. How did you think about that?

[Colette Cheng]

One step at a time. And it was really about grace and space. And they were all looking to me as like, what's next? What do we do now? And so I had to logically think of all the steps, and immediate needs were the most important. Fifteen agents lost everything. They lost their homes. And even though no one else is thinking about it, I'm like, we're on an island. Housing is limited. So even though they weren't thinking about that yet, some people had friends to stay at. Some people were still in their cars. Some people were just coming back from another island. They didn't realize that happened. So I have one couple in their 60s, lost their main office, their condo, investment condo, and their home. And they were in Oahu, the main island, seeing doctors because they're in their late 60s, 60s, and they were getting some pharmaceuticals, and they come back, everything is obliterated. So it was mainly step by step, the mental fatigue, you know, getting them straight, thinking, okay, the immediate needs, what do you need? Clothes, food, water, any of that. And then housing, because if they needed housing, 50 other people were going to need housing. And we're in the real estate industry. So I'm like, go find rentals. We'll figure out the money later. Go find hotels, see who would house. And we have all these great hotels on the other side. Call clients that are on the south side, See if they have any of their vacation rentals they'd be willing to house our agents in. And that's really what saved us. And in the housing, because as we're seeing in California right now, people are jacking up the percentages of their listings. And it's incredible. One day you have 91 listings, and now you have three, and you've got 100,000 people displaced in California. We had. In just my office, we had 20 agents displace. And that's not the rest of the island.

[Jason Abrams]

Kalen, let me ask you one final question here. You're. Now there's some time that's went by and looking back on this for this community and for this office, and the burden of leadership was holding all these people together. What's been the effect on the agents in your office? Did the relationships change?

[Colette Cheng]

Much stronger. And they're very connected because they've gone through this tragedy and crisis together. And they saw a company that really cared and helped them care for the people that are in their database. So the things that they learned, they're now able to share with the people. Because a lot of people, when you work a side of the island, you stay on that side, and so the other side didn't get affected. Right. And so now these agents, since they've personally gone through it, they can now prepare their clients for things like if you don't have insurance, pictures of your possessions, and you don't have, you know, your documents and a fire safe. I mean, all these things, they're now able to share their tragedy with other people.

[Jason Abrams]

Yeah. No, it makes perfect sense to me in this case. It brought the community closer, and it changed the outreach that real estate agents are making to help their people be more prepared if, God forbid, this should ever happen again. All right, I have one more question for each of you. We invite all of our guests to join us in Epicuros's garden, where we talk about the greatest questions of our time. Molly, I'm going to start with you. I want to isolate the experience that you had and the growth that may have taken place since it. There's an old saying that the flood cleanses. It's a difficult one because we all know what gets washed away during it. As you think back on your experience, how has it changed? And has it changed the way that you think about life, the gift that you have, and the way that you're gonna live your remaining days?

[Molly d'Amato]

Beautiful question. So I think that the attachment to things is something that oftentimes we don't even give a second thought. We like our stuff. Right. Everybody loves their things. And I think that's the biggest change, personally, is that I have friends and clients and colleagues that all their things are gone. Like, all of their things. Right. And the gratitude around not caring anymore that they have. I mean, honestly, I have one client. He was actually a professor of mine in college. And when we sat down together, and talked about what's next for them. And he said, well, the good news is we don't need 2,000 square feet anymore because I don't have anything to put in it. And just the sense of humor that he had around that and his perspective. So I think for me, the biggest thing was perspective around stuff. I know that in the new onward bold, we talk about things in the new bold laws. And I think that's been a really good focus. So for me, the hidden joy has been in looking around and letting stuff go. And then I'll just connect that on the business side of life, letting the stuff go there too. It's maybe not physical things, but what are we focusing on that really doesn't matter? That if tomorrow a flood came in again and washed away, Fill in the blank. What did I focus on that day that really didn't require my attention or my energy? And so I think that the greatest gift of this flood, of this event, is a different perspective. And I know we all change perspective and grow from it, but truly allowing that to happen, and for so many people, a tragedy like this can be something that they have a hard time connecting anything positive with. So being able to manually tune that voice in and allow yourself to see what new perspective you have, that was the best gift for me.

[Jason Abrams]

So profound. Colette, I want to come to you. It was Seneca who said that fire tests gold, suffering tests brave people. In this case, you had both. As you think about what you learned from it, what's the one thing we can take away?

[Colette Cheng]

It's funny that you just quoted Seneca. I was just going to quote Seneca. So I read the Daily Stoic. And the big thing for me over the past, honestly, 18 months is it's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. So for me, it's about time. It's about spending time, spending time with my people and experiences, spending time with my family and just relationships matter the most. People matter the most. Things don't matter. They come and go. We have such short time in this world, and I'm not going to waste time anymore. So for me, it's time.

[Jason Abrams]

To both of you, thank you so much for all of the lives that you've changed. Thank you for your bravery and under necessity. And thank you both so much for not what you did, but what I have a feeling you're going to do. It feels to me, and it's acutely a feeling that you've both learned so much from what you've been through will be absolutely unquantifiable. And for that, we are grateful. Thank you for joining us today.

[Colette Cheng]

Thank you, Jason.

[Molly d'Amato]

Thank you, Jason.

[Jason Abrams]

I'll tell you what I get out of all of it, friends. I get an amazing feeling of hope.

[Colette Cheng]

Hope.

[Jason Abrams]

You see, tragedy is going to happen, and it seems to me that disasters are going to strike. But it also seems to me that there is a group of humans out there who just happen to have real estate licenses, by and large, who wake up in the morning to answer the call when people need them most. They are there. The thing that I take away from both Molly and Colette's story is both of them brought consistent and immediate action to the situation that they were in. Yes, of course, they both made sure that their heads were right. But then they immediately got on the phone, if they could. They immediately set up meetings, if they could. And they went right into asking the most powerful words in leadership. How can I help you as we sit today? I don't necessarily know how I can help at the highest level. I don't know how you can help at the highest level. I do know this, friends. I believe in the power of prayer for all of our prayer warriors that are out there. If you wouldn't mind, give a prayer for everybody that finds themselves on the wrong side of tragedy today. Give a prayer for everybody that woke up or went to sleep in a disaster zone. And most importantly, give a prayer for everybody that feels alone today. Because here's what I learned. That although terrible things will happen, having people around you to help you get through them seems to be the answer. I love you, and I hope you are all safe. 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 system 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 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 themillionaire agent podcast.com millionaire millionaire agent podcast.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 between now and the next time we meet is absolutely wonderful for you. Thanks for listening. I'll see you next week. This podcast is for general informational purposes only. The views, thoughts and opinions of the guest represent those of the guests and not KWRI 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. You must comply with the TCPA and any other federal, state or local laws, including for B2B calls and texts, Never call or text a number on any do not call list and do not use an autodialer or artificial voice or pre recorded messages without proper consent. Contact your attorney to ensure your compliance.