Joanne Bolt: All right everybody, welcome back to the podcast. I am so thrilled today to be talking to one of my favorite women in the industry. Her name is Ashley Harwood. And you know, when we talk a lot about finding your space as a female entrepreneur in the real estate world and finding your voice, most of us assume we're talking about being an extrovert, but this lady here, she has nailed it down, for those of you that are actually introverts in a very social business. So welcome to the podcast, Ashley. We are thrilled to have you here today.

Ashley: Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Joanne Bolt: Awesome. Well, let's take a little peek behind the curtain and give us a little background about yourself and how you got into the industry and sort of what, what led you up to where you are today.

Ashley: Sure. So I have a background. It started in retail as most of us do straight out of college. And I realized quickly that was not a long-term solution for me. So I got into real estate in 2013, about eight years ago, and I jumped in full-time, got myself into training, did all the things and really didn't see a lot of success right away.

My first year I only sold one house and that was very disheartening. It was, it was really hard. I was doing all the things I was trained to do, right? Making a ton of calls, doing some door knocking, and then also going in, going to networking events every evening. And I was just doing all of it at once and it was exhausting and I wasn't seeing the results that I expected and that my colleagues were seeing.

So, fast forward a couple years, I started seeing a therapist just because I was so anxious about, I didn't know what, and she recommended the book Quiet by Susan Kane. Okay. Which is not a real estate or sales book at all. It's about being an introvert and how that affects a person's energy and how certain people are just kind of wired differently.

And I had never heard this before. So reading that book was, that was the, the pivot, you know, that was the eye-opening moment for me in my life. And that translated into my business. So I realized that I had to stop doing the things that were not working for me and amp up the things that I enjoyed and that were working and that still fit my personality.

And that ended up being, for me, that was more of the networking side. So anyway, the year that I did that and made those changes, my business blew up and I did a lot more business and ended up capping, I was with Keller Williams. So they, they have this like capping model, right? So that was a, a huge milestone for me in the business cuz it had been a goal all along.

And then, you know, I'm kind of going along building this great career and I hit sort of a plateau where I realized I needed to either start hiring people and build a team as we do, you know, As we were prone to do in real estate. Yep. As we were kind of conditioned to do. And I realized I didn't want that, you know, it wouldn't have been a good use of my energy to be managing people and hiring them and be responsible for their livelihood. That was not my path. So my coach at the time helped me develop this, this company where we help the introverts in the world. I realized that I had struggled so much for so many years and it didn't have to be that way.

So my mission now is just to help the agents out there and there are a lot, half the population are introverts help those who are using the tools they have and they're not working and they need some other tools, you know?

Joanne Bolt: Yeah. Okay. So I read a statistic one time and it really did actually appeal to me because people will be shocked to know this, but I'm way more of an introvert than anyone ever gives me credit for. Like, I will walk into a room crowded with people, but I am much more likely to kind of stay back by the wall and let people come to me versus just be the person who meets everyone in the room within five seconds. So I read a statistic that said most of your, I don't remember what it was, it was like 60%, but it was shocking. Highly successful real estate agents are actually introverts and not extroverts. And I remember reading that and thinking, you've got to be kidding, right? Like, we're social creatures as real estate agents. We're, we're taught to meet everyone, shake a lot of hands, kiss the babies, you know, you gotta know everyone in order to sell the homes. And yet your coach looked at you and said, Ashley, you're an introvert and let's, let's utilize that. Right. So now that you've started the move over extroverts community, which I love that by the way, that is a fantastic name for it. What are you seeing as people come out of the woodwork work and join in your Facebook group and get involved in your coaching? Are they surprised to find themselves introverts?

Ashley: A lot of them are, yes. So there's, there's kind of a few different segments. One segment knows their introverts, they're very self-aware. They've done the research, they know this is where they are. They just need some help translating that into this highly social, highly outgoing business and how, what does that look like?

And it absolutely can be done, by the way. And then there's this other group of people who had no idea that they were introverts. And what they're doing is they're, they're acting like extroverts and they're not managing their energy well. And that's why they are finding themselves burnt out all the time. Mm. And so for them it's, that was where I was at.

I was one of those and I, when I started this business, just like you, people didn't believe it. They were like, what are you talking about? You're not an introvert. I see you everywhere going to all the events. Like that's, yeah, it's true. And when I get home I crash and I can't talk to anyone Exhausted mentally I'm done.

When I walk home, I'm done. I am done. Right. So, so for that group of people, the first thing they feel is relief because they realize that, oh, I don't have to be on all the time and if I make some changes then I get to reclaim some of my energy. Hmm. So it's really important for that group of people to, because then they're able to avoid burnout. Yeah, absolutely. That's what it comes down to.

Joanne Bolt: Okay. So now you've moved out of production, am I correct? 

Ashley: Yeah.

Joanne Bolt: And into you are running the move over extroverts?

Ashley: Yeah. It's a public group on Facebook.

Joanne Bolt: Is there a private community or just the public?

Ashley: Just the public. At some point we might launch a membership. I had a, I had a small membership last year that was not specific to real estate and we've since kind of moved on from that model. So it, it's, it's a Facebook group. I also teach workshops and I do one-on-one coaching. So that's sort of what the model looks like right now.

Joanne Bolt: Okay. And I found the public Facebook group and you have grown it to 1,300, you know, followers. How did you grow your community as quickly as you did? Or was it just one of those when people figured out that this is not something anyone else has done? Word of mouth traveled this for you?

Ashley: I wish it was word of mouth. I wish it was more word of mouth. It's a little bit word of mouth, but mostly it's, it was me realizing, well let me back up. So when I started the group, I would go through and invite my Facebook friends and I would sit there and if you're familiar with the disc profile, I'm a very high C so I'm analyzing everything. I'd sit there and look and look at this person. Do I think they're an introvert? I don't really know. Maybe I should invite them, but if I invite them and they're not, maybe they'll be offended or they'll think I'm weird or something. And so I was getting in my own way and then I just hit this moment where I was like, wait a minute, I have 4,000 friends on Facebook. Most of them are realtors. Why don't I just go through an invite Blanket, invite One blank as many as Facebook will let me, because it does cut you off after a certain point. So I just started inviting as many agents as I was friends with and I would let them decide if they want to join or not. And then I had to just get over. Nobody's gonna be offended that, you know, we get invited to groups all the time.

Joanne Bolt: It's not a big deal. I think the beauty of growing your business via the Facebook group is you extend the invitation. It's their decision to join the group or not. You know? And if it's not something that's interesting to them, they're not gonna join. Or if they join and then hop back out in three days, which I know on the dis profile you're probably analyzing that as well, you know, but that is the beauty of, of creating a Facebook group.

Ashley: It is, yeah. And everyone's welcome too. You know, there are some extroverts in the group who are there supportive and to, you know, just be part of the community. So it's, it's a really, it's been a really lovely experience and I, I just can't wait to keep growing it. We have, I think there are over a million licensed agents in the United States alone, and about half or more 60% are introverts. So we have a long way to go.

Joanne Bolt: All right, so you have a coaching program, what, what do you coach to? What does the program look like? How are you growing that aspect of your business?

Ashley: So it took me a long time to launch a coaching program because I was very much against it for so long. I didn't want it to look like everything else. And so what it looks like is, it's very specific. It is, let's put together your lead gen plan and it's your lead gen plan, not my lead gen plan. Ooh, that is so, so good to realize I see this all the time, you know, all the successful agents and it makes sense. Right. This worked for me, so you should try it too. The problem is that doesn't work for a lot of people. It's not because you're di you're different. Right. So what I help people with is we dig into what, where are they're, they already spending time. What opportunities do they have where they're already talking to people? How do we turn that into lead gen?

So that's really what I help people With. Okay. So you're gonna help draw out their strengths and then develop a more personalized plan for them to utilize their strengths. Yeah. And you have a lot of ideas, I'm assuming if you have those introverts who are like, yeah, I'm not gonna door knock and I'm not calling expired, you know, and I don't wanna be on video on social media every five seconds, like the social media, real estate agents. What are like, what are the tips in your, you know, toolbox that you help them determine what the right legion is for them? Sure. So the first thing is to tell them that if you are really against doing something, don't do it. Which should be so basic, right? It should be. But for people who've been in the business for a while, it's been kind of hammered into their brains. Like, if you're struggling with something and it's not working, do more of it. And that's just not usually the right answer. Cause I would agree, I can't wait to see like the real estate community, the real estate world sort of evolve past where it's been. 

Yeah. Where, you know, you do get your license, you're told to do 1, 2, 3, 4 things, it'll make you successful. And then when those don't work, people just look at you and say, well practice your scripts. Or do more hours of lead generation. And I do think that, that the world has changed and we really should focus more on the individual agent and say, you were really good at this, let's focus on that and, and ignore the rest of the noise around you. So kudos to you for doing that. Thank you. Thank you. I, I mean that's really the core of it and I'm, I'm happy to share some, some tips. The biggest tip is just look at where you are already interacting with people, especially the people I know we have your community is, is women. So the women who are, you know, raising children, there are so many opportunities to talk to other adults when you're raising children. Right. And you have so much more in common with those adults than the random people that you're trying to call on the expired list. Right, exactly. So utilize those relationships and, and build them. And you might have to step outside the comfort zone for just a little bit to start that conversation. And that's okay. You can step outside the comfort zone and then come right back to it All. So let's, let's talk about the female aspect of this cuz that is what we focus on a lot in, in our group is it's the challenges that women face that the men don't. And we love our men, don't get us wrong, but we're running different empires. You know, we've got our households, our children and our business and a lot of times we are the ones who are in charge of finding the babysitters or going to the grocery store or making sure that there's food in the fridge for snacks while you're on a, you know, on a phone call. And our male counterparts, they don't always have to deal with that.

Joanne Bolt: Do you see, or have you even noticed, do you have more women who are introverts or male introverts and are there any differences in the challenges that they, that they face?

Ashley: It's been about 50 50.

Joanne Bolt: Interesting. Okay.

Ashley: Which surprised me because I thought it would be a lot more women just because I assume that women would be more kind of in touch with that side of themselves.

You know, it's a little, yeah. More touchy-feely this, these conversations. But I have had a lot of men who are interested as well and they feel relieved too. Cuz I think the pressure on men is more, it, it's more pressure to go and be the hardcore salesman making all the calls. You know? So it's almost more okay for the women to, in their mind at least. So like take that step back and be a little bit more, more shy and introverted and the men feel more, the pressure to get out there and be in front of everyone. I don't know if I would use the word shy, but maybe more relational. Okay. I think it's more acceptable for women to be more relationship focused.

Joanne Bolt: Oh, I like that. Okay. So I think that's kind of the difference where men might feel more pressure to, to be more like cold calling focused. So for women I think, I think that's a great thing to, you know, just dive into that relational aspect and, And how do we build those relationships? How do we build it?

Ashley: Yeah. And really it's just meeting enough people and then keeping in touch with them. Because when you meet someone it's pretty easy. Especially for women, it's easy to build rapport pretty quickly. For most of us, we do this all the time. The challenge is to keep in touch with them often enough that when three years go by and they're finally ready to move, they think of you. That's the challenge Not coming across as that sales pitchy real estate agent, but rather as the friend. Right. I love that starting as a friend first because people are always gonna want to work with a friend if they can, you know? Right.

Joanne Bolt: Okay. So let's shift gears just a little bit. You recently got to present at Inman Inman Connect. Walk me through that journey. Cause I know how excited you were when you got the call. Did you feel like you finally kind of made it in your niche when you got that phone call? And how did you prepare for that event?

Ashley: I did, yes. Speaking at admin had been a goal of mine ever since I started this business. And to be able to achieve that over the summer, it was, it was 90% like, yes, I made it. The 10% that was missing was, it was a virtual event. I was so excited to go be on a stage, but because of where the world was, it was virtual. However, it was still amazing and it felt like such a huge accomplishment. Oh, I think I had about 7,000 people register for my session.

Joanne Bolt: That's Awesome.

Ashley: I don't know if they all watched it, but they at least clicked that they were interested. So, you know, my whole goal is, is spreading this message and reaching as many people as possible. And so to be able to, you know, tap into that platform and that audience, that was just amazing. And I didn't really have to prepare all that much because I've been teaching this workshop for so long, for over two years now. I kind of have the material down. The interesting thing about the Inman experience was I was on a panel with a gentleman who built his business door knocking. So they, So you're over there like, no, you don't have to door knock. And he's like, yeah, you do. Right? So I had to tweak it a little bit, but it worked really well. Like, he's a great guy and he's doing amazing things and the moderator was really great and gave us both kind of equal time.

So it all worked out really well.

Joanne Bolt: All right. So coming out of the Inman event, has, have you seen any change in your business? Any growth? Have you have new goals?

Ashley: A little bit. There was, there was more interest. I was looking at the traffic on my website and there were some spikes after the event, which was great.

As far as goals, I've really reframed how I'm setting goals. I'm not really setting goals on, I'm going to, you know, have this many clients or whatever. I'm setting goals based on my activities and that way I have more control over it.

Joanne Bolt: Very cool. So what's next in the pipeline for Ashley? You've got coaching, you've got classes and workshops that you travel around the country and teach.

If someone wants to book that and we'll, we'll put links up to that underneath the podcast and the YouTube channel. But what, what else is in your back pocket? What have you got coming up for us?

Ashley: Well, the thing I'm thinking about right now is potentially in the spring hosting a virtual summit for introverted agents.

Joanne Bolt: Okay. And what was, what do you envision that looking like?

Ashley: I envision getting some, some big players, some big names. Bringing the extra extroverts or just the introvert big players. I want to bring in the people who are really introverts, but people would be surprised by it.

Joanne Bolt: Hmm. That's a good idea. And there are a lot of them, Like yeah. Are you gonna do just, you know, workshop style or panel style or have you thought that far in advance?

Ashley: I haven't thought that part through. Oh, I feel like we're giving like a teaser to the event. Oh, okay. No, I, I mean I lo I think the virtual summits that I've participated in in the past have been sort of, you know, the individuals prerecord something and then it's available.

So I think that might be a little bit easier To Work with people's schedules. But I haven't hammered down the details Yet. Got it. All right. Do we have a book in the future? A new podcast? We have a book someday. I got a little distracted because I started writing a fiction book that has nothing to do with introverts or for real estate.

So you veered outta your lane. All of my like creative juices for that right now. But I see eventually that turning into like a movie or a TV show or something. But yes, introvert book down the road maybe collaborating with Susan Kane. Ooh, okay. I would love that. Someday and, and down way down the road. A big conference.

Joanne Bolt: I think that would be super well received given the amount of people in your community. I can't imagine it wouldn't sell out in a heartbeat.

Ashley: Yeah, I hope so. But I'm, I'm a little gun shy about planning anything in person right now still. But eventually once it feels safe we can do a big in-person conference and a retreat. I would love to have an annual retreat somewhere tropical or Europe or something and have it be just kind of a high level introvert mastermind.

Joanne Bolt: I can see that being, being a big, big play in the game for real estate is, you know, the opportunity for all the introverts to get together and act like extroverts because they know how to act in a social situation together and no one's over, you know, bulldozing through the room and taking over the place, which would be kind of fun.

Ashley: Yeah. So a lot of stuff coming down the road.

Joanne Bolt: All right. So how many workshops do you typically teach a year? Where are they? Are you all over the, the United States? Do you, are you finding yourself doing more virtual right now than in person?

Ashley: Yeah, right now it's almost all virtual and I've been teaching about one or two a month.

I do have the capacity in my schedule to do a little bit more than that. I think one a week would be kind of my max. So that's what I'm, I'm ramping up to do and they're 90 minutes, so it's very easy to just, everybody hop on Zoom, it's a one hour of classroom style and then 30 minute lead gen alternatives mastermind.

So, so is the basics of the class, the 90 minutes learning your lead gen strategy or is it also tactics on how to work in an extroverted world? Or if someone was listening to this today and thinking, should I hire Ashley to come in and talk to my team or my office or my brokerage? You know, what would they expect to get out of the 90 minutes?

So there's three main pillars to the class. It starts with, we talk about being an introvert and how that affects your energy. So energy management to avoid burning out. Okay. And then we shift gears into how does that translate to the calendar. Okay. So we get very tactical. And then third, we spend a lot of time talking about lead gen and alternatives to the traditional methods.

And then I take people through this exercise where they write down everything they're doing for lead gen and then in the class make some decisions about what to get rid of and what they can add. So it's like a little mini coaching session in the workshop. Fantastic.

Joanne Bolt: Okay. So Ashley, our time is winding up very quickly, but how can someone find you, what is your preferred method of communication? Because I know for me it's Instagram, for some people it's Facebook, you know, please don't email me, it'll get lost in the world in my inbox, you know, but for you it might be something different. So what way works for you best to get in contact?

Ashley: So I'm kind of all over the place. My website is great. Move over extroverts.com, that's where all the information is. So kind of start there and then see what you might be interested in. Whether it's a work, you can attend a workshop too. So I, I host my own workshops if individuals want to come to those. Okay. So it doesn't have to be within an office or interested in coaching, whatever. All that's on the website. I'm on Facebook more than Instagram. Okay. But I do check both pretty regularly. So I would say Facebook if they wanna come and join the group, it's called Introverts in Real Estate. It's pretty easy to find. Yeah, absolutely. And so that's the public group where they can start building their community of introverts and then decide maybe if they wanna go into the next step of coaching or not.

Yeah. Because I know most of our introverts out there are like, wait a minute, hang on, I wanna like slowly walk into this and not have anyone really realize I'm, I'm looking into this. So probably the easiest bet would be step your toe in, in the Facebook group and then head for coaching or a Yeah, absolutely. And I'm always happy to have, you know, a private call with people as well if they have questions.

Joanne Bolt: Awesome. Well Ashley, you are delightful as always to talk to. Thanks for letting us take a peek behind the curtain of the move over extroverts momentum that you are running here. It is truly, truly one of those niche areas that nobody else I've seen is doing. And so that's why we wanted to bring you on today cuz you are a powerful woman who has realized who you are and what you're best at.

And so thank you for sharing that with us today.

Ashley: My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me, and thank you all for listening.

Joanne Bolt: All right. Until next time. Okay, bye.