This week on RealTrending, Tracey Velt chats with Rainy Hake Austin, President of The Agency. The Agency ranked 13 by volume and is also the fourth largest private independent brokerage according to the 2025 RealTrends Verified Top Brokerage rankings. Over the past five years, The Agency has grown to almost 100 offices across the US.
Rainy dives into ethical leadership, the trend to move beyond the transaction, and how AI is reshaping operations by plugging them into staff efficiency tools. She also talks about mergers vs. organic growth and why articulating unique value is key in a competitive market.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
The agency has grown significantly, ranking 13th by volume.
A people-first approach is central to their growth strategy.
Maintaining a boutique feel is crucial as they scale.
Agents are trained to articulate their unique value effectively.
AI is used to enhance efficiency and customer experience.
Related to this episode:
The Agency
https://www.theagencyre.com/
Rainy Austin | The Agency Real Estate
https://www.theagencyre.com/agent/rainy-austin
Best Real Estate Brokerages in United States | RealTrends Verified
https://www.realtrends.com/ranking/top-independents-private/
Enjoy the episode!
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
the top mortgage and real estate stories. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
Rainy dives into ethical leadership, the trend to move beyond the transaction, and how AI is reshaping operations by plugging them into staff efficiency tools. She also talks about mergers vs. organic growth and why articulating unique value is key in a competitive market.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
The agency has grown significantly, ranking 13th by volume.
A people-first approach is central to their growth strategy.
Maintaining a boutique feel is crucial as they scale.
Agents are trained to articulate their unique value effectively.
AI is used to enhance efficiency and customer experience.
Related to this episode:
The Agency
https://www.theagencyre.com/
Rainy Austin | The Agency Real Estate
https://www.theagencyre.com/agent/rainy-austin
Best Real Estate Brokerages in United States | RealTrends Verified
https://www.realtrends.com/ranking/top-independents-private/
Enjoy the episode!
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
the top mortgage and real estate stories. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00As you build your brokerage or recruit agents, are you thinking beyond the transaction?
00:06I spoke with Rainy Haig-Austin.
00:08She is the president of the agency and she very clearly defined the value proposition
00:14of the agency and what she hopes to get across to anyone joining their firm.
00:21But I think it's a takeaway that we could all learn from is really thinking about the
00:26lifestyle and the consumers that we're serving as much as we do think about the transaction
00:33itself or the agents that we're serving.
00:35So enjoy the podcast.
00:37Rainy, welcome to the podcast.
00:39Thank you, Tracy.
00:41It's so great to be here.
00:42The agency did super well in the RealTrends Verified rankings, number 13 by volume.
00:49You climbed up the rankings and also fourth largest private independent.
00:53So congratulations on that.
00:55Thank you, Tracy.
00:56We're super proud of that.
00:57The team's been working hard to continue to expand the brand and the mission out there.
01:02We're glad that it's resonating.
01:03Yeah, and I want to talk a little bit about that kind of your mission.
01:07What are the key strategies that have really driven your growth over the past year or two?
01:15Yeah, certainly it's a combination of things, as you can imagine.
01:19One of, I think, the most prevalent pieces of our strategy is we look to grow to be truly
01:25international global luxury lifestyle company is to find people who believe in our mission
01:31and our vision.
01:32And that really just means that we're very much people first.
01:35And so as we've continued to grow, we've been growing mostly through our global partnerships
01:39as we've been opening new offices.
01:41And so I've been with the company for just over five years.
01:45And inside of that, I think we've opened nearly 100 offices.
01:48And that's during a time where most companies have been sort of merging, morphing and
01:53disappearing over the last three years.
01:55And so we've really seen our strategy to be a growth strategy of growing out of what I'll call a
02:01housing recession on top of other sort of like macroeconomic headwinds.
02:05And as we've been doing that, it's really been a people first approach.
02:08We're going into our target markets.
02:12And what we do when we go to a target market is we're looking at where are the existing offices that we
02:17have and where is there already existing momentum for feeder markets or opportunities?
02:22And then we go into that market, we look for the best agent or team or boutique brokerage that's already
02:27there. And then we interview them for culture fit and make sure.
02:32So when I say people first approach, it really is about finding people who believe in the mission and the
02:36vision of innovating.
02:38Our mission is to sort of disrupt the way that traditional real estate is done from the perspective of
02:45thinking about pushing boundaries and reinventing the way we market or story tell.
02:52And that's really allowed us to find people who not just resonate with us, but then resonate in the local
02:58marketplace. And then where we have existing company owned offices going deeper with finding more
03:03individuals who also believe inside of that.
03:05And so, you know, we've grown, we've grown through like minded individuals, global partners.
03:13But it's also been about being creative and nimble inside of the things that we've done.
03:17So we've stayed hyper focused on like the agents and clients and what they want.
03:22And I think that's also created like a magnetic attraction to people.
03:26So as we've gone into new marketplaces, we've been very blessed in the fact that our brand has resonated in
03:32those new markets because I feel like there's a little bit of blue sky and the brand's been seen as fresh air
03:36inside of those markets where there's been more traditional brands that have existed.
03:41And so I think it's been a sort of like a combination of target markets with the right people and really sort
03:49of doubling down on our core competencies and leading with those as we expand.
03:53Do you see any strategy that would include bigger M&A moving forward?
04:00Yeah, we've explored M&A opportunities in a multitude of ways.
04:06And so we've looked at acquiring teams, boutique brokerages, but also core services companies.
04:14And so, you know, one of our parts of our visions as we're looking at is we've we started as a regional boutique real estate
04:21company in Southern California, and we figured, okay, we're doing that really well.
04:24And so we came up with this concept of global partnership, which most people call franchising.
04:28But we do franchising differently than others.
04:30And that like we really partner with the individuals and that we encapsulate them inside of our ecosystem.
04:35It's not like we just sell access to our brand.
04:39It's very, very different.
04:40All of our leadership calls, everything's combined and connected.
04:44And so as we look to expand, we're looking for others who are on the marketplace.
04:50And there's a lot of M&A going on, as you can probably tell inside of the marketplace, even with strategic partners coming in,
04:56whether it's mortgage companies or portals coming in and merging together.
05:00And so we've been looking at the opportunities of markets that we want to go into, but also some of our global partners who have found
05:06success in markets where they might want to be expanding.
05:09And so we have definitely opened up our doors to to look to find additional people who want to join the brand.
05:17And we have proactively been looking at sponsorship dollars and people who want to come in and strategically partner with us to help with
05:23that expansion. So we don't have anything specific on the horizon to share.
05:28But we've definitely been more than putting a toe in, putting a whole foot in looking at the opportunities of where we have.
05:37We don't typically lean into M&A.
05:41The only large acquisition we've ever done since the company has started was our merger with Triplement in New York.
05:49Really, all of our growth has been very organic.
05:51And so this is a little bit of a divergence from our past decade of growth.
05:57But we think that we're at that place where we can start growing.
06:02And again, with the people first, if we have the right person, we really have good systems and processes in place now that we think that we can
06:08integrate them into our our ethos.
06:12And so we're finally at that place where we think we might be able to start biting off some of those larger pieces and doing so successfully.
06:18Great. That's good to hear.
06:20And how do you, you know, you do have a boutique feel to your brand.
06:26How do you scale that as you grow bigger?
06:29What are what are some of the things that you're doing to scale that and keep that feel?
06:36It's a great question. It's probably the one number one thing that keeps me up at night when I think about our growth and our expansion.
06:42We've had great success there. The team focuses a lot on processes and systems as we do that.
06:48So what I mean by that is if we're bringing on a global partner, for instance, it's a courting period.
06:54I mean, we spend maybe six months interviewing them, them interviewing us, making sure it's the right fit.
06:59I personally meet with every single global partner who joins before they go through the application process to make sure that we really do
07:05think that they have a fit.
07:08Our our comprehensive onboarding and and training that goes through that and then just the indoctrination.
07:16So once we bring on a new agent or a new manager or a new global partner, as I mentioned before,
07:23all of our managers are on a consistent manager meeting once a month together.
07:27We are sharing best practices. We're talking about expectations.
07:30We hold each other accountable to what the brand stands for.
07:34And so there's a bit of self-policing that happens inside of that.
07:37But it's really with great intention around the processes and systems that we have in place and how we intentionally run things differently.
07:46We have an ops team that will that literally meets with all of our offices once a month going over what it is that they're doing.
07:54Our centralized marketing team is training the marketing staff and team who are out in all of our branch locations, even for the global partners.
08:03We coach and mentor them on a monthly basis to make sure that they know the newest strategy and trends, not just like what we're launching,
08:11but we're also making sure that everyone's skill sets up.
08:13So we do that for our agents, staff managers to really make sure that we maintain this bar so people understand like we're known for innovation and marketing and collaboration.
08:23And so like we practice those things all the time and we don't assume that it's going to happen just at happenstance, particularly as we grow.
08:35And then we set even like mentorships and buddies up with others that are successful as people are entering and growing.
08:41Whether you're an agent, staff manager, franchise, there's an orientation around the brand and expectations that happen as you're onboarded.
08:48So all of those great intentions, I think, help and set the set the sort of the stage for those expectations.
08:58And then it's a follow through on that for the accountability piece.
09:01Yeah, yeah. That makes sense. And so I want to talk like, you know, you mentioned about global partners.
09:08What are some of the leadership qualities you're looking for in the brokers that you're talking to or bringing on?
09:16Yeah, I think that it really the leadership qualities that we look for in individuals are really a representative of our pillars and characteristics of the brand.
09:27And so we want the brand to be forward thinking. We want it to be innovative and creative.
09:33We want it to be a little bit edgy, but still super professional.
09:37And so I think those are similar to the qualities that we look for in the leaders. We want people who are thought leaders.
09:42We want people who believe in doing good and being good is good business, ethics and professionalism, putting that at the forefront.
09:50We train and coach around this all the time. And it's really important that all of our leaders practice that.
09:56We believe that if you're always putting your client first, like the paycheck follows, it's like the icing on the cake.
10:02It's not the thing that's motivating. That customer service experience is really important for us.
10:06I look for leaders who have a servant heart and really are putting their agents first, their clients first, the betterment of the company and the culture and the entire team above an individual or an instance.
10:20And so we want the people who are certainly best in class of the things they do.
10:25We look at people who are world class sales individuals who have experience in the luxury market, which is our particular niche that we focus on.
10:34But outside of those practical like resume builders, we're really looking for leaders who aren't OK with the status quo, that are pushing themselves and their team to always be thinking above and beyond.
10:47We call it our one inch. And so it's like I don't ask people to go an extra mile, just one more inch.
10:52Think of the things you already do really well and figure out how you can do them just a little bit better with everything that you're doing.
10:57And certainly now in the world of like AI and technology and all of that, it's really about like how do we have an open mindset to be embracing that and not just falling back or resting on our laurels of the things that we've done well or being complacent or, you know, being arrogant or falling into our ego because it is easy to be like, oh, I've accomplished this.
11:16So, you know, I'm good. And it's I really love having leaders who know that we have a little bit of like a target of like, hey, you're doing that well.
11:26People are gonna be copying you. So you have to constantly be reinventing yourself without following the shiny object, like really be intentional about choosing that path yourself and be discerning as to like where the puck is going to be going and anticipating those needs.
11:39And I think that's part of what really creates that service culture that we're known for, as well as the innovative brand.
11:45And it's all about the people behind the brand that make that possible with our leaders who perpetuate that thought and then encourage and inspire the staff to do the same and the agents as well.
11:55And can you describe what you mean by ethical leadership?
11:58I know that's one thing that the agency, you know, talks about a lot.
12:04You know, how do you define that?
12:06Yeah, that's a great question.
12:08I think that, you know, Mauricio talks about this a lot, too, because he'll be one of the first people to say that the real estate industry has given to him so much inside of his own career.
12:18And one of his personal missions and certainly mission of the company is to elevate up the perception and the actual experience and professionalism that real estate professionals bring.
12:30And I think that there's been moments in time where there are licensed individuals inside the real estate industry who don't really practice it as a full time job.
12:43And therefore, they're maybe not as well versed in laws or local nuances.
12:49Certainly, you're licensed for the entire state of California, for instance, and you may be a Southern California agent trying to sell up in Sacramento and you may not know what you're doing there.
12:58And so we practice common best practices like referring outside of your marketplace and getting a referral for you rather than trying to expand outside of your knowledge base unless there's like a particular reason to do that.
13:11Right. And so, again, like the not putting the dollars for the person is a big piece of that.
13:17When we talk about doing good and being good as good business is one of our philosophies.
13:21It really is about coming from a place of knowing black and white what's right and wrong.
13:29It's not gray for us.
13:31It's like that's the right thing to do.
13:32That's the wrong thing to do.
13:33And so making sure that our team work in the gray area when it comes to pushing innovation and creativity, but not when it comes to professionalism and the care of our clients or agents.
13:43And so I think it's having that as a steadfast environment that we all work in.
13:49And again, kind of the self-policing of it, like the other leaders in the organization set a standard and expect their colleagues to to follow through on that.
13:59And I think that's where our rule number one comes in and is really about making sure that everyone who is here believes in the mission and vision of putting the clients first and putting our agents first and servicing them by being knowledgeable and professional.
14:16It's really we put a lot of emphasis in education and training.
14:20We have a lot of emphasis in risk management and being proactive about keeping people out of trouble.
14:26New things that are coming down the pipeline, even if they're not finished.
14:29We're talking about them so people can be preparing for them, role playing all of those types of things internally and not just at the agent level, at the staff level, too, so that they know how to service and support the agents inside of it and making sure that all of our agents are full time professional agents.
14:43They take it really seriously as a career and not as like a part time job.
14:49It's like those standards of care that we put into place that assure professionalism and ethical behavior inside of the things that we do.
14:57Yeah, I want to I want to get into a more controversial issue, at least in the industry right now.
15:03Obviously, founder Maurizio Umaski has been very vocal about the clear cooperation and private listings, even considering legal action around it at one point.
15:14So tell me, you know, how do you navigate compliance while advocating for the agent and client flexibility?
15:22And tell me a little bit about your stance on that.
15:26Yeah, I mean, certainly it's interesting because I can think right now, clear cooperation and private networks are very hot topic.
15:36But you and I know like they're not a new topic like this has been around for a while and it kind of just resurfaces in cycles.
15:43And Maurizio certainly is very vocal about it because he is so vocal about putting clients first and making sure that that's always what drives it and that we're not like overregulating or regulating for the wrong reasons.
15:58And it's not even for the benefit of the brokerage or giving unfair advantage to individuals or what's the best portal.
16:05It really is about there are certain marketing strategies that work.
16:10We are in the luxury high end market.
16:12There are times where it makes sense to privately market something because that's what the client wants or needs.
16:17And we want we believe in the ability to have flexibility as a real estate professional to be able to do that for our clients when it makes sense.
16:25But it is our strong belief that the majority of properties really deserve to be exposed at the highest and most visible way because we feel like the greater the visibility, the more competitive it is, the higher possible price.
16:39And if you've ever been to a lower and a high end, it's like the highest possible price training that you try to propel.
16:45And so our belief system is about propelling that forward.
16:50And so having an infrastructure that has the flexibility to give our sellers what they need, as well as having the widest market for the buyers to be able to have a competitive marketplace.
17:00And so that's really what our belief system is and what we support and always putting our clients and agents at the forefront of that.
17:07That's great.
17:07And I yeah, I could see in the luxury market, there definitely being a need in some instances to, you know, use a private network to to market a listing.
17:18You know, I think everybody believes that to me, it seems like everybody believes that that's sometimes necessary.
17:28And they're afraid that that like delayed marketing option is going to be used more frequently.
17:35And that's going to be a problem in the industry.
17:39I don't know whether it is or not.
17:40Not all MLSs have built their policy around it yet.
17:44So we don't even know who's, you know, which MLSs are even going to allow it at this point.
17:50So, so yeah, a lot, a lot to be done in the next couple of months.
17:56Yeah, absolutely.
17:57There's certainly a lot of speculation still and a lot of uncertainty.
18:01There's still a lot to be decided and see what kind of shakes out.
18:08But I think ultimately, whenever you have instances like this, you have people who are trying to take advantage of the situation.
18:15And then people are trying to, you know, follow the right path and do what's best for their clients.
18:21And sometimes I feel like we overcorrect for the one-offs rather than thinking about like, what's the majority of the case?
18:27And if we could really focus our attention as an industry on servicing our clients and making sure that our agents are empowered to service the client.
18:37And that's what we make our decisions off of.
18:39I think that this is not really that hard of a discussion topic.
18:44It's just that we kind of get in these circular conversations for better or worse.
18:48Yeah, absolutely.
18:49Post-settlement, there's been, you know, a ton of buzz around the idea of agents offering a unique value and really articulating their value.
19:02So what initiatives does the agency have to help agents do that and differentiate themselves in competitive markets?
19:12There certainly has been a lot of emphasis put on understanding and communicating value for us.
19:19It's maybe two parts in large.
19:22One of the things we're most known for is our world-class marketing, PR and branding.
19:29And so as a company, we often are leading with that.
19:32But we provide very custom marketing materials for our agents that focus on here's the agency brand as like a jumping off platform.
19:40But we also allow them to customize their own personal branding and not as a kind of say like not as like a hero image as much as it is really about telling the story of this is what I uniquely bring as an individual real estate professional to this target audience.
19:59And we one of the things that we really work with our agents on is not being everything to everyone, but being the right thing to the right people.
20:06And so we say and same thing for the brand.
20:08Like, you know, we focus on our niche.
20:10We obviously, you know, encapsulate and work with things beyond that.
20:14But we don't try to capture everyone and everything.
20:18And we really work with our agents to do the same thing.
20:21And so as they can go into the market and articulate, these are the things that I can offer.
20:26And this is what I'm worth my time and my expertise.
20:30You know, we found that agents have been very successful and being able to win listings and work with buyers and and work through some of the sort of confusion that I think initially was there with all the NAR settlements and changes happening around sort of compensation discussions.
20:50And really focusing back to the value discussion has helped make it more clear to agents.
20:56And so there's like the storytelling piece and there's also like the training.
20:59So like listing presentations and buyer presentations and the role playing and and working with them on the dialogue, because I think that some people just aren't great at talking about themselves.
21:09Like our salespeople are really good at selling other things and to sell themselves isn't always natural, depending on the personality.
21:15And so coaching, training, mentorship, as well as the branding and marketing support, that combination has really been winning for us.
21:22Great. And so A.I.
21:25is a huge trend right now, and I feel like we're really in the infancy stage of it.
21:30What what are you looking at in using it?
21:34Do you have you built it into or using any programs that are already have like a really good A.I.
21:40system built into it?
21:42How are you how are you embracing that technology?
21:46Yeah, so A.I.
21:47for me falls into this bucket of efficiency technology.
21:52And so for many years now, both in my prior brokerages and now here at the agency, I'll just say like one of my favorite topics in the whole world is exceptional customer experiences.
22:04And I believe that technology should be primarily used to enhance the human experience.
22:09And I've advocated this for many years is one of my favorite topics to talk about.
22:13And I'm very excited that A.I.
22:15has gotten to where it is because it has allowed us to, in many ways, automate or make more efficient the types of tasks that are more repetitive, that can be automated.
22:26So let's just even look at our design team, for instance.
22:30They make beautiful presentations and materials, but they're using A.I.
22:34now to do the first draft of content, copy, video layout, PowerPoint presentations.
22:39And then that allows our amazingly skilled designers and content team to go in and tweak it, make it better.
22:45And that's what allows us to go like a little bit above and beyond, because if they're bogged down and like having to lay out every page and copy and paste in the content.
22:55So we've also made an amazing hire in Zane Burnett, Zane Burnett, who's come on as our senior vice president of digital strategy.
23:05He's probably known in the industry as like the leader in digital strategy, A.I.
23:11efficiency. He knows all the tools that everyone's using and he really understands how everything fits together.
23:16He's only been at the company for two months and he's already done an incredible job of overlaying all of our processes and systems and integrating even more things that we already had in place.
23:26And so we have multiple tools for agent efficiency.
23:30But one of the things that we really lean into is staff efficiency, because one of our goals is to make our staff as efficient as possible so that they can spend more bespoke time with our agents.
23:40And so it's really a focus of ours to make sure that our staff is only spending their time manually doing things that are like high talent, high reward, not anything that could be replicated.
23:55And A.I. is one piece of that machine learning, all of those.
23:57But there's there's other efficiency tools and resources that we've used inside of that as well.
24:02So we're we're actively using that for our client and agent tools.
24:07But more so like our big pushing initiative right now is really focusing on staff efficiency tools that take them to the next level and that then allow our agents to provide a better service.
24:18Yeah, I mean, it makes so much sense.
24:20It also allows the growth to maybe happen a little bit faster as well, because you're taking some of those like repetitive tasks away from staff who could then be working on, you know, like you said, with the agents growing the business as well.
24:37So so, yeah, I mean, it makes total sense to me.
24:40I think a lot of people are just really confused on like specifically how to use it.
24:45And they don't realize that they're already using some of it to a certain extent.
24:51Right. Yeah.
24:52We have some people who are like so knee deep in their chat GPT that like they're asking it like constantly.
25:00My husband's like this minute home.
25:02I mean, it's just like it's it's a new best friend.
25:04And so some people like just dove into it head first.
25:07We have we have an sort of an innovation incubation lab internally at the agency, too.
25:14And the team members are always like pushing each other to use new things.
25:17And this was a big initiative that one of our lead designers had put together and was was focusing on.
25:22And they were already like identifying some of the existing tools that we had that now had new elements that were added on to that.
25:30But a big piece of it, too, is thinking about like how to use it differently, because I think for so many people, they don't know how to get started with it.
25:37And so one of the things we were just talking about on our staff town hall today was that we were launching a whole new series on training.
25:44So we are bringing in internal resources, external resources to talk to people about how to leverage and utilize technology to create a better service experience, how to leverage it to create efficiencies and productivity in your own role amongst other training courses that we're that we're focusing on.
26:01And so it's really helping them individualize that experience because people are busy.
26:06And when you're busy, you're going to fall back on the things that you do best.
26:09I am personally, you know, guilty of doing that myself.
26:12And so trying to lead by example, demonstrate and use that.
26:16Mauricio is one of the best users of AI and chat GPT.
26:20He'll throw things and do this and send it over to the team.
26:23And it's like, here's my thoughts and ideas I've dropped into this.
26:26And can you guys take it and go do something with it?
26:28And it's not him to be so efficient because, you know, we expect him to be in 20 places at once.
26:33And it's allowed him to sort of deliver on some of those things.
26:36And so it's great when it's a top down initiative where the leaders are using it and demonstrating that it's OK to try this.
26:44And, you know, we have a great philosophy at the agency of like fail and fail quickly.
26:49And so it's like, try that new thing, see if it works.
26:52You know, some of our team members in design have tried creating videos using chat GPT exclusively or using AI exclusively to do some of those renderings, videos, different things like that.
27:07And they're like, oh, it's a little too mechanical.
27:10How can I take that to the next level?
27:11And it's like they'll try it, they'll use it, and then they iterate on it.
27:14So we're very much about iteration and taking that.
27:18And like we're saying, a little extra inch, a little extra inch.
27:21And so I think it's really inspired the team to push their own limits and to try new things and feel supported in it.
27:30And it's really increased our productivity and our ability to to do more with limited resources.
27:37Again, given the fact that most brokerages are still hitting the headwinds, even though our pipeline's growing and, you know, we've got lots of optimism for what 2025 and 2026 are going to bring us.
27:46We're still really always trying to figure out how to get the most out of the team that we have.
27:51And keep them inspired.
27:53The other piece of this is it allows our team to do the things that they are most talented at and use their talents most effectively.
28:00And that's what keeps people happy within their job if they just mired down and just productivity things.
28:06And we're a productivity industry.
28:08I mean, we've got projects, properties, agents with like repetitive requests.
28:13And so it's really easy to kind of get stuck inside of that.
28:16So they can find tools that allow people to stay creative and happy.
28:19I think that's a great retention tool for us, too.
28:22Yeah, absolutely.
28:24So my last question is just how do you hope the agency will shape the future of real estate?
28:32It's a deep one.
28:34And it's a it's a great question.
28:35I mean, I think I have to lean back into our vision being that we truly want to be a global luxury lifestyle company.
28:43And I think the thing that's different about that than most real estate companies is it really is about being a true advisor for our clients from start to finish.
28:54And I've been in the industry for almost 30 years now.
28:57And I've had a dream from the very beginning, coming in, being a person who loves to see efficiency.
29:02And I love customer experience.
29:04I really would like to see the entire real estate ecosystem become much more united and have a higher level of expectations for service and care.
29:14And we have a big initiative on our core services side to understand our supply chain to all of the elements that the consumer experiences throughout the transaction and then beyond.
29:27Like we started the agency art house this year, which was pretty extraordinary.
29:31We had a successful art house reach out to us.
29:34And inquire about using the agency name and brand and partnering with us.
29:38And you see out there that there are other real estate brokerages that have done the opposite, like they've licensed the name of existing art houses and auction houses.
29:47So to have gotten to the place where the agency brand stands for luxury and lifestyle in that way, it's setting the tone and the path for what we really want to create,
29:55which is a path forward to be an advocate and to be an advisor for our clients beyond just the real estate transaction and really expand those interactions in our network to create a cohesive ecosystem that's of high quality and standard.
30:12And then being able to expand that.
30:15We have beautiful offices, for instance, in Turks and Caicos, right?
30:19They have clients who reach out to them all the time who want to come down to vacation first, then they want to, you know, get a private jet or a private yacht to charter to go to the other islands.
30:32Once they buy property, they want to be able to rent it out possibly.
30:39And so it's like, OK, well, how can we be partnering either by creating our own or having partnerships with private jets and charters and property management as well as event planning?
30:49It's like they want to go down there and they want to create these amazing experiences.
30:52And so we have like some of our offices and in Mexico and other destination locations that will, you know, procure and help have planned weddings and parties and your fireworks coming out from your property.
31:04And so, like, it's the entire experience.
31:07And if we can change the industry in any way, it's like making that more of the norm is to understand how you not just fit into this individual transactional thing, but how you own that relationship and how you take your ethos, your standard of care, all the value that you have and you expand it to the ecosystem and beyond.
31:28And I think by doing that, we add value and professionalism and just so much more to our industry.
31:35And I would love for that to be the gift that the agency brings to the entire industry, leading the way in that category.
31:42I love that. I mean, and it makes a lot of sense, just really thinking beyond the transaction.
31:49So, Rainey, thank you so much for joining the podcast today.
31:52I really appreciate your time.
31:54Absolutely. It's my pleasure, Tracy.
31:56Thanks for all that you do for us.
31:57You're amazing.