010: Ashley Wigren – Realtor & Yoga Instructor – Her Story

Title: Ashley Wigren – Realtor & Yoga Instructor – Her Story

Guest: Ashley Wigren

Peter: Welcome to the Biz and Life Done Well podcast, where we explore what it means and what it takes to do business and life well. I’m your host, Peter Wilson. If you’re like me, you’re intrigued by stories of common people who have achieved uncommon success in business and life. Join me as I interview fascinating people about how they got started, their successes and failures, their habits and routines, and what inspires them. Ashley, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Ashley: I was born in Washington State. I’ve lived here my entire life.

Peter: Okay.

Ashley: Love the Pacific Northwest. I don’t think I’m ever leaving. Mhmm.

Peter: Okay.

Ashley: Yeah. Cool.

Peter: Any part of the state that you grew up?

Ashley: I’ve always lived close, so locally in Everett, Bothell, Mill Creek areas. I would like to move over to Eastern Washington at some point. But, for now, still staying here.

Peter: That’s the rock and roll fantasy?

Ashley: Yeah. Exactly. Cool. Actually, the quiet life fantasy. Small town.

Peter: Nice. So you, so you and I have met through BNI, is a networking group. I know you do real estate and you have other interests. What’s fascinated me about you is you don’t seem like the normal stereotypical real estate person. What was your journey like to becoming like, just getting into real estate?

What how did you get there?

Ashley: Yeah. So, I think that’s probably good cause I know that when I got into real estate at first, I thought, you know, like used car salesman or something. Right. You know? That was kind of, you know, always what I had in mind of what, you know, real estate was.

So, I mean, I’ve been in the business five years, but before that, I did social work.

Peter: Okay.

Ashley: So the last, career, the last job that I was at was Cocoon House.

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: So that was working with youth that are, you know, teens, adolescents that are, you know, at risk that, you know, maybe don’t have a place to live, fighting homelessness. A lot of them are coming out of the foster care system. So, that was my background. So maybe that’s why I’m a little bit different. Yeah.

Peter: So how, so you did that for five years? Is that what

Ashley: you said? Yeah. Did that for about because out out of college, I did AmeriCorps. You know, we all have plans. I had originally planned on joining the Peace Corps.

I had been in a car accident, and that had caused me to take a quarter off of school, move home with my mom, stop working at my and so in the meantime of going through all of that, the Peace Corps that was out of reach and know how long my recovery is going to be. So I did Americor instead.

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: And then I was, volunteering at a company that I volunteered at for two years and then was hired on, after I got my degree and just, went from there.

Peter: So where’d you go to school?

Ashley: I did, University of Washington, their Bothell campus.

Peter: Cool.

Ashley: So, and that was back in the day when you could only finish your two years there. So I did community college first, and I had done running start in high school.

Peter: Mhmm. Okay.

Ashley: And then finished my two years there, so it was cheaper.

Peter: Good call. Wish my kids had done that.

Ashley: Yeah. My mom helped me out, but it was cheaper for her to go that route than the other.

Peter: So AmeriCorps, and then into social work. Mhmm. And then real estate. How did you make that jump?

Ashley: So I I bought my house, think, gosh, like, ten years ago now, maybe nine. Nine or ten years ago, I purchased Were you my

Peter: still in high school?

Ashley: No. I was not. So the gal that sold me my home, I kept in touch with her, you know, after the years of me purchasing my house and had kinda thought about, you know, maybe getting my real estate license in hopes of buying a property, fixing it, and selling it. That was always the plan. I never thought I was gonna get my real estate license Mhmm.

And, you know, have a career doing that. My boyfriend, he has his own construction company and so that was kind of our plan was to, you know, do that way, go that route. But, ended up he became self employed. I guess he wasn’t self employed at the time. So he became self employed, I did, and then that kind of went our hopes of getting a loan because you have to, you know, show three years.

So it was kind of like, well, what am I gonna do? And I kept, you know, assisting her and it took off. It was, it’s been really fun.

Peter: So you started by assisting, and then you’ve kind of grown

Ashley: Yeah. I worked with her for a year. Mhmm. I assisted her. And then in the meantime, while I was assisting her, I had started teaching yoga.

So I was I think I’ve been practicing yoga now for close to almost I’d say almost fifteen years. And while I was and I found it, you know, when I was doing social work and when my leg hurt and, you know, all of those things that it kind of made sense for me to, you know, be in the yoga studio and I remember I was in a class one day and they had announced that they were doing a yoga teacher training and I had had a really bad day at work. This is when I was still work doing social work, and

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: It was just a really bad case, and I had and I knew I had two weeks vacation, and I just kinda thought, well, maybe I’ll take my two weeks vacation, get certified to teach yoga, teach yoga, I’m getting my real estate license, and it is I I kinda feel like everything line aligned how it was supposed to.

Peter: What is it about yoga that you like?

Ashley: I love everything about it. I taught this morning. Okay. So I still teach.

Peter: I teach

Ashley: Mondays and Tuesday mornings at 6AM. What I enjoy about it is it’s just the time that I’m by myself. I don’t have my phone.

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: You know, I mean, that’s huge for me with work. I mean, I always have to be available. Mhmm. Whether it’s email, text, phone calls, probably the biggest thing for me is being available. So that one hour of time that I can just dedicate to myself and

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: Really just focus on the breath and letting kind of everything else go, it’s super important.

Peter: Have you always worked for the same real estate company?

Ashley: I have. So I started off at John L. Scott, and that’s where I’ve been. And when I first started again, I was just going where the woman who’d sold me my house. When she sold me my house, she had been at a different company.

She had moved over there, and, I’m never I I don’t think I’ll ever leave where I’m at. I’m I have a good team, good office. It’s it’s a good spot You’re, to

Peter: you like the the company and

Ashley: I really do.

Peter: Yeah. So what was it like when you like, what was your first transaction besides your own?

Ashley: Yeah. Oh gosh. My first transaction, I had I listed I listed two houses, and they were both like right around the same exact time. One person I had known, another person found me off of my website and, I remember them both going on at the same time and it was exciting. It was really fun to be able to, you know, help them get to the next level.

The people that found me off my website that I think that was my first listing. So they were moving out of the country and it was really exciting for them. They’re a young married couple and they had a really cool job opportunity, so it was fun Mhmm. You know, getting them excited and getting their house ready. That was that was it.

Peter: And how’d that transaction go? It went?

Ashley: It went very well. Yeah. It went yeah. It went very well. That was I mean, gosh, that was five years ago, so I don’t remember the details.

But I still talk to them to this day.

Peter: So that’s good. That’s good.

Ashley: That’s That’s They ended up actually moving back to Washington State after living in The Caribbean for some time. They built their own house and Oh, neat. Yeah. Still still friends to this day.

Peter: So which tran which side of the transactions are you normally on, or are you on

Ashley: It’s I would say both. Okay. Yeah. Just depends, you know, on what people are trying to do.

Peter: K.

Ashley: Yeah.

Peter: So what is it about real estate in particular that just I mean, you come from, you know, social work.

Ashley: Mhmm.

Peter: I guess working with people, you know, it’s obviously different, you know, socioeconomic rung normally from what you were doing to this. You’re still working with people, but what were the what what attracted you

Ashley: Yeah.

Peter: To, you know, to the real estate side of things?

Ashley: Oh, it’s a good question. I I I mean, I think I had kind of went on the track, you know, where I was going to fix and sell, you know, houses. That was my intention. But then once you know, that was how I started. But once I realized that wasn’t going to happen, it was my experience that I had assisting, the other agent for that first year.

I remember you know helping her, she listed this house and it was a deal where the you know father had passed away, the daughters were selling it and it was emotional and it was really challenging and it was difficult for everybody involved like for the family and the, woman named Sharon Sharon, you know, she was just very, very kind to them, help them do exactly what they needed to get done. They wouldn’t have known how to sell their their dad’s house. So I think just seeing that and realizing that it could help people with big decisions because I know when I purchased my home, I like to read everything and learn everything that I possibly can. It’s kinda how I became an agent, you know, because it was like, okay, I get the hang of this, but you know, a lot of people aren’t like that and they have to, you know, trust the person that’s helping them, and it’s such a huge decision and so much money

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: That, I feel like I’m still able to help just in a different way.

Peter: Mhmm. Real estate just fascinates me, in terms of just it’s so personal. Right? We have so much tied up in it. I think about my own, like, journey through home buying and all that stuff, home is such a important part of who I am.

Mhmm. You know, it seems like real estate could be, I mean, really rewarding in that way just because you are focused on something that’s so important to people. But then again, there’s a lot of emotion there. So Mhmm. Are there any tactics that you have where you just kinda step back and go, you know, like, you know, or any strategies that you use to just kinda keep things in check and keep things cool, or is it just kind of your, you know, just sort of the way you are that kinda Yeah.

Keeps things going?

Ashley: I think the big one of the biggest things that can help me is I’m a solutions person. I don’t wanna dwell on the problem or, you know, what’s wrong, you know, we figure out, okay, what’s the problem? Okay, how do we fix it? You know, what are we trying to get at? So, know, if you know someone’s trying to purchase a home, I mean, yeah, issues are gonna arise and they’re gonna come up, but it’s like, is that final outcome is the goal to purchase that home?

What do we need to make sure that that happens or to make sure that is the goal that you actually want to have, you know, can seem like the perfect house, but you know, once you do an inspection or, you know, find a couple other things out, maybe it isn’t the right home. So it’s really always going back to what is that end goal and making sure that we’re doing the right things to get there. So, and I try to set the expectations up for my clients ahead of time that things are gonna happen, things will arise, but we just have to make sure that we’re talking about them.

Peter: So be careful, don’t fall in love with

Ashley: Yes. Property.

Peter: Yeah. What’s that like?

Ashley: I mean it’s, you know, ultimately up to the client what they decide to do, but I think that my job is to give them as much information as I can. You know, in the market that we were in, in this April and May where people were waiving inspections, waiving appraisals, that was scary. You know, I know that I’m more conservative. If I was purchasing a home, I would never do those things. So I need to make sure that I explain to my clients, you know, what would happen if they did waive an inspection or did, you know, waive an appraisal and what that would look like.

Mhmm. You know, let them decide from there.

Peter: Mhmm. So you’re trying to be the voice of sanity and reason. Exactly. Did you see a lot of panic in people, like in buyers?

Ashley: I saw a lot of, discouragement. Okay. You know, it was because it was, you know, a busy rushed market, but I you know, maybe it has to do with my personality. I am more calm, and I, you know, once, like I said, once we identify, okay, well, what kind of house are you looking for? What area you’re looking at?

What price point? Once we know what the goal is, there’s only so much that we can do. You know, like, yeah, I would have, you know, people call me and say, oh, we have to go see this house right now, but I mean, that’s my job, you know, and I said, why not? Always have my phone on me. It’s like, I always have my phone.

I’m always working. So it was busy, but I don’t think that any of my clients ever really got panicked. But it was definitely they got discouraged, you when you have somebody that’s submitting, you know, two or three offers and you’re not getting them accepted, it can, it can be hard.

Peter: Yeah, that’s,

Ashley: I remember when I bought my house, put an offer on the first one and it didn’t get accepted and I’m gonna cry. My boyfriend and I bought our house together and I went home and cried and so upset and sad and now I’m like, thank God I didn’t get that house. And I always share that story with my clients too because, you know, you are gonna fall in love. They’re gonna think it’s, you know, the best thing in the world. And Mhmm.

You know, it might not it might not work out.

Peter: Wow. That reminds me of when my wife Molly and I were looking at our a home. My grandmother, Lois, was a real estate agent, and she worked for Windermere in Magnolia, and I think she was probably 80. She was still working for them. Mhmm.

And she drove she and Molly drove all over Queen Anne. We lived in Queen Anne in the time in apartment, looking for a place, you know. And there was just nothing there. Magnolia, nothing. Mag and Ballard was just all these little tiny cracker boxes.

So we really wanted Queen Anne. This was twenty five years ago.

Ashley: Mhmm.

Peter: We found one house that was a craftsman with crooked floors. Mhmm. And I think we were like the third offer, like, the backup offer. It was $1.53 in Queen.

Ashley: Wow. How many years ago?

Peter: Yeah. Twenty five years ago. Yeah. And I even that was like, we were so happy to just find Mhmm. A place that was even within our range even though we were the third offer or whatever.

And then we finally realized, I don’t think we’re gonna find a place in Queen Anne. So we just packed up and started looking in shoreline. And the first day we went out with, my wife’s aunt, we saw, like, 10 places. We picked one and bought it. Yeah.

And my brother-in-law and sister-in-law still live in

Ashley: that Oh, wow.

Peter: House now.

Ashley: Nice.

Peter: So it’s funny how you can just get so focused and fixated on one thing. Yeah. I mean, literally two years looking and then one day

Ashley: Yep.

Peter: And boom. And we’re thankful. I mean, I wouldn’t mind having that house on Queen Anne, but it did have crooked floors. We had no money to fix Exactly.

Ashley: So Yeah. No. I always tell people and I feel like too, I always tell people, you’ll know, like, when you walk into a house because a lot of times what I was seeing, it’s people getting panic but like are getting desperate, you know, so they would walk in and like, oh yeah, this one will do. It’s like, okay, I thought you had to have a garage, you know, or I thought, you know, this is very important to you. So kind of pulling them back to the things that, you know, they had set up

Peter: from the

Ashley: beginning because as you know, mean, there’s things that you want and things that you would like to have. But if it’s something that, the couple I’m thinking about in particular, they’d always lived in condos and apartments and had never had a garage, and that was something they really wanted. They were, she was pregnant and you know, wanted to be able to pull into the garage with the groceries and the baby, and she had talked about these things. So then we’re in this house and have a garage and they wanna put an offer on it. It’s hold on.

Let’s talk about this.

Peter: Right. Well, the other interesting thing that must happen with you is you get, like, the relationships that you’re dealing with too. So you’ve got, like, partners or husbands and wives or whatever, and that Mhmm. You know, that must be an interesting dynamic, I guess.

Ashley: Oh, I’ve shown houses with aunts and uncles and kids, and I we’ve had, like, 10 people deep looking in a house. Really? Just looking. Oh, yeah.

Peter: Wow.

Ashley: There can be a lot of input and a lot of opinions.

Peter: Is there ever, an old aunt in the back you wanna say, hey.

Ashley: Yes. All the time.

Peter: Yeah. Take off.

Ashley: Uh-huh. But then, you know, it’s you know, maybe she’s gonna point out something that they wouldn’t have seen or thought about, and sometimes people just wanna be heard, you know, just let them, you know, give their opinion and

Peter: Yeah.

Ashley: Yeah. Fine.

Peter: Wow. I would I couldn’t imagine that type of situation.

Ashley: It doesn’t happen very often, but it I’m not kidding. We had, like, 10 people.

Peter: Wow. I’d just say, hey, there’s a limit here. You know? Mhmm. Five, no more.

Ashley: Yeah. Exactly. They put an offer on the home. They ended up purchasing it, you know? But I think that they just really valued, what their extended family had to say.

Peter: Right. And maybe they had a little financial stake in it too. You never know.

Ashley: Yeah. It’s possible.

Peter: You know? Mhmm. Because I know in some, that happens a lot in different families.

Ashley: Yeah. Exactly.

Peter: Sort of thing. What advice would you have for somebody who was thinking about going into real estate?

Ashley: Do it. Okay. Yeah. Alright. It’s I I love this job.

Yeah. It’s I it’s been it’s fun and you still feel like you’re making a difference helping people. So I think the advice I would have would be to remember why you’re doing it. I do work with, new brokers in the office now and I always just tell them, you know, stick with it. Like I I mean, I didn’t make any money my first year.

Mhmm. And it’s just something that happens.

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: And you just have to know why you’re doing it and be consistent and show up and, work hard.

Peter: Mhmm. So kinda grind.

Ashley: Mhmm. Exactly.

Peter: And, yeah. So I was gonna ask, so secret to your success?

Ashley: Mhmm. Just I mean, hard. That’s, you know

Peter: No secret.

Ashley: Always and there’s no secret. I I I wish that I could say that there was one or you did something really cool. Yeah. But, it’s answering my phone, responding to emails Mhmm. Showing up on time, you know, all anything that you would do for any job, it’s just, you have to put the work in.

Peter: Right. Mhmm. Well, it must be harder though because I mean, in some respects for some people because if you don’t have a certain level of self discipline, then you’re not going to necessarily keep that standard of, you know, discipline.

Ashley: Exactly. It it it’s huge. That’s one of the thing that is a piece of advice I would have for, you know, someone that wanted to get into real estate is have a schedule, you know, do the same things every Monday that you do every Tuesday, every Wednesday, and you’re planning your day out because I mean, that’s just it. You don’t have anybody over your shoulder telling you that, you know, you need to get this done or turned in. It’s up to you to show up and do the things that you need to do.

Peter: Right. Sounds like you have trouble getting out of bed though. 6AM yoga.

Ashley: Yeah. Exactly.

Peter: That probably helps.

Ashley: It does. That was something it’s funny because I was I used to always think, oh, I’m not a morning person, but when I look back on all the jobs, you know, that I’d had going through college and just growing up, you know, I’ve I’ve always had to be somewhere super early in the morning. Mhmm. You know? So I think it’s just a habit that now I embrace.

I get up every day at 04:30. So I teach Mondays and Tuesdays, and then Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, I’m working out

Peter: Mhmm. In the

Ashley: morning on those days, and it’s just, you know, a habit that helps me stay consistent.

Peter: Mhmm. That’s good. Monday morning, 04:30. I struggle with Monday mornings. Yeah.

Ashley: Well, and the thing that I have done in my business is I I take Mondays off. So I don’t have any appointments on Mondays. Okay. So I teach yoga in the mornings at 6AM Yep. And 09:30, and I have my laptop with me, so I, you know, do emails and kind of plan out my week.

Sure. But, and then I teach those two classes, and I take the noon class. So I’m at the yoga studio all day long Mhmm. And it’s just something that I’ve done, you know, in my schedule and just, you know, been try to be fiercely protective over that day, you know? Mhmm.

But things come up, you know, a lot of times we’re writing contracts over the weekend or on Sundays and, you know, sometimes an inspection needs to happen on a Monday. So it’s not like I never will.

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: But, that’s one of the things that I’ve tried to do is just no appointments.

Peter: That’s great advice. Who inspires you? Who inspires you?

Ashley: Everybody. Every day. Really? Yeah. Like it’s, you know, when we’re talking about yoga and I wake up at 6AM, when I show up at six, like today, taught at 6AM.

Mhmm. And it’s consistently the same people that are there, you know, there’s at least 15 of them. Yep. And I they inspire me, you know, to go and do that because all the time, my boyfriend, he’ll be like, why are you still teaching? Mhmm.

You know, and all because I go to bed, I go to bed early because I wake up early. Yeah. But I like, oh, I have to get up early in the morning. Why are you teaching? You know, it’s not it’s not like I’m doing it for the money.

Peter: Right.

Ashley: You know, and it’s like, because I wanna be there. And once I get there and I see the students and a lot of them have now become my friends and, it’s inspiring to know that they’re getting up and they’re working out and they’re doing those things. So I wanna make sure that I do. Mhmm. You know, people in my office when I said that I don’t think I’m ever, I work for John Allscott and I work out of the Everett office, but we’re partnered with the Mill Creek office.

My designated broker owns both. So I’m surrounded by, I mean, producing agents like the top in our county, you know, and I mean, they inspire me, you know, just to be around them and to, you know, see the level that they’re doing and it just pushes you, you know, to do more and to do better.

Peter: That’s cool.

Ashley: I think you probably have heard, I don’t know exactly what it is, but you know, the top five, you know, the five people you surround yourself with, you know, you’re

Peter: like The average Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

Ashley: So you know, make sure you’re surrounding yourself with positive, hardworking people.

Peter: Right. Yep. Yep. That’s that exactly. So now, I do know that you listen to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of books.

Ashley: So I do.

Peter: Any particular podcast that really inspire you more that just fascinate you?

Ashley: Or Other than this one?

Peter: Of course.

Ashley: Let’s see. So the one that I consistently listened to the Ziegler podcast.

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: That’s a big one. Mhmm. Dave Ramsey, the entree leadership. Yep. Michael Hyatt.

I listened to his.

Peter: Yep. Michael Hyatt’s good.

Ashley: I think those are the three. There’s a real estate podcast I listened to. Harris is the it’s a husband and wife team is their last name. But, I’d say those are the top ones that I’m always, you know, filtering through and going through daily.

Peter: Yeah. Mhmm. And what about, what about books? I know you read a lot.

Ashley: I do. And that’s something I said because I used to read all the time, and then that stops, and then you start again and stop. And so I’d say for the last, you know, three years, I’ve been consistently, you know, reading at least a book a month. And so right now, what book am I Leaders Eat Last is

Peter: the book. Simon Sinek?

Ashley: Yeah. That’s what I’m reading now. Yep. And I love that. And I have a bad I don’t know.

Well, it’s not a bad habit, I guess, but I read multiple books at the same time. Because before, I feel like I just, like, blow through them or because I do wanna go to bed early, so if I would be, you know, staying up reading

Peter: or Yeah.

Ashley: I don’t know. So, I’m reading another one that’s called The Shift, and it was, the people that started Keller Williams. It’s book that they wrote is talking about a shifting market. So, those are the two that I’m reading right now, but there’s something about a book in your hand. This makes me that’s I need that.

And I need so I don’t really listen to books on tape or the, you know, audiobooks, but so it’s mostly podcast that way, and then, like, a real book in my hand, so I’ll go to the library Yeah. Library card.

Peter: What’s that?

Ashley: I know. It’s weird.

Peter: That’s that’s cool. I do wanna jump back to real estate Yeah. For a second, because you did say shifting market real estate. Mhmm. So what are the trends that you see that are you know, we see now, you know, there’s things like Zillow and Redfin and any number of industries that are kinda getting no.

I wouldn’t say upended, maybe transformed through the digital, you know, digital economy. So what sorts of things do you see that are really having an impact, you know, based on the five years you’ve been in? I know Zillow’s probably been around longer than you’ve been in real estate.

Ashley: Big ass.

Peter: But what what sorts of trends do you think, you know, that that you see that are, you know, real trends versus just, you know, sort of Mhmm. This isn’t gonna last type of thing.

Ashley: Yeah. I mean, I think, I mean, just having the information right there, you know, at your fingertips. Obviously, we’ve all gotten accustomed to that with whatever, you know, or whatever it’s in. Yeah. So the trend that I’m seeing, you know, regarding those things is people I don’t think are really understanding maybe exactly how much, you know, work is involved in a real estate transaction.

Mhmm. You know, if you can just get on your phone and, you know, have someone show up and show you the house really quick, well, then if you do wanna put an offer in it, then you have to use your phone again and have someone else, you know, show up and do that. I think very similar to Uber, you know, so it’s like you don’t really know who you’re going to get at the, you know, what time, but I think that, that trend that’s here and I think that it is happening, and I have some people that are comfortable doing that and other people that aren’t. Mhmm. But I just think that everything is so instant, so it’s not so much long.

I don’t know. I just think it’s I think the instant notifications, instant I wanna put an offer on this. Mhmm. The instant I wanna know right now.

Peter: Mhmm. Yeah. So you’re adapting by or you you embraced that.

Ashley: Mhmm. Oh, definitely.

Peter: So that’s how you’re staying on top of it.

Ashley: And I have clients, you know, that they only wanna talk through text messaging. You know, it’s bizarre. Like, but it’s just, you know, I think the way that we’re trending towards is, know, someone can do something online and it’s easier for them to do that. I think that’s kind of the way that we’re going. You know, I’d say most, you know, all the paperwork that we send back forth, people aren’t really signing in person, like we are sitting across from each other.

It’s all, you know, sign this online. Mhmm. So that’s one of the trends that I’m seeing is just everything kind of moving more online.

Peter: Mhmm. Yeah. I’m wondering if we stick you know, as we trend more towards text based conversations Mhmm. If we miss the nuance of the conversation or, you know, you don’t you can’t see any body language, you can’t hear any inflection, or Yeah. Have you run into situations where you’ve kind of gone, oh, should have probably had a conversation instead of tried to do this.

Ashley: Yeah. All the time. It’s funny. I was just talking to someone in my office about this. People like other brokers aren’t communicating.

So it’s like you’ll submit an offer. Okay. And it’s like, oh, what they think about that? Oh, don’t know. I haven’t talked to them.

It’s like, well, don’t you think you should call them up like and just have, you know, because I mean, yeah, there is something that can be said in a conversation that can’t be said, you know, through a text message or and I mean, trust me, I text message all the time. It’s preferable to me than a phone call. Yeah. But there are just certain things that you can’t do over the phone Mhmm. Or over a text.

So I just

Peter: Like break bad news to people.

Ashley: Yeah. That’s the worst when I have to send a text, hey, can you talk? I wanna call you. Yeah. Then sometimes I’m like, don’t worry.

It’s not bad news. Because it’s like, wait, what is it? Or what’s going on?

Peter: Right.

Ashley: You know?

Peter: Right. No. It’s good news.

Ashley: Uh-huh. Yeah.

Peter: Yeah. That’s, that’s that’s it’s gonna be interesting to see where real estate ends up

Ashley: Mhmm.

Peter: In you know, one of the a couple of things that fascinate me with respect to real estate and just home housing in general is this notion of autonomous vehicles and drones, autonomous drones that will carry people around. There’s I know some people from Google are experimenting with one like a taxi. It’s like a flying taxi, basically.

Ashley: Mhmm.

Peter: And it looks like a little airplane, but it’s got a bunch of props on it that lift it straight up, and then it has a big pusher prop and it flies. Mhmm. But it’s autonomous. The people sitting in it don’t fly it. It’s flying itself Yeah.

Or it’s flying. And the the notion that this changes the whole dynamic of where we live. Mhmm. Right? Like we’re gonna live farther out.

Ashley: Exactly. Well, and it’s I don’t know what article it was, but I it was some, you know, along those lines was talking about when we see new homes being built, they won’t have garages and they will be and there won’t be parking spaces, you know, and it will be Right. Those autonomous vehicles is dropping people off Yeah. You know, and coming to pick them up. Yeah.

Know, I do think those changes will happen.

Peter: So over time, the three car garage is Yeah. Gonna turn into that two car Yeah. Garage or whatever.

Ashley: Yeah. And no car, you know, might get to the point where they’re not, you know, relying on their personal vehicles anymore. Well,

Peter: from an ownership model, if you think about it, you know, your car sits there, does nothing 97% of the time. Mhmm. It’s this asset that’s just sitting there doing nothing but gathering dust. So it does make a lot of sense, I think, in terms of, that. So it’ll be interesting to see, especially in this area here in the Pacific Northwest, because we do have, you know, this crazy traffic and

Ashley: Oh, know.

Peter: You know, these you know, the water here is you know, I mean, the idea of opening up like, we’re looking across the water at Kitsap Peninsula. I mean, there’s a lot of prime real estate right across the way here. Can see this. There’s a ferry now that takes you over there, but if you could get across that water Mhmm. Quicker Yeah.

It might change the whole Yeah. Exactly. Dynamic of that Mhmm. Chunk of dirt there.

Ashley: It’s true.

Peter: So I’m gonna go ahead and ask you the big million dollar question here.

Ashley: Okay. So,

Peter: Ashley, what does business and life done well mean to you?

Ashley: That is the big question. I’m trying to figure that out. It’s act to me, it means a balance, and I don’t think that it’s ever something, you know, that you achieve. I don’t think you’ll ever, you know, have the perfect harmonious balance, but I don’t think that perfection is the goal. So for me, you know, business and life done well means making time for people in my personal life as well as making time for my clients and my professional life.

Mhmm. That’s one of the things that I’m trying to get better at. One of the goals that I’ve set for myself in 2019 is to put my phone in my bedroom at 08:00 at night and keep it off.

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: And I know that, you know, sometimes I won’t be able to. Sometimes you’re working with clients till later, but I’m just on my phone a lot. Mhmm. So I just think trying to separate that time from being on the screen, being on my phone, being available all the time, I need to be better about that. Mhmm.

Mhmm. And I don’t think 08:00 at night is that big of a deal.

Peter: No. You know? Especially if you’re getting up at 04:30. Yeah. Probably going to bed at like

Ashley: 08:30. 08:30. Exactly. Yeah. I try to be in my bedroom at eight, so then I’m asleep by 08:30, 09:00.

Yeah.

Peter: Yep. What shaped who you are? You just seem like such a, you know, with it successful energetic person. You know, what was there something, some story in your past that really sort of illustrates what, you know, made you who you are?

Ashley: I grew up like everyone around my grandfather worked for himself, my stepdad worked for himself, my dad worked for himself, I’ve been surrounded by people in business for themselves. Yeah. So that was, you know, what I grew up around and my grandfather, he definitely had a huge impact on me when he was, you know, and at the time, I mean, I was young, I didn’t know, I mean, I was probably eight when he was 50. So when he was 50, he had owned like a tire company in Lake Stevens and sold it like to his partner and he moved over to Eastern Washington and opened up a fast food restaurant with my grandmother. They had never had any experience with a restaurant or anything.

And I think of that because I’m 35 and I think, wow, at 50 to completely change your career and to just have, you know, the courage to do something like that. I mean, that’s a big deal. You know, now I can look at it and recognize what he did. But at the time, I just knew that, you know, that’s what he did and he owned his restaurant and he worked and him and my grandmother, he would work in the morning. My grandmother’s would work in the evening and it was seasonal because was in Eastern Washington over in Lake Chelan and they would work at all, like, I think they were open maybe eight months out of the year, but they were there every single day.

Like, didn’t take a day off. My grandfather was, an avid hunter, outdoorsman, so that’s what he did. I mean, liked having winters off.

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: You know? So it made sense, you know, for him. But, that seeing that, I think, I mean, he gave me my first job. I remember I was 13 years old over here trying to apply for jobs, and I couldn’t get a job at 13.

Peter: Yeah.

Ashley: I remember I’d gone to like a Herfie’s. And then I call and I was talking to my grand my grandpa and, you know, said, oh, I didn’t get hired. I think I only had be 14 or something at that time. He’s like, well, I’ll hire you right now. And so I lived with him three summers in a row.

I think it was my seventh, eighth and ninth grade years Mhmm. Summer. Mhmm. Worked for him. I worked every day.

I mean, he worked every day. It wasn’t like I had a day off but

Peter: Right.

Ashley: I was so young and you know, it was cool like What else you gonna do? Yeah, exactly. I didn’t know anybody over there. So, I think that that’s probably the biggest, influence on me was, you know, just being around, you know, my grandfather.

Peter: And just witnessing Mhmm. That whole it’s not like you’re even putting it into any particular lessons. It’s just like the overall Yeah. Experience.

Ashley: Yeah. Exactly. You know? Yeah. Think that you just have to, you know, you work hard.

No one I don’t think anyone’s gonna just give you something.

Peter: Right.

Ashley: You know? My mom works hard. She delivers mail for the post office and Mhmm. I mean, she works, you know, eight, ten hours a day. Wow.

And that’s just, you know, what she’s always done. Mhmm. Just being around that, I think that you see that hard work, it it pays off, you know? Yeah. But, so I think your big million dollar question too, it comes back to that, where’s the balance at and he had his work forever, you know, so that was something that I was able to take away from, you know, what my grandfather did was, yeah, he worked, but he was working every single day.

He lived in those beautiful, one of the most beautiful places in the world and he didn’t get to enjoy it. You know, I’m sure he’d go fishing, you know, and my grandma’s working the afternoon, but both of them together, you know, didn’t get to go anywhere.

Peter: So Right.

Ashley: I think just starting to be more protective of my time and

Peter: Mhmm.

Ashley: Making sure that I’m not working, you know, seven days a week, twenty four hours a day.

Peter: That’s a pretty big gift your grandfather gave you.

Ashley: Yeah. Huge. It is.

Peter: The opportunity to work.

Ashley: Yeah. But No

Peter: kidding. And learn. And are you involved with any I know you’re involved with some charities and things like that. Is there anything anything you wanna mention with regard to that? I’d love to

Ashley: hear about that. The I am involved in the American Cancer Society of Snohomish County, our hope gala that we do every year and it’s to fundraise and it’s specifically for Snohomish County. We usually have our auction every around every October. So we just finished it up and we’re already planning for the new year. So, I’m always looking for people, that want to donate, could be, gifts for auction.

It could be money. It could, you know, there’s a lot of different ways to help out. They could volunteer their time, if that was something they’d feel, you know, better about doing.

Peter: So what is that? What do you guys typically raise? What’s that look like?

Ashley: Last year, I think we got close to $90,000 Wow. At our auction. So, yeah.

Peter: Congrats.

Ashley: Thank you. It was really exciting.

Peter: How’d you get involved in that?

Ashley: I got involved a friend of mine, his wife used to be on the committee, and that was a few years back. Mhmm. And she has since left. They moved, to Arizona. So, she got me involved and then left.

Is that usually what happens?

Peter: Right.

Ashley: You know? Yeah. But it’s such a great group of people, and, I think this this will be my third year, and every year it’s been getting better. Mhmm. It’s fun.

Peter: Don’t you do some teaching of some sort with your the real estate?

Ashley: Oh, yeah. So in my office, we when we have new brokers coming in, I’m ahead of the mentorship program that we offer through John L Scott. So, it was, I was really excited to be able to take on the position because I mentioned when I started, I had a mentor and it wasn’t part of our office structure. It was something that she was just willing to do for me. Oh.

So when I had said, you know, I didn’t make any money my first year, mean, I was making money, I had my other job, but it was just, you know, assisting her and she was mentoring me.

Peter: Yeah.

Ashley: That was, you know, how we did it. So now at my office, we actually have a program in place and it just started and so any new brokers that come in, if they’re interested in, you know, having a mentor, that’s something that I’m doing. Cool. Because I mean, that’s how I learned and I think that, you know, the more we know, we need to share with people and I just I learned that way and I think most people will.

Peter: Mhmm. So do you ever say no?

Ashley: Yeah. I’m actually really good at saying no. I I and that happened from when I remember when I did my yoga teacher training, one of the, you know, four truths, you know, be impeccable with your word. And I remember and I took it, you know, because I’d always make excuses if I didn’t wanna do something or oh, I can’t do this. I have an appointment or, oh, I can’t.

It’s like, no to say you don’t wanna do that. Mhmm. My friends kinda joke around with me now that, well, Ashley’s not gonna go or she’s not gonna, you know, even show up or it’s like, I’m not going to RSVP. I’ll RSVP no. Mhmm.

You know, so I am good at saying no, but, I like to say yes, I like to do things and

Peter: Right.

Ashley: But, you know, I’ve heard anytime that you say yes to say, you’re saying yes to something, you’re also saying no to something else. Right. So it’s just, know, where do I wanna spend my time and where is it most valuable? Because, you know, I think time is the most precious thing that all of us have. And, you know, I’ll look at my day and I put everything in my calendar and I mean, me and you were messaging this morning just making sure that we were so long because I have people and they’ll cancel appointments and life happens and I get it.

But it’s like, I just wanna know exactly what I have going on and, you know, adjust, you know, accordingly making sure that, it’s people that I do wanna be around and see and enjoy. Mhmm. And then when I’m missing those people, to make sure that I reach out and say I’m missing you and let’s get together.

Peter: Ashley, thank you so much for being with us.

Ashley: Thank you for having me.

Peter: Thanks for listening to this episode of Biz and Life Done Well with Peter Wilson. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and most of the other popular podcast platforms. Please tell your friends about us, and leave us a review so even more people will find out about us. Thanks again. We’ll see you soon.