Episode 68: Building A Real Estate Empire: The Lessons Learned Along The Journey With Shelton Wilder
Shelton Wilder
Shelton Wilder is CEO of The Shelton Wilder Group, a top-tier luxury real estate team in Los Angeles. With years of experience serving everyone from celebrities to first-time home buyers, her discretion and commitment to her clients are unparalleled. In addition, Shelton’s nuanced understanding of the complex patchwork of neighborhoods, schools, and cultures that make LA unique and her incredible eye for style equal a truly one-of-a-kind real estate experience.
Shelton's business acumen, market expertise, and personable nature have made an enormous splash in one of the world's most competitive real estate markets, landing her on LA Business Journal's 2023 "The List" Top 100 Real Estate Agents in LA.
In just seven years as a realtor, she found her place among the top 1.5% of realtors nationwide, with over $420 million in total sales and upwards of $150 million in sales in 2022 alone. A marketing, fashion, and entertainment serial entrepreneur, Shelton has built a reputation as one of the most respected and well-connected realtors in Los Angeles. She was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year by the LA Business Journal, named Real Estate All-Star by Los Angeles Magazine, recognized as one of LA Business Journal’s Leaders of Influence in 2022 and 2023, and included in Forbes' "Top 10 Business Professionals to look out for" in 2022.
Shelton and her team specialize in luxury residential and commercial properties in Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Mar Vista, Venice, and Beverly Hills, but she will travel anywhere her clients have interests. Her natural ability to pull unbelievable off-market listings out of thin air for her clients is a testament to her reputation as one of the most well-connected, respected, and sought-after real estate professionals in Los Angeles.
Shelton knows that buying a home in the competitive LA market can be an intense experience and is often the most important investment a person will make. That's why her team is committed to making the process as stress-free as possible during every step of the home buying process. The founder of multiple fashion-related businesses, Shelton was a local favorite on the reality show Shark Tank.
She uses her passion for decor and design and superb aesthetic sense to make each listing a cohesive work of art. Her keen attention to even the most minor detail and dedication to achieving the best possible outcomes for her clients has resulted in a loyal following and a consistent top-producer status. Shelton is the proud mother of two beautiful boys (Beau and Lane) and the wife of a well-known Los Angeles attorney, Clark McCutchen.
She graduated from the University of Georgia summa cum laude with a Bachelor's degree in Business Marketing. In addition to being an active parent at her boy's school, Corpus Christi, Shelton donates her time and resources at P.S. Arts and Alexandria House. In her free time, she enjoys playing on the Riviera Club's tennis team, paddle tennis at the Jonathan Club, and staycations with her family around Southern California.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.” - John Heywood.
Like Rome, building a real estate empire cannot be done in a day, but doing consistent and diligent work fortifies its foundation. Today’s guest shares her lessons learned while building her real estate empire. Shelton Wilder is CEO of The Shelton Wilder Group, a top-tier luxury real estate team in Los Angeles. She showed how persistence, consistency, and intentionality became her bricks in building her empire while demolishing the ego. Join Shelton Wilder in her inspiring journey to building an empire.
---
Watch the episode here
Listen to the podcast here
Building A Real Estate Empire: The Lessons Learned Along The Journey With Shelton Wilder
Shelton Wilder is the CEO of the Shelton Wilder Group, a top-tier luxury real estate team in Los Angeles, California. With years of experience serving everyone from celebrities to first-time home buyers, Shelton's business acumen, market expertise, and personable nature have made an enormous splash in one of the world's most competitive real estate markets, landing her on LA Business Journal's 2023 The List of Top 100 Real Estate Agents in LA.
In seven years as a realtor, she's found her place among the top 1.5% of realtors nationwide with over $420 million in total sales. Her list of accolades includes Entrepreneur of the Year by LA Business Journal, being named Real Estate All-Star by Los Angeles Magazine, being recognized by LA Business Journal's Leaders of Influence in 2022 and 2023, and being included in Forbes Top 10 Business Professionals to Look Out For.
Shelton and her team specialize in luxury, residential, and commercial properties and the world's most expensive zip codes including Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Mar Vista, Venice, and Beverly Hills. Graduating summa cum laude from the University of Georgia with a degree in Business Marketing, Shelton's career journey as a marketing, fashion, and entertainment serial entrepreneur includes appearing in front of our favorite sharks on the reality show, Shark Tank, where her authenticity made her a fan favorite. She bundles all those experiences and positivity into what differentiates her real estate empire. I am so excited to get into it and learn from her.
Shelton, welcome to the show.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
I'm so excited to learn from you, truly. First, I want to congratulate you on how amazing your business is doing. To be in the top 1% of nationwide realtors in seven years is pretty incredible.
Thank you. It's been an amazing journey. I love it so much. I have a true passion for real estate, my clients, and my team. It has been able to put all of those things that I love together. It's been amazing.
The Journey Prior To Finding Shelton Wilder Group
Your background and career history are interesting. I would love to start this interview by asking you to share a little bit of that business journey prior to founding Shelton Wilder Group.
It has been an interesting journey, a long one. I feel like I'm a cat. I've had nine lives here. Even when I tell people, they're like, “You did what?” I'm 45 years old. I moved to LA several years ago in 2006. In Charlotte, North Carolina, I ran this incredible store. I'm still friends with the owner, Laura. She's amazing. It's called Capitol. I was like the Rachel Zoe of Charlotte. I was everyone's stylist.
It was really fun. I was at their homes getting them ready for all the big events in Charlotte. It was a fashion-centered whole community. It was fun. Those women were incredible. They loved to get dressed. I had an amazing time. I was also the buyer with her, so I would go to New York. It was so much fun. We'd pick out the clothes for our client. It was very intimate and amazing. I was doing that, and then I decided, “I'm here. I'm 26. I want to try LA.” I'm like, “I got to maybe make a move, or I could stay here.” It was so comfortable and wonderful. I've been there for seven years. It was so great.
After graduating from Georgia, I was like, “I got to make a move. I want to start my own business.” I wanted to try LA, so I was like, “Charlotte will always be there.” It was my whole family. I have five siblings. My parents, stepmom, stepdad, mom, dad, everybody was still there. I was like, “I got to go.” I didn't know anyone in LA, some friends from the University of Georgia. I moved out and started a business called Luxury Lifestyle Management Company. It was where I would shop, style, and plan events. We planned this huge incredible wedding.
Not knowing anyone?
Yeah. It was a seven-figure wedding. My one friend lived out here, Copper. We came together and planned this basic thing. It was like, “Here we go. We're doing it.” I met everybody, and then I would go to the stores. I became a big stylist. It was to hit the ground running because the economy was booming. It was 2006 and ‘07. It was like, “Yes.”
I was high on my horse and thought, “I'm going to start a clothing line. I'm going to be the next Sara Blakely. I started what was called the Sheltini at the time. I did that, and things were going really well until 2008 and ‘09 started happening. Everything was changing and people weren't shopping as much. What happened is my fault. I take full responsibility right here. That's the only way to live life, take all my responsibility. I was doing a Ponzi scheme on myself. I was taking money from my successful business but using it to fund the clothing line because I didn't get any capital. I was like, “Here we go. We're going to do it.” Everybody thought, “Does she have a trust fund? What is she doing?”
Positron Energy
What I was doing was not paying my bills, so I ended up filing for bankruptcy in early 2009. It was an amazing product. I have it on. I wear it every day. It was so great. There are these little slips and underpinnings. I was a stylist, so it was this perfect piece that was missing. For my shopping business, it was 2009. People weren't paying extra for shopping. It was a little bit different. The thing crashed.
At least I wasn't the lone ranger or the only person who went bankrupt, but the shame was insane. That was what I would say about it. I felt a lot of shame. I felt so defeated. Later that year, it was the 22nd of October 2009 and my friends did an intervention on me. I thought it was a house meeting because I live with some girls, but it was my intervention. I have been sober ever since that day. That was in 2009. Thank God for that day.
I tell this story. This was so funny. One of my best friends whom we'd had the luxury lifestyle management company together for a little while had a baby and was like, “Where is Shelton? She is not showing up.” My friends who knew were like, “She'll be here.” She goes, “Either she's filming for the Bachelorette or she's in rehab because she would be here.” I was in rehab.
This is an LA answer right there.
It’s the most LA thing. She was like, “She should be in the hospital. She's either the Bachelorette or rehab.” I was in rehab. That's what happened. Fast forward to a lot of humility, there were big changes in my life. I really lost everything. I was $500,000 like my condo, two cars, and all the credit cards. It was a lot. I don't say it being proud, but I say it because it's something I've been able to overcome. I say it because I am a serial entrepreneur. There are a lot of us that have gone through bankruptcy and failures. At the time, it was challenging. It was something I've felt so overwhelmed and shameful about, but I'm so grateful I was able to move past that.
I have 90 questions. Let's start pre-2008. I would be interested to learn. You're brand new to Los Angeles. You have this luxury lifestyle business. How did you get your first client? How were you prospecting for that clientele? How'd you get that seven-figure business? I want to rewind and ask about that.
A lot of my clients were from Charlotte who had wanted to come out and visit out here, shop out here, and do different things. That was interesting. I did this insane party in Charlotte where I brought celebrity lookalikes. We had a red carpet. It was so great. Sometimes, I forget about that. It was wild. It was in Charlotte. That was how we were prospecting.
I ended up getting this client that he had nothing to do with capital. It was a guy. I was helping him with his whole life. I was helping with vacations and his wardrobe, sending out holiday cards, and planning events for him. That was a big client too. Some of his family members I worked with. It was luxury lifestyle management. Planning this massive wedding in Malibu was such a big deal. It’s still the best wedding I've ever been to. I didn't even want a wedding because I had already done that wedding. I love them so much. They're such a good couple. I was like, “I've already helped pick out the most beautiful invitations that will ever exist in life.” It was letterpress and $120 each. I was like, “I'm done.”
You leveraged your existing book of business in Charlotte and then used that as your foundation in LA. You're adding clientele. You're doing badass things. Sheltini happened, and that was awesome.
I started to rent the runway before it happened. I would rent clothes. I was doing all of that. I had my own driver. I started Uber before it started. I didn't follow through with those, but I had my own driver with the Suburban that we called Buster. That was a driver service. That was the good news too. I always had my own driver so I never got a DUI.
There you go. I've lived in Los Angeles too. When Uber came out, the state was petitioning to shut them down in most states. That was one of the only times I wrote a letter to the California government saying, “Uber changed the way I enjoy LA because you can get around so much easier and you can drink without worrying.”
I want to say thank you too for sharing the piece about your bankruptcy. I had a guest on the show probably months ago. He said, “If you're an entrepreneur, 90% of the time is going to be mistakes, and then if you get it right, 10% of the time.” I found that very freeing. I honestly had a little bit of a release when you shared that too because it is a lot harder than it looks from the outside. I'm accepting help from people I would've never expected. You find yourself in these different pockets of what I call seasons of life. I appreciate you sharing that season of life with us. What happened next?
I was sharing with my family and everything, and then I kept moving forward. I had my little phrase, positron. I made that up when I was in my early twenties. I'm like, “Positron. We're going to stick with it.” I wouldn't even watch TV. I was listening to different YouTube videos about staying positive and meditating every day. I kept going and pushed through.
I then started the clothing line again. I called it Shemie this time. I was working at Nordstrom because I wanted to make sure I had health insurance. I was styling there. I always love to say this. My ego had to be completely annihilated. I don't call it humble pie. I call it a humble crepe. It was like a thin slice of nothing. It was annihilation. There was nothing left where it was, “Oh.” I turned in my BMW in the suburban and then got my grandmother's car. We call the maroon baboom. It was 1999 Park Avenue. I was like, “Maroon boom boom,” and driving around. It had no shocks. It was like a couch. It was amazing. Everything being taken was the best thing that ever happened to me.
You're overcoming bankruptcy, having a complete lifestyle 180, in the midst of the beginning of sobriety, and building a business. You did that with the positron energy.
That's it. The positron energy. Failure is not an option. Move forward. Do something every day. Put one foot in front of the other and don't look back. I had to keep going. I couldn't dwell on the past. That part of my ego being smashed was so major and so helpful. I hope people know that ego is not your amigo.I thought I was so hot and so great. It was. “Get out of here,” with all of that. Humility was my biggest lesson there, and I've tried to bring that in. I feel that that has really helped me in moving forward with my business.
Ego is not your amigo.
To not be a big ego in real estate for me, we'll move into that. The reason I've been successful is because I take that part out of it in getting my feelings hurt, not taking things personally, but also treating the other agents with such respect. It’s a big deal. It's so different. It can be top agents or other things. There are a lot of more egos out there.
If I had done real estate maybe in the beginning without doing the other stuff, I could have been a completely different person and maybe done things out of integrity or anything. Since I've been through this and I have to sleep at night, and I'm over fourteen years sober, integrity is everything. Also, it is being authentic, sharing my reputation, and staying in that a little bit. People are like, “What do you think?” I think it has helped me a lot. That was God's will. That was God's plan for me to lose it all. The Phoenix will rise again when it comes back up. It was done in such a more thoughtful way of life.
I have goosebumps because you're talking about humility, integrity, authenticity, removing ego, not letting your feelings get hurt, and showing up with respect to everyone you interact with. I very much felt that when we first met prior to inviting you to be on the show. I knew I could invite you because I knew you would say yes.
It’s like, “Audience, I got the top 1.5% real estate agent talking to us that we get to learn from. Thank you for joining us,” but that is something that shines through very clearly when you work with people. It’s not that I'm ready to buy a mansion in Beverly Hills yet, but if I were to be in that position, do I want someone who had a nice shiny life who had everything handed to them, and who thinks they're the best or do I want someone who has really fought for what they've built and is going to fight for me? As a prospective buyer, that would be important to me.
Thanks for saying that. The other thing that is so important is that we have listings at all price points. We have a listing that's $498,000 and we have a listing that's $23.5 million.
I saw the $400,000 and was like, “I'm calling Shelton. I'm going to move to Wilshire.”
We do leases. We help people with everything. I'm never going to be above, “Only call me if it’s $10 million-plus.” That's not who I am. I feel that luxury is more of a service than it is a price point. That’s how I treat everybody.
I couldn't agree with you more. We have a lot of sales professionals who tune in to this show. Whatever product you're selling could be a commoditized product. If you deliver it in a way that's seeing the other person and the prospective buyer as a human and connecting on that human level, that's what delivers a luxury experience. It's not the price point.
I don't want to be that person. In one of the first leases I ever did, a few years after that, they bought a $2.5 million house from me. I was so excited I was able to be on that journey with them to watch them find the lease and be there while they save up and get ready. Their business exploded. It was so fun to watch. They became friends. It was really fun for me. I stay in touch.
That was my next question. I was going to say, how do you stay in touch with your former clients? People aren't buying real estate every day, so how do you nurture those types of clientele? Before we get into that, let's talk about you starting the business. How did you decide real estate was your next move?
I restarted Shemie. I got on Shark Tank.
We have to talk about that too.
That was my fault. I got on Shark Tank, and then a little bit of my ego came back. I was like, “I'm going to be on there. It's going to sell all these things. It's going to be so life-changing.” It was great, but I didn't get the deal so I didn't have the capital to have the products ready to sell when I went live on the show. It was great, but I didn't get a deal. I cried on the show. I said I went bankrupt and I was sober. It was very dramatic. I
I watched it. I prepare for our interviews. I watched it with my parents because we were all together. My mom said, “She is so relatable. Everything about Shelton is very relatable.” I would agree with that. The fact that you got on the show, who cares if you didn't get a deal?
I'm a marketing major. I was like, “This is for marketing. This is amazing.” I got on the show without any sales. I got the samples the day before. It was bananas. The whole timing of it was all crazy. They were saying to me, “Did you have something difficult come up?” That's why you saw on the show that I welled up and there were tears. They were like, “It's gold.”
The producers are like the little panel prods.
They were like, “Say this.” It’s TV. I give them props for all of that. It was a great exposure. What I found out about that is that I love my product so much. I might have told you this. I would get sales where it would come through my Shopify site. It’d be like, “You have it. Someone bought your Shemie,” and I would be like, “Damn it.” I would be so mad. I'd be like, “I got to go fulfill it and go do this.” My husband, Clark, was like, “You're done. We got to be done here.” My husband and I were dating at the time, but I got on the show. It was a little bit traumatizing from being out there and how it was with the Sharks because I was out there for 1 hour and 10 minutes and then they only showed 12 minutes.
That's interesting. You were probably being grilled and we didn't see any of that.
We didn't see any of me discussing numbers. I was like, “Great.” There was all the editing. They wanted it to make a good show. It brought us really close together. Clark and I ended up going on a trip and all this stuff. We got engaged quickly, got pregnant, and then married. I then became CEO of Beau. I had my first son, Beau. I was doing that, and my husband, Clark, was like, “You're done with Shemie. It makes you miserable. We got to move on.”
That's interesting too. In my journey, there have been a couple of times where I've had a proposal that's due and I'm dragging my feet because I didn't want to work with that client or I didn't want to commit that time because if you say yes to something, it means you're saying no to something else. I got an email from my website and it was somebody asking me to speak at their national sales convention. I couldn't wait to call that guy.
That was my first big light bulb where it was like, “I'm paying attention to what's lighting me up and pointing the business that way instead of focusing on what I don't want to do.” I like that you and Clark both recognize, “Maybe it's time to retire that.” You learned so much from it. I like that the Shark Tank story is part of your journey. It's all smoke and mirrors and your name in lights, which is great, but that's not necessarily what's paying the bills or making you happy.
Completely. That's what happened. I was like, “What do I really want to do?” Then, It came up. He said, “You're not doing Shemie.” I love him to death. We got married and I had an allowance. If anybody's going to judge that, that's fine, but it's the truth. It is what it is, but I wasn't going to be a housewife with unlimited spending. I was like, “This is not going to work for me. I've always been a worker. I'm a workaholic.” I did transfer a lot of that after I got sober.
Being a mom, I nursed for nineteen months. I was a super mom. I did that, and after that, I was like, “I need to do something else.” We were living in LA. I was like, “I want to go do other things.” I was pregnant with my second son. It was this thing where I got the click. That's what I call it. I decided, “I'm really good at selling things. I love people. It's good to do big things. I'd already done fashion. I don’t want to be in that realm at all anymore. Should I sell private jets?”
I came up with residential real estate. That’s where it started. I was like, “Blinders on. I’m all in. We're going to do this.” I took every single thing that I did in my past businesses because it was never a failure. It was a learning lesson. I say I have an MBA in slips. I was like, “I have total business here. I have done things and seen what works and what doesn't.”
It was never a failure. It was just a learning lesson.
I said, “I've got to be super professional about it. I have to do this on Instagram. I've got to set this up. Social media is free. I've got to put this out there. I'm going to have to have photo shoots.” We'd have photo shoots for the clothing line, so I was like, “I've got to do that. I've got to look professional. I've got to meet all the agents. I got to go to the caravan.” I figured out all these things that I did in the beginning.
I'm seven years in. I've jumped around. I've been in seven brokerages. I learned a lot and moved around. I always knew from the beginning that I wanted my own team. There are six of us in my family and I love a lot of people around me. I do not want to do this alone. That's what I learned from Shemie. When I was doing it a second time, it was just myself. It was not fun and so lonely. I've been listening to a lot of different podcasts, different things, entrepreneurs, and all this stuff. People talk about being lonely.
That's been my biggest problem too. I loved being on a team. I loved my colleagues. You're a business of one. Our mutual friend, Beth, who introduced us, Beth started her business probably eighteen months before I started mine. She made a comment. She's like, “I'm not running this business alone. I have my friends. I have my parents.” That mindset has helped me.
We’ll call each other when we're making lunch to catch up. I’ll be like, “I added this week my first team member.” It's like, “The team's building.” That's one of my biggest motivators. I want a team too because I don't want to do this alone. I do appreciate that it gets me to meet people like you and to be on that same wavelength of wanting people around. We aren't doing it alone, but it can be pretty lonely.
It was in the beginning with this real estate thing, so I would find buddies in the office to go around. You find your people. It can shift over time. I started a team in my second year. I was like, “I'm going to have a team.” I was figuring it out along the way. A lot of it was trial and error. That's what we've been doing. There are 11 of us on my team. It's really great.
We're like a well-oiled machine. It has been for a few years with all of our systems in place and everything. It's a lot of fun. We keep going. I love being a cheerleader too. That's a big part of what I love to do. I'm like the big sister. Everybody calls me the big sister because I am. The five others are my actual siblings. One thing I do love to always share here is the social media journey of putting myself out there.
I want to ask how you got your first sale. How did you go from a team of 1 to a team of 11? What were the first activities you did?
I was so pregnant when I got my license. My friend said, “You're such a go-getter. You're great.” It was quite amazing that she allowed me to help look for homes with her. We looked at a lot and offered on things, but it didn't work. All of a sudden, there was the perfect house and she sent it to me right away. We got this offer in so fast. We got the offer in before even seeing it. We were going for it.
There ended up being 25 offers on it. That was wild at the time. That long ago, I was so big, and then the listing agent was like, “Oh my god.” It’s mine and Clark's baby, but we call it our baby. We named him Lucky Lane because he was born when I was in the hospital when we were trying to close the deal. It was insane. We got accepted because the listing agent felt so bad. She was like, “This girl is trying to walk around and she is out to here.” It ended up being a great house. The first sale was $665,000 in Encino, and then it has gone up from there. I'm always so grateful for the opportunity for that.
I then did some other leases. I would do whatever was available. I said yes to everything and then it kept growing from there. I had certain mentors that would help me because there were people that would want to work with me but I hadn't done it before. I wasn't in my ego. I would be like, “You know this area really well,” the people at my brokerage, and then I’d be like, “Would you mind co-listing this with me?”
It was for a really dear friend of mine and I did not want to let her down. I was like, “Oh my gosh.” We crushed it for her. I learned so much from him and from us doing that transaction together. It was a really great experience. That's what I say a lot. Sometimes, you have to collaborate with people. It's such a great thing to try to do. It's a win-win for everybody.
You're saying yes to everything and finding mentors if you don't know how to do something, and then it keeps snowballing from there.
There’s the social media part.
How did that play in?
I was like, “I have no budget.” My husband is also not the guy who is going to be like, “Here's my Rolodex. Call them all.” He's very separate. He's a lawyer. He doesn't ask for favors from anyone. He's very church and state. It's separated, which is great. He always loves me and talks about me. He's never like, “I'm going to call in a favor.” There are people who will be like, “You have to list with my wife.”
That's nice. That's not your style either.
That's not my style at all. What happened was I was like, “I got to get myself out there.” I'd been a stylist, I was on Shark Tank. I had a clothing line. I was like, “They're going to be like, “Here she goes again. What the hell is she doing now?” I was like, “I have to be very clear. I had a baby. I am a bonafide workaholic. I work every day. I am not too busy with the kids for you to hire me. I am committed. I'm professional. I'm putting myself out there.”
That's when I started doing these weekly videos called Wilder Wednesdays. I started them, and that's what I did. I say, “Do it. Done is better than perfect.” That's my favorite statement of all time because perfectionism is the killer of all dreams. It will ruin all your dreams. I said, “I got to do it,” so I put a little ring camera and my camera in the thing and pressed Start. I was like, “Welcome to Wilder Wednesday. I'm Shelton Wilder. I'm going to be doing a weekly video on Wednesdays about real estate and interesting things coming up.” I did it.
My whole family and the messages that came, they’d be like, “Welcome back to Wilder Wednesday.” They would make fun of me for years. It's been going over seven years not missing a week. That is consistency. That wins. People know me as Wilder Wednesday. They're like, “We can't wait for Wilder Wednesday.” I have a production team. It looks incredible. We've changed the format. We do all these cool things. I still do it. It doesn't matter.
When you look at your website and your Instagram, it screams luxury, but to me, it screams accessible luxury. You're a real human. I want to connect and learn from you. I love that it started with you doing it. Sometimes, I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall with certain things. Consistency seems to be the number one thing people say, and you are living proof.
People will be like, “I can't do a video. Look at you. You're so natural.” I'm like, “You would be natural if you did it every week for seven years. If you do it, it's impossible not to.” The cameras are on. This is happening as well as that podcast. It's like, “I got it. No problem.” I’ve done it so many times like, oh hair and makeup, oh get dressed, oh do this, do that.” It's not even a second thought because I've practiced so much. Practice makes perfect. You can't be perfect before you practice.
Practice makes perfect. And you can't be perfect before you practice.
That's how you learn how to do stuff. What I think is interesting too is what you mentioned about your background. To me, as we've been building on your experiences and we've been learning about your journey, it seems like there are a lot of natural parallels. I don't know if I would've pinpointed that unless you pointed it out, but thinking about how you have to style a shoot for the house, it seems that marketing is the real estate industry. You're marketing yourself, but you're also marketing people's homes and listings.
I was a stylist. Now, I am a stylist for your home. I promise you want me there. I promise that I bring a huge extra element to your listing because I will make sure it looks incredible. I will move a pillow, make sure the flowers are correct, and make sure everything is in the right place. After it’s staged, I have the best referrals ever. These are things I've been building on because I'm a connector. We were talking about how I don't like the word networking. I call it connecting. I will connect you with the best people wherever around the country, with other agents, and with anything. I love knowing the best stagers and all the things. My list of referrals of other people on my vendor list is on fire. It's great.
That's what people are getting when they hire you. It's not just you. It's your list of networked people. It’s your connection.
It's my team. It's this long arm that’s way more than eleven and people that show up for me. If you don't get a callback, you put me on a group text. They're going to get right back. They’ll be like, “It's Shelton. I'm sorry. She sent me $2 million of business last year.” I didn't say this about myself, but one of my clients did when we were doing interviews about me. She was like, “Shelton? She's Southern but savage.” That's what she called me. I was like, “Maybe she knew a little bit more than I let on with the blonde hair and the whole facade.” Savage, meaning I am such a mama bear. I'm that big sister. If you're in my corner and you're in the trust tree here, we're going to work together.
It’s assertive, not aggressive. There's a difference. You can be nice and you can be kind. There's a difference. I love that. Southern but savage.
I was like, “That's what she came up with. It’s sticking.” That's what it comes with because I was styling for so many years and making sure that people look perfect in how they present themselves. It's so important. It takes me hours when we decide exactly what photos and orders we're going to put on the MLS. When we do the video and I'm in the video, I'm a stylist, so I have nice outfits on. I'm not going to wear something horrible or cheesy that's going to take away from your home or something inappropriate. Everything's presented beautifully and curated. It's a very curated look.
Looking at your website too, everything seems very intentional. That's another word I would use to describe you. I would like to learn from you. For people reading, whether they're in real estate or in other industries, how can they think about this intentionality as a bigger picture? Can you share some tips there on what you think of when you go into a deal or a meeting?
When I'm going into a meeting and preparing, and this is going to be funny, people are like, “Are you nervous about your listing appointment?” I'm like, “No. I've been on Shark Tank. That was aggressive. Nobody's going to be screaming at me or something at the listing. We're good. We can handle it.” When I started feeling the most comfortable and having the most confidence is not even from more experience. That helps. I have to change my bio. It's over $450 million in 7 years. That's pretty good.
I really honed in on all of the materials that I was giving, like my listing presentation and the comp book. We also give a Yeti with my logo on it. I come with a gift because I'm Southern. I'm like, “I can't show up without a gift anywhere.” Even though we don't go page by page through everything, I like a nice presentation. I feel like that shows that we are prepared and that's how we prepare for your home as well. I really like that.
My big thing is reading the room. I really try to be thoughtful about that. If I walk in and they're like, “Let's talk business,” I’ll be like, “Fine.” We'll sit down and do it. I personally like to put everything down, get settled for a second, and have them give me a house tour. I love that. I take notes of what their dog's name is and what their favorite feature of the home is. I like getting to know people. I love what you're doing because you're getting to know people you know and you're sharing it with your audience. I love that part too.
I’m seeing what their favorite thing is as well. I love storytelling for later where I'll be like, “They love this part.” I'm like a parrot. I can remember exactly what was said and spit it out. It creates a feeling. It's more of an experience. Preparation but also the consistency of everything is why the social media, the website, the materials that we have, and everything is cohesive. You're right. It's very intentional.
Preparation and consistency of everything make the social media, website, and materials cohesive and intentional.
Looking at my sales journey, I have never sold real estate, but when I have a meeting if it was a big enough project, I would create custom booklets with my proposed solutions based on our initial calls. My grandpa had an avocado tree, so if it was avocado season, I'd bring branded bags with avocados in it. We sold their house.
It was really important to me that the tree was featured because it was my favorite part of the home. It was very special. It’s like, “Whoever buys this house has to know they're getting a badass avocado tree.” The realtor who listened to that is the one who won the listing. No matter what we do in our roles, we can add elements of luxury. That intentionality and that preparation show that you care enough about that person's business. What a simple way to differentiate yourself.
I honestly do care. Earlier, you were like, “How do you stay in touch with people? Your whole thing is about prospecting.” We did put up a billboard in LA.
Congrats.
I'll have to show you. It's been very funny. It's more so we did that and we're doing a lot of social media around it. It always ties together. I've tried everything. I was doing all the postcards and the door knocking. None of that was really working for me. What ends up working for me is my social media, staying in touch, and checking in on people because I am that cheerleader. I am the positron all the time, so I want to encourage people. I'm not jealous. I have an entire women's team. I’m the big sister. I want everybody to thrive. My favorite thing is seeing women succeed. It's huge for me. It's such a big deal. I got off on a tangent about that.
I liked it. It’s social media and then what?
Social Proof
Mostly, it's referrals. That's why I call it social proof. I'm really big into talking about that. I have a full-time social media manager. She has been with me for three years. She's the love of my life. We are giggle boxes together. She's the funniest. I love her. She is not available for anyone else. Thank you very much. I love her. We have such a great relationship that way and then it comes across in our socials.
When I say social proof, we don't do fake followers and try to do all these weird things. Let’s say Beth says, “You're moving here. You got to meet Shelton.” She would send you my Instagram and you would be like, “That's exactly what she looks like. That's what she sounds like,” and all those different things. That's what’s interesting. That's the social proof. It's mostly a referral business versus cold calling or whatever business like that.
Going into what you were saying with all of our past clients, it's so important. I'm Southern and I love gifts. I have an entire assistant that’s for gifting because it's such a big deal. Every year, for what we call a homiversary, we will send out a present to you even if it was six years ago or whatever to say, “Thank you for buying. I really appreciate you. There are so many options and people you can choose but you chose us.” People will be like, “What are you doing?”
In six years. That's amazing.
I'm like, “Still, thank you so much.” It's also staying in touch. I'm never one to be aggressive like, “You're looking to buy and sell real estate.” Maybe I should. I don't know. It's not my style. It’s not how I also sold when I was at the boutique. It ended up where people referred and they knew your name, and then they liked your vibe and your energy. That's how we've done it.
We do a huge client appreciation party. We've done it for three years in a row. We rented out an entire camp, Camp Tumbleweed, and then we brought in real snow. We had sledding for our clients. It was like a festival. It was a very extravagant party that we threw. It's pretty amazing. I like giving back that way. The other big thing that is crazy important to me is giving back. We do something every month or more. I'm on the board of PS Arts, Public School Arts. It really matters a lot to me. I've been on the committee for five years, but then they asked me to be on the board. It was a big deal. I love that.
Alexandria House is really important. We bring parties and donate there. I feel that that's a big part of what we're doing here too. There are a lot of these luxury real estate agents that can look so greedy. I don't want to be mean, but that's what can be presented out there. This is someone's largest purchase usually in their whole life. It's not about me. It's about them. I want it to feel that way where it's more them.
I haven't purchased a home from you yet, but it seems like that is shining through so much, the homiversary and staying top of mind. I appreciate that you brought up your passion for charitable acts and giving because it’s not only for the law of reciprocity, like, “What we give comes back to us. You can tell me if I'm wrong here, but I feel like when you align your passions and show people who your authentic self is, I'm going to imagine you've had some deals come through and connections you've made with your nonprofit work. I don't know if that's an assumption, but I would guess if you're showing up as your natural self and someone needs to buy a home, stars align and you can get some business.
It ends up coming together. They're saying, “If she is this type of person, then she'll be a good fit to help me.”
I know that's not your motive for doing it. I get it. I don't want to misspeak there. A big part of the workshops that I teach is talking about your values, your passions, and how those two things are a core foundation for connection to others. You use the connection to go to the next step in the sales process.
It's true. There are two other things that I do that are extremely important. I know you're talking about prospecting. The first thing is that a few years ago when I started, I heard about all these agent groups and connection groups. I was like, “I'm not invited to those.” I was a new agent, so I'm not going to be mad about not being invited. I was brand new. I was like, “I need to start my own.”
I started my own and called it Agents Anonymous. I’m like, “I'm Shelton. I'm an agent.” I host it every month. It's amazing. We come together and share about things. We can make a safe space so that we're not lonely. It has been really amazing. A lot of transactions have happened between us and a lot of things were shared. It’s so incredible. Also, it put me in a state of being more of an expert and someone who's also giving back. I want to bring everybody together. I'm a connector.
I started with one of my dear friends Georgia. We started this connection group of women. It's for fun and for free. It's called Lady Chienne. When you come to town, you'll have to come. We were coming up with silly names. We were like, “Boss lady and this,”’ and then we were like, “Boss bitch.” We were like, “That's rude.” We looked it up and we were like, “Lady Chienne.” We were like, “Bitch in French.” It's Lady Chienne. It's very funny. It's kitschy. That's what we call it.
It has grown. We have 120 people. We don't call them members yet or anything because they don't pay to come. We'll host it at the Four Seasons and have 30 to 40 women come. We'll have a speaker or people share about what they do in their industry. The connections that have been made there are wild. It's so great. People are doing business together. It's been so special. I like doing things like that versus things that make me uncomfortable like a cold call. I can't do that.
I love that because people are always waiting for networking events. Make your own. I was in an outside sales role in LA and I was going to all these offices. It's hard to make friends as an adult. It's hard to make friends in LA. It's a very transient city. I'd meet all these people in different offices, but I was in outside sales, so I was bopping around and they were all stuck in offices.
I made a meetup group called Case of the Mondays. Every Monday once a month, we would meet at a bar in downtown LA. I have some funny stories from that. It gave me a reason to reach out to people that wasn't, “Buy my product.” It was, “You seem cool and friendly. We have this meetup two Mondays from now. We'd love to have you join.” That's exactly it. If you don't like cold calls, readers, find other ways to add value and connect with people. Join a board of directors. Start your own group. You're giving us so many great tangible ways to do it.
These are the ways that have worked for me that I will do. You have to do things that you are going to do as well. I cannot wait for my Agents Anonymous and for Lady Chienne. They are my favorite things to do.
Also, Wilder Wednesdays.
I have all my funny words. All the girls on the team have their own group. One is Lady Collective and Social Capital. It's so cute. They came up with their own name and they have their certain days and time. It's so amazing. They've made incredible friends. It's not that you're like, “If you come to my group you have to send me this amount.” It's not one of those groups. I don't like those. I had been to that before where you have to sign up and there are referrals that you send. I'm like, “Get out of here.”
You want to pay a fee every month to be in the Rolodex.
I want it to be like when somebody wants to call, we're like, “Look up our Lady Chienne group. You can see who the best ladies are that could help you with different things.” I love being an entrepreneur and helping other women and other people. I have two boys, Beau and Lane. I'm raising boys, but I have a girl team and my husband that I love.
You have made a mirror of $450 million from doing what you love. We love to see it. I am so impressed. I feel so inspired and energized after talking to you. I know you have a couple of things coming out to help others and to help serve. Can you share some of the new things coming out this 2024?
First, I have my real estate course coming out. It's dropping at the beginning of March 2024. I'm very excited about that. It's really going to share everything that I've done in my business, all of the systems, and everything I've done to grow and encourage. There is going to be a group where we can all stay connected there because I love that part.
Also, I'm starting a podcast. You inspired me. You were very helpful. That's how we got connected. It was through our friend when I was talking about getting mine started. You're doing such an amazing job and you wanted to help me out. I’m so grateful. Thank you so much. It should be released by April 1st, 2024. We're filming and getting them all ready. It should be in the middle of March, but then launching is April 1st, 2024. I'm very excited. It's called Wilder Possibilities.
This episode will air after your real estate course and your podcast, Wilder Possibilities, is launched. Before I ask where people can find you, are there any other last little nuggets you want to leave the audience with? You gave us a lot, truly. I appreciate how transparent and real you've been this whole hour.
I love to let it all out and share it all. I was really going back and thinking about what has been the key to my success over all this time. My mentor says, “Hate is great.”
It means you're leveling up.
Get out of there and smile through it. It’s also persistence and staying consistent. What I'm best at is hiring for my weaknesses. That's my best. I don't ever try to improve on my weaknesses. I keep improving on my strengths and I hire for my weaknesses. That's my big thing. I thought of that here. I was like, “I'm going to share that today because that is how I've been able to keep moving forward.” If there's something I hate, I'm not going to do it. I have to make enough money to have people surrounding me that can help me. I love a big team and I don't like to do anything I don't like to do.
I don't try to improve on my weaknesses because I keep improving on my strengths, so I hire for my weaknesses.
Outsource your weaknesses, double down on your strengths, and continue to grow your strengths. That is awesome. Thank you so much. Share your website and your Instagram before we sign off.
My Instagram is @SheltonWilderEstates. Find me there. My website is SheltonWilder.com. It’s really easy.
I'm so happy that we met. Thank you, Beth, for introducing us. I cannot wait to listen to your show and to attend a Lady Chienne event in Los Angeles.
You're going to come.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Bye.
