What does it take to go from solo agent to community leader? For Sandee Payne, the answer came from a single moment of saying yes before she was ready. A military spouse turned interior designer, Sandee spent years helping families feel at home across the world. That love for creating spaces eventually led her to real estate, where she built a thriving business centered on listings and design-driven marketing.

Early in her real estate career, Sandee noticed that agents often worked hard but lacked structure. Determined to change that, she tracked everything and shared what she learned. Her natural ability to teach became a foundation for coaching others. “I realized if I could do it, anyone could,” she said.

Her defining moment came on stage at a Tom Ferry event, when she was dared to sign 100 listings in 10 months. With 8,000 people watching, she accepted. The challenge forced her to focus, simplify, and prove what was possible through consistent effort. “I had to believe it before I could see it,” she recalled. Ten months later, she reached 103 listings.

That accomplishment sparked something bigger. Sandee created a Facebook group that grew into thousands of agents following her strategies. What started as one bet evolved into a full accountability platform, showing others how to set measurable goals and follow through.

In this episode, Brian Charlesworth talks with Sandee about turning pressure into performance, the power of public accountability, and how her Zero to 100 Listing Challenge is helping agents shift from reaction to intention. They also explore why systems, mindset, and community are now the backbone of her business.

Top Takeaways:

(3:21) Life as a military spouse and constant change

(6:07) From interior design to real estate

(8:46) Focusing on listings and early success

(10:58) How technology reshaped the industry

(14:22) Standing out through creative marketing

(16:16) The $10,000 bet that changed everything

(19:14) Bringing others along through accountability

(22:38) The power of focus and belief

(26:32) A $10,000 story of luck and persistence

(28:41) Visualizing success before it happens

(31:17) Why listing agents hold the leverage

(33:31) Building tools and community for agents

(35:26) The Zero to 100 Listing Challenge explained

Tune in now to hear how one bold yes turned into a movement that’s changing the way agents think about accountability.

Registration for the Zero to 100 Listing Challenge is officially live! Visit www.02100listingchallenge.com to join the 10-month race kicking off January 1, 2026.

About Sandee Payne

Sandee Payne is a Broker Associate and the founder of the Designed 2 Sell Real Estate Group in Central Texas. After 18 years as a Texas resident and military spouse, she combines her real estate expertise with decades of experience in interior design and home styling. Sandee began her career with Centex Homes in 2007 and has since helped countless families find and create their ideal homes. Her design work has been featured in major publications and on HGTV’s House Hunters Renovations.

Connect with Sandee:

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Many teams in real estate are struggling with how to grow without overspending on leads or losing control of profitability. At the same time, leaders are facing shifting interest rates, limited inventory, and the challenge of keeping agents productive in a competitive market.

On this episode of the GRIT podcast, Brian Charlesworth sits down with Robert Conway from the Jeremy Orton Group in Idaho. Robert leads both operations and sales, giving him a unique view of how to scale while keeping systems and people aligned.

Robert shares how he approached cutting lead costs, building a referral-based business, and using Sisu’s predictive models to forecast closings with precision. He explains why accountability is central to the culture of their team. “Accountability is the highest form of love,” he says.

With a team of 12 agents today and a goal to grow further, Robert talks about what it takes to bring new people into production quickly and why referrals remain their strongest growth channel. “It’s not the quantity of leads, it’s the quality and how you work it,” he adds.

Top Takeaways:

(4:40) Cutting lead costs without losing closings

(7:05) Using Sisu to forecast team growth

(10:39) Industry consolidation and AI ecosystems

(15:36) Explaining rates with “marry the house, date the rate”

(21:12) Will the U.S. hit 5M home sales again?

(26:03) Data, Sisu, and building accountability into culture

(28:37) Netting 18 agents before expansion

(33:46) How the team staggers new agent onboarding

(37:01) Fixing cracks in systems before they become canyons

If you are trying to figure out how to balance growth with profitability, and what to expect as the market shifts again, this conversation will give you practical insights you can apply to your own business. Tune in now to catch the full episode.

About Robert Conway

Robert Conway is the Director of Sales and Business Development at the Jeremy Orton Real Estate Group in Twin Falls, Idaho. He oversees both operations and sales for the team, which currently has 12 agents and is aiming to grow to 20. Robert has more than 15 years of management experience, with degrees in psychology, business, and human resources. He moved into real estate over three years ago to bring more flexibility to his life while driving the group’s growth and systems.

Connect with Robert:

LinkedIn

Real estate is an industry where the market can change overnight, making it harder for agents to know how to stay consistent. Some try to solve this by chasing more leads or working longer hours, but that often leads to burnout instead of growth. What if there was a way to build a predictable business no matter what the market does? That is what Zoocasa has been doing. Starting as a small brokerage in Ontario, Zoocasa built its own lead generation platform before joining eXp Realty in 2022. Today, they run one of the largest virtual real estate teams in North America with over 230 agents in their Agent Accelerator program. Their model provides the systems, coaching, and accountability that agents need to get into production and stay there. Carrie Linton Lysenko, CEO of Zoocasa, shares how they built a platform that now powers lead flow and technology for thousands of agents. Brittany Kostov, the company’s first agent and now Director of Sales, talks about what it takes to lead a fully remote team at this scale. “It’s all about creating an environment where agents feel supported and challenged,” says Brittany. In this conversation, Brian Charlesworth digs into how their team improved conversion rates from 2 percent to nearly 7 percent in just three quarters by using data and consistent coaching. Carrie explains how they hold leads longer and only pass them to agents when they are ready to take action. “Do the hard things until they aren’t hard anymore,” she says. Top Takeaways:

(0:55) From local brokerage to joining eXp

(4:32) Zoocasa’s surprising tech origins

(8:32) Why real estate success is always local

(14:55) From 2% to 7% conversion growth

(19:43) Daily huddles that keep agents aligned

(21:16) Monday focus on objections and wins

(24:08) Doing the hard things every day

(30:36) Staying connected during tough times

(33:39) Comparing the US and Canadian markets

(35:29) Creating a culture of accountability

You will also hear how their daily huddles keep agents connected across different markets, how they build accountability without micromanaging, and why their approach works even when transactions are down nationally. If you are trying to build a business that grows steadily instead of depending on market ups and downs, this episode is for you. Tune in now! About Carrie Linton Lysenko Carrie Linton Lysenko is the CEO of Zoocasa, leading its growth across Canada and the US. She has over 20 years of experience in marketing and digital business strategy. Carrie guided Zoocasa through its acquisition by eXp Realty and expansion into new markets. She oversees teams across product, sales, and operations to deliver scalable real estate solutions. Connect with Carrie:

LinkedIn About Brittany Kostov Brittany Kostov is the Sales Director at Zoocasa, managing agent recruitment and training. She supports agents with tools and processes to maintain high performance across the team. Brittany started as one of Zoocasa’s top agents, helping clients navigate buying and selling. She now focuses on building and developing the brokerage’s growing agent network. Connect with Brittany:

LinkedIn