Brenna and Josh Burkhalter with Burkhalter Realty Group and Mary Win King with Simplicity Home Staging & Design

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:24] Welcome to this very special edition of Cherokee Business Radio. It is our inaugural episode of our new House to Home series. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by our local small business initiative, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, go to Main Street warriors.org and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors Diesel David Inc. Please go check them out at diesel. David.com. You guys are in for a real treat. Please join me in welcoming back to the Business RadioX microphone with simplicity, home staging and design. Miss Mary Win King. How are you?

Mary Win King: [00:01:15] Oh, thank you. I am great. I’m so happy to be here and do this for the second time around and have some guests with us and just make the most of it.

Stone Payton: [00:01:23] Well, it is such a delight to have you back in the studio. We had so much fun last time. I learned a ton for the two and a half people in Cherokee County that don’t know Mary Win King, let’s give them a little bit of an overview, a primer about your business and what you’re really out there trying to do for folks.

Mary Win King: [00:01:42] Sure. So I am the owner of Simplicity, Home staging and Design, and we actually just celebrated three years last week. So that is exciting news. And we specialize in helping clients with interior design and home staging. And on the interior design side, typically I would help with residential, but I just got my first commercial client. So working, working on that as well and just growing and learning as we go.

Stone Payton: [00:02:09] It sounds like a great deal of fun. It sounds like a marvelous way to and a platform to to be able to express your creativity and live into that. And I’ve gotten to know you a little bit, so I know that that’s important to you at this point in your career. You’re kind of over that initial hump. You really beginning to get some traction. What are you finding the most rewarding? What what do you like most about the work?

Mary Win King: [00:02:33] Honestly, just listening to my clients, whether it’s home staging or interior design and tailoring, what needs to happen to to their specific needs and really being able to help them with that, listening to them at first and making sure that I understand what the task at hand is that they need accomplished is really my main goal of how to serve them the best.

Stone Payton: [00:02:58] And you are a good listener. I know know I’ve watched you in conversations. I’ve participated in conversations. And when it’s time for you to talk, you talk. But you know, sometimes people are just waiting. They’re not listening. But Mary Win. Right. My other guests that we introduce here in a moment are nodding their head. But you’re genuinely listening. And I can sense you doing that, you know, when you’re out in the field.

Mary Win King: [00:03:19] Definitely. Definitely. It definitely helps me hone in on what is important and and loving on our community that way.

Stone Payton: [00:03:27] Yeah, well, who’d you bring with you today and why?

Mary Win King: [00:03:30] Oh, okay. So I am so excited to have on the show as our special guest, Burkhalter Realty Group based out of Woodstock, Georgia. We have Brenna and Josh, Hi.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:03:42] Thank you for having us. We really appreciate it.

Mary Win King: [00:03:44] Absolutely. They are an awesome married couple that we met about two years ago that will go into that in just a minute. But they are a great local real estate team with the Keller Williams program here. And we would love to hear about how y’all operate in our community and just hear more about your specialties and your background. So we’d love to start with that, if that’s okay, Stone.

Stone Payton: [00:04:12] Works for me. I got a thousand questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I think that’s a great place to start.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:04:17] Sounds good.

Mary Win King: [00:04:18] Yeah. So. So first off, I kind of would love to express to our listeners how Brenna and I met so Brenna, go ahead with that.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:04:28] Okay. Mary Win I met on social media. Actually, I came across an awesome Instagram account that had some wonderful interior design tips and tricks. And I looked into who the owner of that account was. It turned out it was a girl from Canton, and I reached out to ask about getting coffee and we met at a local coffee shop and all of a sudden it was three hours later and we had become fast friends and future business to come out of that, which was great.

Mary Win King: [00:04:59] Yeah, absolutely. We just I felt an immediate connection. We are similar in age. We both had children, you know, smaller children, but also working hard to make our businesses work and really get ourselves out there.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:05:13] Yeah, I remember when she came home from that meeting and she was like, I just met this awesome lady and she’s really cool. And we sat there and I was like, Why did it take so long? And she was like. Our because we have to live by a calendar. She’s like, well, we just before you know it, it was three hours. So that’s awesome.

Mary Win King: [00:05:29] So that was so fun. And then we were able to kind of progress our friendship through y’all needing some interior design needs and help with like your living room and your home office and some kitchen ideas. So that was really fun when they were able to bring me in and just get some things that were practical for their family, but also some size furniture that was more proportionate for like their space. And also now that I think your home office is more functional, right? Yes.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:06:01] Yeah, We normally would work in two different parts of the house, whether it was an upstairs bedroom that we had or a dining room. And now we have a functional desk that allows us to collaborate together in a space where we don’t feel super cramped anymore. So it was a huge help.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:06:18] And as as realtors, we see different homes every single day. And it’s so easy to take pieces of different people’s homes and say, I like this, I like this. But then making it cohesive is hard to do in your own home. So Mary Win really helped pull that whole thing together and and make it a space that would be functional and pretty.

Stone Payton: [00:06:39] Yeah. So did you find that you were that self-aware right out of the box and you knew you needed and wanted help, or did you find it a little bit intimidating, either one of you, to have this professional. Come in.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:06:51] They’re probably a little bit of both. Because I knew what kind of vibe or look we were going for. But it’s hard to do that, I think, in your own home sometimes, especially when you see so many other homes. So it was it wasn’t hard to reach out to her and ask. It was just something. I refer to other people all the time. And you don’t really think you’re going to need it in your own home in this profession, I guess. Yeah.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:07:16] Yeah. I kind of felt the same way. It wasn’t that it was a little different to have somebody because we see so many homes like Brenda had mentioned, that we kind of know what we like, but we hadn’t really applied it as much in our home yet.

Mary Win King: [00:07:29] Yeah, I think a lot of people go through that actually. Yeah, because it takes some time. Yeah. And but what was great in y’all’s instance, which I love doing, is they had some inspirational pieces that they did want to incorporate, like they had a rug for their home office with some colors that we could work off of and things like that. So so that kind of at least gave me the style that you were going for and some colors to play with and just to kind of pull it all together.

Stone Payton: [00:07:56] Well, one of the reasons that this is so such a germane conversation right now is we’re getting a new island, which of course means we’re getting new countertops behind it and which I’m sure translates to recovering or buying a new couch and all that. So this is a very timely conversation around my house. And my wife, too, is very creative. And, you know, she’s got a good eye, I think, for that kind of thing. And but I think she’s self-aware enough that, you know, maybe it makes sense to get a little help, just get a different a different take on it. So. All right. So the very first really work with the with these two was in their own home.

Mary Win King: [00:08:33] Yeah. Yeah. And so that went so well that, you know, a little bit later down the road I kind of was like, okay, Brenna, I really want to help you Home stage. I want you to see the difference that it can make. And I said, Just try it just one time with me. So we we did. And y’all, why don’t y’all elaborate on that scenario?

Josh Burkhalter: [00:08:57] Yeah. Do you do you want to go ahead. So we had a client who a family friend of ours that we had known for years and years. They were moving back to actually my hometown in middle Georgia, and she moved from there to here and empty nester downsized with, you know, all the stuff. She had accumulated a house for 30 years. She’s a very neat, tidy, clean lady. She just had a lot of stuff for like a townhome and small space for smaller space. So we had Mary Wynne come in and I mean, it was night and day how much more of a flow there was. And you could immediately just see yourself in the space, which is exactly what we’re shooting for. When people walk in, we want them to be like, Oh, I can do anything I want in here or leave it just like this. And it would be fantastic. So, I mean, it was amazing what she was able to do in on the property.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:09:48] And in turn, when it comes to selling it, seeing a space and being able to envision your own things, your own family in that space because it’s been decluttered minimal decorations, people can really envision themselves or their families there. It makes such a difference. And because of that we had multiple offers and our seller was able to choose the offer that worked best for her and her timeline. And that was fantastic. And it was just the best example possible of no matter what price point or size home you’re working with, she can make a difference. And ideally that’s going to sell for more money and faster.

Stone Payton: [00:10:29] Well, how’s that for an endorsement?

Mary Win King: [00:10:31] Yeah, no, I mean, you know, we were laughing about this earlier is recently kind of my new slogan is going to be I want it to be a mary win, win, win win for the client. You know, a win for everybody involved. That’s perfect.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:10:47] Well, I mean, we can attest to it. She came through our house and we do like to try out a lot of our vendors before we refer them out to our clients because we want to make sure that we reputation exactly. So if we refer someone, you know, it’s you said our reputation on the line. And we knew after she came through and helped us out that it was probably going to be okay. And then she, I mean, knocked our socks off with the way that everything went with that deal. So, I mean, it was perfect.

Mary Win King: [00:11:10] Yeah, I heard you really love the curtains.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:11:12] Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah, I was. I had my doubts about some things she suggested in our home. And now I love.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:11:18] There are some of his favorite pieces.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:11:20] It is. It is. So it’s. Yeah. Just trust her.

Stone Payton: [00:11:23] Well, I can tell you, like curtains would never even occur to me and I would probably love them, you know, once they were in. And if you saw my my side porch, you know, we were talking about hunting a little while ago, maybe it was before we came on the air. But, you know, I’ve got a deer head out on the side porch. You could probably do some stuff with the side porch. And now that I’ve been to Spain and back, I want to have, like, a Spanish flavor. Oh, cool. Yeah, I got ideas that are all.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:11:48] I think Mary needs to come to your house. I need a win win.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:11:51] Exactly.

Stone Payton: [00:11:52] So is now has it gotten to the point where this is sort of part of the Burckhalter methodology when you’re when you’re listing a home, you’re going to want to bring a stagers that kind of where you’re at?

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:12:02] Fabulous question. Yes, it is, actually. And that’s a newer thing that we’ve been doing. We have added staging to our our listing package. So when we go in to talk with sellers, there are some vital pieces that we offer them that we cover the cost of that really set their house apart. We’re paying for those professional photos and we’re paying for our stager to come in.

Stone Payton: [00:12:26] You’re absorbing Mary Wind services. Okay. Wow.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:12:29] We’re paying for our stager to come in and walk through the home and give them a very detailed to do list of what to do to get their house ready to sell. So that’s our our goal is to get them ready to sell, get them to sell the most for the most money possible and the least amount of time as possible and make it as seamless and smooth and stress free as you possibly can. Absolutely. And really.

Mary Win King: [00:12:51] Help with. We’ve talked about this. So like sometimes timeline of me coming in. Can be different depending on each client and when they’re going to do photos and list it. So the different varieties, you know, for example, on my website I offer occupied and vacant staging. But within that, Brenna came to me and said, Well, would you by chance even be okay if we did a walk? If you did a walk through and make a list for those clients? Because sometimes it could be that I come two weeks before you know the listing and then they have time to do those on their own. Or I can do hands on staging. So I like a combination of both, but it really just depends. That’s whenever it’s listening to what their needs are and what, you know, Brenna and Josh’s needs are for their timeline of what I can accomplish in different ways of of making that happen.

Stone Payton: [00:13:40] Okay, let’s talk about me some more. It’s my show. No, it occurs to me that, like, Holly and I, we’re thrilled to death with our home. We are remodeling some stuff, upgrading some stuff. But it occurs to me, even when we get it exactly like we want it, it could be perfectly appointed for Stone and Holly for this stage of our lives. And if we chose to put it on the market, it needs to be set up, staged a little differently to maximize the chances of it getting the best offer. Is that accurate? Correct. Yes. Very, very. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I want to back up. How in the world did you two get into this business?

Josh Burkhalter: [00:14:16] I or. Yeah, go ahead.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:14:17] Go ahead. I got into the business a little bit before Josh, We actually bought our home in Woodstock in 2015. We got married in 14, bought our house in 15. I got my real estate license in 2016. We had. Wow. Just boom.

Stone Payton: [00:14:31] Boom, boom. Yeah.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:14:32] We like to do big things. 17 off and had our first kid in 18, so we had a little gap year.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:14:37] There got to be something big every year, right? But we had a fantastic experience buying our house. It was very smooth. It was fairly stress free. There weren’t really speed bumps along the way, and we enjoyed that experience. And obviously it got us to a place that we love and into a home that we love. So we wanted to be able to give other people that same experience. And so I got my real estate license and jumped in head first and have loved it ever since. And three years after that, Josh joined me in the business too, and now we’re husband, wife, realtor team, which has been awesome.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:15:13] Yeah, we I started my post college career in Inside Sales. I was working in the telecom industry mainly a little bit of time in the finance industry, but got started right after our son was born. We just kind of rip the band aid and let’s do it, you know, join the team. Got licensed in 2019 and actually had my first closing the next day, which was pretty cool. That is so awesome. You are a rock star. So it was thanks to my wife. The Berkhalter.

Stone Payton: [00:15:43] Training methodology.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:15:44] Yes. God, she got to me through the process and we were able to get it done, which was awesome. So the best boss ever? Yeah, she is. That’s what I tell everyone. They’re like, How do you all work together? I’m like, She’s the best boss I’ve ever had.

Mary Win King: [00:15:54] So that’s a huge compliment.

Stone Payton: [00:15:57] Yeah, so you said it. I’m going to take your word for it at face value that it’s been awesome working together. And I’m trying to envision Holly and I in the same business. You know, she has a real job. She works at IBM. I do this, and she’s been so incredibly supportive and I try to be supportive of her. But there’s got to be some additional dynamics when you’re working with your with your spouse. A what’s that like in general? But B is like, do you kind of, I don’t know, divide and conquer may not be the right label, but you each kind of have your own roles, your own strengths. And yeah, we do talk to that a little bit.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:16:31] Yeah. And we do a lot of dividing and conquering and we, we love being together, being around each other. So I think that helps a lot. We have always been I mean, we’ve been together now for what, seven, 16 years. So we yeah, so and, but we do kind of split things up. But really it just depends on the client’s need and if how one of us meshes with a certain person, if we feel like this person should take the lead with this type versus another, that is kind of how we do it. We don’t have set roles as far as me handling the list side of things and her specifically working with all of our buyers. It’s really just who we mesh with best.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:17:11] And it’s such a relationship based business. It’s so important to even if we are tag teaming and helping that client out, both of us, somebody does most likely take the lead on who meshes best with that person so that we can really be a good fit for their personality and their needs.

Mary Win King: [00:17:28] And one thing that I’ve complimented them on that I just love about their, you know, togetherness and the way that their personalities work, though, is also their background of like Josh is more from the country. And then Brenna is a little bit more from the suburbs. So but like in my personality is both and so I feel like I relate to them at different times on different levels and so many good ways, you know? So I feel like that’s. Great thing that they offer their clients so they can they’re very relatable that way, that they have the background of both.

Stone Payton: [00:18:02] Well, there’s the relationship aspect, which I it makes perfect sense to me. But the level of trust that you must have to cultivate, because these are huge moments in a person’s life, right?

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:18:16] And we do not take that lightly at all.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:18:18] We it can be stressful and emotional and and we embrace the challenge, but we also make sure that we educate people along the process to take out as much stress and emotion as possible because the logic needs to drive the decisions. When we’re talking about massive amounts of money, that especially with the people that we like to work with, like first time home buyers, we make sure that we hold their hand through the process so there’s no speed bumps or hiccups, and they understand that the whole process is going to be smooth.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:18:48] And they know what they’re signing. Exactly.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:18:51] Good point. That would.

Speaker6: [00:18:52] Be important. Yeah. Yeah.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:18:53] I mean, that’s really some people just sign their name and we try to make sure that they really, truly understand it. It’s a big purchase. A lot of money. Yes. Yeah, it’s.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:19:02] A big deal. And it’s a big deal to purchase a home at any stage, whether it’s your 15th investment property or your first home. It is a monumental, life changing moment. That is. I mean, it’s when my mom was able to purchase the home that I grew up in when I was ten years old. It was it was structure for my brother and I that we previously didn’t have. So that’s huge. And that’s something that I lean on with first time home buyers that I mean, you’re setting them up for a way to generate wealth for their family for generations.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:19:32] Yeah, I love that.

Mary Win King: [00:19:33] I love that. And I was hoping that they could share with their listeners like a little bit, even like what they specialize in. I know they mentioned the first time home buyers, but just can you all elaborate on that a little bit?

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:19:44] Absolutely. Like Josh mentioned, we do love working with first time home buyers since we were in that boat, and that’s kind of how I got into this business. We love the chance to educate other people, really help them find the home that’s going to be the right fit for their current setup and ideally be their realtor for life when they’re moving on up. And we we try to when people ask us who’s a great referral for you, we try to think of those people in those big life moments. So it is we love the first time home buyers. We love the first time sellers too, because we’ve worked with a lot of our friends buying their first home. But then when they go to sell their first home, that’s a whole nother experience. You’re on the opposite side of that and you haven’t been there before, So the.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:20:30] Market’s a lot different. I mean, if you unless you buy and sell within a two year period, it’s I mean, it’s going to be substantially different from when you work with your first client seven years ago. So selling now, right? So it’s I mean, there’s a lot that can change. As we know, overnight, a couple of years ago, a lot changed.

Mary Win King: [00:20:45] So so if you walk through them on that first time experience, you’re going to be able to relate back to that so that they can understand better when they’re going to sell it, which I love.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:20:54] And then we have found over the past year and a half or so, we’ve had a lot of opportunities to work with folks in those end of life stages where they’re going through the probate process and selling a home that was in the family or belonged to a deceased family member, that they’re now responsible for selling that property. So we’ve learned a lot through those experiences. And it’s a big responsibility.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:21:17] Yeah, it’s it’s a different education process because a lot of the probate and estate stuff has to be taken care of prior. And some people don’t know that. Some people do. We’ve kind of had people that were educated along the whole spectrum. It’s also a great. Way to give people closure that they need for whether it was there that makes sense. You know, someone that was really close to them, mom, dad. Or it could be a distant relative that they just happened to acquire a property when they passed away. So it’s it’s challenging, but it’s also very rewarding because you’re able to give them that closure. And a lot of the time that is the last piece is the house is the last thing to really go.

Mary Win King: [00:21:55] And you can tell y’all’s heart’s in it. That’s that’s one reason that I love you too so much is because you’re care for your clients shines through like every transaction and every, you know, reason for doing certain things. And that’s why I love working with them. I appreciate.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:22:10] That. We want people to feel that. Yeah, sure.

Stone Payton: [00:22:13] So paint a day in the life of the like on a Thursday. And I’m getting the sense that no, Thursday is the same. No.

Speaker6: [00:22:21] That’s why we love this.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:22:22] It’s never the.

Speaker6: [00:22:23] Same.

Stone Payton: [00:22:24] What are some things that might happen on any given Thursday Thursdays?

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:22:28] We usually have listings. Go live.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:22:30] Yes. Normally we have stuff hit the market on Thursday. Okay. This past I did not.

Stone Payton: [00:22:34] Know that that was not scripted. It’s not in my show notes.

Speaker6: [00:22:37] That just appreciate that.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:22:40] We last Thursday was when I was out of town was pretty busy for Brenna. She got a call from somebody that wanted to see a house and, you know, things changed immediately.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:22:49] So they are under contract on said House.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:22:51] Yeah. So we had to pivot and make a quick move. And so it can be anything from a listing going live to you know maybe having to show someone that calls on a sign call hey I’d like to check out this property to go and show a buyer a new property. As long as we’re dropping our son at school by 830 and picking him up by six, I think there’s that divide.

Stone Payton: [00:23:10] And conquer thing coming back around.

Speaker6: [00:23:12] So a lot of dividing and.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:23:14] That’s really like Brenna said, what we enjoy about it is that it’s different and no two clients are the same. Yeah, every deal is different. Every day is different. So we, you know, it keeps us on our toes for sure.

Speaker6: [00:23:26] Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:23:27] Well, it seems like there’s so many moving parts. Like, I feel like just the paperwork alone. If I had that much paperwork in my business, I would starve. Right? I’m just not the right.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:23:37] I’m a control freak. It’s hard for me to let go of things. However, I will say delegating some of those things to an assistant has been the best decision we have ever made. Yeah, we have a contract to close assistant that’s amazing and supports us from when buyers or sellers go under contract until the closing period to help keep all the paperwork in check.

Speaker6: [00:23:56] Yep.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:23:57] Just an extra level of accountability with dates and I mean the whole process, it makes it smoother for everyone. And then we also have an assistant that helps us with a lot of our social media and a lot of our marketing that we do.

Stone Payton: [00:24:08] Because that is so key in this day and age where you have to have a social media presence, right? I’m saying this how we met.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:24:14] I know it’s a testament here. That’s how.

Speaker6: [00:24:16] Yeah.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:24:17] So it’s it’s it’s a challenge. But we have slowly started to leverage some things out and we found that it allows us to do what we’re good at. And like when we bring Mary went into the picture on a listing, we are able to focus on the negotiation and the marketing side of things. And she can handle the staging and the prep side of things. So it allows us to do what we do best and her to do what she does best. So it’s a win win all around. So there’s a.

Stone Payton: [00:24:42] Pro tip not only for other realtors, just other entrepreneurs and business owners in general. Yeah, get that best in class. Help and stay in your lane. Do what you do and yeah, exactly.

Speaker6: [00:24:52] Absolutely.

Stone Payton: [00:24:53] That’s a good reminder. Your arena strikes me it seems like it would be incredibly crowded, competitive. I feel like there are a lot of realty professionals out there, so I am curious how the whole sales and marketing thing works, how you get the new business or even just the new conversations that might lead to new business. How do you.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:25:15] Yeah, I will say first it’s community over competition. Always. We love where we live. There’s a ton of realtors in this area and there’s enough business for all of us. It is all about the relationships and. Even if one person is looking for a house and they’re choosing between several different realtors, a couple of those realtors may not be a good fit for that person personality wise, goal wise. So while there are a lot of us who you’re working with is so important and and that’s going to be different across the board, if that makes sense. It does.

Speaker6: [00:25:54] Yeah. Yeah. I mean.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:25:55] Like Brenda mentioned, it is a pretty crowded space. I mean, just with our brokerage alone, we have, I think around 400 agents that work out of our Keller Williams Market Center in Woodstock. Oh, that’s just Keller Williams agents. Now, that’s not to say that they all work just in this area. We work all over the place. Then there’s other I mean, you know, you’ve got many, many other brokerages, but like she had mentioned, it’s there’s plenty of business to go around. You just we have to make sure that it’s a win win for everybody on every side of things. And we’re not the best fit for some people and we’re okay with that. I mean, I would rather recommend that up front than have problems in the transaction because we didn’t mesh personality wise and our goals weren’t aligned so well.

Stone Payton: [00:26:37] I love that ethos. I love that mindset of community over competition. And you described it about the the realty world. But my experience here in Cherokee County in general, and particularly here, like in Woodstock, Holly Springs, you know, ball ground, Canton, it’s such a my experience has been it’s such a supportive business community. People will rally around you if you’re willing to share with them what you need and want. And if you’re willing to serve first, serve early, serve often as well. Has that been your experience community wide?

Speaker6: [00:27:10] Yes. Yeah, 100%.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:27:12] I got Mary Wind to come to Woodstock Business Club with me. Yeah. It’s been a great source of new friendships, business vendors that we need on our vendor list that have been very helpful to our clients. I mean, it’s been a wonderful place of community. And Mary Winds met several other clients and yeah, it’s been.

Mary Win King: [00:27:32] It’s been great and we learn so much. They have some great speakers there that we can learn from and grow from and learn from each other and just share what we do and support each other. So that’s been awesome and it’s something that we can, you know, that it’s pretty consistent. It’s every Thursday at 830 here and so we can plan on it. But yeah, it’s, it’s nice to have those outlets to be able to really go and share success stories and also things that we can really add onto our skill level and, and all of that. So yeah, Brenna and I love to meet up there.

Stone Payton: [00:28:08] So do I. And I enjoy meeting people after like the big meeting, you know, hanging out under the elm tree, grab a cup of coffee and chat. But also, you know, I’m also a consumer, so I have professional service needs as a business. But also, you know, the home services people are there, Alpha and Omega, Lori Kennedy You know, that’s where I take my car to get it done.

Speaker6: [00:28:32] We’ve taken our there. Okay, So.

Stone Payton: [00:28:34] Yeah, I’m gonna send Laurie an invoice, but just, you know, just anything you might need if I were in search of a mortgage, you know, one of the first people I would at least talk to is Darren Hunter. Right. If I were going to organize my next Spain trip, I’m going to talk to Dawn, you know? Yeah. And I feel like that’s someone that I that I know and trust. And and I suspect many of them, if they felt like they were going to use this platform to build relationships for their business, whether they ended up doing it with me or not, I think they would check in with me first and I think they would know. And it’s true. I would try to help them whether they were going to do it with me or not, you know, just and I’ve collaborated with other people in the media. But this this community is so supportive. And Woodstock Business Club in particular has just been a wealth of friends. I mean, I’ll call them family. Yeah, that’s been my experience, too.

Speaker6: [00:29:25] Yeah.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:29:25] I mean, every Thursday when she comes back, she’s like, energized, ready to roll. I mean, and I’m like, wow, okay, I got to. I’m getting some of this vibe.

Speaker6: [00:29:32] Because she’s just good energy. Yeah, it is. It’s great. Yeah.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:29:36] Being with people in the community that, you know, are happy to help.

Stone Payton: [00:29:38] Yeah. So outside the scope of your work, what passions, if any, do you pursue? I shared with you as we were coming on air that I like to hunt and fish and travel. That’s my thing. What are some things that you nerd out about or really dive into outside the scope of the realty? Yeah, I.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:29:54] Mean, you hit it right on the head. I just got back from Colorado Sunday. We did 750 mile road trip across the state and checked out like six national or state parks and national parks. Amazing. So, yeah, I mean, and I enjoy anything outdoors. We like to hike a lot together, hunt fish. I try to do that as much as I can. The kids are priority number one now, so that’s taking a back seat. But I’m not complaining. I love spending time with the fam, but yeah, I do. Like I said, pretty much anything outdoors. I’ll. I love being outside. I grew up on 100 acres so anytime I can get out of the. Suburbs. I need to kind of get some some good fresh air.

Stone Payton: [00:30:35] It’s nice just being in the woods, whether you harvest anything or not, just being in the woods. My I mean, I just it’s just a marvelous way to decompress and appreciate.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:30:45] I think everybody could use a couple hours.

Speaker6: [00:30:49] He needs to.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:30:49] Send me out there sometime just because. Just be still and be quiet.

Speaker6: [00:30:52] Yeah, well, and.

Stone Payton: [00:30:54] How about you.

Speaker6: [00:30:55] Or.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:30:55] I? Do. We do love hiking and getting out there with the kids, too. Just having them be out in the woods as much as possible, too. But I really enjoy swimming. That’s my. My me time where I can just be in my head right and swim laps. And I did that all growing up and through college so that the pool is my happy place. Any kind of water really is my happy place. Yeah, we do love to travel, so I’m glad he got to take this trip recently and a couple other family trips coming up soon.

Stone Payton: [00:31:27] So, Mary, when am I remembering horses? Animals, period. Really? Right.

Mary Win King: [00:31:31] Exactly. Yes. Oh, my daughter and I just got to ride again with all this rain and and her little pony had an injury, so it was just I was in heaven this weekend just being able to get back into horses and enjoy being at the barn and our cats and our crazy dog and yeah, whoever else comes around.

Stone Payton: [00:31:50] Well, we’ve talked before and you were kind enough to offer and we’re going to take you up on it. My wife Holly, just loves horses. She was around them when she was younger and. And she hasn’t. She we’d love to come out and do so. I’m going to come do the horse thing with you. I’m going to go get a tree with Josh. This is what was so great about Woodstock. You meet people, perfect new connections. Was there anything in particular that drew you guys to Keller Williams versus like another brand or brokerage?

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:32:21] Yeah, great question.

Speaker6: [00:32:23] Well, I thought.

Stone Payton: [00:32:23] It took me a minute to get it out. I thought it was a fantastic question.

Speaker6: [00:32:26] Yeah, no, it was. It is.

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:32:29] I’ve been at Keller Williams since I started seven years ago or so. And the culture and the training there is what really pulled me there and has kept me there since. The culture is amazing. They’re very inclusive and accepting of anybody, any type of business that you want to have, whether you want to be doing a few transactions a year or you want to be a mega agent with a huge team so they can encompass all of that. And also their training is just unmatched. I mean, there’s a calendar every single month of amazing training classes, whether it’s taught from people at the office or they bring in outside vendors to teach those classes on those specific subjects.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:33:12] So yeah, I mean, I agree 100%. I think the the culture is huge. I mean, it’s I mean, Thursday, this Thursday, we’re having our annual red day where every Keller Williams agent in the entire world and we’re in, what, 70 countries I think now. Wow takes the day off and serves in the community to some degree. So and that’s that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the stuff. I mean, agents in need in our office with health issues get taken care of. I mean, people if you need help with anything, you can ask anyone at the office anytime, which is huge for anybody getting into the industry. That’s new. It’s it’s great to have just a support system. And like Brennan mentioned, there’s a model and a plan for any type of agent at any level that you want to be. So it’s it’s great to be able to go in there and know that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to be successful. You can just go, Oh, I want to be like this person and do what they do.

Speaker6: [00:34:08] Yeah, Yeah. Well, I’m glad I asked. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:34:12] So before we wrap, I’d like to go around around the table and leave our listeners with a pro tip or two, you know, in your domain of expertise. So I’m going to start with Mary Wynn, a number one pro tip gang. If you’re if you’re thinking at all about redoing anything in your home, just reach out and have a conversation with Mary Wynn. But are there some things that people can begin thinking about or just some things they can do on their own just to sort of get in that mode of revisiting the way they’ve got things organized in their home?

Mary Win King: [00:34:43] Sure. I would say for me personally, if I was giving a tip that go through your home and really decide, do you love it? Meaning? Meaning like, okay, if they have a bookshelves, go through each item and say, do I love this or am I just keeping this here to fill space? So if I have something in my home that I don’t love, I would rather have empty space so that then my creative brain can go through as I’m walking through HomeGoods or wherever and say, that’s what I’m picturing for that space. Because in my personal experience and with helping with other clients and even family members walking through their homes with them, it is so much more fun and easier if you get rid of what? You don’t love. Set it in a pile. Maybe you don’t get rid of it yet, but set it in a pile. Off to the side and then be excited about what it could be and the things that you might want to add to your current decor that you do love. That’s my best pro tip for the day.

Stone Payton: [00:35:44] I think it’s a great tip and I like the idea of having that in your mind, like going through that exercise. Then when you’re out playing, no stress, just. But when you’re out and you go to a home goods or like I noticed the other day at a Tuesday morning or something that’s closing down. Yeah. Well now I’ll go in there and walk through but, but instead of walking in cold, you know, Holly and I will have thought about that kind of. What a great tip. So if someone out there listening would like to have a more substantive conversation with you, reach out to you, tap into some of your work, whether it be an individual or, I don’t know, maybe another realtor team that you could team up with, What is the best way for them to connect with you?

Mary Win King: [00:36:22] The best way is to give me a call or text me at (606) 260-0175 or feel free to reach out by email at Simplicity home interiors at gmail.com. And we’re also on Facebook and Instagram, so it’s easy to find us.

Stone Payton: [00:36:41] I got to go check out the Instagram and Facebook. We got to get better at the whole social media thing here at Cherokee Business Radio. All right, Josh, you got a pro tip for us. Those of us thinking about buying and selling whatever.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:36:52] I would just say who you work with matters whether it’s in real estate or your business, but especially in the real estate field like we had mentioned. We know that there’s plenty of business to go around and we’re not just going to force it down your throat if we don’t feel like it’s a good fit and you don’t feel like it’s a good fit, then by all means, you know, go with whoever you’re most comfortable with because it is a huge decision whether you’re buying an investment property, first house selling. Just make sure you’re comfortable with whoever is holding your hand through the process because they’re going to make your life a lot easier.

Stone Payton: [00:37:24] All right, Brenda, you trained him. That was a great tip.

Speaker6: [00:37:27] Was a great. Now you got.

Stone Payton: [00:37:28] To follow that act.

Speaker6: [00:37:30] What do you thinking?

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:37:33] I in relation to that, to the education piece is so important to us. So make sure that the person that you are working with again, going along with the right person for you. Make sure the person you’re working with is explaining things to you because it’s a huge deal. It’s a significant amount of money and it can, you know, make or break a family situation sometimes having this new place to live. So I would say just being educated on what you’re doing, how it’s going to propel you into your your next goal or stage in life is so important. So the education piece, I think, is what we really weigh heavy on.

Stone Payton: [00:38:15] Amen. I love it. All right. What’s the best way to connect with you guys?

Brenna Burkhalter: [00:38:20] We are all over Facebook and Instagram. Yes, you can reach us by phone. We love when people call or text us. My number is (404) 434-3484. Lots of.

Speaker6: [00:38:30] Fours and.

Josh Burkhalter: [00:38:31] I’m (478) 232-0438. Like Brenda mentioned. Call text. Email berkhalter. Realty Group on social media. Check us out. We’d love to, you know, get to know everybody. And thank you for having us. We really appreciate it. It’s been awesome.

Speaker6: [00:38:45] Awesome.

Mary Win King: [00:38:46] Y’all got to come. I love.

Speaker6: [00:38:48] It.

Stone Payton: [00:38:48] It has been an absolute delight having you two in the studio. You know, I knew it was going to be fun having Mary Wynne, but Mary Wynne, thank you for making this happen and thank you all for joining us.

Speaker6: [00:38:59] Absolutely. Appreciate it.

Stone Payton: [00:39:00] My pleasure. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guest today. And everyone here at the Business Radio X family saying we’ll see you again on house to home radio.