Speaker 1: 0:30

My name is Chelsea Gabriella Bata. I am the owner of the father-daughter real estate team with Gabriella Group. With Century 21 Redwood Realty, we also just included a new team member, which is very exciting. My dad's calling me now Right on cue Always and so our team is growing, so we're very excited about that and we service buyers, sellers, renters, investors all over Northern Virginia, so yeah, that's us Cool.

Speaker 2: 0:56

And is it more residential commercial both?

Speaker 1: 0:58

Yeah, mostly residential. My dad's been doing this for over 30 years. I've been in the industry for just over 12. I have not personally done commercial, but he has done some before, so we're mostly focusing on residential.

Speaker 2: 1:14

Cool Love that Now you are a father-daughter duo. If I could have a little bit of a background of your story how you got your foot in there, did your dad inspire you, and how you got to where you are today?

Speaker 1: 1:26

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:26

So I like to say that I am like the godchild of real estate, because growing up my dad was in real estate and my mom was in new home sales and so on the weekends I would go with my mom to her model home and I would play in the backyard and pretend that I was just some random neighbor kid sometimes when she had clients in, and then with my dad I would go with him on showings with his clients as well.

Speaker 1: 1:49

So I really just kind of grew up in the industry. So when it came time for me to be like, oh, I need a job and I need to do something with my life, I was like this is a good stepping stone for me and it's something that I already feel like I have a good understanding of, which is such a silly thing to say, like, looking back on it, like there's so much to know about real estate and it's such an ever changing industry that I definitely got in a little over my head. I like had, you know, a little too much confidence going in, but hey, that's a good thing.

Speaker 2: 2:20

Hey, it's been right.

Speaker 1: 2:21

Fake it till you make it right. But it's been, I think, 12 years now, so I've kind of proven myself right. So I'm doing yeah, I'm pretty happy with it. It's been the best. I think for me it's the best career. It the best. I think for me it's the best career. It's so flexible. You get to see all kinds of different people, all kinds of different scenarios, homes, all kinds of different fun homes. So yeah, that's kind of how I got into it and I originally joined my dad at the brokerage he was with and I realized that I needed a little bit more training as a newer agent. My dad knows everything under the sun.

Speaker 2: 2:58

Isn't that great, though, Like that's your mentor and your dad. It's so good.

Speaker 1: 3:01

It's so good and it's also really helpful because I never feel like I'm asking a stupid question. You know what I mean. Like I feel like there's so many scenarios in the world where you're like I have a question, but maybe it's silly, but I can ask my dad anything that's awesome he never makes me feel stupid Go.

Speaker 2: 3:15

Dad.

Speaker 1: 3:16

Right, right. So that's awesome. But I wanted a little bit more training and while he answers all my questions, he's maybe not the best teacher. So I decided to join a brokerage that had a lot more training and he followed me, and that's when we became an official team. So that was probably a six-month period of like, where are we going to wind up? What are we going to do? And then, when we finally like planted our roots. We have been there ever since and we've been a team ever since, and it's been really awesome.

Speaker 2: 3:46

How exciting. And now you're expanding. So does that mean, I guess, like you guys have been getting busy? Yeah, all that clients and potential leads coming in, so real estate.

Speaker 1: 3:56

Like I love being honest with people, real estate is very feast or famine. It can be very up and down. Um, it really you get out of. Last year I had my first child, congratulations.

Speaker 2: 4:12

Thank you, boy girl.

Speaker 1: 4:13

He's a boy, he's so precious, and it really like threw me for a loop because, like I had, you know, I thought like, oh, I have systems in place and it's going to be okay. And I had like a crazy pregnancy and a crazy postpartum period. I had a lot of surgeries and I accidentally wound up taking a year off of work, like unexpected, kind of just like recovering from everything and coming back into things and like going back into the swing of things. I was like I need like things to motivate me to really like focus and really get back into the swing of things. And I had a conversation with a co-worker, sandy.

Speaker 1: 4:53

I guess we're kind of coworkers in real estate. It's not really a coworker but she's kind of my coworker and I was talking to her and I just thought this was like the best opportunity for the both of us that you know I can use my skills to and my experience to kind of help her. Her and then also having her kind of beneath me and needing that help really helped motivate me really like jump back in and like really get back into the swing of things. So, um, it is, it's really eye-opening.

Speaker 1: 5:23

It's really eye-opening to like have someone under you because as a team with my dad, yeah it's not the same, you know like it's a very casual, you know, and it's like dynamic yeah, it's just so laid back. But like having someone who's like really looking up to you in a different way, you know it like really motivates me to be better.

Speaker 2: 5:41

No, and that's a good thing. You've got to have that nice balance right.

Speaker 1: 5:44

Yeah, so it's been really awesome and it's just been a little while now that she's joined the team, but it so far has been amazing, amazing, and she also is fantastic. She's also an event planner and so she has like great ideas for team events, which is not something sorry client appreciation events, which would also be team events that I haven't done before, and so it's like she brings a whole new aspect and like a whole new form of life to the team. So it's amazing.

Speaker 2: 6:07

It's been really awesome, I love that I love how you guys are just like finding ways to like better yourselves and also learning from each other. That is so great. Yeah, talk to me a little bit about marketing, like you're having team events or client events. What are you guys doing on social?

Speaker 1: 6:21

media. Social media is like the bane of my existence.

Speaker 2: 6:25

Sorry.

Speaker 1: 6:26

I want so badly to be this like social media agent and I just don't have, like I have all the ideas but the execution and like the video editing and I just get very caught up in it and I overthink it so much and then when I finally come up with something and like really follow through and do it, it's great and I'm like, oh, I should just do this all the time. But, my god, is it a time investment? Yes, it's a lot, and so I'm really trying to be better with social media. Um, sandy's awesome with social media.

Speaker 1: 6:58

I am, so she's also helping us in that regard as a team. Um, like I said, we haven't done team events before, so or any client appreciation event that's been like a true event. Yeah, so I like to do a gingerbread house decorating contest every year and it's like our favorite thing. We get these big kits from Costco and we give them to all of our past clients and we do a contest on social media, and so that's like that's our big social media push for the year.

Speaker 2: 7:24

No, I love that, though. That means people are going to be looking forward to it.

Speaker 1: 7:27

Yes, and then they're also sending their family to our page to vote for them, so it's awesome. It also sending their family to our page to vote for them. So it's awesome. It's so fun. But that's really like that's our client appreciation thing every year, so I'm really excited for having like real events. We're planning one at the end of October. It's going to be at a winery, so we don't have all the details ironed out yet, but we're really excited, but it's coming, so look forward to that.

Speaker 2: 7:49

And when it is posted, where can people find that? Will it be on your website, social media?

Speaker 1: 7:53

Right now we're going to start out with kind of like a VIP list, so it's just going to go out to our past clients and our sphere. But we might open it up. You know, it just depends right on how much space we wind up having. So we'll see. We'll see it might be out in the open. Okay, very exclusive.

Speaker 2: 8:11

I love it. Okay, so tell me a little bit about your dad and yourself. How is that relationship at work? I know you talked to me a little bit about the background and stuff, but how is that dynamic? Can it be hard sometimes, just in case people are just like, hmm, wondering, you know, yeah, yes, okay, so it's awesome.

Speaker 1: 8:31

I love working with my dad. Dad, I love working with you, but sometimes, yes, it can be hard, because I am the team owner and I am his child, and so it is a little hard to be the boss of your dad, sometimes like as a kid. You're always like, you know.

Speaker 2: 8:46

I want to be the boss of you.

Speaker 1: 8:47

You know like you're not the boss of me and it's like I'm I'm really his boss now, you know, in a way. And so it's kind of crazy. It's hard sometimes to be like the way this happened maybe should have happened differently. I'm sorry. You know like it's awkward to like to to not scold, but you know like to kind of give that constructive criticism sometimes. But on the flip side, I think it's the same for him. Sometimes for him it can be hard for him to be as like direct with me about it. Like I said earlier, like we don't really feel that we have stupid questions with each other, but there are certain moments where it's kind of like oh, this is an awkward thing to have to say to you. You know like it's weird to have to try to like not correct you but just kind of give you feedback.

Speaker 2: 9:33

Constructive criticism.

Speaker 1: 9:34

Right yeah, sometimes it can be a little awkward. So, in that regard. It can be a little awkward sometimes, but overall, like we have so much fun. We are like the most ridiculous people. I swear Like we just made a reel for Instagram where we're like running around our client's house being lunatics.

Speaker 2: 9:52

I'm going to have to check that out now.

Speaker 1: 9:53

It's so ridiculous, it's so silly and thankfully our client is awesome and is okay with it, because not every client is okay with that.

Speaker 1: 9:58

No, no, no, I can imagine, which is also fine, yes, you know different things for different clients, absolutely, but for the most part we have so much fun. We love working together. Also awesome that, like when I accidentally took my year off, he was still there, you know, so he was still able to answer the phone for our clients and do the showings and you know, like things like that. So it's been really. It's been really awesome. And I don't think that I would still be in the industry if I weren't on a team with my dad.

Speaker 2: 10:28

Oh, wow. No, that's so cool. That's why I wanted to know, because that's not like an everyday thing.

Speaker 1: 10:31

I'm sure there are some occasions but since I have you here.

Speaker 2: 10:33

I was like you know what. Let me ask. So I appreciate the honesty.

Speaker 1: 10:37

And I'm sure our listeners do too, and it's just part of life, with everything.

Speaker 2: 10:41

Sometimes it's hard to have like certain dynamics in a company, so it's good to know.

Speaker 1: 10:55

So where do you guys see yourselves in the next three, five years? Yeah, so adding a team member has really kind of opened my eyes to like how much it keeps me accountable and keeps me motivated. So I actually am not really looking to build a huge team, but I think that I would like to grow our team a little bit more and kind of focus on that and having like a standard across the board with my team and like kind of like building up our team presence. So I think that's kind of like my new goal and I just realized it a few months ago like I really want to just build a succinct team and we're all on the same page and we all you know what I mean like mesh well together and help each other and grow exactly.

Speaker 2: 11:29

Yeah, okay, I love that. So we're gonna put that out in the universe. What kind of team member are you looking for? Yeah, I want to know.

Speaker 1: 11:36

I am looking for someone who is really motivated but is not looking for a type A team leader. I am not going to be the type of person who's going to like jump down your back and I'm not going to yell at you and I'm not going to like, like I said earlier, you get out of real estate what you put into it, and I am not the type of person who's gonna force you to put something into it if you're not willing. So I want people on my team who are already willing, who are already like hustlers and motivated yeah, I know that they want this so that I can help guide them into really getting it right. I I don't want someone who loves HGTV and it's like. I just want to look at pretty houses all day.

Speaker 2: 12:17

There's work behind that, ms Pam. There's a lot of work behind it, right, absolutely Okay. So if that sounds like you hit, Chelsea up yeah. Awesome, awesome. When you're not in the real estate world, what kind of stuff do you like to do to unwind so you can get back into the groove at work? Like even just an example at work, I'm sorry when you took your break for a year, like what kind of things were you doing and then finding yourself that you're doing again to help you, you know.

Speaker 1: 12:44

So that's a little tricky. When I, when I accidentally took my year off, I had had, I had had surgery while I was pregnant, so I had my appendix removed while I was pregnant, so I didn't even know that was possible.

Speaker 2: 12:56

Double whammy there, yeah it was crazy.

Speaker 1: 12:58

So I had my appendix removed while I was pregnant and then I had to have two surgeries after pregnancy to like help deal with the issues that that created. So during that time I truly was like just laid out, like that was like like it took everything out of me. I was just like here's my baby and here's my surgery.

Speaker 2: 13:15

I love that.

Speaker 1: 13:16

I'm just sitting. Um, but getting back into things, like I recently started taking tennis classes and I really love them. I wanted to play tennis my whole life and I just was like I don't know why I've never taken a class before. So, um, I've recently started doing that and I really love it. Um, I'm part of a book club. I started a book club probably I don't know maybe five years ago, cool, and we kind of fell off after COVID and we've really gotten back into it again in the last year. So I really like reading, I love Audible, I love podcasts, I love just like listening to things that are like take my mind off of stuff you know like outside of my realm.

Speaker 1: 13:53

You know like I would never listen to an audiobook about selling houses like right you're like I'm living in yeah it's my unwind time if I needed, like you know, self-growth or self-development in a way right, like that's different, but as far as like unwinding, that's what it is right, yeah I'm all about like silly rom-com books.

Speaker 2: 14:12

Totally, yeah, no, I always like to ask business owners, entrepreneurs that, because I want to know, like that's part of the key to success is not burning yourself out, is understanding how they're finding that balance, how they're unwinding, because, yes, it's good to be a workaholic, but you also need to make sure that you are taking time for yourself, because otherwise it can bring you out and I know some people are different and that's totally cool, but the majority, I think yeah, that's just.

Speaker 1: 14:35

I agree especially now that I have a child, it's so different, like it's really eye-opening. I have so much more respect for parents now. Um, it's been really eye-opening to know like, okay, this is, this is the set time in which I have to do this today, because this is when he is at daycare and when he gets home. That is, that is it for me. I can't he if I have to pull my laptop out. It's like keyboard smash for him. Yes, so it's like really put me into being like a really time blocking type of person which I wasn't before.

Speaker 1: 15:06

So it's been really. It's been really eye opening to be like okay, I'm burnt out in this, I'm getting. I can feel that I'm starting to get burnt out here and I need to just take a step back and just maybe my dad can handle this task for me today, yes, I just need to listen to my audio book and take a bath you know, and it also helps your clients to have you at your hundreds. Exactly Love that.

Speaker 2: 15:28

What are some challenges going on right now in the real estate world and how are you guys handling it together as a team? I know was it on the 16th, I think the new law came into place, I think the 17th, it's been interesting.

Speaker 1: 15:48

So even before this, I was at a training for it, because I think that a lot of agents in the industry are misinformed, under-informed and just completely clueless. Not to bash any agents, it's really just a under-informed and just completely clueless. Not to bash any agents, it's really just a result of the industry Like this all kind of came with in Virginia. We had a lot of warning, we had a lot of information given to us ahead of time, but it's changing very frequently, like as every day passes. They're like oh well, we might be changing this document again, we might be changing this document again, we might be changing this rule again, and so, while we are a little bit prepared for the changes that are taking place, mostly in Virginia, again, we were prepared. We already had buyer agency, so we already had what the nationwide one of the nationwide changes that took place is that all agents now have to have a representation agreement with a buyer before showing them the home.

Speaker 1: 16:40

Yes, which really having that beast being something that we've already had in virginia, like I can see the value in it and I know that we should have it. It makes sense to me, but if you're in a state that didn't have that, I can totally see how you would be really thrown off, and it's scary to have that conversation with clients for the first time when you've never had to before. Yes, we're used to that, so in that regard, it's just like okay, so there's some paperwork changes. It's not so bad. Yeah, with the changes in how commission is being disclosed has been a really confusing time for a lot of people, because it's no longer allowed in the MLS and there's so much confusion about where it is allowed, and so I think just like staying educated and taking as many courses and classes that we can is the best we can do to help serve our clients the best way that we can and also protect them, because we don't want to say the wrong thing or have them sign the wrong form.

Speaker 1: 17:33

You know even things that can be corrected relatively easily. You just don't want to have to go back and do those things Exactly.

Speaker 2: 17:39

No, yeah.

Speaker 1: 17:40

Yeah, I think education is so important and just staying on top of every little change that we can, so that we can be the best prepared for our clients.

Speaker 2: 17:48

Yeah, I like that. You guys were maybe just a little bit ahead of the curve because you were aware, like educated, you knew that you guys already had that in virginia.

Speaker 2: 17:54

Just a couple additional paperwork, so I think that's really cool and yeah it shows a lot on your um, on your business and your team members, about how you guys are getting ready and staying educated and making sure you're on top of the latest like trends, issues, law changes, so I think that's important when um clients are looking for real estate agents is just yeah, do your research and make sure that they're aware and like whatever you guys are putting out on your website or social media. Like guys. Yes, there's a change coming, but we've actually already had this in Virginia. We're good, so have confidence to come to our place and even just for other agents.

Speaker 1: 18:29

I mean, like, guys, if you're an agent, just take the courses, take the classes. They're so helpful. I truly think there's enough business for all of us. So I have no like. It does not benefit me to put down another agent. You know what I mean. I think that we should all be collaborative and I think we should all work together, even in different brokerages and everything you know. And so I think, just having an open conversation and maybe if you have an agent on the other side of a transaction who doesn't know exactly the amount that you do or maybe they know more than you do but just approaching conversations with some grace, you know, and just knowing like huge changes just took place and maybe we don't all know the right verbiage yet or we don't all know the right way to fill out that specific new form yet.

Speaker 1: 19:13

Just being open and friendly with each other will go a really long way.

Speaker 2: 19:17

I agree. Friendliness is always the key, right. Yeah, yeah, love that While I have you here. Is there anything that you would like to share with the audience that maybe I have not touched on yet?

Speaker 1: 19:26

I don't think so, okay, yeah, I just want to make sure, yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:29

Cover all the bases? Yeah, darn, I forgot to ask that, oh yeah, I always like to double check, make sure If you could give a piece of advice to any entrepreneur or business owner, real estate agent with, I guess, marketing or networking with other people, would you recommend, I guess, going to business networks? And meeting other people, and how does that benefit?

Speaker 1: 19:53

I think my best advice is to find your crew, like find your business babes, find your business dudes I don't know what you guys call each other If you have a little man friend group, whatever. Find your crew, though. Like find the people who really support you who are also small business owners. I have found like immense support just in my little group of we call each other the business babes, and we have a hairdresser, we have a florist, we have a party planner, we have a artist. We have an artist. We have gosh. There's a couple other girls in there. We have some girls that sell like products. We have someone who does Pampered Chef. We have things like that.

Speaker 2: 20:38

Love it.

Speaker 1: 20:38

We have all kinds of different industries and we all have different ways that we handle things in our own industries. That can sometimes merge over that we hadn't thought of before, right, and so it's really helpful to just have a crew of people who can help you. One of the girls is a marketer, so she's also awesome who can help you. One of the girls is a marketer, so she's also awesome. She's like, yeah, like she always has good advice, like it's so awesome to just have that group of people. And also, as an entrepreneur, you always feel that you need to be on, you know, and you have a hard time letting your guard down and like showing your true feelings about how your month is going or whatever the situation may be. And so having a group of people who get it, who you can complain to, without them thinking, oh gosh, she's going through a hard time in her business right now, like, maybe, maybe that's not who I want to talk to, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 21:27

And so because people, people don't really take things with a grain of salt when they see, when they see you complain about just anything Exactly, and so it's so good to have that community, that community of people who get it, who are on the same page as you and you can all complain with each other and you can all celebrate with each other and be yourselves and not feel judged. Yes, it's amazing.

Speaker 2: 21:46

Yeah, no, I love that. Let's see, I'm trying to think of some good questions while I have you here. I'm trying to think of some good questions while I have you here.

Speaker 1: 21:55

Yeah, if you could leave our listeners with any piece of advice or message, or maybe share a mantra or saying that you like to live your life by just as inspiration we would love to. I think I think I my biggest thing is just being kind. Think I my biggest thing is just being kind. Um, I think in this industry there are a lot of bigger players who are not as kind as they could be, and I have always kind of felt like it doesn't matter how successful you are or how new you are or if you're starting over. Um, you can always get further in life and in business by being kind and that's kind of my, that's kind of just like my goal, my goal in business, my goal in life, is just to kind of have kind conversations, even when it's a hard conversation.

Speaker 1: 22:43

Sometimes, I will admit, it doesn't serve me as well as it could. You know, you have maybe a bad experience with a service provider and instead of being blunt and saying, hey, I don't like the way X, y and Z turned out, fix it. Because I don't like the way X, y and Z turned out, fix it because I don't like X, y and Z. I maybe am a little too kind with them, but at the end of the day, I do get the same result, but maybe not as quickly as I could if I was more aggressive with them. I just try to be more thoughtful in my approach with other people in the industry, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 23:13

Showing grace, being kind.

Speaker 1: 23:15

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 23:15

Sometimes it's like a balancing act. You just got to find that happy Right.

Speaker 1: 23:18

Because you do still want to be a bull, right when you're representing your clients, right? So don't mistake me Exactly.

Speaker 2: 23:23

Don't get it twisted, y'all.

Speaker 1: 23:24

Okay, yeah, I mean you still want to be the bull for your clients. But like the industry conversations, industry engagement, things like that, you can just be friendly, just be nice I agree, in any industry share your tips. You know, like I. Like I said, I just think there's enough business for all of us. So if you've got something that's really working for you, share it. You know, if someone asks, you don't have to just willy-nilly share it but you know, absolutely no.

Speaker 2: 23:49

Yeah, thank you so much I really appreciate it you coming in with your like, positivity and everything. We love it. So thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. I've