Married in Real Estate: Josue Soto on Partnerships, Personal Branding and 20 Years of Growth

Host 00:00

There's times that I'll go in these rooms and I won't even say a word. You ultimately end up building relationships on the things that are happening in your personal life.

Host1 00:06

There's no such thing as time blocking when you're building a business.

Host 00:09

You know, just connecting with people on a personal level around the things that really matter. Teaching yourself and pushing yourself to that limit because you can do you're connecting with people, you're running with people, you're doing those types of things, and it translates to a lot of business success.

Host1 00:22

Because not everything is going to be for free.

Host 00:24

You just got to go there and show up. What's up, everybody, Grant Wise? Welcome back to the Partner in Profit Podcast. Today I get to have a conversation with one of my longest standing, dearest friends in the industry, somebody I've known for a very long time, done a ton of business with, Mr. Josue Soto. Some of his friends call him Josh. What up, Josue? How's it going, man? Thanks for being with me today.

Host1 00:46

Hey, Grant, thank you so much for the invite. Looking forward to uh what exactly the what's looking for, man. I'm I'm excited, man. I'm great, I'm glad to see that you're doing well. And uh thank you for the invite for sure.

Host 00:56

Of course, man, of course. For people that are listening that maybe don't know much about you, just give uh give us a bit of the backstory. How'd you guys get to where you are today?

Host1 01:03

Right now, this year, 2006, my wife and I, we're you know, we run a uh partner team, a team, and uh we just celebrated 20 years in the real estate industry. And if I look back to 20 years ago, it all started with basically uh connections, man. Being involved in the community, making sure you build your your you know your network. Your net worth is your net worth, you know what I'm saying? That's how it's said to be, you know, and um, you know, we started with that boat, you know, when we came into this uh the real estate industry is crazy because this is when the market was in a downfall, you know, and all these short sales and RELs are popping out. So we were able to dive into that. And it's something that I've learned, I always recommend, and I tell this to all the agents, that you have to try, you you gotta be open-minded and educate yourself every single day. You know, I've been in this industry 20 years and I'm still learning every single day. I have to learn something new because if I'm not educating myself, I'm I'm gonna stay behind, especially the way the industry is just evolving in different ways. And honestly, that's I was I was able to build my real estate business that way, you know, just being involved, growing my network, and really, really dialing into my clients and customer service is the most important. I always recommend that, man. You've got to be very transparent in front of the people, and your follow-up game has to be amazing.

Host 02:17

Well, I know the the podcast is all about partnerships, relationships, but I think it's probably fitting to talk about your most important partnership with your wife. You guys have been in real estate together for a very long time. You've got the Married in Real Estate content series and and business and stuff like that that you guys run. Can you talk a little bit about what it's like to be in partnership with your wife to grow a business, build the empire you guys are building?

Host1 02:38

You know, it's it's about really understanding what are you strong at and what you're not strong at. You understand? I think a lot of times that, you know, we as individuals, I may I'm more of a high D, you know, visionary person. She's more of uh, she is a high D but on the lower C level, and she's more of uh systems in place. So we learned a long time ago that even though, let me tell you, and I'm not trying to separate us because that's one thing we don't do, we don't separate our responsibilities. Uh she's an amazing realtor. But I think her strong suit was more of growth and developing realtors in our industry, and even just educating people. So we learned that about 10, 15, maybe about 10 years ago, we learned that you know what? We have to find a way to make our team as a whole, you and I, that way we can be able to build this out. And we learned that you know our strong suits really are, and the more I'm more of the production follow-up, building out that side of the business, and she's more of the education, the more of bringing on agents, interviewing them, making sure that they were we're preparing them the right way. So I think that that my highly recommend that if you're ever looking at something, it doesn't have to be a husband and wife team, I think it can be any team members, you know, Grant, that you really need to understand what your strong suit is and stick to that. You know, I heard something the other day that made a lot of sense is that you know you you focus on Jesse Isler, someone that I follow a lot. He says he he lives by the rule 100, and what that is, is basically if you focus on one discipline a day for 15-18 minutes a day, that accumulates to 109 hours a year. So imagine you're in the top 95 percent of the USA right now, as far as being ahead of everyone else on that particular discipline, if you just focus on that every single day. And that's one thing that really resonated on me because it's something that being an avid runner, not only that, because I always see things both together, united, the business side and the health side. You understand? Because there's always some type of unity there, and that's where my wife and I see each other, man. We really look at things in perspective and understand that we had to take a step back to and analyze what works for us and what doesn't work for us, and every single day you learn because I always tell everyone don't be afraid to fail. Failure brings prosperity. So if you're afraid to fail, you're gonna fail, you know. So it's always something that we always have to stay focused on that it's gonna happen. So one of the like going back to her and I is our strong suits is that we understand what our strong suits are, and that's how we're able to build the network that we did with the marinade in real estate. That's our brand. You know, it's a brand that we built. We we brought out six years ago. We wrote a book. We're actually actually on the process of completing our second book in the next couple weeks, by the way. I'm glad thank you for bringing that up. So, and uh, we have a Marin Real Estate podcast that's coming back into fruit, and um, you know, we're excited because you'll be surprised how many partners and couples are struggling with this, Grant. We've interviewed, I mean, multiple couples, and I think a lot of the pinpoints are duties. What duties do you have, and time blocking? And you and I both know there's no such thing as time blocking when you're building a business sometimes, you know. Yes, there is, but in reality it's not. And understanding how to separate the two because when you're done with business, you gotta be whole, you gotta be able to separate that. Come home, you got a family, you got kids, and not talk about business. So that's one of those the things that we've seen that people like struggle with a lot, Greg. And um, honestly, I highly recommend that you really look into that more deeply within your partnership or your relationship or your, you know, whatever it is, because that's something that I've learned, we've learned, and we're still learning how to overcome. And um, that's where we're at.

Host 06:35

Yeah, I love it. That's awesome. I would imagine, you know, being in partnership with your wife, you guys have developed a ton of amazing relationships throughout the industry. You guys have a big network in the organization that you've got, you work with some very influential people. I always like to ask this question to all of my guests, and it's a little bit of a thinker. So if you got to take a second to think about it, you know, that's fine. But how do we? I'm asking, like, you got to teach us, how do we turn our relationships into revenue?

Host1 07:03

I will say first, get to know that person, see what their goals are and what your goals is, and see if it works together. I think I learned what I learned a lot of being in this business is being able to leverage each other. Let's see how I can help Grant and how Grant can help me get to where we want to go. And I think that's the biggest problem nowadays that you need that collaboration. With collaboration, you know, it says it you can go somewhere by yourself, but if you can go together, you'll get there a lot faster. And it's so true because it's something that uh we live by, you know, we rather work together with someone that's gonna help us get where we want to go, but also help that person get where they want to go. And I think that it can be one-sided, Grant. You know, we you know, you've known us for many years, and we're we're we're people of integrity. That's the most important part. You got to be a person of integrity, be a person of keeping your words, and the most important is you got to be able to get in the rooms. Those rooms that you feel like you don't get into, once you get into those rooms, you'll be able to see bigger things and bigger opportunities. And that's what we did. How do you get into the right rooms? Go there and just you know what? One thing that I've learned from a lot of our mentors and our friends was you know what, when they say no, you find a way to get in. That's how we did it. I remember seven, eight years ago, nine, almost ten years ago, when I started with NARA, you know, I never expected to get to the level that we're at. That's how I was able to grow my network when I was able to get around individuals that were at a level where I was at or higher that I was like, okay, this is where I want to be at. Because you have to be able to, if you want to scale something, you got to get around the people that is gonna help you scale something. Or you want to you want to become, and I tell everyone is that you want to become the YouTube expert, align yourself with somebody that isn't that great in YouTube, even if you got to hold that camera for them and do something, because not everything is gonna be for free, you just got to go there and show up.

Host 08:57

Why is that the play? You know, and this may sound like a silly question, but why, when you want to do something, should you get around people that are already doing it?

Host1 09:05

If you want to build that relationship, you gotta make sure that they respect you. They want to feel like you're there for a reason, not just wanting to be there. You understand? Because I tell everyone, it's like if I'm gonna get you in this room, you gotta get something out of this room. You hold that person accountable because one thing I did was I had to get one or two big item, action items that I was gonna be able to take back to my business. And the way you get into those rooms is you make sure you find a way and get there. I'm gonna put you in front of it, and I would always say this to a lot of my partners, like yourself and everyone else, is I'm gonna put you in front of the people, it's your job to close them out. Am I right or wrong? You know, that's how I build my business, and this is how I expect it to be. Because I think a lot of times is you can't go too far into helping individuals if they're not willing to take that step and do it by them. If you open the door for me, I'm running through it, I'm not walking through it. You understand? Because you already have to be very prepared to confront and have those questions and be open-minded. And honestly, there's times that I'll go in these rooms and I won't even say a word. I just sit there and I just listen and write notes and write notes. Because a lot of times great listeners become better leaders. And I learned this in John Maxwell. You know, one thing that I've learned is that I had to learn how to take a step back and be a student of the game. I see it instead of being the leader of the game, because the best leaders of the games are actually better students, and that's one thing that I've learned, right?

Host 10:32

Yeah. Can you tell me a story? So we're talking about getting in the right rooms. Do you remember like your own application of that? Tell me a story. What was the room you were trying to get in? How did you get into it? What did you get out of it whenever you did?

Host1 10:45

I think the biggest one was I remember, I want to say it was probably around seven, eight years ago that I really wanted to meet John Sheplight, man. I wanted to hear. I remember that it was at about seven, eight years ago. And I was like, man, this guy, he, you know, he's he's he's up and coming. I mean, you he was up there already, but this is when John really put himself on the map. And I was like, I need to know what he was doing. I mean, his marketing strategies were ridiculous, and I mean it was just amazing. And I said, I gotta find a way. So I connected with the person that I know that that was with coach with them, and I said, How can you get me in that room? I don't care what I gotta pay, you know. They're like, No, no, we can get I can get you in through this. Once I got into that room, I get it. It's just about making sure that you're connected to the right people, Grant. Because one thing that I noticed within our industry is you can't take a step back, but you gotta be two, two, three, four, five steps ahead of everyone else, you know. And that's one thing that I did was I I tried to find that person that can get me to where I want to go. You understand? Or if they if I've done someone a favor and I see something coming up, I'm like, hey, I'll pick up that phone and say, Hey, how can you help me with this? You know, and it's about we go back to building your network. If you're able to build your network, you're able to get in those rooms if you really want to. Because people that and you're working with individuals that know Grant, that know whole sway, they're gonna feel comfortable, like, yeah, absolutely, I'll get you in there because they already you build those relationships already. You know, those relationships are not gonna come to you. You got to be able to have that build that respect, and it's not, and I don't mean just go up to people. I'm like, you know what? If you see someone that you admire, you see them in the hallway, and I remember I'll tell you a quick story. Last year I was in Cabo. I remember I went out for an eight-mile run, and I came home. I came back to the hotel and I showered. I was showering. I told Rebecca, I said, Hey, my biggest go today was to meet Gary Brecker. That's it. I love everyone here speaking, but what I need to get out of my chest, I need to talk to Gary about it. So she looked at me and she was like, Okay, just like that, Grant. I'm telling you, I'm not sending you the video because it wasn't, I'm not joking. So it happened to be when Gary was speaking on stage. I mean, there was like 1,200, 1,500 people in the room, and he started touching on things that I that was I was actually going personally through, and I needed answers for because sometimes you know how it is, medicine is not the way that it is, and Gary is very different. So I want to dive deeper into what I was struggling with and understand how I can fix the problem, you know, even more. So Gary finished speaking on stage. I step outside because I got a I had a business call. I'm sitting literally outside the exit door. Guess who walks out?

Host 13:37

Gary Brecker.

Host1 13:40

And I took advantage, and I have a 40, almost a 30, 40-minute video, just me interviewing Gary right there. Wow. You gotta have strong beliefs, man. And he answered every one of my questions. You took the time to really, because I think the biggest fear that we all have is that we think these people are gonna ignore us. No, they're there for a purpose, they're there to help you. You they want to know, they want to know what you're feeling because that way they can see how they can help you. So it's we go back to getting in those rooms and finding a way and getting a way to get your questions answered. And that's what I did.

Host 14:12

I think that's awesome. Gary's obviously unique individuals, very, very, very smart, has a lot of insight and expertise. So would love to see that video. You have to send it to me. When it comes to building community and developing relationships and strengthening bonds, one of the things that I know you love to do is I know you love to run. And so I'm curious how has your you know, desire to build a business and develop relationships and partnerships, how has that kind of commingled with running and you know, the because you've gone from like not running at all to running like now you're doing ultra marathons and stuff like that. So, like, how have those two things converged and how has that helped you develop stronger relationships?

Host1 14:52

You know, to me, I looked at it as they go hand in hand, Gran, to be honest with you. You know, you can't you can have all the money in the world, but if your health is is lacking, you understand what you can't have one or the other, you gotta have both at that level where you want to go. And I'm telling you this by experience, you know, you and I, you know, we're great friends, so you know what I went through four or five years ago with my health. And after all that happened, I had to take the initiative and say, okay, I'll build a great business, but what is it gonna do for me if something happens to me right now or my family? I have to make sure I kind of take care of my body. One thing that I did was I focused on what my strong suits were and what my weak what was what was I struggling with at that time. And a lot of it was I forgot, you know, being an athlete all my life since I was five years old, I forgot what was important to me, Grant. And that was getting getting that time for you. And people don't understand that just like you need time for yourself, you know, to kind of think through uh things through as far as any business strategies you're developing, running is the same way. Running actually brings me clarity. I mean, there are times that I can tell you this I can be in my office and I'm having a kind of like a little rough day. I'll actually drive home, change my clothes, and go out for a five-mile run, come back home, shower, and go back to the office. Because I just need that time to kind of clear my mind, to refocus and re-energize myself and realign myself or to get this business situation done. And that's the reason I would say they go hand in hand, because when you think about it, you build a business to become successful, you run to become successful, not only for the glorifying part, but for you to be happy with yourself, your health, your family sees you different, people see you differently. Man, we I built such a big community when I started this journey. I'm being honest with you. I have I can't even tell you how many people have followed me since I started running, and I'm educating them, I'm teaching them. I mean, we have a big we have a team right now that I we have a uh team here in our Central Florida team. We have eight of us right now, and all of us, every one of us, have ran 60 miles or more, 100 plus mile races, everything. And the last two years, by the way, this journey's only been we just celebrated three years together, some of us. So it's something that it goes hand in hand for the simple fact that just like you build, you have to go through multiple steps to build successful business and follow steps. The same thing is it's with your hell journey and the running journey, too. You go, you have to find a way how to get that get to that one mile, then you gotta find a way how to get to the three-mile market, the five-mile market. So it's about building up and going and building your body to become who it is, you know. And one thing that I admire the most was when I started this journey three years ago, I started following David Gaggaz. I mean, everyone knows who he is. But one of the things that he said was once you get that half marathon under your belt, don't think you're gonna stay at the half marathon. You're going to a marathon. Because you know why? You have to keep teaching yourself and pushing yourself to that limit because you can do it. And that's how business is, man, nowadays. Sometimes we get so aligned, and they and I, and I and I find myself because I went through it, man. We all gone through it. That you feel like you're you're stagnant in some ways, you know. You have to realign yourself again to get back into it. So that's why to me, running has been such a blessing in my life because it's helped me realign myself with my business and see where I want to go, but also realign me as far as building my health, you know. I mean, like you just said, you know, I never in my life in three years, I used to be a running, I used to love running as a kid, you know, even playing professional baseball, but not the level that I'm at. I mean, at the age that I'm at, where I'm at right now, I can't believe where what I'm doing, you know. But you know, it's it's it's the amount of work I put in because the same amount of work that I put into my business, I put into running a lot of hours a week, you know. So that's how it works.

Host 19:11

It's awesome. I can only imagine what type of relationships you develop when you go compete with people, and it's fascinating because you know you do that, you do that personally with something like running, but you compete with people in business too, right? And yeah, you'd be surprised.

Host1 19:26

It's amazing, Graham. That's a great question because it is so true. You know, when I'm in the in these trail runs, you know, you and your partners start together, but you separate eventually. So you're meeting all these other individuals from I mean, I I've met psychiatrists, uh, pediatrics, surgeons. I mean, these people are like, and you're like, wow, what are you doing on here? But it's crazy because they're going, they went through what I'm going through the same way. So, I mean, I'm in New York City, and I remember I had it was like I had to wait around two hours prior to my to my uh corral being released. So I sat there, I'm not kidding you. I probably met more than like 30 professionals in different industries. We exchanged numbers, we're part of a group right now, and if I was around my other uh friends and all that, I would have probably never never done that because you stick you stick to your what you feel comfortable with, and we go back to getting in those rooms in those uncomfortable situations. So you go around and you start learning so much about people. And I remember one guy, he was a pediatric uh surgeon. That was probably in his 30s, real nice guy, met him on the bus, and we connected. He goes, Hey, what corral you're at? I said, I'm in B. He goes, So am I? Let's take walk together. We ran probably together for the last 10, 12 miles, the first 10, 12 miles together, 15 miles, and all we did was talk about family, kids, and uh we exchanged numbers until this day we're still working together. But think about it, I'm building my network. You see what I'm saying? It's about really aligning yourself and getting because a lot of times you're focusing on the real estate, but yeah, real estate's not gonna bring you that. You got to think about you got to think the bigger picture, you got to think about investors, you got to think about investment groups, you gotta think about that. These are the people that are gonna get you into those rooms where you want to go, you know. So that's how it is.

Host 21:16

There's so many parallels, you know. We we all build relationships with people, and I think we we all try so hard to build relationships based off of the thing that we do, which is you know, real estate or me with co-marketing or you know, investing or car sales or like whatever. And the reality is is you ultimately end up building relationships on the things that are happening in your personal life running, working out, eating right, finance, faith, just all of these different things. And so I think if people spent more time, you know, just connecting with people on a personal level around the things that really matter, I think you'd be shocked at what kind of relationships that ultimately translates to in business. And, you know, you can you can make a lot of money doing that. Maybe that's not necessarily should should that be the Intent, just go develop relationships with people. And I think you're you're amazed. There's this thing, I think it's called um like the seven, yeah, the seven levels of separation. And it's the idea that we are all connected like throughout the globe by just like seven people. So like I know you, and then as a result, like you know all of these other people, so I I know all of these other people through you, and it's it's just this is a fascinating idea. I just think people probably make this stuff too hard. You know, you go back to how you got started in the business, and like you're just connecting with people, you're connecting with people, you're running with people, you're doing those types of things, and it translates to a lot of business success.

Host1 22:38

It's so true what you just said, because the seven levels of connection. I love that you said that because that's where Rebecca and I are out. You know, I have agents in Dubai, I have agents in Spain, I have agents in Puerto Rico, I have agents in Dominican Republic, Mexico, Spain. I mean, we were just overseas. I mean, we were just in Europe last year in 2025 in June, and I got to meet some of my partners out there that are just crushing it out there. But here we go again. It's about being in front of those rooms and being able to build those relationships right now. Rebecca's getting calls from agents from all like almost all over the country trying to co-sponsor with her because we have those connections. We have a platform that we're able to offer these agents to educate them. You know, you're so right, man. You know, it's like you gotta go in there. Don't go in there with a salesy heart, go in there with a giving heart. I always say, man, just hear me.

Host 23:31

It's a central theme in all these conversations, just yeah, just try to help people.

Host1 23:35

Correct. I mean, the more people you go out, if you go out there, you help more people, you will be blessed always. And that's how it is. We've always lived our life that way. I will never change no matter what, because this is who I am. I can be at a certain level in my life. I would never look down to anyone. I always respect from anyone from the bottom all the way to the top because you have they all have to be treated the same way. Doesn't matter.

Host 23:58

Man, this has been a wonderful conversation, as always. I always enjoy talking to you. We've done a lot of cool things together. I think one of the coolest things that we've done is our uh our hundred dollar tipping experiences. That's still one of the highlights of uh of of the endeavors that we've been on. Uh I guess I just got one more question, and that is how can we, as the listeners of the Partner and Profit Podcast, partner with you? What's important to you right now? How can we help you grow?

Host1 24:22

You can help me grow with uh continue bringing me some referral friends. I'm always open-minded to you know learning more about the business and looking for more partners, man. I'm always very easy to go. I'm we're I'm willing and open to get on my calendar and listen, hear you out. And like always, man, I'm always ready, man. I'm always ready to hear everything out, opportunities.

Host 24:42

To uh make it a little clearer for people, what kind of partners are you looking for?

Host1 24:46

I'm always looking for title partners, I'm always looking for lending partners, title companies, home inspectors, real estate, roofing companies, anywhere. It doesn't even have to be in real estate, anything that you got to have, you know, gifts, everything. You know, I'm always open, open-minded to hearing anyone out. You know, if the opportunities seem right, we can partner anytime.

Host 25:04

I love it. All right. Well, I'll make sure that we link up the ways that people can connect with you. So if they want to, they can reach out. I appreciate you spending some time with me today. And this is this has been an awesome conversation, as always. I appreciate you, dude.

Host1 25:15

Oh, thank you, Grant.

Host 25:16

Yeah, yeah. All right, and thank you all for continuing to listen to the Partner Profit Podcast. It's been another epic conversation. I'll see you on the next one. Peace.