Guru Jenny Carrington Highgarden Real Estate

Ian Arnold:
0:00

Hey Rick, we had Ginny Carrington on phenomenal agent. I mean, she's not only an agent, though, she's also an office manager, which was kind of nice to have, I think she might have been our first one, maybe, I know probably have one or two more but she went into how she works with Hi garden, how she gets her people. And I thought that was phenomenal myself

Rick Ripma:
0:21

and how she got going in the business because she, she wasn't from Indianapolis. Now she lived around the area, but she didn't, she had just moved here hadn't been here that long. She was able to get going, how she got going. And, and being a manager, she also knows, you know, she talks about those things that can really help a client but also can help a new agent or, you know, any, any agent that just, you know, wants some additional knowledge. It's she was very, very interesting. I thought, yes.

Ian Arnold:
0:50

So if you're actually looking for a team, you definitely need to listen to this one. I think it actually she goes into what she looks for and the type and even if that's not the team for you, but it'll let you know what you should be asking when you're looking for your team. Welcome to indies real estate gurus, your ultimate guide to the dynamic world of real estate in Indiana, and I'm recruited by your hard work and mortgage guy and I've been in real estate and mortgages for over 24 years. And I'm Ian Arnold, a loan officer on Rick's hard working mortgage team and we are both with advisors Mortgage Group together will empower you with expert advice market trend is assessable stories from Guru realtors and local experts. Whether you're a homeowner and investor or pro, join us as we navigate the thriving indie real estate market. Now get ready to unlock the doors of success. One episode at a time.

Rick Ripma:
1:43

Today, you know, I started the same way every time and but I am excited today. Because we have Jenny Carrington. And you're you're a guru real estate agent. You've been doing this for few years. You've done extremely well. In fact, you've done so well. They made you the office manager of Highgarden real estate on the south side, Greenwood Greenwood. Yes. And that's fairly new. Yeah. So

Jenny Carrington:
2:07

we've been open a little over a year now.

Rick Ripma:
2:09

Okay. And you've been the the manager for the whole time. Yep. Awesome. And I know you got some cool things going on there. But before we get into the, the the things you have going on in there, let's let's start before real estate. Where did you grow up? Where do you go to school? And then and then from there? How did you get into real estate and maybe why did you get into real estate? Gotcha.

Jenny Carrington:
2:30

So I'm actually an ND born native. I was born in Fort Wayne, but I don't remember anything about it. When I was still a baby. So my hometown is actually Cincinnati, Ohio, a little suburb within Cincinnati. We actually grew up right next to Kings Island. I think everyone knows. Yes, yeah. And so it was about three days before I started my senior year, we left Ohio and moved to Michigan, because that's where all of my parents family is from. So, three days before senior year, I started a brand new adventure. So that was kind of exciting. And that's probably when I got real good at having conversations with total strangers. So yeah, so I kind of, you know, my adulthood began in Michigan. And I actually worked the front desk of a hotel. That's where I met my husband. Oh, wow. We didn't start dating right away. But he had a real cute story because he walked over to the front desk, slammed his fist down on the desk, and he said, You and I are gonna have tall, beautiful children one day and I said, Okay. He was right. So a couple years later, we got married. And he was had just graduated college taking on his first job as a teacher. And we moved to Las Vegas. Wow. Yeah. So we lived out there for about eight years started our family got married out there, bought our first house and kind of set up roots out there. And because I was working in the hotel industry at the time, I had just kind of come up in that industry starting again at the front desk at a hotel out there, moved to sales coordinator to sales manager to Director of Sales to overseeing a team. So I just kind of worked my way up through the industry out there. And then once the boys because we got to two kiddos. Once the boys were becoming school age, we decided it was time to come back to like Midwest and raise the family here in a different environment. So that's about we lived in Las Vegas for about eight, almost eight years. And about eight years ago, we moved here.

Rick Ripma:
4:30

And when you came back to dandy or came to me, because you went back to India, it was first time to be an MD since I was a baby. What was your What was your job?

Jenny Carrington:
4:40

So I did end up taking another position with a hotel company here being the director of sales over three hotels on the northwest side. And it just wasn't quite a good fit. It's a very different industry here than it is in Las Vegas as you can imagine. Yeah. But I really didn't know what I wanted to do. So I decided to open an in home licensed daycare, because my youngest was still not school aged yet. And I wanted to be able to spend some time at home with him before he went to school and kind of figure all that out. So I opened a licensed in home daycare had some amazing families, incredible kiddos. But as my youngest got to be his school age, it was like, Okay, I gotta figure out something else, because I don't want to do this forever. So it was actually our real estate agent that had introduced the idea of, well, you've done sales, and you're very personal, I guess, you should maybe consider doing this. And so my husband, I both did it, and got into real estate.

Rick Ripma:
5:38

And so it's kind of interesting, because all that you did beforehand, led up to being successful at real estate, it really did.

Jenny Carrington:
5:46

I feel like I was super, super fortunate, because of the companies that I worked for, especially in Las Vegas, I had been put through formal sales training, and just a lot of those experiences that I had out there really have a lot of crossover within our industry. So I felt really blessed that like, I got a really good foundation to be able to do this career. And I

Rick Ripma:
6:09

would guess that having an in home licensed daycare gave you a good group of people to then work with real estate or to get at least get, you know, referrals. Yeah, did that work? Honestly,

Jenny Carrington:
6:23

I think what I learned more, absolutely, I mean, I'm still connected with several of the people that you know, had brought their kiddos to me, and I get to watch their kiddos grow up even after the fact, which is amazing. But I think more so what it taught me was to be an entrepreneur, to own my own business. Because I think in real estate, it's not just about being a realtor and selling real estate, it's so much more you have to be your own, you know, marketing director, you have to be your own accountant, you have to, you know, wear so many hats in doing real estate and really view it as a business to be successful in it. And so I think that I was able to kind of gain that experience on the other side of sales. It

Rick Ripma:
7:02

is it's it's self employed, you know, how people look at their self employed when their real estate agent? Absolutely. And you have to run a business. Yep. Right. And I think that's tough. I know, for me, I get I get kind of tunnel vision. And I have to make sure that I get out of this role. And I go to this role, you know, this, take this hat off and do that or, and I tend to want to stick in sales the whole time. Right. I don't like accounting. That's not me. Yeah. But you have to when you

Jenny Carrington:
7:31

get good at what you do, then you can outsource the things you don't like. Yes, that's you got to get there first. Yeah,

Rick Ripma:
7:37

you do. And that's not always easy. Right. So how did you get going right away? Because it's a tough business to get going. And you you had been here that long, right?

Jenny Carrington:
7:50

Yeah, I didn't have a huge sphere. Yeah. How did you do that? So I, I mean, I think I started like most people do, I was I, I couldn't just pull the trigger and jump straight into real estate financially, we had to make it all make sense. And so I had given all of my families at the daycare about six months notice. And I said, I better make this happen in six months, or I'm in trouble. And over those six months, I was still running the daycare for essentially 11 and a half hour days with just you know, between prep, get ready the baby's there, and then clean up and set up for the next day. And then the whole rest of the evening, it was you better get your booty in gear and do some real estate. So I was making calls to everyone I knew sending emails, taking as many leads as anyone would give me and trying to pick up open houses and do showings on the weekends. So it was a grind for six months.

Rick Ripma:
8:40

And there's a lot of people who won't do that. Yeah, they I mean, it's, it's, it's very difficult to work 11 and a half hours, and then go to work again, and the different different, especially when it's not a job that you have to go to. Right. That's just you are self motivated. You were, you know, obviously had your goals and and that says a lot about you. I think that's a huge deal that you were you were you had that perseverance and you knew what you wanted. And you and you did it. Thank you. That's awesome. Well, I've worked with lots of people and that's I go by the hardworking mortgage guy where the hard work and everything right. And that's because that matters to me. I believe that's one of the tools to success. And and that's probably one of the things that helped you along with your attitude and your, you know, your your work ethic and working smart and all the other things. Part of it right, right. Yeah. So so now you got into real estate. And how did you like a lot? A lot of people get on a team. What did you do? How did you pick it? How did you pick a place to go work? Yes.

Jenny Carrington:
9:46

So I didn't really do a whole lot of shopping when I started it was our real estate agent that had helped us find and build a house here. And he was also a neighbor of ours that had you know said you should just come into real estate. I think you guys would be great at this And so we ended up joining his team. And so for about the first two years, I was on a team, I learned so much. I started with FC Tucker, great foundation, awesome training, I had a lot of support, which was incredible. And after about two and a half years, it was kind of like, okay, like, I feel like we're ready for the next step. I, I've always been a super driven person, I just never, I'm never quite satisfied, I always want to go for a little bit more, and what else can I do? And how else can I contribute? And so it was time to start talking about maybe we come off the team? And did that look like staying where we were or going somewhere else. And so we started having conversations as you do. And that's how I found Highgarden. And I just was absolutely called to them. Every conversation I had, I wanted one more everyone I talked to I wanted to talk to one more person.

Ian Arnold:
10:50

So let me ask what, what about them drew you in?

Jenny Carrington:
10:55

I so I have kind of this checklist of things that I knew I needed to have in order to be successful, because I done fairly well for myself the first couple of years in real estate, but and so I knew I had this sort of checklist of things that I wanted, and a lot of places were checking the boxes, you know, it was the people it was the culture and the atmosphere and the conversations that I was having, and, and truly feeling like I was being valued and heard and that there was opportunity that and I didn't even know what that opportunity looked like yet at that point, opening an office was not even part of the vision. So to feel like I had a voice within that brokerage and to be so well received by them. And to feel like I was truly not just going to have the support of this, you know, the checklist, the task items that I needed. But to truly kind of have that kinship with the people that I'd be working with was it was just an incredible feeling. You

Rick Ripma:
11:56

can check everything off. Yeah, but culture. Yeah, matters.

Jenny Carrington:
12:00

It really does, especially for me, I know, it's not going to be a driving force for everyone. I, you know, Highgarden might not be the place for everyone. But I definitely think that if that's something that's important to you, I couldn't have asked for a better fit. Well,

Rick Ripma:
12:16

I've spent a lot of time in business. Because I'm old, as Ian says, and I will tell you, I was never one who thought culture mattered. But as I look back, it's probably one of the most important things, the places that and I and I'm not a jump ship type person. I when I go somewhere, you know, I work there a long time. Right? I don't. And there were places I looked back at and I thought I don't know what I was thinking, Why was I still there culture did not fit anymore. I should have moved on. Yeah. And then when you find the culture, and the right place to be and it's enjoyable, then. I mean, it's that's everything. Yeah. So. And like you said, it's there's no culture that's right for everybody. But what is it now with like, if somebody's listening, and they're, they're looking for a new a new home? Or maybe they're a new agent, and they're looking? Why would they talk to you? Why would they consider working with you?

Jenny Carrington:
13:17

That's a great question. I think that it really comes down to Highgarden is so well rounded, we really do have all like I said, they checked all the boxes. So all of the resources that I was going to need, they provide leads, they have a client management database system, they have an astounding amount of technology available for us to be able to use to simplify our business. The support, there are so many I mean, we have three owners, Chris, Brian and Steve and I swear to you can go knock on their door and say I need help. And they'll say come in and sit down, to have that kind of accessibility to our ownership is incredible. And in addition to that, we have so many other people that have such big supporting roles, and that anybody would be willing to sit down and talk throw a dart at any one of our agents, and they'd be willing to take a phone call and say I can help you. And that's the kind of culture that we're creating. We're particular about who we bring on board, because we want to protect that ecosystem.

Rick Ripma:
14:16

Yeah. Now, do you have teams? So if somebody wants to be on a team, there's their teams available? There's a lot of options. Absolutely.

Jenny Carrington:
14:23

Yeah. There's a lot of flexibility and how people want to grow. So we Yeah, yeah, we've got tons of independent agents. We also have several really successful teams. Yeah.

Rick Ripma:
14:32

I mean, I would if I were getting into real estate, I would want to be on a team to start. To me, it makes total sense. I want to be on a team with a good culture in a good office where like you said, everybody is willing to help. Yeah, I think that's vitally important for success. I

Jenny Carrington:
14:48

think that's what's so amazing about Highgarden is because I totally hear you and I started the same way thinking that mentality of like, this is like a safety net for me. I think what's so awesome about Highgarden is that you can do it You can do it independently, because you'll never fail to have that support, because of all of the different people that you have to reach out to. So like me in the Greenwood office, I'm always accessible to my agents, but I'm also doing one on one coaching with at least seven of them right now. Because that's what they need. Right?

Rick Ripma:
15:17

Well, coach is invaluable.

Ian Arnold:
15:19

So let me ask this. So we all know what a real estate agent does, or basically most, most people, not everybody, but we watch HGTV that's solely Correct. We'll get more of that later. But what does an office manager actually do? Yeah.

Jenny Carrington:
15:35

Oh, hey, good question. So I still do real estate. But I've scaled it back, it's much more about working with my past clients referrals, that they give me referrals that my partnerships give me, because I want to make sure that I have enough time to be able to create these opportunities and coaching and stuff for the agents in my office. So a lot of what I do is, right now is a lot of coaching, it's kind of the beginning of the year. So we always kind of kick off with that. But I also try and create a lot of team building activities and a lot of training opportunities for agents on the south side. So we have tons of training at the corporate office. But I also want to make that accessible to all of my agents that are down on the on, you know, down in Greenwood and Franklin and burgers Ville and everything as well. So it's, you know, creating these opportunities, we're gonna go do a scavenger hunt with essentially a builder crawl, we're going to do a filming B roll day. So it's not just stuff that happens in our office, like we like to be out and about in crowd create those connections with affiliates and partnerships, too, because that's just as important.

Rick Ripma:
16:40

Yeah, it's, it's vitally important, like a builder. You know, I spent 11 years with a new home builder. And that is a to me, that connection between real estate agent builder is vital. Yeah, for both sides. Yeah. You know, and but as a real estate agent, who understands how the builder works, and understands that process, biggest problem we'd run into, or not really a problem, but the the agents with have, some of them has, it takes six months or eight months for them to close. But once they understand the process, and they get it and they start doing some of it, actually, they that most people like it. Absolutely, though, yeah. So it's, it's a it's a good way to keep, you know, for the right client. Yeah, it's a great option.

Jenny Carrington:
17:25

And that's exactly what it is, is making sure that we as the agents understand the different options that are available so that we have, you know, this arsenal of things that we can present to our clients. It's all about what's the right fit for them, right. So so

Rick Ripma:
17:38

if there's anybody listening that maybe they want to talk to you about becoming a real estate agent, or maybe coming to your team, or maybe they're looking to buy or sell a house, what would be the best way to get a hold of you? Text me? And what what, what's the best number?

Jenny Carrington:
17:52

Yep, 317-557-6244 Just text me and say, Hey,

Rick Ripma:
17:59

that number is 317-557-6244. Yep, perfect. And to get a hold of ESRI got a hard working mortgage guys.com That's hard working mortgage guys.com Or you can call us at 317-672-1938. It's 317-672-1938.

Ian Arnold:
18:16

All right, so we're gonna take a sidestep from real estate. Let's get to know you a little bit more. So what do you do for fun?

Jenny Carrington:
18:23

Spend time outside. I really love just being in nature, you know, doing anything outside whether it's playing basketball with the boys or I especially love hiking, kayaking. I went whitewater rafting twice. The first time was literally the best day of my life. The second time was the worst. I almost died.

Ian Arnold:
18:46

Let's go more into this. I love whitewater rafting. So how did you

Jenny Carrington:
18:54

so my husband and I had the year before had gone to do whitewater rafting with an outfitter on the upper and lower golly river. And it was incredible. The weather was beautiful. It was you know, just the the first day on the lower was intense, but nothing too big. The second day was incredible. We hit this big rock named pillar and we just slid down and it was like you know all of us are high fiving paddles. And it was like the coolest moment. We were the only ones not to capsize or lose anyone on that that day. So our guide won a buck from everybody else, which was cool. It was just it was such an amazing experience we had camped, being in nature. And again, the weather was just beautiful. So we decided we should do this again. But we should take some friends with us. So we had some friends come down from another state drove with us the whole time it rained. And so as we're going down the lower, this is day one, we're going down the lower Golly. And I just remember it we're about to Hit the last class for rapid which is the highest you can do on a commercial outfitter route to hit the last class for rapid and I remember turning around to the guy and I said, you know, this just feels so much more intimidating than it did last year. And I'm not sure why. And he goes, Well, yeah, there was like any spouts off some number 20,000 cubic tons more water pumping into every Inlet in the river because of hurricane in. Uh huh. So it's like, oh, okay, and then we turn around and we start paddling like, Huh. And you know, before you get to each one, they'll kind of tell you this is this is what it's called this is I forget the name of it, but he said, and underneath there, there's a pocket called the doubles hands. So if you fall out, you're gonna swim hard, and to the left, you've got to stay out of that pocket. Because basically, it's just an underwater cavern, there's like nothing there, you'll get trapped. So of course, as we're going, we flip, and I pop out on the wrong side. So my husband fell out, he ended up staying on the correct side and just floated downstream was still rough ride for him. But he stayed on the correct side, everyone else managed to stay in and I went under the raft and popped up on the wrong side. So by the time I kind of got to the top of the water, I realized I'm about to hit a rock, and all I can do is kind of brace for him. And then I like I hit the rock spun around, got caught on a tree that was like, essentially a fallen branch underwater. And I'm holding on trying to ride this fallen limb for my life, because I can see the devil's hands right in front of me. And I know if I let go, I'm going under. And that's it. Um, unfortunately, no one could get to me and I probably rode the branch for about five minutes and couldn't hold on anymore, because the waves are just lapping over you. So I ended up down in the pocket. And I just kind of remember having this like moment, it was very serene, which was weird. I just had this moment of like, this is how I go. But of course, your survival instinct kind of takes over. So I'm like, Okay, if I could claw my way across the bottom of the riverbed, maybe I could get hold of tree roots or something and pull my son I don't know. Honestly, it was by the grace of God that I made it out. So I only remember is kind of clawing my way. But I'd been under for several minutes at this point. So like, I'd never lost consciousness, but I'm starting to lose it. And all of a sudden I see light. So I just start digging my way for whatever that light is. And I popped out on the other side. So somewhere in those that pocket underneath, there was a hole. And so I slipped out on the other side and I came up and a rescue kayaker fished me out of the water, and I jacked my knee up pretty good. So they kind of gave me the option of sorry, this is really long story. You're good. They kind of gave me the option of we can either airlift you out of here because my knee was jacked up, or, yeah, we can put you back in the raft ride you princess is what they call it, where they just set you in the middle. And we have one more rapid to go. That was a class three. So if they had airlifted me out, it would have taken hours and I'm like, How expensive is that going to be? Nothing. You just put me in the middle and let's go. So they put me in princess. We wrote the last rapid and then the bus drove me right to the hospital.

Ian Arnold:
23:10

That's an awesome story. I don't care what anybody says.

Jenny Carrington:
23:13

But I was back at work on Monday.

Ian Arnold:
23:16

So I think that one of the best things was there was a it was a loose lip. Because you hear about those guys that the trees that have fallen in you get trapped underneath. Yeah. And that's how a lot of people end up going. Yeah. So that loose limb was great that it was there me about a handle hold on too much. But at least it was loose.

Jenny Carrington:
23:34

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, unfortunately, I heard about three days later, someone else did not make it out. So you know, you realize like these things that we do and we think we're invincible, you're not but also I just kind of took away from it. I don't know that I'll ever go whitewater rafting again. But I also don't want to be afraid to just continue to live life. I've always been an adventurer, and I still want to try new things. And it's just it's not gonna stop me. Well,

Rick Ripma:
24:01

I know I don't want to do something that when somebody tells me about the story, they say, Our guide got$1 from all the other RAS because we were the only one who didn't lose

Ian Arnold:
24:12

anybody. No, no. She said flip not lose. She said no. She said

Jenny Carrington:
24:19

I have to flip over or dump anyone in the water.

Rick Ripma:
24:24

I don't think I'm gonna go five of the six boats lost somebody.

Jenny Carrington:
24:28

I'm not doing that. It's actually very common. When you're whitewater rafting that someone gets chucked from the raft. It happens all the time. Yeah, that's normal. Yeah, it doesn't sound like we talked out of ever whitewater rafting,

Ian Arnold:
24:44

it's no offense. So Rick's family, they're obsessed with birds. So they're their idea is just going around round binoculars looking at random birds in the sky. So I could get done with that too.

Rick Ripma:
24:56

He's underselling that a little bit. First I'm not a birder. Okay, second my oldest son owns a bird tour company. They take people all over the world birding. My middle son is one of his guides. So they, they both just got back one from South America, one from Central America. My oldest one just not to lie like a month ago was in a, where are the Korea or Vietnam? He's in Vietnam and over there. I mean, they're all over

Jenny Carrington:
25:26

the island just like birdwatching, your backyard? No,

Rick Ripma:
25:29

which also is not all that, you know, comforting to go flying all over the world with all the world strive. But No kidding. Yeah, they make sure they're safe. But yeah, but whitewater rafting sounds fun. But I will observe it from the shore.

Jenny Carrington:
25:47

Maybe just a gentle kayak. Yeah.

Rick Ripma:
25:50

Yeah. And I'm actually a good swimmer. I used to swim two miles a day. Yeah. So

Jenny Carrington:
25:54

what's funny is I pride myself on I've I've grew up in pools and ponds. And so I've always been a strong swimmer. And you have a lifejacket? You have a helmet. And when you're against a class for rapid it just don't matter.

Rick Ripma:
26:05

I know. That's, that is my point. Right there. I agree. Yeah, that's that's not but you're you. What else do you do outdoors? I know. You'd like to hike.

Jenny Carrington:
26:13

I love to hike. I love to hike. So Eagle trace is definitely a place I go. Just a lot of little local parks on the south side, too. So any, you know, time there's something new that's opened up. I like to check it out. Just to

Rick Ripma:
26:24

you know, it was awesome to go and just take it doesn't even have to be a long hike. Go take half an hour. 45 minutes in via nature. Yeah, that changes your day. It really

Jenny Carrington:
26:33

does. Yeah, I try and spend some time in the sunshine every day because it makes me happy. Yeah.

Rick Ripma:
26:39

That is That is true. I realized, as I said that so does so does right water rafting that changed her day. Yes.

Jenny Carrington:
26:47

I still learned something valuable from it. Right? We persevere. We keep going. So it's okay. You're survivor. That's why

Ian Arnold:
26:56

no matter what your kids put you through, you can survive. That's so

Jenny Carrington:
26:59

true. Although, rapids kids, sometimes I think.

Rick Ripma:
27:06

Yeah, later on you Oh,

Ian Arnold:
27:08

they're great. They're great. They're moved out and they're gone, then either join them. Alright, Rick,

Rick Ripma:
27:14

I'm gonna let me say my, your favorite question. Yeah. All right. So so what would you say is your superpower or superpowers as it relates to real estate?

Jenny Carrington:
27:26

I think it's two things really. Being a good educator, and having empathy. I think that it's really easy for us to just barrel through and do the job. And we kind of forget that this is a very emotional experience for a lot of our clients. Not everyone, obviously, there's investors that are like, this is old hat, we do it every day, nobody new and that's cool. But a lot of those especially first time homebuyers or people that are making big milestone moves, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad reasons, that this can be a really emotional experience. And so it's a fine balance between making sure your clients are educated and they know what they need to know to get through this. But also being able to be that rock that steadfast for them, because it's an emotional experience, being able to empathize what they're going through, whether again, happy sad, um, there's lots of emotions, and barriers that we tend to run into. And that can feel like upsets, right. And being able to kind of help navigate them through it to empathize, but also don't jump on the emotional bandwagon with them.

Rick Ripma:
28:30

You kind of you have to stay out of it. You do what you have to you also

Jenny Carrington:
28:34

have to show empathy, because otherwise they're gonna feel like you're just a robot and you're just out for your commission check. And man, oh, man, if you're in it for that reason, you're not for me.

Rick Ripma:
28:43

It can be tough to because you get we do our jobs. And after years, it's just becomes what we do. Yeah. But we work with people. Yeah. And ultimately, that's our job. Yeah, right. We got that's, that's what we this is people's

Jenny Carrington:
28:56

livelihoods that we're talking about. This is not a little decision,

Ian Arnold:
28:59

though. It's huge. I mean, for the most I don't know what the I know it's a high percent but that's what you guys do is is what people invest most their money into the whole entire life. Exactly. You just investment will ever make. Exactly. So it is even when we see the people and they are crying or whatnot after sign in, or it's a huge deal. It is now when you've gone for 500 And you're like, Oh, this is nothing Well, blah, but to that person. Yeah, they can be the first one in their home, or the household has ever bought a home. Yeah.

Jenny Carrington:
29:31

So what's funny is I don't think I will ever get over that reaction. You know, for as many closings as I've done, I'm in my you know, going just started my sixth year of real estate now and for as many closings as I've had, I don't know that I will ever let go of how good that feels and how humbling it is to be able to help someone satisfy that dream.

Rick Ripma:
29:52

I would say that that's one of the things that separates the top people is that's the way they feel. Yeah, you know, they they aren't going to let To change anything. Yep.

Ian Arnold:
30:02

So, if somebody's listening to this and they want to be part of that they want that excitement. What's the best way they can get a hold of you?

Jenny Carrington:
30:09

I'm telling you to text me and I honestly I'm I'm on everything. I've got Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, you can DM me on any one of those, you can email me, you can jump right on my website, www dot call the carrington.com. And reach out that way. But text is going to be the fastest way you'll get a response. So

Ian Arnold:
30:28

all right, and

Rick Ripma:
30:28

Rick, how do they get ahold of us go to hard working mortgage guys.com That's hard working mortgage guys.com. Or you give us a call no text? Just call 31767 to 1938 31767 to 1938 Almost forgot it now.

Ian Arnold:
30:42

All right. So you just said some you said carrying 10s I'm sorry, but you are one person? Yes, I am. Let's talk about this s that you added to it. There's another one.

Jenny Carrington:
30:53

My partner in crime. My husband Joe actually does real estate with me. He's a full time teacher. So he just does real estate part time. So he does, you know, he's got friends and several different, you know, colleagues and stuff that he'll help out through the year. But for the most part, he's kind of my my helper, my runner he does showings for me and open houses. And and he'll, you know, like I said he'll do his own transactions with some of his friends and colleagues and his sphere of people. But for the most part, he's my helper. And he's incredible. And he's a saint.

Ian Arnold:
31:24

So I'm surprised you haven't told him. Alright, it's time to get out of that. Full time. Hey,

Jenny Carrington:
31:29

if he wants to he can. I think he likes the comforts of you know, being a teacher. He really enjoys teaching, honestly. And that's why I say he's a saint. He teaches, you know, middle schoolers and for as much teaching as I do coaching. They're adults, and I thoroughly enjoy that. I don't think I could do what he does. Oh,

Ian Arnold:
31:48

well, middle school, middle school kids aren't listening to Well,

Jenny Carrington:
31:52

now, but he you know, he's just got a good connection with them. So I think he, he enjoys it. That's awesome.

Rick Ripma:
31:59

They probably listen to somebody like him who has who knows how to do it. Yeah, yeah, I would never listen to me because I would just drive me crazy. I

Ian Arnold:
32:05

couldn't do it up to the permanent sub there.

Rick Ripma:
32:09

I don't think they'd let me do that. So you know. Alright,

Ian Arnold:
32:12

so we're gonna get into the question of the week. So what was your first car?

Jenny Carrington:
32:17

What was my first car? Oh, gosh, it was Pontiac. GrandAm SC a little two door. bright cherry red. I shared the car with my mom.

Rick Ripma:
32:28

Did you ever let her drive it?

Jenny Carrington:
32:29

She she not too much. I definitely had it more than she did. But it was it was nice of her because they helped me with the expense of everything because we shared the car but for the most part. Yes.

Ian Arnold:
32:41

You're gonna give it back to her when you needed to guess. Oh, Mom, you go to grocery store here.

Jenny Carrington:
32:47

Oh, no, I love that car. It definitely took me out on some adventures. I went to a lot of concert going that year. So we drove to you know, down to Cincinnati to Peoria Illinois to Indianapolis? Yeah. The car saw a lot of concerts. That's a

Rick Ripma:
33:00

great car to for first car. Yeah, yeah. What do you remember what year it was? It

Jenny Carrington:
33:05

was a 99. Okay.

Rick Ripma:
33:07

Yeah, yeah, they're there. They were great cars. I I started in car sales many many many, many years ago, and I sold Pontiacs. And so Pontiacs always held a little soft spot in my heart for four until they got rid of the brand. But yeah, I love ponics. Yeah,

Jenny Carrington:
33:24

I don't know why I picked that car. It was something about the paneling on the side that it was like those deep ridges. And I thought that looked so cool. Like, that's not even a cool car at all. But

Ian Arnold:
33:34

yeah, but your first car is usually not, like let's say a Lamborghini or something really cool. Your first car is cool to you. Because it gives you the freedom to go do stuff that is so true. So it's let's be honest, most times kids are happy with anything. Start and run. Yes.

Rick Ripma:
33:54

And most people have fond memories, no matter how bad the car was. Yeah, like the not the first car. Well, the first car that I drove with, you know, my parents car was a I hate even to say it, it was a gremlin. And I use but you still have a little you know, there's a soft spot for I'm a car person if you can't tell me that I'm a car person. And it still holds a soft spot. You know, I'll still go look, I wouldn't buy one because I'd be embarrassed but but they do and that worse than that the next car was a was a pacer. And that was an ugly car.

Ian Arnold:
34:29

He doesn't choose goods

Rick Ripma:
34:30

cars. No, no, no, no, that was not me. When I chose my first car I chose was a jeep. Everybody loves jeep. The second one I chose was a Corvette third one I chose was a Corvette. I do a good job.

Jenny Carrington:
34:43

I'm probably the only one in my family that didn't get that gene because my parents owns an automotive paint shop in Michigan. That was like the last time they had done my dad knows how to restore cars. He actually just took a really old Honda Pilot that was his like beat up car and he restored the whole thing painted it and everything. He's working on a truck right now in Michigan. Him and my brother my brother's first car actually was a cool car. It was, I think a 93 Camaro that they painted canary yellow with black stripe and it was awesome that they had built from nothing the body up, which was really cool. My papa worked for a GM and he's got a 50 I think it's a 54 Chevy that he restored. That's cobalt blue like awesome. Yeah, I'm probably the only one that's not cool about cars.

Rick Ripma:
35:30

No, I just love cars and your your family has a lot of cars. Definitely. Yeah. Current car. Yeah, my

Jenny Carrington:
35:38

husband. Yeah, my husband's actually restoring 78 Ford pickup right now. Oh, really? Yeah. It's in pieces in the garage. So

Ian Arnold:
35:46

my wife that's how long have you been restoring it?

Jenny Carrington:
35:48

Um, let's see, he bought it almost a year ago. Okay, so say it's not too bad. No, no, we're not there yet.

Rick Ripma:
35:54

You know, there's a lot of people who restore cars. And and there's a lot of people who start to resort cars who never get it done. Yeah. But you have a family. That sounds like they can make it happen. Yeah, for sure. Like, I would never take on that challenge. Because I know, myself. If I can't get it done in an hour, I'm probably not going to do it. Right. I don't have the patience for that. I can I can't even I really don't

Jenny Carrington:
36:19

you know, it's all about the long game.

Rick Ripma:
36:21

I know, you're in work. It would even be hard for me to, to buy a car and give it to somebody to fix up and then take a year and a half. drive me crazy. Couldn't do it. But I don't look at the same with with mortgages. That's probably why it's what you're passionate about. Right? Yes. And you know, new home sales was a problem because it took six months to build that house. I didn't mind that either. That was that was different. So anyway, that's, that's, that's how it runs. Right. All

Ian Arnold:
36:54

right. So I like to ask my question. So if you haven't noticed, we like to hear stories. So I want to hear a good one. With good or bad, most interesting transaction you've had,

Jenny Carrington:
37:06

oh, gosh, um, I feel like I always have had either like I've had, I always get one really easy transaction. And the rest of them are always will just say challenging, but in a good way, because I always end up learning something. This was my easy one for the year, ultimately. But it was really cool. The first house I ever sold ended up being about a half a million dollar house. I lucked out, it was a beautiful home in Barboursville. I went a couple of years later with that client and help them sell it and they only moved like one neighborhood over so that was kind of cool. But the the gal that was the buyer's agent on that house, as we're kind of talking, and I'm just you know, I've been in real estate a couple of years now. And as I'm talking to her, I'm starting to realize I don't know that she's ever done a transaction before. And that's okay. That's okay. I just felt compelled to kind of outright ask, I said, Is this your first transaction? And she says, Yes, it is. And I said, You know what, we're gonna get through this together, it's gonna be a beautiful transaction. We're gonna have so much fun doing this. This was my first house, and now it's going to be yours. And I just felt like it was this like passing of the torch moment. And she was a wonderful agent, great agent to work with actually just had coffee with her a few months back, like, so we've kept in touch. And I just think that that's so cool to be able to see the growth within our industry. So I don't know that that's a great story, but it's really special. It's

Ian Arnold:
38:40

a great story. Yeah, well, one, it shows that Realtors aren't always out there just for themselves. Yeah, I mean, look, you have to work with other realtors constantly. So if you treat somebody, right, it comes back and they'll treat you right and stuff like that. Yeah. Rick likes to call the Bulldog. A realtor is not always the best realtor. Yeah, yeah,

Rick Ripma:
39:01

I usually use that with attorneys. Yeah. I've worked with, I work with a lot of attorneys. And, and most of them are divorce attorneys. And so they tell me, you know, because I always thought the best divorce attorney, if you want one, if you had to get divorce, you'd want the toughest mean, as they said, No, that's the worst kind you can possibly get. It creates more problems, right? You want somebody who's going to like a real estate agent. You want a real estate agent who can listen to you can have compassion, have the empathy, but can keep their own personal out of it and not get when something happens, which it can happen in a real estate transaction. You're going to have somebody who's going to keep their head. Yeah, right. I'm going to help you walk through it so that you see it correctly, because you're going to be emotional as a customer. Exactly. Right. Yeah. And it can be little tablet agents. Oh, yeah. The outlet was bad. And they were just, like ready to walk away from a deal, right? And it's just

Jenny Carrington:
39:56

like that's it off, but it all feels big to us.

Rick Ripma:
39:58

And so you have to you have to understand that and you do you understand what what they go through? Yeah.

Jenny Carrington:
40:03

And that's I think that's part of that education process too is kind of helping your clients set expectations of the things that they're going to come up against. That way it doesn't feel like they've been completely blindsided because you're right things do and probably will come up throughout that transaction. Now,

Rick Ripma:
40:17

I'm gonna change subjects a little bit because there was something I read that I thought I wasn't really wanting to hear more about. And that is your your, your, you're doing something with your video training, some innovative? Yeah. Can you talk about that?

Jenny Carrington:
40:29

I can't a little bit. Yeah. So it's, it's all still in development right now. It's just that we have. So just I've been doing a lot of research on social media in general. And I've started teaching a Social Media course this is i digress is kind of sidestep. But as I'm doing that research, I've learned that about 70% of people consume their social media via video. And so it just kind of looking back at like, where's the easiest place? I go to getting answers? Well, I tend to Google it. And it takes me to a YouTube video, and I watch that and stuff. And so we've already had lots of training available via video. So that's not a new concept by any means for Highgarden. But the platform in which we're going to use makes it much more interactive. And I think that that's going to be very helpful, very appreciated by the agents, but also by our leadership, because it frees them up for more of that one on one coaching more hearty time with the agents, because so many of those things just get repetitive. And so be able to, you know, have more training videos available, have them be interactive, have them link right to the resources that they're going to need, and to be able to kind of send them that and then say, okay, and then when what else? What other questions do you have to be able to do more of that one on one coaching, and that's going to get us diving in deeper with them faster. So it's just starting its development phase, it's going to be a little bit before it's out but really excited about it.

Rick Ripma:
41:56

It's amazing. I sorry, go ahead. It's amazing how it matters to have an organized like you're talking about, I have a program that I pay for, and they do great training, but the training they put out, okay, if I miss the training, it's, there's a video, it doesn't tell you what the video is about. It doesn't tell you there's nothing. And it's like, and it's videos are an hour hour and 15 hour and 20 minutes. Yeah. It's like no, what if you don't tell us anything? Yeah. And then I also think another piece of that is you're putting them on YouTube, it sounds like or some some place where they farm. They can go get it. Okay, they want to put all theirs on. This is something I find a lot of companies doing now that you have to join their Facebook special, and then that's where you can get all the videos. Well, I'm sorry, I don't spend that much time on Facebook. Yeah. And so it's really I miss so much because it's not on their training, where I go for my exam anyway. And it just drives me crazy. So it sounds like you're doing it really the right way. We're, we're you're gonna know what it is and what you're exactly,

Jenny Carrington:
43:07

as you said, not our something long videos, really manageable, small chunks. So it's very directed topical content.

Rick Ripma:
43:15

It'll be an hour and a half long, but you better have champion,

Jenny Carrington:
43:17

but we can try and avoid that. Because the thing is that you can only receive so much information at one time. Yes,

Rick Ripma:
43:22

the better off chapters and the better half so I can go to where I need pause. Yeah, where I need to learn. Yeah,

Ian Arnold:
43:28

that's one of the things that I think it's brilliant. And I've been with other other companies where you do trainings and stuff, and you do like little scenarios. And it's always nice to hear other people saying so it's nice to when you were saying that? Yeah, you got the video, but then we can talk about it. Because let's be honest, it I might ask you a certain question. As I say, you're you're looking at buying somebody's house and you add it's a question. Well, guess what? The answer is not always gonna be the same as everybody gonna answer the same way. So it's easy. It's nice to have that rebuttal back and forth. It's

Jenny Carrington:
44:00

not meant to by any means none of these videos are this training series. None of this replaces that one on one coaching or time with your leadership or time with your agents. That's all still just as important, but what it will do is alleviate time, so that you know those coaches and leadership and agents will be able to get into the heart of those things, because they'll have watched the three minute video instead of listen to a whole long training only to pull that much from it.

Ian Arnold:
44:25

And then if if you were to take one of your trainees and say hey, every day just watch one is three minute videos. Yeah, it's not hard to watch a three minute video right? And then you can think about it. It may you may be like golden on it. Yeah, but you never know when that one little instance gonna pop in. You're like, I'm glad I watched it

Jenny Carrington:
44:41

exactly. Well, and to have a reference to go back to mean so many times. I try and be available for my agencies as many hours as I can be. So yeah, I'm still taking calls at 1011 o'clock at night. Sometimes if they need me they need me. But to be able to have this sort of catalog to go back to that might answer their question first to into make it very easy and searchable that it might answer their question first might get them what they need quicker to be able to serve their clients.

Rick Ripma:
45:09

That plus it gives them if you watch it, it also can bring up oh, I need to know this, that. And so if you have coaching and things like that you can bring it up coach, where you may not have even thought of it. Yes. So I precisely so is there anything that you look at you say, Man, I wish somebody had told me that when I was brand new

Jenny Carrington:
45:32

to you can't come into this halfhearted treat it like a business. And it's, it's very overwhelming to become an agent at first, because you go through the course and you realize all the things all of a sudden, you don't know. And so you need to learn to be a real estate agent. But then you also need to learn to be a business owner. And you also need to learn how to create your systems that's so important to have your systems in place. Because all of that sets you up for the longevity and success in the industry. And so if you're, if you're not starting on those things kind of right up front, and you're not devoting the time to that, then you're already a little bit behind some of those other agents.

Rick Ripma:
46:12

You got to work on your business. Just like when you work in your business, right. We hear that all the time. Got to do both. Yep. Yeah. And it's not always easy to remember that.

Jenny Carrington:
46:22

Exactly. So

Ian Arnold:
46:23

I want to help you work on your business. So somebody's out there, and they're listening to this. And they basically have been listening for 45 minutes, and they're like, I have to work with her and her team. Mainly, I want her husband to show me the house because he's a great teacher. What's the best way to get in touch with you guys? Yeah,

Jenny Carrington:
46:40

I would say to just either call or text me my cell phone number. I keep it on me all the time. I'm pretty quick to answer. And if I can't, I'll shoot you a text and let you know that I'll call you back within a certain amount of time. But call or text at 317-557-6244 Okay, now

Rick Ripma:
46:57

I'm gonna repeat it because I want to make sure I remember it. So it's 317553175576244 That's it. 6244 I like that. That's easy. It's

Ian Arnold:
47:12

another part of the 577 is really hard enough. Oh, my goodness. drifts off

Rick Ripma:
47:16

the tongue. So funny, though, because when I see that 64 Four, here's what in my head. I go. Okay, you take you take two from the six and you got 4444 I don't know why. That's That's how I see it. But we're math people. Yeah, that's probably or we're just crazy. Yeah. And to get a hold of Ian or I go to hard working mortgage guys.com That's hard working mortgage guys.com Or you give us a call at 317-672-1938 31767 to 1938. And please follow us for more in these real estate gurus.

Ian Arnold:
47:48

And reminder if you have any friends, family or coworkers looking to buy sell, refinance, let us know more happy to help you. Thank you for joining us. It was a pleasure having you on and your team is growing. I can't wait to see the next four or five years. Thanks.

Jenny Carrington:
48:01

Thank you guys. Thank you so much for having me on today. It was such a pleasure.

Announcer:
48:05

Went number 33041. In MLS NUMBER SIX which we're finding your normal NMLS number is 1995469 equal housing opportunity some restrictions apply