Next Wave Leaders Part 3 | Cayce Levine, Amber Carlton, Ambre Theroux, Gabriela Huson - 062
Some of the most important leadership lessons are not learned after you have made it. They are learned while you are still building.
That is the idea behind this final chapter of our Next Wave Leaders series, featuring members of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Rethink Council.
I am joined by four women in completely different markets, at completely different stages, who are all building something real: Cayce Levine, Amber Carlton, Ambre Theroux, and Gabriela Huson.
Meet the Leaders
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Cayce Levine - Broker Advisor, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices York Simpson Underwood Realty
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She started in healthcare before finding real estate at 25, drawn by an income ceiling she refused to accept, and now leads her Cary and Morrisville office.
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Cayce is passionate about helping her agents work smarter, not harder, and building an office culture rooted in collaboration.
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Amber Carlton - REALTOR® and Team Leader, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Premier Properties
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She got into real estate to help people achieve their dreams, and built her team, Carlton & Co, around an obsession with the client experience.
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Amber is known for VIP red-carpet closings, deeply personalized client touches, and her drive to scale her business so she can buy back her own time.
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Ambre Theroux - REALTOR®, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Realty Professionals
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She left her family's electroplating business and an MBA-track corporate career behind to get licensed in just two months, landing her first client through a horse-property Facebook group.
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Ambre excels at building custom client communication timelines and is passionate about making her business sustainable for the long run.
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Gabriela Huson - REALTOR®, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties
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Her path into real estate started with renovating her own fixer-upper home during COVID, and she was named Rookie of the Year after closing nine transactions in her first year.
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Gabriela is passionate about intentional client communication and balancing a thriving Santa Barbara business with being a full-time mom of two.
From Corporate Ceilings to Client Relationships: How They Got Into Real Estate
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Cayce came from healthcare, where she felt boxed in by a pay ceiling, and found in real estate an industry where effort has no cap.
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Ambre walked away from her family's electroplating business and an MBA track to get licensed in two months, later finding her niche serving horse property owners in Northern Connecticut.
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Gabriela renovated a full fixer-upper during COVID, fell in love with the process, and turned that experience into a Rookie of the Year debut.
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Amber originally wanted to get into interior design and staging, discovered she hated staging itself, and found her real strength in guiding clients through selections and the emotional side of a move.
What They Believed Early On That They No Longer Believe
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Cayce assumed she was simply going to sell houses, and did not realize she was building an entire business where she would be her own marketer, accountant, and project manager.
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Gabriela and Ambre both used to equate being busy with being successful, and now measure their time by intention instead of activity.
The Scary Decisions That Changed Their Careers
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Amber credits hiring a life and business coach, and later an assistant, with changing both her business and her life, even though she resisted the assistant hire at first.
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Gabriela talks about betting on herself financially before she ever saw a paycheck, treating her first year like building a brand from nothing.
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Ambre landed her first client, a horse property buyer, within her first week in the business, and said the client never would have guessed she was brand new.
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Cayce lives by one question whenever fear creeps in: are you more scared of thirty seconds of discomfort, or of being broke?
What's Actually Working in Their Businesses Right Now
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Amber built a client intake system that captures birthdays, pet names, and what each client is most excited or nervous about, feeding into VIP red-carpet closings inspired by fellow Rethink alumni Joe and Leti Torres.
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Cayce is pushing agents to build full two-to-four-week marketing plans for every listing before it ever hits the market, and to repurpose long-form video into smaller clips across platforms instead of posting once and moving on.
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Ambre created custom transition timelines and templates so clients always know what happens next, replacing one long consultation with a clear, ongoing communication plan.
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Gabriela is being far more intentional inside her CRM, segmenting contacts by where they actually are in their journey instead of sending the same generic newsletter to everyone.
Their 5-Year Vision for Leadership and Business
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Cayce wants to keep pouring into her agents, helping newer agents ramp up faster and more experienced agents work smarter, not harder.
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Ambre is focused on sustainability, building a business that still leaves room for the hobbies and presence she does not want to lose.
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Amber is focused on buying back her time after realizing, in an unusually honest conversation with ChatGPT, that she had not taken a night off in ten years.
The Mentors Who Believed in Them First
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Cayce credits her husband, her sister, and the leaders who saw her potential before she saw it in herself.
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Ambre points to her boyfriend and her Rethink Council network for believing in a career shift her own family was initially nervous about.
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Gabriela credits her family, including her two young sons, who she says are already showing early signs of catching the real estate bug.
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Amber credits a fellow association leader who nudged her into local leadership at a point when she was seriously considering leaving the industry altogether.
“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” — Cayce Levine
Favorite Podcasts, Books, and Quotes
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Gabriela - Quote: “You don't have to be the smartest person in the room. You have to be willing to learn, take action, and keep showing up.”
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Ambre - Quote: “Do it scared.”
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Amber - Quote: “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, "I'm possible.” — Audrey Hepburn
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Cayce - Quote: “A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it, it just blooms.”
Resources
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