What happens when 25 years of retail sales leadership collides with real estate? Paul Durbin, team leader of the Durbin Home Team out of Newark, Ohio, found out firsthand. In just two years in the business, he's closed more than 70 transactions and over 20 million dollars in sales volume, including a six-figure month in real estate before finishing his third full year.

In this episode, Paul Durbin joins John Kitchens to unpack his 25-year retail career, from unloading trucks to running a district of 10 stores, two states, and 1,200 employees, and how that trial by fire built the exact skill set real estate rewarded him for. Paul shares the mentors who shaped him, why adaptability and consistent communication matter more than any script, how he thinks about team compensation and incentives, and why articulating value beats negotiating splits every time.

• Paul Durbin's 25-year retail sales and leadership career, and why he says "sales chose me"
• The mentors who saw potential in him before he saw it in himself
• Why adaptability, consistency, and communication are the top attributes of a great leader
• Accountability as the defining attribute of a great team member
• How Paul thinks about compensation, incentives, and team splits
• Why joining an experienced team leader accelerated his path versus going solo
• The behaviors behind his first six-figure month

Ready to buy back 15-plus hours a week without guessing between AI and hiring? Save your seat at 7FigureBP.com for our live Thursday training.

Want a plan built around your business? Book your 7 Figure Audit at 7figurecall.com.

Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @johnkitchenscoach.

A Fan-Favorite Rebroadcast:

This episode is a rebroadcast of one of our fan-favorite conversations — originally released as Episode 661. We're bringing it back because the strategies Alex Piech shares are just as relevant today as they were then.

In this episode, John Kitchens sits down with Alex Piech, a top-producing agent with EXP Realty in the highly competitive Dallas-Fort Worth market, for a wide-ranging conversation on what it actually takes to build consistent, predictable business in real estate right now. Alex breaks down his four core lead sources, why "the best marketer wins, not the best real estate agent," and the two metrics every agent should be tracking to turn their year around.

Key Topics Covered:

• Mindset & Consistency — Why real estate rewards delayed gratification, and how to stay the course through 100 conversations before judging a lead source.
• - What's Working Now — Alex's top four lead sources: YouTube content, geographic farming, expireds, and Google PPC — and why doubling down beats chasing shiny objects.
• - Dominating a Geographic Farm — The multi-touch system behind Alex's neighborhood dominance: email opt-ins, quarterly market updates, postcards, and genuine community presence.
• - The Fake Agent Study — A real marketing experiment where a fictitious agent captured 82% top-of-mind market share in a neighborhood using nothing but consistent postcards.
• - Adapting to the Market — Why agents pricing off old comps are getting burned by rate swings, and how the agents thriving right now are the ones who've adjusted their approach.
• - The Two Metrics That Matter — Why conversations and appointments are the only numbers that really move the needle, and how to reverse-engineer your year from them.
• - Targeting Motivated Sellers — How to work expireds, relocation buyers, and absentee owners using the Frank Kern hook formula and a "have to move" mindset.
• - Creative Open House Strategy — The $700 taco truck play that turns one listing into a neighborhood-wide buzz event.

"The best marketer wins, not the best real estate agent." — Alex Piech

Connect With Us:

Want to build a 7-figure real estate business? Join John Kitchens every Thursday at 11:00 AM Eastern for a live training on how to make the right hire and free up 15+ hours a week — save your seat at 7FigureBP.com.

Ready for a deeper look at your business? Book a 7 Figure Audit at 7figurecall.com.

Follow us: Instagram @johnkitchenscoach · LinkedIn @johnkitchenscoach · Facebook @johnkitchenscoach

In this episode of the John Kitchens Coach Podcast Experience, John sits down with Phil Stringer, former COO of one of North Carolina's top real estate teams and now a full-time AI educator reaching an audience of over five million people. Phil built a six-figure business as a teenager, became a top worldwide sales agent at eighteen, and has been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Fox, CBS, and NBC. In this conversation, Phil breaks down why the agents winning with AI right now aren't chasing the flashiest tools, they're building foundations AI can't take away from them. From learning how to learn, to cutting through AI hype, to building a "second brain" that makes any AI tool replaceable, this episode is a practical guide for team leaders trying to separate what actually moves the needle from what just looks cool online.

• Learning to Learn — How Phil taught himself to study, take notes, and comprehend information after struggling in an unconventional early education, and why that self-taught process became the foundation for how he now teaches AI to thousands of agents.
• Verify Then Trust: AI in a Trust Recession — Why deepfakes and AI avatars have made trust the scarcest resource in business today, and why Phil refuses to use an AI avatar of himself no matter how tempting the shortcut looks.
• Building an AI-Powered Business — How Phil automated his KPIs, his FAQ bank, and his weekly reporting so his entire operation updates itself daily, without him ever touching a spreadsheet.
• Cutting Through the AI Hype — The difference between content engineered to go viral and content engineered to build a real business, and why the sexiest AI hack in the room is usually the least useful one.
• Authentic Content Creation Strategy — Why copying what works for someone else will never outperform being yourself, and how a small, engaged audience beats a viral video that reaches the wrong people.
• The Second Brain: Own Your AI Context Forever — Phil's system for capturing every call, text, email, and conversation into files he owns on his own computer, so no single AI tool (Claude, ChatGPT, or whatever comes next) ever holds his business hostage.
• Where AI Actually Matters for Real Estate Agents — Phil's filter for deciding whether a new AI tool or trend is worth an agent's time, or just a distraction dressed up as innovation.

Ready to buy back 15+ hours a week without guessing between AI and hiring? Join us live every Thursday at 11:00 AM Eastern. Save your seat at 7FigureBP.com.

Ready to find out what's really holding your business back? Schedule your 7 Figure Audit at 7figurecall.com.

Follow us: Instagram @johnkitchenscoach | LinkedIn @johnkitchenscoach | Facebook @johnkitchenscoach

Your business will never outgrow your leadership.

In this episode, John Kitchens continues the coaching and leadership series with the five core principles and practices that separate coaches and leaders who create real transformation from those who don't. Building on the fundamentals, the coach-client relationship, the Coach Code results framework, and emotional intelligence covered in earlier episodes, John unpacks knowing your why (and the real difference between passion and purpose), designing your Perfect Day as a decision-making filter, understanding "the river" of nonlinear growth, applying the Theory of Constraints to find what's really holding you back, and why repetition, not a new message every week, is what actually moves people to act.

Key Topics Covered:

• Principle #1: Your Why — the difference between passion (something you love doing) and purpose (something you love doing that helps other people)
• Principle #2: The Perfect Day — using it as a decision-making filter to move faster and with more clarity
• Principle #3: The River — why growth isn't linear, and the coach's job during the whitewater, the drought, and everything between
• Principle #4: Theory of Constraints — finding the one thing actually holding your business back, with book recommendations "The Goal" by Eli Goldratt and "Reset" by Dan Heath
• Principle #5: Repetition — why "the rule of 7" is really closer to 20+, and why leaders must repeat their message far more than feels comfortable

"There are no business problems. There are only leadership problems. The size of your business is elastic to the size of your leadership capabilities." — John Kitchens

Connect With Us:
Save your seat for the training at 7FigureBP.com · Get your 7 Figure Audit at 7figurecall.com · Follow us on Instagram @johnkitchenscoach, LinkedIn @johnkitchenscoach, and Facebook @johnkitchenscoach

Kyle Whissel, co-founder of the Fast Forward Movement and leader of the #1 team in the world at eXp Realty (150 agents, over 1,000 homes sold and $875 million in volume last year), joins John Kitchens to break down the exact AI stack his team uses to double your closings, generate more leads, close more deals, and buy back their time. Kyle shares five specific tools he uses today, real results including a $3.5 million listing appointment generated by AI outreach, and the mindset shift team leaders need to get their agents to actually adopt AI.

Key Topics Covered:

Why AI is the lever to pull right now

Tool #1: Shiloh - AI call coaching and conversion

Tool #2: Fellow - open house to pipeline on autopilot

Tool #3: Fyxer - AI email and meeting command center

Tool #4: Whisperflow - talk faster, type less

Tool #5: Claude - set it up as your AI hub

"The agents who win in this market won't be the ones who work the hardest. They'll be the ones who leverage the smartest." - John Kitchens

Connect With Us: Join us Live every Thursday at 7FigureBP.com | 7 Figure Audit: 7figurecall.com | Instagram/LinkedIn/Facebook: @johnkitchenscoach

Leadership isn't built on talent alone.

The best leaders don't simply know more—they understand themselves better, regulate their emotions under pressure, connect with people on a deeper level, and inspire others to become their best.

In this solo masterclass, John Kitchens breaks down the five pillars of emotional intelligence that every real estate agent, team leader, and entrepreneur must develop to grow both their business and their influence.

If your business has plateaued, it may not be a strategy problem—it may be a leadership problem.

This episode dives into the mindset and daily disciplines that allow leaders to create trust, develop stronger relationships, build winning teams, and ultimately become the CEO their business requires.

Join us Live every Thursday: 7FigureBP.com • 7 Figure Audit: 7figurecall.com • Instagram: @johnkitchenscoach • LinkedIn: @johnkitchenscoach • Facebook: @johnkitchenscoach

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay tuned for more insights and strategies from the top minds. See you next time! 🔥

Some lessons are worth hearing more than once.

We're bringing back one of our favorite conversations because the principles are just as relevant today as when we first recorded it.

In this episode, John Kitchens sits down with Spence to unpack the experiences that shaped his journey—from competitive snowboarding and construction to building a thriving real estate business. While markets change, the fundamentals of success don't.

This conversation is packed with lessons on discipline, focus, calculated risk, authentic marketing, and developing the mindset required to move from agent to CEO.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the noise in today's market, this episode is a reminder that lasting success comes from mastering the fundamentals.

"If you're not obsessed with becoming a world-class marketer, someone else will be."

Whether you're a brand-new agent or building a seven-figure business, this episode will challenge you to think bigger, simplify your focus, and start leading like a CEO.

• 7 Figure Audit: 7figurecall.com
• Instagram: @johnkitchenscoach
• LinkedIn: @johnkitchenscoach
• Facebook: @johnkitchenscoach

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Stay tuned for more insights and strategies from the top minds. See you next time! 🔥