How I Went From Emails Until 2AM & Struggling To Find Balance In My Life To Building A High-Producing Team, Working 4 Days A Week & Surrounding Myself With Like-Minded Partners To Help Me Consistently Level Up
The Promotion I Thought
I Wanted
After graduating college during the real estate collapse in 2009 and working retail for nearly 4 years, I was promised a promotion that I didn't get. My wife and I sat down and really talked about what it would have looked like with me getting a promotion in retail and her working overnights as a Nurse and realized there would be no "us" in that scenario. One of us would always be alone with our kids while the other was at work because we couldn't afford daycare - that just wasn't going to work for us. Missing out on that promotion was the best thing that ever happened to my family...
At that point, I decided to take the plunge into real estate full-time in 2013. With my firstborn on the way and my wife working overnight shifts, you could say I had lots of pressure to deliver the life my wife and I dreamed of for our family.
If you've never met me, the one thing you need to know is that I will not let ANYONE outwork me - I refuse to lose. Through lots of grinding/hard work and great mentorship and guidance from my Father who had been in real estate since 1985, I hit the ground running and had almost immediate/overnight success.
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However, as we all know, success in real estate comes with lots of added responsibility and obligations. With the desire to provide for my family and continue building on this fantastic first year, I pushed harder. What I was left with was more money in my bank account than I could have ever dreamed of just one year earlier, but also more stress than I could handle. I worked nearly every night until 2am and had little time for my wife and newborn son - I even went and showed houses the day after my son was born. The combination of the weight of the stress on my shoulders and lack of balance would not work long term...
Anxiety Attacks & A Turning Point
By 2016 I had sold over 100 homes, had 2 children, built our dream home & my wife was able to stop working overnights and stay home full-time - our dreams were starting to take shape. However, I had failed at hiring an assistant, still worked super late into the early morning hours, worked almost every weekend and even got tested for heart issues at one point as I couldn't sleep without thinking I was having a heart attack (luckily they were only anxiety attacks)...even during all that success, it was clear a change was needed for me and my family.
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2016 was the birth of the Tyler Miller Team.
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To say I was scared of shelling out $50K+ for an assistant and giving away 50% of my income on clients I sent to my first sales partner is the understatement of the century, but it was necessary to achieve my goal of work/life balance. In a short period of time, I hired my incredible assistant (now COO) Kaela Kullman, added my first sales partner, and implemented routine "days off." With Kaela now taking over a ton of my emails, transaction coordination and office tasks, I was able to focus on growing our business relationships and spending most Wednesdays and weekends with my family and friends.
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This was the turning point from "Top Agent In The Office" to "Financial Freedom For My Family."
Who You Surround Yourself With Matters Most
By 2018, the Tyler Miller Team was a well-respected, top team in the area. We were dominating social media and setting a new bar for production within our office and brokerage. My family had purchased our dream home on the lake in our neighborhood and my work/life balance was dialed in beautifully.
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I began noticing how business partnerships/relationships really started to transcend my business to levels I hadn't thought possible so early in my career. That's when everything changed for me - I began seeking out people who could push me to new levels - levels I didn't even know existed. 2018/2019 were the years that my mindset shifted completely. I was always focused on ensuring I was not the smartest person in the room. I wanted to be surrounded by greatness at all times.
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I sought out real estate coaching, started networking more and more with agents outside of my brokerage, got involved more in the community, and got really comfortable being uncomfortable. I finally had the time to invest in my self-development as a Realtor and team leader. I was finally starting to operate as a CEO and not as an overworked Realtor. My eyes (and mindset) were WIDE open.
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Then I saw what I just couldn't unsee - eXp Realty.
Change Is Inevitable - Growth Is Optional
As I mentioned, 2018/2019 were the years my mind was unlocked to all the different possibilities in real estate and I started seeking out people and business models that aligned more with my big-picture/visionary goals. In September 2021, when my team was the #1 team at my brokerage, I made the decision to leave the only brokerage I had ever known to align myself with eXp Realty and their incredibly collaborative business model - this was the exact moment my business changed forever. See my Facebook announcement post here: TMT To eXp
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From when I started out in 2013, my goals had changed. While I was still passionate about helping my clients buy/sell homes - I had climbed that mountain. I had done that part of my business at the highest level for years. After having my mind opened to the collaborative nature of eXp, I had this fire lit deep inside to help other agents step into their greatness. eXp gave me the opportunity to add fuel to that fire through its partnership-focused model.
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While the move I made was scary, I knew I had nothing to fear being surrounded by and partnered with other amazing people who were doing INCREDIBLE things with their real estate businesses. I now had direct access to the playbooks and business models of people like Dan Beer (runs the highest-producing team worldwide at eXp), Kyle Whissel (one of the most influential and innovative Realtors on social media - #2 in San Diego), Parker Pemberton (was the #1 MN team at CBB when he came to eXp - went from 200 homes to 1000 homes sold in 2 years), Julie Desrochers (was the #2 MN team at CBB when she came to eXp - sells over 500 homes a year), AJ Pettersen (was the #1 MN team at E&V when he came to eXp - sells over 500 homes a year) and amazing people turned best friends like Taylor Kielty. See our entire partnership here: North Star Alliance
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As I said earlier, I was determined to surround myself with people doing things better than me. See, with one brokerage change, I leveled up in so many ways. I was able to level up my dreams, level up my mindset, level up my real estate team size and operations, level up my friendships, level up my investment portfolio, and level up my passive income - It was a life-changing move.
The Payoff
Now, having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of hours learning, testing, and perfecting the best ideas I have created the real estate business I never dreamed of.
I run my highly productive team from Blaine, MN where I spend plenty of time with my amazing family. I have also created a system that allows my incredible team to be well compensated for work they love which provides them the freedom to be with their families as well.
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Now, my passion is to help others grow and create systems that serve their families, teams, and clients with excellence while providing them all of the freedom they were created for.
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Thank you for joining me on this journey, I believe it’s one that will help us all make the real estate world a better place for Realtors and consumers.
Let's Grow Together.
