The Origin Story

The origin story of Faithful Agent, a community for Christians in real estate, is shared in this conversation. The hosts, Garrett and Tyler, discuss how the idea for Faithful Agent came about and how it has grown since its inception. They emphasize the importance of being excellent in business, home, and as passionate disciple makers for Jesus. The hosts also talk about the challenges they faced in starting the community and the unexpected support they received. They express their vision for Faithful Agent to be a community where Christians in real estate can come together, encourage one another, and boldly live out their faith.

Takeaways

Faithful Agent is a community for Christians in real estate to be excellent in their work, home, and as passionate disciple makers for Jesus.
The idea for Faithful Agent came about when the hosts realized there was a lack of community and support for Christians in the real estate industry.
The hosts emphasize the importance of living out one's faith in all aspects of life, including business and home.
Faithful Agent aims to create a space where Christians in real estate can come together, encourage one another, and boldly live out their faith.

Chapters

00:00 The Origin Story of Faithful Agent
14:23 Challenges and Unexpected Support

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Transcript

0:03

Oh, maybe you should be looking when I do this part, because if it's going to be a video. Hahaha! Okay, here we go. We desire for all Christians in real estate to be excellent in their work, excellent in their homes, and passionate disciple makers for Jesus. What's up, Faithful Agent family? This is the origin story of the Faithful Agent. One of our amazing local leaders, Tracy Cobble, out in West Virginia, asked us to put together a video for... What is the origin of the faithful agent? So we figured we'd do it here and make it a podcast episode for your easy listening. I don't know what that means, but we are excited to share with you a little bit about our heart and the story of how we got to where we are on this. And again, that's our passion. What we read at the beginning to be excellent in business, excellent in home and passionate disciple makers of Jesus. That's why this community exists, but also for. Christian dad jokes. That's the other reason that right? That's the other reason this community. Oh, thank you So we're gonna do what we did last episode T which is ask chat GPT I like this. It's like this is like a little segment, you know, ask chat GPT. Yeah, we should have like special music Thank you Okay Number one Why did Noah have to punish the chickens on the ark? Because they were using foul language That that that does make sense Listen to the last episode. Okay? Here is another one Why did the hawk sit on the church steeple? Because it was a bird of prey These those like Have you so those make sense, but they're not funny. You know what I mean? Like that? I'm not laughing I think, I think chat GPT heard us make fun of it the last time. And so it changed its algorithm and just said, stick to the simple stuff. Yeah. Stay in your lane. let me say this. Here's one more. Why did the math book look sad? Because it had too many problems. So it went to Psalm 23 for comfort. Like I think it takes world's jokes and then it just adds in a scripture reference, right? Which isn't, which isn't bad. I mean, I guess that's, that's what it does. Um, it's improvising and it does it way faster than us because it's genius level is what I've been told. That's right. So Not quite if you want to know the origin of this just listen long enough. You'll be amazed. We made it this far For real man for real so man a super quick background So so and we'll talk about how we got to where we are, but I think T was probably September of 2022 We just had this idea It really started. I called my buddy Justin Smith at the Christian real estate network which is a referral network for Christians. Check him out, love this dude, he's an awesome brother. And I called him up and I said, Justin, I really wanna go to a conference for Christian real estate agents. Where is that? I want that. And he said, and you know, this is the largest Christian real estate organization in the country. And so I figured he would know. He said, Garrett, I've never heard of that. It doesn't exist. You should do it. And in typical me fashion, I called Tyler and I was like, dude, what do you think? right? Because if we're going to do this, we're going to do this thing together. We already had a podcast together and tile in typical Tyler Fescher. Like, hey, that's a great idea. Let's think about it and let's talk about it again in a week. Well, the next day I went down to Virginia Beach, which was a couple of hours away or about an hour and a half away from me. And I signed a contract for ten thousand dollars for a conference. And I remember calling you and you're like, what did you do? I was like, I don't know, dude, but we're doing this. And then you said, well, how are we going to to a conference where like we have no idea never done this before don't know what to do and man through lots of crazy stuff the Lord in his kindness we launched the podcast officially became the faithful agent podcast we went all in for believers because we just desired we desired that for ourselves and then we just wanted it for this community we went all in to Christian agents in January of 2023 so this is very new and then the conference came out in March of 2023 and uh 40, 50 people were there? I honestly don't remember. Yeah, yeah. And I mean, we were blown away, right? We were all blown away by the Lord and what he did and the fact that just something special being in the room with that many believers, right? In real estate, it was crazy. But people would come up to us afterwards and say, hey, what's next for the faithful agent, right? And I remember you and I on the ride home, but what's next for the faithful agent? We were like, oh, we didn't have plans. We thought this was going to bomb. Like we didn't expect anyone to like this. And yet in the Lord's kindness, he showed us like, Hey, this needs to keep going. And I remember that I'm a shut up and let you share, but I remember you and I being in the car, you were driving on the way back because Virginia beach, he, Tyler had to go past my house to get there. So anyways, he was driving me, he dropped me off. And I remember we're in the car and we're just like, Lord, thank you so much. That's incredible. But then we both thought, wow, Lord, that's amazing. And. Crap, we gotta figure out what to do next, right? Like, we didn't think we were gonna have to work anymore on this, because we thought it was gonna die. And the Lord had different plans, man, and it's just been cool to see from there. So, man, that's really how we launched. That was the original launch to the clarification on the whole contract signing. One interesting caveat in that was we think we should do this. Yeah, but like Tyler, why don't you go look at some hotels and just get a general idea of how much this is going to cost. This was my task. And then all of a sudden, Garrett has a contract in hand for something not on his agenda. That's how our partnership works. And so when you guys. You guys see the stress level in my face when we're on stage together? That's the source of it constantly. why Tyler actually is 25, but he just looks way older. It's the years of hanging out with me. Uh, that's cool, dude, but, but tell them real quick. So like the background of our relationship, right. And then we'll get back into, you know, what's been going on recently. how we ended up getting into, like the heart behind it all, that's the practical situation. We were already doing things together. We had a podcast together. We knew we wanted to do something in business together because of what we shared in common. G and I have known each other for 20 years at this point. But 20 years ago, we weren't as close as we were. We played high school baseball together. I didn't know the Lord at that time. we went in different directions. I got saved in college. Gee had always had known the Lord, which was evident even when we were in high school together. But the Lord brought us back together, gosh, eight years after that, when I was playing minor league baseball on my way up with the Orioles and we just connected because of our faith. And so my big part of my testimony as some maybe regular listeners would know, having played professional baseball for 10 years was I was not. in community, professionally speaking, with people that were on fire for the Lord. They were absolutely believers, you know, in the league and in certain teams that I played on for sure, but it was not a workplace environment where people were aiming to cultivate deep relationships, to sanctify one another, refine one another. Certainly, a minority of men who wanted to honor their brides and watch them with the Word. and shepherd their families. And so I was deeply convicted in just being in that line professionally and had friends outside of that workplace that shared that. But baseball is just, it's a byproduct of living a life in the limelight and being exposed to a lot of worldly treasures that distract you away from that. And... your community is fleeting at waivers. It changes daily with people, you know, you're on new teams, you get promoted, you get sent down, you get traded, all that stuff. So it's really hard to have any anchors outside of faith and family inside that industry. So it had always been heavy on my heart to shepherd that in people. G and I shared that, and that's probably what really united us with the first time that we came back together. I had a passion for real estate. G was actively working in real estate. We said, let's figure out how to do some type of business in real estate that's going to allow people to get more leverage away from their work so that they can be in their family. So we tried to create a business that would provide that leverage for agents. It was well -intentioned, but the model really cut the agent out of a lot of the interfacing with their clients, which was... not what we really believe in and just wasn't a great model, so it didn't work. But we were in business together at that point and then decided, hey, the heart in all of this is to shepherd agents into protecting against the distractions, the temptation of this lifestyle, to protect them from overindulging in their time, to protect them from being consumed by the bottom line of their business, to protect them from selfish ambition. And to encourage agents to go forth to be excellent in everything that they do Certainly from a business perspective so to provide them with world -class coaching and I mean in world just knowledge that from our experiences in life but most importantly to minister to them to be able to pursue their families Pursue their spouses shepherd their children and to be invested in their community and in their local churches and so we that was the heart and then we figured how do we do that and create a space for that to be cultivated? Well, that happens with wisdom, but it happens in community. And so we're like, we need to bring these people together in the same room because scripture is clear that we were all created to be in community with one another as the greater church, encouraging one another to go forth for the sake of the gospel. And so it just... because as you testified, it didn't really exist to have that niche of Christians that are in real estate, which, I mean, there are millions of real estate professionals in the country. How is there not a space or a room for people who proclaim Jesus and share the same industry to be encouraging one another? Just was a massive gap. And are we the ones equipped to lead? millions of believers in real estate? Probably not. That's why, you know, we're leading the size of people that we are. But we have been holding this with an open hand for the last year and a half at this point and trusting that the Lord would continue to show up and provide. And in more than any other venture we have shared in our life together, the Lord has shown up with the people that he's put in our path, with the people that he's brought into this community. with just the creation that we have seen from him and the talents of his image bearers to people like, you know, Ray and men and Lindsay Sears who have been with us from Jump Street and put on these conferences effectively that we would not be able to do now. Conference two and three are so much better than conference one because they weren't actively leading conference one. That was us. And that was, this is a difference in Holiday Inn and a Ritz Carlton right there. You guys will see. yeah, Rachel Inman calls our first conference a meeting. That's how bad it was, right? Yes, which is a very, very apt description about dude, you're it's it. And so here's what's cool real quick, just to pause you super fast, because going back to the origin of this, right, we'd booked this conference and we were actually, if you remember, we're going to try to do it in the fall of 2022, but we just weren't getting any traction. And we're like, man, we need to push this out because it's not going to happen. Well, this. He signed the conference in August for July for a sep - for a conference in like September and I'm like that's not gonna happen. Yeah. Yeah. But the Lord in his kindness too, like, you know, our audience says, my mom passed in October, 2022. So even in his kindness, like there's no way we would have pulled that off. I wasn't going to pay attention to that. And so we pushed it out to March, 2023, right? And I, this was happened in January, 2023. I remember. Literally pulling into my driveway. I'm super discouraged like nobody had signed up This was before I knew that agents all of you wait till like the week before to sign up just to give us a heart attack Whether not anybody's coming, but I'm just really discouraged and I remember thinking like do we just got to cancel this It's not gonna work that there's nothing's here and I get a random call from someone who I'd never met at this point Rachel Inman Who's a mortgage lender look her up mortgage mama's she's in Virginia Beach and she's now become if not the most crucial person in this organization, one of, right? And she calls me and she's like, Garrett, I just heard about the faithful agent in this conference you're trying to do. I don't know what it is. I'm all in. And it was genuinely outstanding on my side porch. It was her excitement about what we were doing that made me realize we've got to keep going. And it was literally that moment that was like, it almost just went away. And yet, like you said, man, the way the people have showed up, when we, that first conference, Janet Brink in Northern Virginia, at the end of the conference came up, was like, Hey, what about this idea of local groups? Right. It was her concept, this idea. And now there's, I don't know, 12 local groups all around the East coast right now, which is crazy. Hundreds of agents meeting together monthly. If you're not part of it, go check it out on the faithfulagent .com. Check out local groups, the tab or start your own, right? Like hundreds of Christian agents coming together. Every month to be in fellowship and be in community with one another encourage one another It's blown us away, dude. I mean, it's totally blown us away. And I think that we've got this uh, uh, what you and I have continued to see like you said is the lord has made it clear that he wants this to continue because of who he's bringing in I remember tyler and I in total transparency to you guys tyler and I had Conversation early on like man, we know like we've got to recognize that if we raise this flag, we're We're putting this flag out in order the world's gonna look and say wait you're Christians like no you can't do this You can't stand up and say these things. Are you guys ready for the kind of stuff? That's gonna come your way, right? And the answer is absolutely not But we can't be afraid of it and what's been so cool. I'll just say this what's been so cool We could talk about where we're trying to go What's been amazing tea that I see over and over and over and the Lord's kindness is we raised this flag and we said You know what we want to be bold for our faith? Right? Which is scary sometimes. Let's be honest. We want to be super bold. And it's just, I just see this vision of like all these people coming out of hiding who were like, wait a minute, can we talk about our faith in real estate now? Like, wow, we want to be bold too. This is amazing. And the Lord is blowing us away with all of these incredible people that keep showing up and saying, yes, I want my business to be about Jesus too. I don't want to hide it anymore. I have this community now. Look at these faithful agents. that are around here that are doing it. I want to be part of it. I don't want to be ashamed of it. I don't be afraid of it anymore. I want to grow my business to be excellent, but I want to be excellent in all the things that the Lord calls me to. And I want the gospel to go forth. And it's been incredible. I mean, we are blown away constantly, Tyler and I. It weirds me out, honestly, sometimes when this conference coming up to you, I don't even tell you this. There's people flying in from Canada. That weirds me out. Like we just had an idea. A year and a half ago, I acted too fast on it, but the Lord in His kindness was merciful. And now this is happening. It's not because of us. So we will say this and we will continue to say this. If it was because of us, this thing wouldn't have gone anywhere. I would have canceled it in January. Right? The Lord is doing a work in this industry and it is a joy and a privilege and a humility. to be part of that, right? If someone else is going to do this better, please come do this better and we'll just join you. Like we just want the gospel to go forth in the real estate community. As I read at the beginning, we care about you being excellent in your business, excellent in your home, and passionate disciple makers for Christ. That's what we're trying to do. We have no idea how to do that. Let's just be totally honest about that. And so it has been a joy and an honor and a privilege to serve alongside so many people and to hear the stories and see the hearts of the people that are getting involved. It's been crazy. So man, you take us out, buddy. What are your thoughts in terms of origin or whatever? Just what do you want to share if someone's listening to this? Well, that's the heart of this. I mean, as believers, what are we created for? We're not created for our own glory. We are gifted that glory and the Spirit that dwells in us and the new creation that we are when we have a new life born into Christ. But we are not in pursuit of growing our name. We're not in pursuit of glorification of ourself. We are in pursuit of exalting Jesus through all that we do. We believe passionately that that comes in sharing the gospel, but we also believe that we are called into living a life that is worthy of His name's sake by pursuing our spouses, shepherding our families, investing in our local churches and communities, and by being excellent in what we do vocationally. We believe that Scripture calls us into those things, and we know that it takes a community of like -minded individuals and believers to Encourage one another to go forth and do that. We know that it's hard The world doesn't want to see that the evil one does not want to see us picking up our crosses daily and carrying them into the battlefields and Winning victories for the kingdom that that that sounds terrible to the evil one But as believers, that's exactly what we're called into and more than anything That's our heart in this and we hope that that's everybody else's heart. That's a part of this community and the only reason that we are the ones here talking about it is just because the Lord has given us the opportunity to have 50 people at a meeting in Virginia Beach that has turned into something where other people want to do it. So just like you said, this is not about us. This is not even about the faithful agent. It's about the community and it's about honoring the Lord. And so this is just the vehicle through which the gospel is being shared. And that is each of our purpose as we stand here today. So. my big, let me jump in super quick, buddy. If you don't mind my big broad vision, I know I said you can end, but you also, if this is your watching the origin story, this is what happens constantly. And Tyler, yes. But I was just going to say this, the man, the big broad vision that I have for this community and whatever that looks like, I have no idea yet. Uh, but is that Christian should be the most excellent in every business that they're a part of. Not only because we're doing it to the glory of the Lord, but also because. I want people to look around and say, whoa, how did you guys do this so well? And for us to say, let us show you where we learned our business principles. Let's look at scripture, right? That we would do it so well. Right now we're in the middle of the NAR settlement, all the crazy stuff. I don't know when you're going to watch this or listen to this, but we would do it so well that someone would say, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. There's a lot of fear. There's a lot of chaos out there. How are you guys so calm about this? I don't understand. And we say, hey, I would love to tell you about the hope that is within me. That makes me know that I have hope and I will be provided for. I'd love to tell you about that, right? And ultimately big, big, big broad vision that will never happen probably in my lifetime is that literally every single agent in the world would know an agent who claims Christ and is diligently proclaiming the gospel, that there would be no agent that doesn't know someone. like that in this industry, right? I would pee my pants if that happened, probably because I'd be like 80 years old by that point. But man, I don't know why I said that, but that is the vision. Exactly what you said, T, this is about the gospel going forth. One of the ways it goes forth is by us being excellent and showing we're working for the Lord, not for man. The other way that this goes forth is we are excellent in our homes. We do not let work. Dominate the life that we're called to have and the final way is we are passionate Disciple makers of Christ and we are telling people the lenders everybody that we're in contact with me We contact a lot of people that we are open and honest about our faith and we need one another to do that So I said I was gonna let you take it out to you. So why don't you take us out? See how I can be magnanimous Thank you that's the biggest word you've ever used since I've known you. and I was like, I think that's the right way to use that word. Cause I've heard somebody else say it. Uh, but yeah, yeah, I'm being magnanimous. Thank you. Oh, is that it? All right. We love you, faithful agents. We'll see you next week.