✅ 🏠 🪪 Become a real estate agent - https://www.usrealtytraining.com/real-estate-license

Give Erika a shoutout:

Email - erika.taylor@kw.com

Phone - (818) 432-1500

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/erikanuritaylor/

Twitter/X - https://x.com/erikanluv?lang=en

License - 02090422

Thinking about becoming a real estate agent—or already licensed and wondering what the first year in real estate is really like? In this interview, Robert Rico sits down with Erika Taylor to share a real-world expectation check: how long it can take to get your first deal, what commission income actually feels like (including budgeting and taxes), and what the day-to-day life of a Realtor looks like behind the scenes.

Erika is also honest about the mindset shift new agents need to make—how to keep moving when things feel slow, how to build confidence, and why mentorship can make or break your momentum.

What does it really take to succeed as a real estate agent — especially in today’s market?

Pass the real estate exam and become a real estate agent:👉 ⁠https://www.usrealtytraining.com⁠

In this candid conversation, Robert Rico sits down with veteran real estate leader and trainer Diane Brito to unpack the truth about building a sustainable real estate career. With more than 25 years in the industry, Diane shares honest insight into what new agents experience in their first year, why so many agents struggle or quit early, and what successful agents do differently.

This episode goes beyond hype and surface-level advice. You’ll hear real talk about income inconsistency, rejection, mindset, mentorship, lead generation, choosing the right brokerage or team, and surviving the emotional ups and downs of real estate. Diane also explains why challenging markets often create the strongest agents — and how surrounding yourself with the right people can completely change your trajectory.

Whether you’re thinking about becoming a real estate agent, recently passed your exam, or feel stuck trying to gain momentum, this episode offers clarity, perspective, and practical guidance you can actually apply.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What the first year in real estate is really like

• Can new agents actually make money in real estate?

• Why most agents fail — and how to avoid becoming one of them

• How to handle rejection and stay mentally strong

• The role mentorship, teams, and culture play in long-term success

• How to stay consistent in a feast-or-famine industry

• Why boundaries and balance matter more than you think

Learn more about real estate education and exam prep:👉 https://www.usrealtytraining.com

Connect with Diane Brito:📞 (310) 658-1720
📧 diane@soldbyaria.com

If you treat real estate like a quick commission, you’ll always be chasing; treat it like a calling, and it can change your family’s future. In this honest, no-hype conversation, host Robert Rico sits down with Clarissa Cortez—a veteran Bay Area Realtor, team leader, and longtime US Realty Training instructor—to unpack how she left the corporate financial world, rode out market crashes, and built a family-first business that still puts clients’ needs first.

Click here to start your real estate career with US Realty Training’s classes, crash courses, and exam prep: https://www.usrealtytraining.com

What you’ll learn: how Clarissa turned a numbers-driven finance background into a service-driven real estate business, built stability in a commission-only career, and stayed “the calm in the storm” for clients during the 2007 crash and beyond. You’ll also hear how she protects family time with clear boundaries, uses simple budgeting systems to survive slow seasons, and mentors new and part-time agents into confident professionals.

Takeaways

• Give yourself time to be great: start part-time or as a referring agent, keep your benefits if you need them, and grow into full-time real estate instead of leaping blindly.

• Lead with service, not scarcity: focus on what’s truly best for clients—even if that means advising them not to sell or walking away from a listing—and let trust, referrals, and repeat business follow.

• Plan for the ups and downs: use an “envelope” or percentage-based budget, live below your best months, and set aside reserves so a canceled escrow or slow quarter doesn’t sink you.

• Be the calm in the storm: clients don’t expect you to know everything; they expect you to stay steady, ask questions, call lenders, and fight for options like modifications, short sales, or better terms.

• Make real estate a family affair: create a “family contract,” involve your partner and kids in goals, include them in small milestones, and set device boundaries so they’re not competing with your phone at dinner.

Inside US Realty Training: real-world instructors like Clarissa, practical exam prep and licensing classes, and a supportive community that treats real estate as a long-term business and a calling—not just a commission check.

Clarissa Cortez is a veteran Realtor, team leader, and US Realty Training trainer with more than two decades in the business. She blends a financial advisor’s eye for numbers with a teacher’s heart, helping clients protect their wealth through smart real estate decisions and guiding new agents to build ethical, family-first careers with generational impact.

Ready to build your own family-first real estate story? Enroll with US Realty Training, start your classes or crash course, and then tell us when your first “for my family” commission check clears.