In this episode of The Same Day Podcast, Mat Zalk speaks with Kay Sullivan, Broker Associate at Chinowth & Cohen Realtors, to discuss mastering resilience and relationship-building in real estate. Kay talks about overcoming early struggles in her career, the importance of grit, and how her diverse background prepared her for success in the industry. She also shares her insights on building lasting client relationships and staying grounded in a high-energy field.
Mastering Resilience, Relationship-Building, and Grit in Real Estate With Kay Sullivan
Kay Sullivan is a Broker Associate at Chinowth & Cohen Realtors, a leading real estate firm known for its exceptional service and support for both buyers and sellers. Recognized as a 2025 Top Agent by BestAgents.us, Kay boasts over $15 million in sales in her most recent year and maintains a perfect five-star average across 10 verified client reviews. While she works with clients of all types, Kay has a special connection with those relocating, having moved over 20 times herself.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [02:33] How frequent relocations sparked Kay Sullivan’s passion for real estate
- [06:16] The complexities behind a 15-acre industrial property deal
- [14:59] How Kay overcame failure in her first year in real estate and persisted through a setback
- [18:33] Kay shares how her first successful transaction gave her confidence and momentum
- [21:52] Transforming transactions into memorable experiences for homebuyers
- [26:05] Building a reputation through integrity and follow-through
- [32:38] Kay’s market insights for Tulsa’s growth and the future of Bixby
In this episode…
Mastering resilience, building relationships, and embracing grit are essential skills for anyone navigating the real estate world. Can these qualities translate into success, especially for those facing constant change? Is there a unique formula for thriving in this competitive industry?
According to Kay Sullivan, a seasoned real estate professional, resilience and grit are key to her success. She highlights that perseverance, especially in the face of challenges, has been fundamental throughout her career. With a background at American Airlines and in fitness training, she developed strong problem-solving abilities and a deep commitment to customer service. Kay’s diverse experience allows her to guide both first-time buyers and seasoned investors through life-changing real estate decisions, ensuring every transaction is handled with care and purpose.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Yonatan Schmidt on LinkedIn
- Mat Zalk on LinkedIn
- Keyrenter Property Management
- Keyrenter Property Management in Tulsa | Oklahoma City | Arkansas
- Keyrenter Property Management email address: [email protected]
- Kay Sullivan: LinkedIn | Website | Contact no.: (918) 924-2405
- “Navigating the Obstacles of Launching Your Big Idea in Property Management” with Vondell Berns on The Same Day Podcast
- “The Characteristics of Valuable Coaching and Entrepreneurial Success” Aaron Whigham on The Same Day Podcast
- “Renting to Own: The Advantages of a Contract for Deed” with Brook Reutter on The Same Day Podcast
- The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann
- Forewarn
Quotable Moments
- “You have to be on it time-wise, because if they don’t get an answer immediately, they’ll move on.”
- “If you don’t have grit, if you’re not staying in there, you’re not going to get it.”
- “You want to make it a pleasant experience, a smooth experience, everything else is on me.”
- “Your word is what your business is, and if you can’t follow through, your business won’t go anywhere.”
- “I always try to bring people that are working hard, give them a referral or help them.”
Action Steps
- Prioritize timely communication with clients: Responding quickly, especially with first-time homebuyers, builds trust and prevents them from seeking other agents.
- Foster resilience through consistent effort: Overcoming early struggles, like a slow start, cultivates grit and strengthens long-term success in real estate.
- Build meaningful relationships with clients: Focusing on a smooth and pleasant experience ensures clients feel valued and are more likely to return.
- Embrace a problem-solving mindset: Approaching challenges creatively allows you to adapt to any situation, whether it’s a commercial or residential deal.
- Support and mentor new agents: By offering referrals and guidance, you help others grow while fostering a collaborative and supportive industry environment.
Sponsor for this episode…
Keyrenter Property Management:
This episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management.
Keyrenter Property Management is a full-service property management company that helps clients buy, renovate, and operate real estate assets.
The team helps clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management.
That’s why, no matter what rental you have — single-family homes, condos, townhomes, or apartments — they can give you the management solutions you need.
To learn more about their services, go to https://keyrenterpmc.com/ or send them an email at [email protected].
Episode Transcript
Intro 00:04
Welcome to The Same Day Podcast, where we discuss driving incremental business growth and other topics related to real estate, property management and entrepreneurship. Now to the show at hand.
Mat Zalk 00:20
Mat Zalk here. I’m the host of The Same Day Podcast where I connect with top business experts and real estate leaders. Some past episodes that might be interesting to you. We had Vondell Berns on the show from Thankless Productions, Aaron Whigham of New You, and Brook Reutter talking about contract for deed versus lease to own options. Today’s episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management.
At Keyrenter Property Management, we are a full service property management company helping our clients buy, renovate and operate real estate assets. We help our clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management. And that means no matter what rental you have single family homes, condos, townhomes, apartments. We have the management solutions you need. Go to keyrenterpmc.com or email us at [email protected] for more information.
Today’s guest is Kay Sullivan. Kay Sullivan’s a powerhouse realtor with Chinowth & Cohen here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Known for her high energy, deep market insights and passion for helping people find their happy place. Before real estate, Kay worked with American Airlines and built her own fitness business experiences that shaped her world class service, discipline and drive.
Kay brings that same focus to every transaction, whether she’s helping families find their dream home or investors close complex commercial deals. Having relocated more than 20 times herself, she’s truly mastered the art of navigating transitions, and she does it all with heart, hustle and unstoppable enthusiasm. Kay, welcome.
Kay Sullivan 01:42
Thank you.
Mat Zalk 01:42
How are you?
Kay Sullivan 01:43
I’m great. How about you?
Mat Zalk 01:45
Good. I’m great. I was just telling you that I have nails painted by my six year old daughters, and my four year old daughter is really clamoring to get after my toes. So if people see this, if they’re watching this on YouTube and they see my right hand painted in blue and my left hand painted in silver with an acrylic overlay. That’s that’s why because I’m trying to play all roles here, you know.
Kay Sullivan 02:10
That’s good.
Mat Zalk 02:14
It’s like it can be. It can be unnerving for people to see me with a beard and painted nails. You have. I want to start with a little bit of your history. You’ve done a lot.
Let’s talk about how you got into real estate and kind of the the life you led before you were in real estate.
Kay Sullivan 02:33
Okay, so real estate kind of became my hobby when we moved around a lot and we moved around so much, I really couldn’t get into real estate. Yeah. So. When we moved to Tulsa, my husband retired and I was like, okay, now I have my opportunity. The kids were out of high school and or just getting out of high school.
So I jumped on and never looked back.
Mat Zalk 03:01
And where? Where had you lived before you moved to Tulsa?
Kay Sullivan 03:06
We had a short. So my husband was a federal agent.
Mat Zalk 03:11
Cool.
Kay Sullivan 03:12
With the government. And then he retired in Saint Louis. We lived there. And then after he retired, somehow the military heard because he was also retired from the Army Army Reserve. And they said, well, you come back in.
And he said, well, yeah. So we all left Saint Louis and went to Fort Leavenworth. And he managed.
Mat Zalk 03:36
That in Kansas.
Kay Sullivan 03:38
Yes. And so he managed all the security. And we were supposed to be there two years. I left after a year because I we have a middle daughter that is blind. Got it.
And I needed her to get ready for college. And I didn’t feel like we were getting it done there. So we came to Tulsa and put her into the Jenks School District. So she needed to be challenged. And anyway, he finished out his term and came on down to Tulsa.
Mat Zalk 04:08
And is your middle child successfully graduated from college at this point?
Kay Sullivan 04:13
Yes, she graduated from Oru. Oral Roberts University and she got her master’s and she’s a family therapist.
Mat Zalk 04:20
Wow. Love that. Yeah. My friend and my friend Haven Germann was the hub, and he was the first blind deaf graduate of Harvard Law School. Wow.
And I spent some time traveling with her as an assistant when she was giving speeches around the country. It was really interesting. I learned a lot about navigating people who don’t see and like what you can do and can’t do. You can’t like elbow to the side and walk down a step and give a little a squeeze or something to let people know. It was really it was a fascinating experience.
And she’s a wonderful human. She reads she reads off of an automated braille system. So I would type in, you know, stuff, and she would read it and she would respond. And if you get close, you can’t hear the like, my voice level. But if you speak in a very high pitch, she can hear.
So she could do some communication that way. Amazing. Amazing woman. Yes. Okay.
So you lived in a bunch of different places. You made your way to Tulsa. Why have you moved so many times? Like 20 plus? So Kansas, Saint Louis and Tulsa.
But you’re you’re moving houses constantly.
Kay Sullivan 05:31
Yes. So growing up, my dad was a manager at Montgomery Wards. I don’t know if you remember Montgomery way back.
Mat Zalk 05:37
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 05:38
Yes. So they would send him to an Under-producing store, and then he would stay as long as it took for it to be a producing store. And so before I got out of high school, it was we moved 13 times.
Mat Zalk 05:51
Wow. So it’s safe to say that you grew up in an underachieving family, and then you married an underachiever. I understand, I understand, I understand the context. Okay, I understand. Before we jumped on, you told us.
You told me a little bit about a commercial transaction that you’re working with, that you’re working on right now. Tell us a little bit about the the the nature of that transaction and what makes it complicated.
Kay Sullivan 06:16
So it’s industrial. And I, the owner of the property is amazing. He is a plumber by trade, but he learned he liked to build from building his own buildings for his offices. And so he’s created this amazing 15 acre industrial space. It’s actually in Broken Arrow.
Mat Zalk 06:43
Wow.
Kay Sullivan 06:43
And he’s working on the last two buildings, but everything is leased up. So I’ve had the privilege to work with him and get it all eased up, and now we’re going to sell it.
Mat Zalk 06:56
Wow.
Kay Sullivan 06:57
So we have some interesting parties, and it’s one’s a 23,000 square foot building and one’s a 25,000 square foot building.
Mat Zalk 07:11
And then are these aluminum. Are these aluminum shell buildings. Are they.
Kay Sullivan 07:15
Metal. Yeah. Yeah. Red iron and metal buildings.
Mat Zalk 07:19
Yeah. And.
Kay Sullivan 07:23
A space in the back that has about 25 separate warehouse spaces.
Mat Zalk 07:30
And how are people using these spaces? Are they running like an HVAC business out of the front with the warehouse space in the back, or are they using it just to store materials or.
Kay Sullivan 07:39
So the two large buildings, the 23,020 5000, they have about 8000ft² of office space in the front with a chef’s kitchen. And I mean really nice. And then they have the warehouse in the back with a air conditioned tool room, and then they have some yard space.
Mat Zalk 07:59
Got it. And so is he doing much plumbing work these days or he’s mostly doing.
Kay Sullivan 08:03
Plumbing company is still going. He’s not so much hands on with the plumbing company.
Mat Zalk 08:11
But he’s got good operators.
Kay Sullivan 08:12
Yes. And they still all work together in the same area.
Mat Zalk 08:17
Yep. Love that. Okay, let’s go back for a second. So you moved around. You finally moved to Tulsa.
Is that ten, 12 years ago?
Kay Sullivan 08:27
I think it was like 20. Oh, gosh. We’ve been here about 14 years.
Mat Zalk 08:34
Got it.
Kay Sullivan 08:34
Yeah 15 years.
Mat Zalk 08:36
And so when did your how did American Airlines come into your history.
Kay Sullivan 08:43
So I started working for American Airlines in Amarillo, Texas. And I was in college at the time, then quickly moved to Dallas, and so I stayed with American Airlines about 18 years. And then every time my husband got transferred, I was fortunate enough to move with him with American.
Mat Zalk 09:06
What an amazing story. I mean, the fact that you could can have continuity in your career while your husband moved for his career is pretty unique.
Kay Sullivan 09:15
When he was traveling so much, we were in Buffalo, New York at the time. That that’s when I had to. I wrote in and did my resignation, and they wrote me back and said I had my retirement. So I was pretty excited.
Mat Zalk 09:30
Wait, you said I’m quitting? And they said, well, you’ve already met your requirements for a pension of some sort.
Kay Sullivan 09:36
Yes.
Mat Zalk 09:37
Wow. Yeah. So you still receive that today?
Kay Sullivan 09:41
Well, when they. Oh, probably about eight years ago, they rolled our pension out and we rolled it into whatever we wanted. So I have it into the funds.
Mat Zalk 09:54
Yeah. And you still have the this is the burning question that everyone wants to know. Do you still have rights to fly American Airlines?
Kay Sullivan 10:00
So I didn’t get that.
Mat Zalk 10:02
What do they call it, 8090 or ID non rev. Non rev. Yeah. Yeah we had that through my wife’s grandfather who was for many years a in management here in Tulsa at the American Airlines facility. And it’s wonderful if you have a lot of time and you can just wait for a standby ticket.
But it’s really a pain if you want to go somewhere that doesn’t work. But it was fun while it lasted.
Kay Sullivan 10:24
Really hard to non rev in and out of Tulsa.
Mat Zalk 10:27
Why? Because all the flights are full.
Kay Sullivan 10:29
Well, because you have the facility maintenance. You have revenue accounting. You have a lot here with employees. Yeah. So you know if you’re flying out of I don’t know, Dallas, Amarillo, Washington Dulles, they don’t have the American Airlines employees.
They just have the airport employees.
Mat Zalk 10:47
Yeah. So okay. Then from American Airlines, you receive your pension, and that’s awesome. I mean, like your husband, your husband must have two pensions. One from the Army, one from from the American government.
From the federal government. So you’ve got your pension. You’re like, I’m going to go start a fitness business.
Kay Sullivan 11:03
Yeah. So exercise is my hobby. That’s how I kept saying through three little kids and moving. So yeah. So I went to Canada across the border when we lived in Buffalo, and I got my certification from Issa and became a fitness trainer.
And I just worked out of my house with neighbors and the neighbors friends, and we had a basement every, you know, everyone in Buffalo has a basement. So I had a really nice gym.
Mat Zalk 11:39
So you took you took a hobby. You took a hobby where you just were like, I’m going to go buy a bunch of gym equipment for myself. And then you’re like, I should just train other people, make a little bit of money.
Kay Sullivan 11:47
Because they’re always asking me, what do I need to do?
Mat Zalk 11:49
Well, come over here and I’ll show you. You’re not going to like it because it involves a lot of work, right? Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 11:55
And then the sad thing is, as a trainer, you want it more than they want it. You know, they’re they’re losing weight and they’re getting fit, and then they go on vacation. Yeah.
Mat Zalk 12:05
You know, like you’ve destroyed all my results. All my hard work is gone.
Kay Sullivan 12:09
Right.
Mat Zalk 12:10
How long did you train? Train people?
Kay Sullivan 12:13
I did, let me see. We were in Buffalo six years, so I probably did that for about five, four years. And then we moved to Saint Louis, and we were in Saint Louis for six years, and I probably, well, the whole time I was there. So probably about ten years, 8 to 10 years.
Mat Zalk 12:31
And what what do you think that your time in American Airlines and your fitness business did to help shape your real estate career?
Kay Sullivan 12:42
Well, it gives you grit. You gotta you gotta get through the process. You know, when you work for an airline and it’s an off schedule operation day, and especially in DFW. You know, and no one’s leaving. No one’s coming in, and you have thousands of people.
Mat Zalk 13:01
Yelling at you.
Kay Sullivan 13:02
That you want to help you learn to think outside of the box. Let’s get to the end game. Let’s, you know, so you learn to problem solve. And that’s the same with training. You just learn to you see what they need and how they live.
And then you problem solve their situation and make it where they can obtain their goals.
Mat Zalk 13:27
I do feel like grit is something that this I see in my six, six, four and two year olds. I guess I can’t say I don’t see grit in my two year old, but like, I feel like grit in this generation is somehow lacking. It’s just life’s too easy.
Kay Sullivan 13:41
It it is. I, I agree.
Mat Zalk 13:44
It’s like I feel like my kids, not that I want them to be, but they’re like, never going to be beaten up on the schoolyard. They’re never going to, like, fall enough to really develop the the emotional, physical calluses to survive in this world. It’s a problem.
Kay Sullivan 14:02
Yeah. Yeah I agree.
Mat Zalk 14:04
You gotta find, like, micro ways to teach your kids grit. Is my is my feeling. And because that’s. I feel like grit is such a tool for success.
Kay Sullivan 14:15
It is. If you don’t have grit, if you’re not in the if you’re not staying in there, if you’re not, you know, fighting your way through it, they’re not going to get it.
Mat Zalk 14:24
Yeah. My kids are fond of saying like, you know, I look, I can spell this. I’m smart. And I always say, it doesn’t matter if you’re smart. It matters if you work hard.
Yeah. It’s like.
Kay Sullivan 14:33
That’s right.
Mat Zalk 14:34
Everyone’s smart. I mean, the people you’re going to be competing with in life are all going to be smart. It makes no difference.
Kay Sullivan 14:39
It’s just there’s always going to be someone smarter. Totally right.
Mat Zalk 14:42
It just matters whether you have the grit, the persistence to actually stick it out and do it. What was your first real estate trend? Speaking of grit, like how long did it take you to find some modicum of success in in real estate? Like what was your first transaction like, how long did it take you to to find it, etc.?
Kay Sullivan 14:59
Okay, so the first year I didn’t sell one thing.
Mat Zalk 15:03
That’s great. You kept going, okay. And you were actively trying. I mean, you were like you were working. It wasn’t like it was hobby side hustle you were actively pursuing.
Kay Sullivan 15:12
Yeah, I know, I came into the office every day. I did the Ninja, I did, I followed that. Yeah, so I did, but also I wasn’t from here, so I didn’t have that base of, you know, friendship. I had some family members, but there was real other realtors in our family.
Kay Sullivan 15:33
So.
Kay Sullivan 15:34
Yeah. Yeah. So my first deal in my second year was a condo I leased and I got like $68 and I was so proud.
Mat Zalk 15:46
Frame that check.
Kay Sullivan 15:47
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 15:47
Cash it and frame it.
Kay Sullivan 15:50
So. Yeah.
Mat Zalk 15:52
So how did you negotiate a $68 fee on a condo? It was a percentage of the of the lease amount or what?
Kay Sullivan 15:57
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 15:58
It was like, you know, they offered, I don’t know, $80 to lease the condo. It was a company doing it. And so I found someone to lease it. And then they paid me the 80 bucks, and then I got my 68 or whatever.
Mat Zalk 16:13
After you had a split with commission with your broker. Okay. Got it. They weren’t like, oh, you just. How about you just take this?
You worked so hard for this. How about you just take it? Instead, they were like, nope. We gotta honor the split.
Kay Sullivan 16:25
Yep.
Mat Zalk 16:26
I’m taking my 17 bucks. Yeah. Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 16:30
So. And then my first house transaction, I think an agent in the office that was one of the top agents in probably the state, took pity on me and gave me a referral.
Kay Sullivan 16:45
Okay.
Kay Sullivan 16:46
But I think she greased the skids before I got it because they bought the house I showed them.
Mat Zalk 16:51
Love that.
Kay Sullivan 16:52
That’s kind.
Mat Zalk 16:53
That’s true kindness.
Kay Sullivan 16:54
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 16:55
And have you paid that forward?
Kay Sullivan 16:57
Oh, yeah.
Mat Zalk 16:57
Since then?
Kay Sullivan 16:58
Yes. I try to always pay forward.
Mat Zalk 17:01
How do you generally do that?
Kay Sullivan 17:03
Well, you know, I always try to bring, you know, people that are working hard. I’ll give them a referral or ask them to work something with me.
Kay Sullivan 17:15
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 17:16
Until they can start getting some business themselves.
Kay Sullivan 17:20
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 17:23
You know, they’ll come to me and ask for advice on what to do, and I’ll say, show up. You gotta show up every day. You gotta dress for success because you want people to take you serious?
Kay Sullivan 17:33
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 17:33
And, you know, just start the process. Be in the office. Listen to people talk. Go to open houses. Listen to agents.
You can learn a lot about the world of real estate by listening to experienced agents talk about a property or listings that they have. And of course, I did my gig with three and four open houses a weekend, you know, doing that.
Mat Zalk 18:01
So hardcore.
Kay Sullivan 18:04
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 18:06
Did how long was it into your second year before you did that $68 transaction? And then until you did your the first give me.
Kay Sullivan 18:16
First.
Kay Sullivan 18:16
Give me I did this $68 transaction pretty first into my second year. I mean within a month or so. And then about four months I had my first closing.
Mat Zalk 18:27
And how did you how did you stair step that into greater success?
Kay Sullivan 18:33
Well, I think it instills confidence in you. Yeah. Yes. I am a realtor, you know. And then you look.
Kay Sullivan 18:39
At.
Mat Zalk 18:39
Yours out.
Kay Sullivan 18:40
Turns out. Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 18:42
I sold a house, actually. You know, I had help, but I. Yes, I went to a closing and, you know, so I think, I think the confidence of getting that first deal under your belt is.
Kay Sullivan 18:57
Huge, really.
Kay Sullivan 18:58
Propels you into doing other things and just carrying yourself differently and talking to people differently.
Kay Sullivan 19:06
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 19:07
You have like, a hero story you can lean on and say, well, I was working this one transaction and something happened. I got a little sideways on this and but we solved it. And so you can kind of lean back on those on those experiences.
Kay Sullivan 19:20
I remember going through training or post 45 training here and the teacher said, oh, don’t worry about writing that contract right now. There will always be someone here to help you. So my first contract, no one was here. Not. Not anyone.
The office was closed. I’m walking around. There’s no one in here. So I sit down and I do it. And I send it to the buyer to sign.
And I realized I made a mistake and sent it back to the buyer to sign, and sent it back to the buyer to sign. I mean, if if you can make mistakes, I get them.
Mat Zalk 19:57
You know, like, I promise you, this is not my first transaction.
Kay Sullivan 20:01
That’s right. Trust me.
Mat Zalk 20:04
Trust me. How many transactions do you think you’ve done since that first sale?
Kay Sullivan 20:09
Oh.
Kay Sullivan 20:11
I’m not sure. Because I do a lot of commercial. I do a lot of leasing too, so I don’t know, 40, 50. I don’t actually, I don’t know, actually. I’m not a real statistical.
I don’t chase the numbers.
Kay Sullivan 20:32
Yeah, sure.
Kay Sullivan 20:33
And Although last year I was pretty proud of myself.
Mat Zalk 20:38
Tell us about last year.
Kay Sullivan 20:41
I did an excess of over 15 million.
Mat Zalk 20:44
Good for.
Kay Sullivan 20:45
You.
Kay Sullivan 20:45
Yeah, so that was my big year.
Mat Zalk 20:50
How do you think being part of the Chinowth & Cohen name has helped you to get to where you are now?
Kay Sullivan 20:58
I think it’s helped in every way. You know, it’s I think their name has such a respect that people I think they think when you work for Chinowth & Cohen, that you’re a solid agent.
Kay Sullivan 21:15
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 21:16
And. There’s so much help. There really is a lot of help. That one deal that I had.
Kay Sullivan 21:24
The flu because it was.
Mat Zalk 21:24
A weekend.
Kay Sullivan 21:26
By myself.
Mat Zalk 21:27
It was midnight on a Saturday. You can’t expect anybody to be there. When I said they’ll always be someone to help you. I meant during regular business hours, right?
Kay Sullivan 21:35
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 21:36
Or before ten at night.
Mat Zalk 21:40
Tell us a little bit about your your mantra of finding, helping, helping a family find their dream home or helping someone, you know execute their dream transaction.
Kay Sullivan 21:52
Well, my goal is to make it for them. Like, not a transaction.
Kay Sullivan 21:58
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 21:59
You know, you want to make it a pleasant experience, a smooth experience, you know, you want them to do is get excited about getting into that house and everything else is on me to make it right and easy for them. And, you know, veterans, I love to work with veterans because, you know, my husband’s a veteran first time home buyers. My kids are in that ballpark of first time home buyers. And so it’s the one thing I have or kind of feel with the first time home buyers is you have to be on it time wise, because the way the world works and the way their mind thinks is if they don’t have an answer immediately, then they’re going to look for that answer or get someone that can answer it. And so you have to be on it when you have the first time buyers.
Mat Zalk 22:57
But that means like if somebody reaches out to you, contacted you, you got to be responsive by text or phone calls relatively quickly.
Kay Sullivan 23:03
Immediately.
Kay Sullivan 23:04
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 23:04
Because they’re.
Kay Sullivan 23:05
Like lead.
Kay Sullivan 23:08
Yep.
Kay Sullivan 23:08
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 23:09
That’s also just a crazy world we live in that people expect immediate responses. I mean, you’re at American Airlines. I suspect that some of the computer technology was a little bit different, and speed to required for proper execution was different. Now it’s like Saturday at midnight. When I email you, I expect a response because that’s what I’m looking for a house and you have to be responsive when I’m looking for a house.
It’s like that’s really expectations are really 24 over seven. How do you manage.
Kay Sullivan 23:35
And can we see that now.
Kay Sullivan 23:38
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 23:38
Like it’s midnight. It’s midnight I don’t think the seller’s going to show it to us.
Kay Sullivan 23:42
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 23:45
How do you manage your own energy and your own fitness and wellbeing in this kind of crazy 24 seven world?
Kay Sullivan 23:54
I mean, I’m I’m high energy. I’m not. You know, I wouldn’t say I’m like nuts, energetic. But, you know, I try to eat right? So I don’t get tired and don’t feel sluggish.
I, I do exercise, you know, often. I have a great husband that, you know, he’ll kind of tries to maintain the household for me while I’m working. Although, you know, we don’t really have kids or anything at home now, so it’s he and I and.
Mat Zalk 24:29
Your handprints on the wall. And if you’re a mess to clean up.
Kay Sullivan 24:32
Yeah. So.
Kay Sullivan 24:33
And he he’s good with that, you know, taking care of the dogs and the dishes and you know. And he’ll be my sign guy. He helps me with you know, and and always, you know, if I’m going someplace that I don’t know the people. He’s my security detail.
Mat Zalk 24:51
Do you use forewarn that the Na recommends we use to look up people’s numbers and stuff?
Kay Sullivan 24:57
I don’t I should.
Mat Zalk 24:58
It’s a good tool.
Kay Sullivan 25:00
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 25:01
I should. That’s always asked me, do you know him? No. And you know, so he’s, you know, big in law enforcement. So he’s.
Kay Sullivan 25:11
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 25:12
Is he still active or is he retired now?
Kay Sullivan 25:14
He’s retired.
Mat Zalk 25:14
He’s retired twice. Twice retired. Love that. Is he still active? Does he go to the gym with you and and push some steel around?
Kay Sullivan 25:24
Well, we have a gym upstairs that he goes there. I go to the gym. I and I’m not a gym rat. I don’t like the traditional gyms. So I go to Tulsa Fitness Systems and it’s a just a class, high intensity interval training.
Kay Sullivan 25:40
Cool.
Kay Sullivan 25:41
Yeah. So you don’t have time to stand around and talk in the gym. You just go in and out.
Kay Sullivan 25:46
Yeah. Yeah.
Mat Zalk 25:48
Tell us a little bit about the entrepreneurship required to sustain your real estate practice. What do you what do you do that’s most entrepreneurial in nature?
Kay Sullivan 26:05
Oh, that’s a good question. So so most entrepreneur. Well, you have to just realize that you are I mean, your word is what what your business is.
Kay Sullivan 26:19
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 26:19
And if you can’t follow through with your word, your business isn’t going to go anywhere. So it’s, you know, follow through. It’s respect for the other agents. And it’s just being approachable. I think I, you know, again, I just like to help people.
So I might help, you know, couple agents in the office with their first house sale, and then they’ve got a commercial deal that they can’t do. So then they call me and, you know, just reciprocates all the time.
Mat Zalk 26:57
So I want to I want to go into this, the law of reciprocity from Bob Bergen’s book. The Go Giver, which we mutually love. But before I do that, I want to ask when I had a question on top of my mind, hold on, you’re saying, oh, like I the sense I get is that so many of us as realtors are like high ego driven. And you said, you know, have respect for other agents. I find that other agents aren’t always super respectful.
They it is very it’s for high producing agents. It’s hard to get a response sometimes people don’t necessarily reply in a timely fashion to offers, and you wonder if they’ve even followed up on their, you know, required duty to share an offer. And then people are curt, they’re short, and they’re very much they’re they just seem very the the esteem of the self is is through the roof. And I was wonder where that comes from. Why are people in our industry?
Why do we have such egos, do you think?
Kay Sullivan 28:09
I don’t know, I, I can remember when I first started and agents said to me, I can, I can see you being a successful real estate agent because I wasn’t loud, I wasn’t I wasn’t in the front of everybody all the time. That’s. That’s not me. I’m not. But you’re right.
A lot of agents that, you know, they’ve got to be the loudest in the room. And, you know, they have to brag about what they do. And, you know, I and, you know, sometimes you have to do both deals even with I’ve had a couple of agents recently come to me and say, I don’t understand because they’re not getting their paperwork done to me and they’re really a successful agent. And I said, well, sometimes you have to do the paperwork on both sides to get the deal done. And even if they’re successful, they might be busy with 20 other transactions or, you know, it falls through the cracks, even with the good ones.
Kay Sullivan 29:10
So totally.
Kay Sullivan 29:11
Yeah, I don’t know, but I, I agree, sometimes it’s really and I think sometimes because they think agents think that you’re in competition with them. And so sometimes they I don’t know, I.
Kay Sullivan 29:26
Don’t.
Mat Zalk 29:27
Eat Dog World out there.
Kay Sullivan 29:28
But there are a few agents that I know that I can be assured if I call them, they’re not going to answer, you know, and I’m trying.
Kay Sullivan 29:35
How do you.
Mat Zalk 29:35
Get deals done if you don’t answer your phone?
Kay Sullivan 29:37
I know, I know.
Kay Sullivan 29:40
You know and it’s or or they call back like three days later and I’m, I mean I get that they’re so busy, but you know, they’ve got to figure it out to make it happen.
Mat Zalk 29:50
Roll your number to somebody that will answer that will that will take a calendar appointment. Well let’s talk about The Go Giver. What what what is The Go Giver. Required reading when you when you join Chinowth & Cohen? Or is this just a book that you picked up early on?
Kay Sullivan 30:05
Chinowth & Cohen gave it to everyone in the company at I think it was one of our Christmas events, and it was early on when I first started, so I read it and soaked it up. Yeah, I mean, it just made perfect sense to me in every way. I think it was year five. I got the award. I’m not going to remember the name of the award, but it’s the one that your peers vote on you to be the leader, the best agent of the year.
And it’s only because I did everything I could to help people, you know? And it just it just makes sense. You know, you keep you give what you’ve got and that will come back to you whether it’s with different people or, you know, the same people. And it teaches those people to give what they have and hopefully and, and with my little friend group in the office with new agents, I’ve given them The Go Giver. So our.
Kay Sullivan 31:13
Bob.
Mat Zalk 31:13
Berg will be happy to hear that. Yeah, almost required reading it. Chinowth & Cohen.
Kay Sullivan 31:17
And.
Kay Sullivan 31:17
Our broker in this office, she has every The Go-Giver book that he’s ever written. And she gives it to the agents free to read like a library.
Kay Sullivan 31:26
Wow.
Kay Sullivan 31:27
So yeah.
Kay Sullivan 31:29
I keep.
Mat Zalk 31:29
The book. I’ve downloaded it on my Spotify account, and I keep it. I keep the physical book by my bed and thumb through it, like, with pretty significant regularity. I probably keep 20 books by my bedside table, but that’s a different story. But I mean, it is a great for those people that have not read the Go-Giver by Bob Burg, and he’s got a co-author.
I can’t remember his coauthors name, but Bob Burg, his co-author, it’s it’s a parable about a sales guy trying to close his quarter and not finding success in that venture, but ultimately meeting a mentor named Pindar that teaches him the five what do they call him? The five immutable laws of success, or the five stratospheric? This five laws of stratospheric success. And they’re about creating value and reciprocity and the ability to receive and some laws of income and some other things. Very, very good fable, short read, but very impactful.
You work a lot in South Tulsa and in Bixby. What’s what’s going on in South Tulsa? Where’s the path of progress? Kind of what tell us what’s what’s up and coming.
Kay Sullivan 32:38
Oh well, Bixby is blowing up like crazy.
Mat Zalk 32:42
Why is that?
Kay Sullivan 32:43
Well, they have land.
Kay Sullivan 32:45
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 32:45
You know, there’s space to grow. And the downtown is just now being, I think, revitalized and developed. And they’re trying to bring in some new businesses.
Kay Sullivan 32:56
And is that called the.
Mat Zalk 32:57
Waterfront district or something? What is it called? There’s like one Main Street at this point, right?
Kay Sullivan 33:03
Yes.
Kay Sullivan 33:04
They do.
Kay Sullivan 33:04
That’s cute.
Kay Sullivan 33:05
Yeah it is. And they have like a little outdoor amphitheater. And so it’s it’s a cute little town and but the school districts are good people moving in from. We get a lot of people in from California, you know, they they like it because it’s clean, you know, it’s close to everything. But it’s kind of a small community.
Kay Sullivan 33:32
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 33:33
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 33:35
That’s funny because I feel like Tulsa in Tulsa, the 400,000 people of Tulsa is a pretty small community. You can’t go anywhere without seeing somebody, you know. In Tulsa. And so if Bixby and Jenks and Broken Arrow are even smaller communities, you’re undoubtedly going to run into somebody or a family, you know, when you’re out and about.
Kay Sullivan 33:53
Yep. That’s right.
Mat Zalk 33:55
Small town. There’s something so, so nice about small towns, though. I mean, I guess you can, if you want, anonymity, you kind of fall back into anonymity and and LA or New York or Chicago, but, you know, small towns, there’s something fun about just kind of being proximate to everybody and never knowing when you’re going to run into somebody that you haven’t caught up with in a while.
Kay Sullivan 34:20
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 34:21
Well, when I moved here, the other agents would joke around that it only takes 20 minutes to get anywhere in Tulsa, and that’s still holding pretty good. I mean, they’re, you know, a little bit of traffic out there, but not like, you know, the big cities Dallas or. Yeah, you know, Saint Louis, Chicago, Kansas City.
Mat Zalk 34:41
I generally don’t go anywhere if it’s more than ten minutes away.
Kay Sullivan 34:45
Like. Yeah. If it’s.
Kay Sullivan 34:48
If it’s out of your little circle.
Kay Sullivan 34:49
Then.
Mat Zalk 34:50
Why am I going there? You know, like, I just can’t, I just can’t. Ten minutes is about my max, about my car. Anything else that people should know about you while we’ve got you on the show? Anything.
Anything that you love to help with, people should reach out to you for. How do people contact you?
Kay Sullivan 35:12
They can go to my website ksullivan.ccoklahoma.com
Mat Zalk 35:21
We’ll put it. We’ll put it in the show notes.
Kay Sullivan 35:23
Thank you. Sure. Okay.
Mat Zalk 35:25
Kay Sullivan. Chinowth & Cohen. That’s what’s important. A Google search.
Kay Sullivan 35:29
Call text, text. Anytime.
Mat Zalk 35:31
How do I do that for seven.
Mat Zalk 35:33
What number do they call?
Kay Sullivan 35:35
(918) 924-2405.
Mat Zalk 35:38
How did you end up with a 918 number if you moved from Saint Louis?
Kay Sullivan 35:42
Well.
Kay Sullivan 35:43
That was a good question. I remember I went into Lee Cohen’s house, one of the owners, not his house, the office. And I was talking to him about something. And he goes, do you have a six, three, six number?
Kay Sullivan 35:55
And nobody’s.
Mat Zalk 35:56
Going.
Kay Sullivan 35:56
To answer your in Tulsa. And that right there said, okay, okay, time to change your number. It was really hard to do too because you know when you have something so long like that.
Kay Sullivan 36:06
Yeah.
Kay Sullivan 36:07
Now there’s a lot of agents that have different area codes. But when I first started, there wasn’t very many.
Mat Zalk 36:15
I mean, I do feel like in Tulsa. Speaking of small town, if you call from a number that’s not 918, people just do not answer. Yeah, we’ll screen that call.
Kay Sullivan 36:24
They do.
Mat Zalk 36:25
Like, who could possibly be calling me from somewhere else? There’s no reason for me to answer this.
Kay Sullivan 36:30
Right?
Kay Sullivan 36:31
So yeah. So I mean, I, I do leasing, residential commercial sales. I do it all.
Mat Zalk 36:41
Do you work.
Mat Zalk 36:42
With property management company to do leasing for them?
Kay Sullivan 36:47
I well, I do leasing. If someone comes to me and says I need to lease my house. I help them. I don’t give them to someone else. Especially if they’re my, you know, if they’re my client from other transactions, I’m not going to send them away.
Kay Sullivan 37:03
Sure.
Kay Sullivan 37:04
So I definitely do that. I don’t manage the property. I but I will get the property leased or if they need a, you know, need to sell their house and lease something. I’ll certainly help them with that too.
Kay Sullivan 37:17
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 37:17
Wonderful.
Kay Sullivan 37:18
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 37:19
Okay. Sullivan’s a powerhouse realtor with Chinowth & Cohen, as you heard today and known for her high energy, deep market insight and passion for helping people find their happy place. Before real estate, she worked with American Airlines and built her own fitness business experiences that shaped her world class service, discipline and drive and grit. As we heard today, Kate brings that same focus to every transaction, whether she’s helping families find their dream home or investors close complex commercial deals. Having relocated more than 20 times herself, she’s truly mastered the art of navigating transitions, and she does it all with heart, hustle, grit, grit, grit, and unstoppable enthusiasm.
Okay, thank you for being on the show.
Kay Sullivan 37:57
Thank you.
Mat Zalk 37:58
I appreciate it.
Kay Sullivan 37:59
Okay. Bye bye.
Outro 38:03
Thanks for listening to The Same Day Podcast. Tune in to a new show each week and be sure to subscribe to get future episodes.