Be the Solution with Maria Quattrone

Trusting the Process: How Tonya Built a Thriving Real Estate Career in Just Two Years

• Maria Quattrone • Season 1 • Episode 304

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Tonya Knight sits down with broker Maria Quattrone to celebrate a remarkable milestone – her second anniversary as a real estate professional with MQA. What makes this achievement extraordinary? Tonya transitioned from a cosmetology background with zero sales experience after spending seven years as her mother's caregiver.

The raw, emotional conversation reveals how TO\onya built her business from scratch, including the moment she broke down crying when overwhelmed by new systems and processes. Rather than receiving comfort, Maria's straight-talk approach – "You're not going to get it in one night" – became the catalyst for Tonya's determination. This authentic exchange highlights the significant gap between HGTV's glamorized portrayal of real estate and the gritty reality of building a sustainable business.

Most compelling is Tonya's methodical approach to growth. She details how she expanded from 20 personal contacts to nurturing relationships with 649 clients through consistent follow-up, leveraging MQA's database of over 50,000 opportunities. The disciplined three-point contact system (text, call, email) combined with daily accountability huddles transformed her into a confident agent on track to serve 50 families in just her second year – a testament to the power of trusting the process.

Beyond statistics lies the heart of Tonya's motivation: "Changing my life allows me to change lives for others." Her joy in helping first-time homebuyers across generations reveals what truly drives sustainable success in real estate – genuine care for clients paired with unwavering persistence. Whether you're considering a career change or seeking inspiration to overcome professional challenges, Tonya's journey proves that with the right support system and consistent effort, extraordinary transformations are possible.

💡 Key Takeaways:

  • Success doesn't happen overnight—it’s about consistency, faith, and showing up daily.
  • Learning the systems is tough at first, but with support and grit, you grow.
  • Building a pipeline means building relationships—every person is an opportunity.
  • Morning accountability huddles and weekly training drive Tonya’s performance.
  • Trusting in God and the process has been Tonya’s guiding light.

📚 Books/Tools Mentioned:

  • Follow-Up Boss CRM
  • “Be The Solution” methodology
  • “F.O.R.D.” framework for conversation (Family, Occupation, Recreation, Dreams)

🗣️ Quotes:

“What you gave me is what I needed.” – Tonya Knight
 “It’s not about leads. It’s about opportunities.” – Maria Quattrone
 “Changing my life allows me to change the lives of others.” – Tonya Knight
 “Most people think real estate is HGTV—it’s not.” – Maria Quattrone
 “Every devil has its level.” – Maria Quattrone

Connect with Maria Quattrone:
Facebook: Maria Quattrone
Facebook Page: REMAX at Home Facebook
Facebook Page: Rise in Real Estate Facebook
LinkedIn: Maria Quattrone
YouTube: Maria Quattrone
Instagram: @maria_quattrone
TikTok: mariaquattronerealestate
Website: MQrealesate.com
Office number: 215- 607-3535

Speaker 1:

Tanya morning everybody. Good morning. This is Tanya Knight. I'm Maria Quattrone, maria Quattrone Real Estate Experts at Remax at Home and I want to congratulate Tanya on her two years as being a professional realtor here at MQA. In fact, tanya started her journey two years ago with us and, tanya, I want to ask you why did you decide to become a professional real estate agent?

Speaker 2:

Well, my husband. He was always promoting me, wanting me to be a real estate agent. However, I come from a cosmetology background. A real estate agent, however, I come from a cosmetology background, so I had to take care of my mom she for seven and a half years and I was home taking care of my mom and I woke up one day and said I'm going to go online and I'm going to look into the real estate plan. So that's what I did and I surprised them and I did it. It took me a little longer because I had cobwebs in my head and it was so much information and I did it. I'm now a real estate agent. So it was like I can't believe it. I'm really good. Every time I think about it, I get really emotional about it.

Speaker 2:

It was quite the journey for you, wasn't it?

Speaker 1:

And was it an easy one?

Speaker 2:

No, it wasn't easy it wasn't easy at all.

Speaker 2:

As a matter of fact, I was thinking how, when I first started here, I was trying to get used to all the different systems that we have to work with. And I was in the corner crying. And you came over to me and you were like what's wrong with you, these systems? I don't know what to do, I don't know how to do it. And I was expecting a hug saying, oh baby's going to be OK. And you were like get yourself together. It doesn't happen in one night. You're not going to get it in one night. So I just turned around and wiped my eyes hey, I needed that.

Speaker 1:

That's what.

Speaker 2:

I needed. I wanted the hug, but I needed that because that's who I am. I never give up. I'm not really I am emotionally a prior, but about good things, not about not being able to do something. That's not even who I am, so I needed. What you gave me is what I needed.

Speaker 1:

So, and you did, and I remember that day very clearly. I remember that day. So what the heck is going on over here? You can't figure this out in a week or a month. It takes much longer than that to get everything down. It's something new. It's not like when you went to cosmetology school. When you were there, did the people learn how to cut hair in a month? No, no, took a long time. It's a process and we trust the process. Yes, we do. There's a process that you go through and I always say most people, even people that started this year, they quit and they weren't even here a week Some weren't here in a day.

Speaker 1:

I say one day it's not HGTV, is it? No, people think it's HGTV.

Speaker 2:

It really isn't Not very glamorous either is it no.

Speaker 1:

People think it's HGTV. It really isn't. No, not very glamorous either is it no. Most days it's not. We put a little makeup on this morning for y'all yeah. But most days. We're hustling, we're hustling, we're hustling and we're putting good vibes out there and being in contribution. So why did you decide to join MQA, our community? Tanya?

Speaker 2:

Well, I had a friend who was a real estate agent that I knew from years back and they worked for Remax and I had done my homework. I Googled a couple of companies and I just said, well, I'm just going to try Remax, so I go online and I put my information in the online site and I got all these like texts and not text emails from different you know Remax entities here in the city. Ms Helen called me and she said that she was from Remaxing Home, maria Patron Associates, and I was like, oh wow, they actually called me.

Speaker 2:

So I was able to have a conversation with her and ask questions, because at that time I was taking care of my mom and I wanted to know, like, how that would work out, with me being able to take care of my mom and be a real estate agent as well. Like, did I have to be in the office, you know, like every single day? How does that work? And she said, well, come in and, you know, meet with us and have the interview. And she said that, you know, there are some people that actually have a schedule where they can, you know, for the taking care of their parents and things like that. And I was like, oh really, I was so excited about that just to be able to have that conversation with her.

Speaker 2:

When I came in, I actually had an interview somewhere else, when I met with you, back in the kitchen, which was an experience in itself, because I couldn't believe that I was actually sitting down with the owner and CEO of the company we do the work, tanya. I couldn't believe it. So I was really excited about that and I called and canceled the other appointment and I stayed here and I'm so glad that I did.

Speaker 1:

We're so glad that you did too. You're a beacon of sunshine, always with a positive spirit, and you take constructive criticism well to help you grow Right, right, because we're here to help you grow Right.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

And to the next level, and then we talk about that right. Every devil has its levels, right, right, right. There was a beginning devil, right, and then the mid devil. So tell me about your current pipeline of business and where did it come from?

Speaker 2:

Well, let me just say that when I realized I was a real estate agent, I said I had to go out there and get some people because I didn't have anybody to talk to. Right, I'm a people person, I can talk to you anywhere. But when I came here and I was introduced to the follow-up boss, it was so many people in the system, so all of my people. We have over 50,000, maybe 55 now.

Speaker 1:

It's more than 55. We'll say 50,000 people in the database. And we know 7% of them will transact this year. So that's like 2,800 sales. But if we don't get to call them all, business is going to go somewhere else.

Speaker 2:

Tons of opportunity, right? Absolutely so. The thing is that when I first started, I had to realize that I needed to put a system in place because it was so overwhelming people and, at first, because I like to talk. You probably could tell that I like to talk, so I was talking a long time to these clients and a lot of them were long-term nurture. Some of them were short-term nurture. However, it created these relationships it's like family now pretty much and I had to create the system to tap Like in the pub.

Speaker 2:

You're system to tap like in the pub. You're able to text. You have to be able to follow up with them to know who you're talking to and where they are in the process and reach back out. We have the three points of contact with the. You know, we do the text, we do the phone call and we do the email. So I went from my own sphere of influence, which was like 20 people, to 649 people, right? So now this is who I'm talking to on a monthly basis, and it got to the point where I had to go buy a post-it A big post-it, a big post--it.

Speaker 1:

So how many families do you think, based on your current pipeline, that you will serve this year, in your second year, this year so you're going into your third? I would say 50. You're on track for about 50 sales. 50 families served for somebody who's been in the business just two years. What do we do every Friday? For about 50 sales, 50 families served for somebody who's been in the business just two years. What do we do every Friday?

Speaker 2:

Every Friday we train. Well, that's another thing I forgot. So Not only did I have the interview with the CEO, we have meetings every week with Maria and Dara, which is our broker, and they would teach us. Two times a week we had a meeting and they would role play with us and they would give us inspiration on how to grow, and sometimes the stories that were told were kind of tough to hear. However, we needed that to be able to move past our fears. And, of course, if you have confidence in yourself, you just got to have, which is actually extra, because you need confidence in the process, right?

Speaker 1:

Confidence in the process. Confidence in the process, trust that if you do the work and you work the pipeline, you work the opportunities. I don't like to call anybody a lead. It's an opportunity. We have past clients, repeat clients, expired or sell by owners. We have investors, we have developers, we have buyers, we have regular home sellers, all within.

Speaker 1:

I've developed over a 21-year career. So there's a tremendous opportunity and you took that opportunity and, step-by-step-by-step, created your pipeline within our pipeline of business by making the calls, doing the follow-up, being consistent, and we meet every morning right right on the phone with her we have a morning huddle every morning, our MQA success huddle and that's where we actually, in our Slack system, we have to put our commitment for that day and we talk about the commitments we made for the prior day. How does that?

Speaker 2:

help keep you accountable. That's holding yourself accountable, because when you go in the next morning, prior day, how does that help keep you accountable? Holding yourself accountable Because when you go in the next morning and you have your morning huddle and you're not able to say, well, I met my commitment, usually that shouldn't make you feel good about the fact that you didn't meet it?

Speaker 1:

What happens when you meet your commitment? What does it provide you when you do the commitment?

Speaker 2:

For one confidence in the process, um overall success, knowing that you met your commitment, because we don't think oh, we say commitment, so I learned that early as well and that you can actually do it, that it can be done. So that means that you, it gives you confidence to know that go do it again, do it again and do it again.

Speaker 1:

So let's look at this right. You had no experience in real estate. Did you ever sell any other products before? So no real sales experience. And here you are at the end of your second year. Today's your second anniversary. You're going to serve 50 families this year. That's amazing. That's amazing. It's amazing. And you are a beautiful human and you have a beautiful soul and your energy brings positive energy into our MQA community. So I'm so excited for you. Tanya, how has this changed?

Speaker 2:

your life. Wow, it really has. It's not only changing my life. I'm changing lives of others who are looking to purchase their home their first time home buyers. And you have your senior citizens that are first time home buyers, that are buying their home for the first time. And then you have the young people that I talk to all the time. They're so excited about buying their home, so that makes me excited to be able to assist them. So it does change Me. Changing my life allows me to change lives for others, and that's what it's all about. That's what it's all about at the end of the day Be the solution Be the solution.

Speaker 1:

Right Be the solution. So, before we wrap up, Tanya what are you most excited about for your personal future?

Speaker 2:

Just being able to trust in God and know that he has the process and he is a part of this process and I am where I am because this is where he placed me. So I have high expectations that I put on God and he puts high expectations on myself, and then I look forward to just making sure that I meet at the end, that I know that I did well.

Speaker 1:

And you are.

Speaker 2:

Love you Happy anniversary.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, I'm so happy and I'm so proud of you and all that you've accomplished in the last two years. And it's onward enough for a year, amen.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, let's be this relationship.