Danielle Wilkie on real estate coaching for women and emerging industry trends

In this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, host Tracey Velt is joined by Danielle Wilkie, co-founder of The Helm, to discuss emerging trends in real estate, female representation in real estate coaching and artificial intelligence.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To kick off the conversation, Wilkie explores her career path before she co-founded The Helm.

Danielle Wilkie: As you know, women make up over two-thirds of real estate agents in the country. We found that less than a third actually make up nationally recognized coaches. When we saw that gap, we had to do something about it. And so, that’s how we launched The Helm.

Tracey Velt: What can a female coach offer to women that you feel like a male coach can’t?

Wilkie: There is a truth — and a speed to truth — that can be different sometimes when you don’t have that dynamic with a man and a woman. There are a lot of women looking for a different approach.

Velt: I think there’s really something about niche coaching that is really important. Tell me about how that plays into what you’re doing.

Wilkie: For a long time in real estate, most people go to one person and they know everything. They’re a guru and they help me forever — almost like a mentor type. I don’t think that’s the most effective way to do things. Nobody can be expert or passionate and excited about every aspect. It’s just not possible. I think there’s going to definitely be a niching down among coaches.

Secondly, you’re going to see a rise of the creator economy in real estate. Over the next five years, I think any and all real estate agents will be coaches. So, there’s going to be a need to differentiate, elevate and show quality.

Velt: Let’s talk about artificial intelligence. I think it’s a very confusing topic for a lot of people.

Wilkie: When I think about how AI will impact coaching and real estate and beyond, I see that content means nothing anymore. Coaching used to mean developing a program or writing a book. Now what’s really going to matter is the experience that you wrap around that content. It is the life that you have lived, the experience you have gained, and then bringing that into the content. 

Velt: Do you see any emerging trends with technology or AI and its use in real estate?

Wilkie: I think the No. 1 trend is back-office optimization. That’s where all the money can be taken out of businesses that are inefficient. After that, then you will start to see it translate more to the front-end experience, but that’s where all the opportunity is.

To end the conversation, Wilkie explores the concept of conscious leadership.

Wilkie: It was a fairly new but fast-growing concept in the tech space. Leaders were looking for ways to manage themselves differently. Conscious leadership is an excellent blueprint for how to go and do that, so we went through it, and it was life changing for me professionally and personally.