The Un-Team Team: Why Cedar & Stone Realty Group Exists

I’ve been thinking a lot about Cedar & Stone Realty Group lately, and not just about who I hope joins this group, but what I want this experience to feel like.

Funny enough, before I could name what Cedar & Stone Realty Group is, I realized I was laser-focused on what it’s not.

Like many agents, I started my real estate career on a traditional team. We were small, mighty, and built around a lead agent. I was the buyer’s agent. I was brand-new. I had left a safe salaried job with six months of savings and a big leap of faith. At that stage of my life, my overhead was low, so I dove in head-first.

Every morning, I showed up at the office at 9 a.m.
Every weekend, I was in the car nonstop.
And every ounce of energy went into learning this business.

I worked tirelessly for the leads, the mentorship, the chance to prove myself. My lead agent was smart, hardworking, and a great teacher, but it was her brand, her clients, and her name on the sign. Each sale came with a split: 10%, then 15%, eventually 50%. That’s the exchange most teams are built on. You trade your time for their experience, and they get the credit for the work you execute.

Here’s the irony:
Most of us get into real estate because we crave autonomy.
We want to own our work, our voice, our income, our days.
We want a seat at the table.

But the traditional “team” model often doesn’t give you that.

The Moment Things Shifted

A successful broker I recently met out of Southern California told me:

“People join my team for opportunity.
But they stay because of the culture.”

That landed with me. Because culture is the heartbeat of everything!  Especially in a business that can feel isolating if you don’t have the right people around you.

And then, at the Real Broker conference in Orlando, I heard many folks repeating the African proverb I’ve always loved:

If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.

That’s what I want.
A place where good agents, the ones who work hard, who keep their word, who put clients first naturally will find each other. Because yes, real estate can be lonely. But it doesn’t have to be. And honestly? We thrive when we’re not doing it alone.

The Ceramic Cup

In Sinek’s book, Leaders Eat Last, he shares a story about a ceramic cup (p. 84). It is a powerful reminder that titles and acknowledgment are temporary, but how we treat each other isn’t. We may hold leadership roles today, but someone else will hold them tomorrow. What endures is the environment we build together.

As the founder of Cedar & Stone Realty Group, I’m simply holding a leadership role that’s needed right now. One day, that role might belong to someone else. And I love that. Because it means the group won’t be built on ego; it will be built on purpose.

After 11 years in this business, I can look back at the seasons where I absolutely loved going to the office. The common thread?  The people.
People whose work ethic I admired.
People I genuinely enjoyed.
People who didn’t keep score, and they simply did the right thing.

I want that again.
And I know if you build it, the right people show up.

So What Is the Un-Team Team?

Cedar & Stone Realty Group is for agents who want support without losing independence.
Collaboration without being micromanaged.
Community without the old-school power dynamics.

You keep your contacts.
You run your business.
You remain in control.

But you also get a group cheering for you, brainstorming with you, sharing ideas with you, and, most importantly, showing up for you.

We’re not building a hierarchy.  We’re building a collective.

One conversation at a time.

That’s how this starts.

If any of this resonates, the culture, the collaboration, the idea of going far instead of going fast, then maybe you’re meant to be part of what we’re building.

Let’s find out how far we can go — together.