Episode 13 - From Agent to Owner with Allie Carlson, West + Main Homes Minnesota

I remember the first time I met Allie Carlson like it was yesterday. It was 2017, at a Ninja Selling installation in Colorado—aka the Mothership—and she was sitting right behind me. What I didn’t know then was that years later, we’d be having this conversation, talking about how she went from a top-producing agent in Denver to owning West+ Main Homes Minnesota.

Owning a brokerage isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s messy, unpredictable, and requires a completely different mindset from selling real estate. It also means stepping into a leadership role where everyone is looking to you for answers—which, let’s be honest, is both exciting and terrifying.

Allie joined me on the Happy Agent Co. Podcast to talk about her journey, what she wishes she had known before jumping in, and why boutique brokerages are about to have their renaissance moment.

Taking the Leap: From Agent to Brokerage Owner

Like a lot of us, Allie didn’t start out in real estate. She was a public school teacher before making the switch to something more entrepreneurial. She started as an agent in Denver and quickly found herself thriving at West + Main Homes Colorado, learning from its founders and taking on leadership roles.

But when her second son was born, she and her husband decided to move back to Minnesota to be closer to family. That’s when things got interesting.

She knew she wanted to keep selling real estate, but the idea of working for a different brokerage? Not happening. West + Main had been her home, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn’t want to just join a brokerage—she wanted to build one.

So she did.

Opening a brokerage is one thing. Opening one in a market where you’re essentially starting from scratch is a whole other beast.

“I had to reestablish myself and also bring a whole new real estate brand to a city where nobody had heard of it,” she said. “I was used to Denver, where everyone was from somewhere else. But in the Twin Cities? Everyone is from there. They’ve been there forever. It was a totally different dynamic.”

And that wasn’t the only challenge she faced.

The Hardest Part About Owning a Brokerage? The Mindset Shift.

Ask any agent-turned-broker-owner, and they’ll tell you—running a brokerage is not just about selling more houses. It’s an entirely different game.

“The hardest part was shifting from being a high-producing agent to being the person everyone looks to for answers,” Allie said.

She also realized that the financial side of running a brokerage is no joke.

“Save more money,” she laughed. “I didn’t realize just how different the financials were. You can run lean, but even lean is expensive when you’re running an entire brokerage.”

I felt that one in my soul.

Where Boutique Brokerages Win

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably noticed a lot of brokerages merging or getting acquired lately. It feels like the boutique brokerage is a dying breed—but I don’t buy that.

I actually think we’re about to see a resurgence.

“There was a boutique brokerage boom in 2010,” I told Allie. “And I think we’re going to see another one in 2025, 2026.”

Allie agreed. And honestly, that’s where West + Main Homes shines.

“We’re not a warm-body incubator,” she said. “Culture matters here. If you’re not kind, collaborative, and a good human, this isn’t the place for you.”

And then there’s the marketing.

West + Main Homes has a full in-house design team, which is unheard of at most brokerages.

“Agents think their brokerage has marketing… until they see what we actually have,” she said. “Most agents are out here DIY-ing their marketing in Canva, but that’s not where their expertise should be. We take that off their plate so they can focus on working with their clients.”

That Time an Email Disaster Turned Into a Win

Attraction (aka recruiting, but let’s not call it that because we both hate the word) was something Allie had to learn quickly when she launched West + Main Homes Minnesota.

She knew she needed to start putting herself out there. So she built an email campaign, got everything set up, and hit send.

And then she realized she had made a huge mistake.

“I forgot to merge the names, so it just said ‘Hi, First Name,’” she admitted.

The panic set in immediately.

“I was in full fetal-position-in-the-closet mode,” she said. “I thought I had just tanked my entire brand.”

But instead of ruining everything, it actually led to an agent interview.

“It was a reminder that people want to work with humans, not faceless corporations,” she said.

Which, honestly, is why I love boutique brokerages so much. No corporate nonsense, no bureaucracy—just real people building real businesses.

Lessons Learned & What’s Next

Two years into brokerage ownership, Allie has learned a lot. But if she could go back and give herself one piece of advice, it would be this:

It’s going to be okay.

“It’s going to look different than you thought, but it’s going to be okay,” she said.

And as we head into 2025, she’s focused on growth—not just in numbers, but in helping her agents actually create freedom in their businesses.

“Real estate is supposed to support your life, not take over it,” she said. “I love coaching agents and helping them build businesses that fund their actual goals, whether that’s more time with family, travel, investments—whatever success looks like for them.”

West + Main Homes Minnesota is onto something big—and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

🎧 Listen to this week’s podcast episode now!