The Dance Coach Who Became a Top Minnesota Realtor | Kristen Gagnon

How does a Minnesota Realtor build a business that's 95% repeat and referral, without ever making a single cold call? Kristen Gagnon spent 33 years as a dance coach before real estate, and those relationships became the whole business. Kristen Gagnon (KB & Co · Keller Williams Classic Realty) sits down with April Lindenfelser on the Minnesota Real Estate Agent Podcast: the job offer that started as a joke, learning the business "inside out" as a transaction coordinator, why she calls them "transitions, not transactions," running a two-person partnership on purpose to be present for family, and the listing-photo timing trick most Minnesota sellers get wrong. ▶ Watch all episodes — Minnesota Real Estate Agent Podcast playlist:    • Minnesota Real Estate Agent Podcast (MNREA...   🔔 Subscribe — new Minnesota real estate interview every other Tuesday. 🎯 IN THIS EPISODE • How a Minnesota Realtor built a 95% repeat-and-referral business with zero cold calling • 33 years coaching dance at Totino-Grace — and how that network became her real estate business • A builder jokingly asked "do you want a job?" — and it became her whole career • "Transitions, not transactions" — and why the language matters • When to take your listing photos in Minnesota (plan months ahead — October 1 for a January listing) ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open — 95% referral, zero cold calls + meet Kristen Gagnon 0:15 Why she lives in Minnesota (building a home in Blaine) 3:03 How she got in: a job offer that started as a joke 5:15 Learning real estate inside-out: "it's not Selling Sunset" 8:50 Getting licensed + the dance-coach network (Totino-Grace) 11:02 33 years a dance coach — and how it built her business 13:39 Her business today: the KB & Co partnership with Becky Connors 15:11 Her first deal: a best friend, a townhome & a cat 16:35 Where her deals come from: 95% repeat & referral 19:16 "It takes a village": closing a deal while on vacation 22:29 Boundaries, self-care & work-life balance 24:46 Her biggest lesson + "transitions, not transactions" 29:03 Advice to new agents: invest in yourself, you are one of one 33:10 The podcasts that shaped her (Mel Robbins) 36:50 What's next + when to take your listing photos in MN 39:35 Five years out: snowbird life + a Wisconsin license 41:24 Family, baseball & a Spring Lake Park state title 43:00 The best restaurants in Minnesota (Kendall's & Char Blue) 44:43 Where to find Kristen: KG Sells Minnesota 📍 KRISTEN GAGNON — Realtor® · KB & Co · Keller Williams Classic Realty · North Twin Cities, MN KG Sells Minnesota · kgsellsmn.kw.com 🎙 The Minnesota Real Estate Agent Podcast (MNREA) — host April Lindenfelser (REALTOR®, KW Classic Realty) sits down with top Minneapolis, St. Paul & suburb Realtors on how a real MN real estate career gets built. New episode every other Tuesday. 🏡 April Lindenfelser · SellingSotaHomes.kw.com · Blaine / North Metro MN · [email protected] · facebook.com/SellingSota ▶ PREVIOUS EPISODES Ep.1 · Renee Miller — 100% to list in 19 days:    • Minnesota Realtor Gets 100% to List in 19 ...   Ep.2 · Joel Friday — 75–100 homes a year:    • Twin Cities Realtor Sells 75–100 Homes a Y...   Ep.3 · Matt Davies — done by 10:30 AM:    • Minneapolis Realtor Done by 10:30 AM | Mat...   Ep.4 · Jon Nalty — $66K month, zero paid leads:    • Twin Cities Realtor Has Never Bought One L...   Ep.5 · Gale Haisley — 36-year managing broker, 80 houses for one buyer:    • Minnesota's 36-Year Broker on Why Real Est...   📩 Want to be a guest? [email protected] Each office is independently owned and operated. #MinneapolisRealEstate #TwinCitiesRealtor #MNRealEstate