Asheville’s Clarissa Marshall Achieves ICON Status in Her First Year at eXp

There are two things you should never attempt with Clarissa Marshall: Play poker or challenge her on anything. You will lose!

This Asheville, North Carolina native takes challenges very seriously, the latest proof being her stunning achievement with eXp Realty: She earned ICON agent status in her first year with eXp Realty. 

Reaching ICON status essentially means she’s a rockstar agent who achieved exceptional production goals and positively impacted company culture. To put this into perspective, she achieved it with barely two years of real estate experience under her belt — nine months with another agency before joining eXp.

In Marshall’s epic first full year with eXp in 2019, she completed $20.8 million worth of sales with 61 transactions over a wide range of prices. Her lowest deal was a $4,000 vacant lot just outside of Asheville, with a commission of around $300. At the top end, she closed on a $1.5 million home. 

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a trailer home or a mansion. I just treat everyone the same because these things have the same importance to people,” Marshall said.

“Real estate is not about properties, it’s about people.”

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Nailing ICON status and a phenomenal first year like that isn’t easy. For starters, she came to eXp with her team lead from a different company. When that person soon left, Marshall was alone, unsure what to do. That’s when Daniel Beer, her sponsor’s sponsor, reached out and encouraged her to learn eXp’s collaborative tools and technology. Marshall learned fast that eXp’s network was a support group eager to ensure her success.

“I never met Dan, but I talked to him and let him know I was pretty frustrated. He said he believed in me, and convinced me that I can do it. He told me to get into the World (eXp’s virtual campus) and see what’s out there,” said Marshall.

With Beer’s encouragement and guidance, Marshall dove into eXp’s online platform and made it her goal to become an ICON Agent.

“On the day before my cap reset, I closed three transactions in one day and it was exactly the amount I needed to hit ICON status,” said Marshall. “It was one of the proudest moments in my life.”

Marshall says the secret to her success was “living in eXp’s cloud campus 24/7” to get the insight she needed to boost her profile, effectiveness and earnings. She talked to other agents across the country, asked questions and wouldn’t stop learning. 

“I didn’t realize I would get so many referrals from Workplace,” said Marshall. “If I hadn’t been in Workplace my first year, I would not have hit ICON status. I would say 25% of my transactions were from Workplace.”

Workplace is a Facebook communications tool that eXp uses for the entire company to collaborate together across the globe.

Marshall ‘Won’ a Bar in a Poker Game

Another memorable time in Marshall’s life is when she “won” a bar. Before doing real estate, Marshall was raising her three children and moonlighting one night a week as a bartender at a local pub. After her shift, she and some patrons — including the owner – would play poker into the wee hours. One night, the owner said, “If you win this hand, I will sell you the bar for a great price.” She won the hand and he kept his word, selling the bar for a song to Marshall and her husband, Ryan. 

“We had no money, just a dream,” Marshall said. “We borrowed money from our parents, maxed out our credit cards and the owner financed us. I think we paid him back in four months.”

After two years of owning the bar and working morning to night, the Marshalls were approached with a phenomenal offer they could not refuse. 

“It’s a tough business,” said Clarissa. “My husband and I were two ships passing in the night. I can honestly say I never want to own a bar again. It’s so much fun until it isn’t.”

These days, Clarissa is working full time as an eXp agent, and she couldn’t do it without the support of her husband, who brings balance to her sometimes frenzied work schedule. Clarissa says he helps keep her organized and is an amazing cook for their children. Plus, he obtained his real estate license so they could continue to work and dream together.

 “I couldn’t do any of this without Ryan there behind the scenes, picking up kids, cheering at volleyball games, shuttling the dogs to the vet, writing contracts and working patiently with unreasonable buyers, and most importantly, putting up with me and taking care of me. His love and work ethic are unmatched in this world, and I am so proud to be his wife,” says Clarissa.

Clarissa says most of her business now is referral. 

“A guy that I sold a $70K trailer gave me a referral for a million-dollar property. So you never know where the next referral is coming from. Now, I don’t call anyone – people call me.”

There’s no better testament than that.