This Agent Works 20 Hours a Week, Takes a Month Off Every Summer, and Runs a Seven-Figure Business
Amy Gregory built her real estate business during naptime and preschool drop-off. Now, she runs three income streams, closes $8 million to $10 million in annual production, and refuses to treat every leaking hose bib like an emergency.
When eXpcon Salt Lake City General Session Speaker Amy Gregory started in real estate, she was pregnant with her fourth child. She had roughly 10 hours a week to spare, carving out tiny windows between raising three kids, running to preschool, and managing nap schedules. That first year, she brought home over $100,000.
A decade later, that baby is in the third grade, and Amy caps her work schedule at around 20 hours a week while running a business that generates seven figures in annual revenue. Her calendar often includes high school golf matches, weekly lake trips with her teenagers, and a full month off every single summer. Plus, her husband is fully retired.
She proved that you don’t have to compromise your lifestyle to scale a business. You just have to build the business to fit the life you actually want.
"Initially, I felt like the constraints of my lifestyle would slow me down," Amy explains. "Instead, it forced me to be decisive and innovative."
At eXpcon Salt Lake City, the Phoenix-based eXp Realty agent is taking the stage for her session, "Run It Like You Own It (Because You Do)." She will share how she created three sustainable income streams while working half the hours of a standard workweek.
From 10 Hours a Week to a Month Off Every Summer
Amy never subscribed to the traditional real estate grind. During her first year, she leaned on a simple strategy: she hired a nanny for one afternoon a week to schedule all her showings, while her husband covered weekend open houses. The rest of the work happened in the quiet pockets of her day.
When her youngest started school, she expanded her workweek to 20 hours. Her current routine starts early, working from 5 to 7 a.m. to batch social media content and polish her digital presence. She returns for a second block from 9 to 11 a.m. for client calls, meetings, and showings.
While some weeks require extra attention, others require very little, averaging out to 20 hours a week over the year.
She also adjusts her business strategy around her family's calendar. During the school year, she focuses on aggressive business growth. When summer arrives, she shifts into maintenance mode, taking care of active clients and keeping deadlines on track without pushing for new expansion.
The Three Income Streams Powering Her 20-Hour Week
Early in her career, Amy operated on an 80/20 rule, spending 80% of her time selling houses and 20% developing long-term assets. Over time, she flipped that dynamic. Now, 20% of her time goes to transaction work, and 80% goes to building digital products, automated systems, and her agent network.
Her revenue structure currently spans three core channels:
$8 million to $10 million in annual real estate production: Operating at roughly a 90% profit margin.
Digital product sales: Generating over $3 million in total sales.
eXp revenue share: Producing approximately $40,000 per month.
Amy handles her real estate production in about 10 hours a week. Instead of buying leads from third-party platforms, she creates her own and sets strict boundaries around her price points. Since 2020, her annual revenue has increased by an average of 52% each year.
"Determine the price point you want to work," Amy recommends. "I will only do deals over $500,000. Everything else gets referred out for a referral fee."
This rule protects her calendar without leaving money on the table.
Her Social Media Keeps Working After She Logs Off
Amy does not credit a color-coded calendar for making the schedule possible. The biggest change was building a system for nearly every recurring part of the business.
She hired a transaction coordinator to handle paperwork. Amy remains responsible for consulting with clients, negotiating, and reviewing the deal, but she no longer personally manages every document. Social media handles much of the work that once required individual messages and manual follow-up.
Through ManyChat, buyers, sellers, and agents can request resources without waiting for Amy to see their messages. For example, buyers can begin a home search, homeowners can request a home value report, and agents can purchase a listing presentation or schedule a call. The system delivers the appropriate resource, adds the prospect to an email follow-up sequence, and places qualified appointments directly on Amy’s calendar.
“Social media literally builds my calendar,” Amy says. “Then I wake up and do what’s on my calendar.”
Her approach also changed how she thinks about being a solo agent. She stopped treating personal involvement in every task as proof that she was working hard enough.
“I stopped focusing on doing everything and focused on doing one thing really well,” she says. “Visibility is the new leverage. Whoever is the most visible wins.”
Setting Boundaries (and Leaving the Jerks Behind)
Amy established one of her firmest business boundaries less than 24 hours after having a C-section.
She had just helped a buyer secure an $850,000 newly built home over competing offers. The home passed inspection with zero major issues, and they had five full days to negotiate minor repair items. Despite knowing Amy had just given birth, the client demanded she address a leaking hose bib immediately.
"It was not necessary or urgent that day," Amy remembers. "The client who knows you just had a C-section and is acting like we need to talk about a leaking hose bib less than 24 hours later is a jerk."
When the client later let the deal fall apart, Amy decided never to work with him again.
"Jerks blow up their own deals," she asserts. "There are so many good people to work with. Don’t work with jerks."
That situation reinforced a guiding principle for her.
"I’m a real estate agent. I’m not an ER doctor," Amy says. "There is rarely anything that is a major fire inside of deals."
She stays available for true contract emergencies, even on vacation. However, she refuses to sacrifice her peace for non-urgent requests that can wait until standard business hours. Clients can text anytime, but they know non-critical issues get answered the next morning. Because she speaks openly about these boundaries on social media, clients know how she operates before they hire her.
The Secret to Unlocking Your Calendar
Amy points out that many agents struggle with burnout because they refuse to step away from daily operational tasks.
Her recommendation is to audit your workload, pinpoint the tasks that generate the highest returns, systemize repetitive processes, and capture leads through channels you own. For agents spending 30% of their commissions on third-party lead services, building an independent pipeline offers an immediate way to boost profitability.
If your business breaks down the moment you step away, Amy suggests looking closely at your own management style.
"You have a control issue, and you’ve convinced yourself if you don’t do it, it doesn’t work," she states. "You’re probably finding value in being busy instead of productive."
She views her digital setup like following a trusted recipe. Once the groundwork is laid, replicating the results becomes second nature.
"Once you know the recipe," she says, "you just make it every day."
As her kids grow and her business evolves, Amy continuously fine-tunes her routine, knowing that what got her here won't necessarily take her to the next level. Growth isn't about reaching a static finish line; it's about designing a business that continues to support your ideal lifestyle.
For agents who believe long hours are mandatory for growth, Amy offers a clearer alternative: claim your time, automate the routine, and value your personal life as much as your business pipeline.
Catch Amy Gregory Live at eXpcon Salt Lake City
Ready to build your own 20-hour workweek? Don't miss Amy's session, "Run It Like You Own It (Because You Do)" at eXpcon. She will walk through the exact social media funnels and operational systems she uses to secure clients, grow her network, and keep her business moving even when she's off the clock.
