Published August 5, 2025

I almost didn't post this . . . But maybe you need to hear it!

Written by Crystal Rierson-Villeneuve

I Almost Didn’t Post This . . But Maybe You Need to Hear It!

This year hasn’t been easy for me.

My mom passed away.

Bruno's final year of follow-up appointments to hear that one word. . .remission . . .comes this November.

My 19-year-old daughter is in her gap year (what even is that?! It wasn’t a thing when I graduated), searching for her direction. And I’m learning what it means to parent an adult.

The real estate market slowed down. Menopause ramped up.

And most days, motivation feels like a battle I lose before breakfast.

There have been so many moments when I’ve wanted to disappear, cocoon myself inside my cozy home, sit in silence, and just not.

Not perform. Not lead. Not answer another question.

Not fake my way through another “you got this” moment when I didn’t believe I did.

But here’s the truth: I also know that’s not who I am.

I’ve always believed in the power of putting myself in the room . . . even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially when it’s uncomfortable.

So this year, even with all the emotional weight and fog, I said yes to a few rooms that helped me feel again. That gave me clarity. That pulled me out of the spiral just long enough to catch my breath and look around.

One of those rooms was Brendon Burchard's group for High Performance Coaching (thank you, Chris Suarez and Ben Kinney, for introducing him to me!).

Another recently was the KFR Ranch with Jon Cheplak, Dustin Runyon, Matt Smith, Alec Cheplak, and some of the most driven, radically honest people I’ve ever met.

Let me be real: I showed up to that ranch tired.

Tired of feeling stuck. Tired of not having my usual spark.

I wasn’t even sure if I deserved to be in that room with those leaders.

But I listened. I watched. I absorbed.

And in their relentless drive, their truth-telling, and their commitment to service, I saw something familiar.

I remembered my own drive, still in there, still alive under the grief and questioning.

I left with a renewed sense of purpose:

To help people build wealth through real estate.

To lead agents with clarity, not chaos.

To surround myself with people chasing greatness and invite them to chase it with me.

To stop pretending I have to be perfect to be powerful.

And a huge piece of that clarity has come from my partnership with Ben Kinney and Christopher Suarez and the growth of our PLACE network.

Their vision, their systems, and their unwavering commitment to helping entrepreneurs scale without losing their soul is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Being aligned with leaders like that, inside a model that supports both real business and real life, has reminded me of something important: I don’t have to build this alone. And neither do you.

So here’s what I know:

If you’re watching from the sidelines wondering when things will feel easier . . . maybe what you need is to just step into the room.

Any room. The right room. The uncomfortable room.

Because that’s where transformation lives.

And if you’re looking for someone who knows what it feels like to lead with a heavy heart and still show up, someone who will cheer you on, challenge you, and walk beside you, I might be that person.

I don’t have it all figured out.

But I do have a mission: to help people grow, both in life and in real estate.

And that mission’s not going anywhere.

This next chapter may not look like what I expected. But I’m here for it.

Messy. Motivated. And finally. . . finally. . . feeling ready to go.

Let’s do this.

xo,

Crystal

@ContactCrystal