Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Branine.
Hi Tina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
# From Building a Business to Building a Life I Love
### The Real Estate Journey of Tina Branine, Founder of Elevated Home Team
My journey in real estate began in 2001 when I earned my real estate license and developed the first transaction coordination department in Kansas City. Between 2001 and 2003, I personally managed more than 600 real estate transactions from contract to closing. That experience gave me an incredible foundation and a behind-the-scenes understanding of the business that most new agents don’t have when they get started.
In 2003, I decided I wanted to be on the sales side of real estate, so I joined a successful agent as a buyer’s agent. Having already managed hundreds of transactions, I understood the contracts, the processes, and all the moving pieces involved in getting a transaction to the closing table. It gave me a tremendous head start.
After several years as a buyer’s agent, I ventured out on my own and eventually built my own team, originally known as The Tina Team. We operated under that name for many years before rebranding to Elevated Home Team in October 2025. The new name represents so much more than a change in branding. It reflects who we are today, the level of service we strive to provide, and the culture we’re intentionally building.
**But my journey hasn’t been without some very difficult lessons.**
Real estate can be an incredibly demanding career. It’s a business that never really turns off, and when you’re passionate about what you do and genuinely care about your clients and your team, it can be easy to put everyone else’s needs ahead of your own.
For many years, that’s exactly what I did.
By 2019, I was running a very large team and carrying an enormous amount of responsibility and stress. I hadn’t done a good job of protecting my personal time, managing my stress, or creating healthy boundaries between my business and my life.
And eventually, my body forced me to stop.
I literally woke up one morning and couldn’t move. After six months of trying to understand what was happening, I learned that I was dealing with an autoimmune condition that was attributed to prolonged stress. I had been operating in fight-or-flight mode for so long that my body simply couldn’t keep up anymore.
At the time, it was frightening and incredibly difficult. But looking back, I’m actually grateful for that experience. I truly believe it was the wake-up call I needed. I had been pushing myself so hard that I worried about what might have happened if I hadn’t been forced to make a change.
**I realized that building a successful business means very little if you’re sacrificing your health and happiness to do it.**
I made the decision to significantly downsize my team, simplify my business, and focus on getting healthy again.
And that decision changed everything.
Today, I’m rebuilding Elevated Home Team, but I’m doing it very differently. I’m much more intentional about the people I partner with, the culture we create, and the way we operate. I’m incredibly selective about who joins our team because I want to work alongside people who share my values, genuinely care about their clients, and take pride in providing an exceptional experience.
I’m fortunate to be surrounded by an amazing group of experienced, talented agents who truly love what they do. We support one another, celebrate each other’s successes, and share a commitment to taking outstanding care of the families who trust us.
In October 2024, I also made one of the best business decisions of my career when I partnered with PLACE, a technology-enabled real estate platform that provides the systems, tools, operational support, and resources we need to run our business at a very high level.
That partnership has been transformational. It has allowed us to dramatically improve our systems, create efficiencies, and provide an even better experience for both our agent partners and our clients. It has also given me the opportunity to focus more of my energy on the things I love most: building relationships, developing people, and helping families navigate some of the biggest decisions of their lives.
At Elevated Home Team, we’re a relationship-driven, referral-based business. Our success comes from taking exceptional care of our clients so that when their friends, family members, or colleagues need real estate guidance, we’re the first people they think of.
We don’t take that trust lightly.
Our goal has never been simply to sell more houses. It’s to help more families, build lasting relationships, and create an experience that people feel genuinely excited to share with others.
And as we continue to grow, I want to make sure we never lose sight of that.
**The most rewarding part of this entire journey is where I am today.**
After more than 25 years in the industry, I can genuinely say I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my career. I love the people I work with, I’m proud of the business we’re building, and I believe we’re providing the best service we’ve ever offered.
I’ve learned that success isn’t just about production numbers, awards, or the size of your team. It’s about the people you surround yourself with, the lives you impact, and whether you’re creating a business that supports the life you want to live.
I’m still incredibly ambitious. I still have big goals. I still want to grow and help as many families as possible.
**But today, I’m building a business that I love being part of, rather than one that consumes my life.** And allows me to support charities and causes that I am drawn to.
And to me, that’s what real success looks like.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not! I’ve had an incredibly rewarding career, but there have definitely been some difficult chapters along the way.
One of the biggest challenges was navigating the Recession and the housing market crash. I’m incredibly proud that I made it through that market, because it was hands down one of the hardest times I’ve experienced in real estate, both professionally and emotionally.
There simply wasn’t enough business to go around, but what made it so difficult wasn’t just the lack of transactions. It was the people and families who were struggling. And at the same time, I was struggling to pay my own bills
I remember walking into homes and seeing stacks of unopened envelopes from mortgage companies sitting on the kitchen table. Sometimes, after sitting down and going through everything with the homeowners, we’d discover they were already in foreclosure and didn’t even realize it. Those were heartbreaking conversations. People were scared, overwhelmed, and often didn’t know where to turn.
My job became so much more than selling houses. It was about listening, helping people understand their options, and doing everything I could to help them navigate an incredibly difficult situation. And sometimes, there simply wasn’t a good outcome.
That experience changed the way I looked at my business. It taught me an enormous amount about gratitude, compassion, and the responsibility we have as real estate professionals. I learned that **doing what’s right for someone is far more important than whether there’s a commission at the end of the conversation.**
Another major challenge came in 2019, when years of stress and the pressure of running a large team finally caught up with me physically. I experienced a serious health crisis that forced me to completely reevaluate how I was running my business and living my life. It was a difficult lesson in the importance of boundaries, balance, and taking care of myself with the same dedication I had always given to everyone else.
Looking back, I wouldn’t wish either of those experiences on anyone, and I certainly wouldn’t want to relive them. But I’m grateful for what they taught me.
I’ve learned that success isn’t about avoiding challenges. It’s about how you respond to them, what you learn, and who you become along the way.
And one philosophy that has stayed with me throughout my career is this: **I may not always be able to solve someone’s problem, and I may not always be the person who can help them buy or sell a home, but I can always do my best to leave them better than I found them.**
That’s something I carry into every relationship, every conversation, and every decision I make today.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I think what truly sets me apart is something very simple: **I genuinely care.**
And I don’t mean that as a catchy business statement. I mean that I care deeply about the people I work with, the clients I serve, and the relationships I’ve built throughout my career.
For me, real estate has never been just about selling houses. It’s about people, their families, their dreams, their challenges, and the trust they place in me during some of the biggest moments of their lives. I take that responsibility incredibly seriously.
The same goes for my team. I don’t just want my agent partners to be successful in real estate. I want them to be successful in life. I want them to feel supported, valued, empowered, and genuinely excited about what they’re building.
And the truth is, sometimes I care so much that it keeps me up at night! I worry about my clients, my agents, and whether I’m doing everything I possibly can to help them succeed. I’ve often said that my greatest strength is also my greatest weakness. **Caring as deeply as I do is both a blessing and a curse.** It’s what I believe makes me an exceptional Realtor, business partner, and leader, but it can also take a toll on me personally.
Over the years, I’ve had to learn how to balance that. I’ve learned that I can care deeply without carrying the weight of everything and everyone on my shoulders.
But one thing I’m absolutely unwilling to change is how much I care. In fact, I want to lean into it even more.
I’m proud of the business I’ve built and the success we’ve achieved, but what makes me proudest isn’t the production numbers or the awards. It’s the relationships. It’s knowing that families trust us enough to refer the people they love. It’s watching my agents grow in their careers and their confidence. And it’s knowing that the work we do genuinely makes a difference in people’s lives.
**I don’t ever want to become so focused on growing a business that I forget why I started building it in the first place.**
At the end of the day, I want people to remember how I made them feel, how hard I worked for them, and that they always knew I had their best interests at heart.
**I think you can teach someone how to sell real estate. But you can’t teach someone to genuinely care about people. And that’s what I hope I’ll always be known for.**
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’ve never been a big believer in luck. I believe **luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.** I’ve always worked hard to recognize opportunities when they present themselves, but more importantly, I believe in creating opportunities, especially when they allow me to help others.
That said, I absolutely recognize the role privilege has played in my life. I was fortunate to be born into a family that provided me with love, support, and opportunities that not everyone has. I didn’t earn that advantage, and I never take it for granted.
**I believe my success comes from hard work, preparation, and relationships, but I’m also grateful for the foundation I was given.** And I believe part of my responsibility is to help create opportunities for others along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elevatedhometeam.com
- Instagram: @TinaBranine
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tina.branine
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tinabranine/
