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Stop Waiting to Be Invited: Jessica Nieto on Creating Community, the Referral Power of Pop-Ups and Why Your Network Is Your Net Worth
- Wendy Forsythe
- 15 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Jessica Nieto, co-founder of We Connect LA and team leader at eXp Realty, breaks down how intentional relationship building, pop-up events, and showing up as a luxury brand convert to real estate business.
Who is Jessica Nieto and what is We Connect LA?
Jessica Nieto is a relationship cultivator, team leader of the Connect Team at eXp Realty, and co-founder of We Connect LA, a community built around authentic connection for women in Los Angeles.
She did not build We Connect LA because it was a marketing strategy. She built it because the space she was looking for did not exist yet. A room without the pressure. Without the pitch. Where women could show up as themselves, support each other genuinely, and build something real together.
Now it is a movement. And it generates real estate business as a natural byproduct of real connection.
What is the Zara strategy and how does it work?
The Zara strategy is what I am calling it and Jessica owns it completely.
She shows up to pop-up vendor events not as a real estate agent looking for leads but as someone who is genuinely curious about what the vendor has created. She buys something small. She starts a real conversation. She asks about the product, the business, the story behind it.
At one event she bought a $10 bracelet. The conversation that followed turned into a real estate client.
"People can feel when you are genuinely interested in them versus when you are just trying to get something from them," Jessica says. "I am always just genuinely interested."
That is the strategy. Show up as a human first. The business follows.
What does it mean to be the luxury brand?
This was one of my favorite ideas in the whole conversation.
Jessica is intentional about how she shows up in every room. Her style, her presence, the energy she brings. Not because she is performing. Because she understands that she is the brand and how she shows up communicates something before she ever says a word.
"You are the luxury brand," she says. "Everything about how you present yourself tells people what working with you will feel like."
That applies to how you dress, how you carry yourself, how you engage in a conversation, how you follow up, and how you make people feel when they leave your presence.
How does community building convert to real estate business?
Jessica does not do cold outreach. She does not run paid ads. Her business comes almost entirely from the relationships she builds in community.
Here is how that works in practice.
She creates events where people feel genuinely welcomed and seen. She introduces people to each other with intention. She follows up meaningfully, not with a pitch but with a connection or a resource that is actually useful to the person she is thinking about.
Over time those relationships convert. Not because she pushed. Because she showed up consistently and gave more than she asked for.
"Relationships are the revenue," she says. "It is not a shortcut. But it is the most sustainable business I have ever built."
What does "create the table" mean?
It means stop waiting to be invited.
If the event you want to attend does not exist, build it. If the community you want to be part of is not there yet, create it. If the room you need is not open to you, open your own room and invite the people who belong in it.
That is how We Connect LA started. That is how the Connect Team was built. And that is the energy Jessica brings to everything she touches.
"I did not wait for someone to give me a seat," she says. "I built the table."
And after spending time in this conversation, I completely agree.
Find Jessica on Instagram and connect with We Connect LA to learn about upcoming events.
Let's grow,
Wendy