ONE LESSON

Early in my days of running my brokerage, I had set up an interview with a brand new agent who was interested in joining. When the agent walked into the office, my first impression was that this was someone who was the type of person we were looking for. After touring the office, we sat down in a conference room to talk more. As we did, the person answered all of my questions comfortably, and by the end, I felt that I had found someone who would be an amazing fit and agent. I signed them up on the spot and began meeting with them to teach them all about building and running a successful real estate business. Six months later, after putting in little effort and not getting any clients, let alone making any sales, the agent left my brokerage and the industry altogether.

LESSON LEARNED: If you don’t have a passion for what you are doing, any challenge you face becomes an excuse to quit rather than an opportunity to learn, grow, and ultimately persevere.

When I was running my brokerage, I spent a lot of time interviewing brand-new agents since they were our main focus. Early on, I never bothered to spend time finding out why the person wanted to be a real estate agent. I’d of course ask, but unless their response was “I want to be rich,” which I would then end the meeting and thank them for their time, I never bothered to go much deeper. This led to many of the agents I hired not lasting very long, with most quitting within the first year. I finally realized I needed to go deeper with people, and when I did, what I found was remarkable. I heard some of the most amazing stories, like how one agent wanted to support her mother, who had cancer, because she had done so much for her family. Or how another agent wanted to prove her parents wrong about her not being able to make it in a career like real estate, and should get a corporate job (I can definitely relate to this one!). As time went on, I began noticing the agents who had the strongest “why” or reason for being an agent not only made it through the most challenging times at the start, but also any challenges they faced as they grew their businesses. Their “why” is what they leaned on, and that constant reminder is what drove them to succeed in an industry designed for them to fail.