About Me
My Professional Resume
The Long Version . . .
My real estate career really began in 1973, when my mother decided to get her real estate license. We’d only been in Canada for a couple of years, she was bored and discovered she had a knack for sales when she went door to door selling Fuller Brush products (If you remember them, you’ve been around for a lonnnnng time!). At the time she got her license, all you had to do was go to school for 2 weekends and memorize all the clauses and be able to write an offer on blank sheets of paper. My sister and I took it in turns helping her learn the words. Not long after that, my Dad got into the business and I guess it was around that time that I knew that someday my path would lead me into real estate.
Fast forward to late 1991 and my Dad died, I got engaged, and the commercial construction company I worked for shut down. As my industry was laying off people in massive numbers, it seemed that the time had arrived for me to ‘take the plunge’, so to speak, and I began the long process of getting my license, culminating in my starting in the business on March 19th, 1993.
In 1995, we opened a Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate franchise, and my exposure to the joy and rewards of coaching and training was brought to life as I became a BH&G Certified Advantage Trainer. I worked hard to develop my skills, both as a trainer and a coach, and over the ensuing years I enrolled in several mainstream coaching programs including Mike Ferry’s One-on-One coaching and his Over-the-Phone training, Bill Barrett’s coaching program, Craig Proctors Graduate Coaching program, StarPower Club coaching, and several other less well known programs.
While I was in these different coaching programs, I was also running a highly-successful real estate team and running an office of 48 agents. My team was good enough that we often held 40% of the market in units sold, and carried an inventory that averaged 58 listings.
As my personal life became a casualty of my workaholism, I took a different path and scaled my business back. I focused much more on enjoying my life and growing as a trainer and a coach outside the real estate profession. I started attending T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive (MMI) on a consistent basis (I’ve been to it 8 times now) and worked on building my brand in the online real estate community. I also began indulging my love of writing, most notably with a course that is a follow-up to the MMI for people who cannot afford the more expensive programs out there.
It was around this time that Keller Williams real estate came into my life. I was very happy with the broker I had joined after closing my BH&G office, but I was simultaneously frustrated that I was not afforded the opportunities to train and coach agents. Keller Williams came along and changed all of that for me. I took an ownership role in a KW office and became the chief trainer for the office, as well as conducting trainings for other offices across Canada.
At the same time, I was growing my skills as a trainer and a coach, through the KW Faculty Development programs, travelling to Austin TX a number of times for invitation-only training. In 2009, I became the second Canadian Regional Trainer for KW, an honour that gives me the official sanction to travel through North America teaching the KW University curriculum.
All throughout my real estate career, I worked on building my brand internationally. The first step in this process was launching my first web site on December 12th 1993, a handwritten thing that was one of less than 100 real estate web sites in Canada at the time. I rapidly developed a name as someone who loves to be out on the ‘bleeding edge’ of technology, and my experiences and willingness to try new things were in demand by technology companies, the media, and Realtor organizations across the USA.
As a result of my brand-building efforts, I was invited to be involved in the e-Pro 500, a group of agents who participated in the creation of the NAR technology course. When that course was discontinued, I was part of a much smaller group that created the second version of the program. To this day, I remain the sole Canadian Certified e-Pro Trainer.
Some other things I have done include being a speaker at the 1999 NAR Convention, the 1999 Louisville Association meetings, the 2000 Colorado Association Convention, and, coming up in 2010, The Michigan Association of Realtors Leadership Days. I have been a Teaching Assistant for the Kaplan College School of Real Estate, and have been interviewed by major publications across the continent for my opinions on technology in real estate.
My most fulfilling work comes when I function as ‘Dream Manager’ for individual agents. If you’ve read the excellent book of the same name, you’ll understand why the work is so fulfilling. In short, a Dream Manager helps people uncover their dreams and then coaches them, trains them and holds them accountable to holding those dreams in their hands.
I like to tell my clients that I’ve been around the real estate business for a long time, I’ve been with several companies, and I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work. No matter what, there are certain core things that a real estate agent MUST do. I know what those things are, I’ve invested well over $100,000 in coaching for myself and training to be a coach, and I truly believe in my heart that there are a few simple keys to overcoming what is blocking you in attaining your Dreams.
Outside of my work, I volunteer in my community, with the Halton Children’s Aid Society and the Optimist Club. I also fund-raise for several organizations, help out with numerous charitable events, and sponsor local sports teams. I also support Ryan’s Well, provide breakfast for schoolchildren, and fund microfinance loans through Kiva.org.