This is the time of year that things wind down as we roll through the holiday season. During this time, I like to reflect on how the year was and what I aim to do in the future. As many of you know, I’ve made a lot of changes to Black Phoenix Group in the past 4 years. As we roll into our 5th year as a brokerage, I think it’s important to recap some of the things I’ve learned over the past 4 years and, more importantly, the past 17 (almost 18) years as a licensed professional.
I’ve been blessed enough to have a business that many would consider successful. I’ve been able to build the kind of company that works well with my lifestyle, and fortunately, I have clients who respect and appreciate what I bring to the table. When I started Black Phoenix Group, I had a lot of dreams about what this company could be, and how it would grow. But as we rolled through the pandemic, and the subsequent tumultuous years of a fluctuating economy, a couple of things became apparent. Along the way, I stopped caring about performance, my standing in the industry, and how I ranked. To put it plainly, I was no longer interested in competing with other agents. I had learned that the true measure of a professional isn’t what they produce, it’s how they care for their clients and interact with others agents. This is a lesson that isn’t often learned, and in an industry that encourages growth, it’s easy to lose sight of the client. Somewhere along the line, I realized that I was losing the connection with the client, and that was alarming to me. So I scaled everything back, I dismantled my business and made it far more streamlined. More importantly, I found a better relationship with my clients, something that is much more genuine than it had been. So many of you are friends, and have continued to support me over the years, you’ve grown alongside me and have allowed my family and business to blossom. In a time of great uncertainty within this industry, you have made it easy to want to continue on.
It’s often difficult to explain how impossibly complex the real estate industry is. The longer I’ve been in the business, the harder it has become. While the internet has benefited us greatly, it’s made a career that was once a 9-to-5 into something that is, at times, 24 hours a day. The burnout rate in real estate is high, and it’s often a feast-or-famine industry. Making the conscious decision to scale my business back was a scary one, but I firmly believe that my clients appreciate it. They appreciate the opportunity to connect with me, work through problems, and truly plan their future. If it weren’t for these meaningful connections, I can honestly say I wouldn’t be in the business. However, you make it worth it. So thank you for supporting me all of these years. Thanks for making the hard days a little easier. And thanks for coming back year after year to help us maintain this small business.
This year, instead of coffee cards and holiday letters, I decided to create a new scholarship. We now have two scholarships available to Lincoln High School students (my alma mater). The first is for students with documented learning disabilities, and the second is for track or cross country athletes. You’re the reason this is possible.
With that said, happy holidays.
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