Celebrating 25 Years As A REALTOR®

It is hard to believe that I am celebrating 25 years as a REALTOR® today. Wow.

According to the Arizona Department of Real Estate, my real estate license was issued on 9/1/1992. If my math is correct, that was 25 years ago. Doing a little more math allows me to conclude that I have been a REALTOR® for more of my life than I have not…

While so much of my business has changed since 1992, many things remain the same. Relationships, people, the desire to learn more, to help others. Those are the things that have given me the greatest joy during my 25 year career, and those are the things that will keep me working in this business for many years to come.

I have made some great friends, wonderful relationships and have learned a lot along the way. While I would like to thank a LOT of people for getting me to where I am today, I know most people don’t want to read a 9000 word blog post about how many people have touched my life during my career. BUT, I’m going to go ahead and name a few, just because.

I’ll start with my dad. He was a big part of my inspiration to get into this business. I miss him so much, but he continues to inspire me to this day. One of the first people my dad had me meet with when I was starting in the business was Mary Lou Paulk. Mary Lou worked with my dad in a small real estate office in Mesa back in the 70’s. For those of you in the real estate industry, you know that she is one of the most respected and successful people in the title/escrow business and has been running Fidelity National Title for many years. I can’t tell you how much she has meant to our entire family over the last 40+ years.

I have been fortunate to be able to surround myself with SO many super-smart industry professionals in my career. Big thanks goes out to Barb Freestone at the Arizona Association of REALTORS® for not only getting me out of my comfort zone by asking me to co-chair her conference a few years ago, but to helping me build relationships with her REALTORS® leadership team and her associates at AAR. I’m thankful for so many of those people. I have also had some amazing brokers in my career and have enjoyed working alongside of them and alongside of the current ownership group here at Realty Executives. Their trust in me to work with many of the Executives has been gratifying and humbling.

Colleagues like Dina Sell, my all-time favorite escrow officer, have become like family. There’s also guys like Shane Hollenback who is the best loan officer I’ve worked with who has also become someone I can call a close personal friend. Of course, there’s my good friend Bill Risser, even though he left us and took a gig in FLA, he has also always been willing to share his knowledge of the industry with me. Heck, he even allowed me to be a guest on his world famous podcast!

The “original” Phoenix Real Estate Guy, Jay Thompson, has taught me so much and continues to do so. Having the opportunity to work with Jay has been an amazing experience. One that I am so thankful for. The future holds amazing opportunity for all of us!

MANY clients have made a huge impact on our business and how we work. If I were to start down the road of telling “favorite” stories, I wouldn’t get any work done for the next couple of days so, please just know how much you ALL mean to me.

Working so closely with Lori and Colleen has been a huge transformation in my business. This allows me to be a better agent, a better father and a better person. I really have no words to describe how fortunate I am to have these two crazy girls pushing my buttons, inspiring me to work harder and allowing me to live such a blessed life.

For me, the real estate business is in my blood, it is a way of life and I feel like I have SO much more to give, so much further to go. Thanks to all who have been there along the way. I really am excited about what the future holds.

THANK YOU!