This past year (2025) marks 12 years in business, which feels equal parts surreal, humbling, and hard-earned. When I started, I had ambition, grit, and just enough confidence to jump in but not nearly enough perspective to know what really mattered long-term.
So instead of the proverbial victory lap, I wanted to do something a little more useful. In the past year I’ve shared 12 lessons I’ve learned over 12 years. All the things I’d go back and tell myself if I were just getting started. Some are practical. Some are mindset shifts. And I come by all of them honestly!
If you’re building a business (especially in real estate, sales, or entrepreneurship), I hope a few of these save you time, money, or unnecessary stress.
1. Hire Experts Sooner (Even If It Feels Expensive)
Early on, I thought hiring cheaper help for more hours was the smart move. Turns out, it was the slow move.
Paying experts more, especially people who know exactly what they’re doing, often means fewer hours, less risk, better results, and access to insights or connections you didn’t even know you needed. Looking back, this was worth every penny, and I wish I’d leaned into it much earlier.
2. Don’t Try to Make Everyone Happy
This one feels obvious… until you live it.
Not every client, partner, or opportunity is a fit. Some people have totally different values. Others are just tough cookies and impossible to please. When I stopped pouring energy into the wrong 20% and focused on the 80% I work well with, my business grew faster. And I was a lot happier doing it.
3. Respect the Reality of Illiquidity
Real estate is not like the stock market or a bank account that you can just pull money out of at any time. Real estate funds are tied up, which means you either need to wait for a buyer to come along to get your money out, or you take out a loan - neither are easy or cheap!
Of course, even if you decide to sell, deals fall through. Buyers disappear. Tenants stop paying. And you can’t sell a building overnight. Dry spells are just part of the ride.
These three things helped me survive (and sleep better):
1. Don’t over-leverage. Growth isn’t worth breaking yourself.
2. Set up a line of credit before you need it.
3. Save some cash for rainy days (they WILL come).
4. Root for Other People (Genuinely)
After the financial crash, I had a mindset shift that changed everything: I started truly rooting for other people to win.
That shift from scarcity to abundance made me more positive, less bitter, and honestly, a better version of myself. There is enough success to go around. When you believe that, it shows and it pays off in an unexplainable way.
5. Sprint to 10,000 Hours
You’ve heard of the 10,000-hour rule (famously by Malcom Gladwell in Outliers). My advice? Get there faster.
If you think it’ll take six years, try to do it in four or five. Once you hit true expert status, people start coming to you. That’s how you separate yourself from the pack, not shortcuts, but focused reps.
6. Upgrade Your Home for You, Not Just to Sell
I hear this from sellers all the time: “I can’t believe how good my house looks, why didn’t I do this sooner?!”
Paint. Fix the bathroom. Rearrange the furniture. But do it for you, not just for resale. You deserve to enjoy the space you live in now, not someday.
7. Use Your “Messy” Background to Your Advantage
My career path started as a CPA, and I almost went to law school. I helped start a restaurant and later worked in sales at a paper packaging company. At one point, I honestly wondered if I even had any real skills!
What I didn’t see then was that I was quietly building the three pillars of business: finance, operations, and sales - which are the keys to running a business. If your background feels messy or unconventional, don’t doubt it, leverage it.
8. Saying No Is a Growth Strategy
In the beginning, you have to say yes, a lot!! You need the reps, the experience, and the income.
But if you’re still saying yes to everything years in, you’re not growing. Every yes to the wrong deal, the wrong client, or the wrong hire is a no towards the goals you are trying to accomplish. Growth isn’t just about doing more, it’s about doing less of what doesn’t fit.
9. Change With the Times—But Don’t Chase Hype
I’ve seen this cycle over and over:
In 2008, “Home ownership is dead.” (It wasn’t.)
In 2015, “Amazon will kill retail.” (Some retail thrived.)
In 2018, “Too Many Big Homes.” (Post-Covid that’s what most people want.)
The loudest voices usually fade. Fundamentals last. Adapt, yes, but don’t abandon what actually works just because it’s trending. (What do you think my thoughts are on the office market?)
10. You Can’t Control Outcomes—But You Can Stack the Odds
Success isn’t guaranteed, but you can put yourself in better positions to win.
When we sell homes and get some of the highest price in the neighborhood it’s not guaranteed. But our ability to know how to prep homes properly, stage them, price them smartly, and market aggressively, we’re not forcing a home run, but the odds go way up. That’s not luck, that’s strategy.
11. Stay the Course (Boring Is Often Productive)
You’ve probably heard that we all overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in a year. That’s been my career.
We all want to crush every single day, but most days are normal. And that's fine, because stacking days is what actually moves you forward. Every big jump I’ve made came from staying consistent long after the excitement wore off. Don’t chase perfect days. Build upon the ordinary ones.
12. Reputation Is Everything
Deals come and go. Markets swing. Your name sticks.
People remember how you treated them. If you did what you said you would. Most of my business, and most of my best opportunities, came from my reputation, not marketing. A good reputation will do more for me (and you you!) than any video ever will.
On to Year 13
After 12 years in, I can say this with confidence: there’s no single move that guarantees success. But there are patterns that compound over time.
Whether you’re early in your journey or even deep into it, I hope one or two of these lessons resonate and help you build smarter, steadier, and with a little more clarity than I had at the start.
Here’s to the next chapter.