A Sales Journey From Diageo to Homes with Jackie Dabrowski | Episode 133

But then once you get started, where you really can either be a checked out real estate agent or a super involved real estate agent, is like, well, look, here are two great home inspectors you can talk to, or here are three loan officers you can speak with. And like if you don't like any of those, like, you know, I'll vet anyone you have. Like, you're letting them know that you're gonna be their guide and and you're there to take care of them for when things go wrong, because they always go wrong in residential real estate. It's super emotional. Like, people are crying, suing people, threatening divorce, like there's all these things that go wrong. And if you can be level-headed and and help find solutions to people's problems, like that's what they don't forget. And then referrals, repeat, be in your neighborhood. Hey, I bought a house on this block. You're looking in the neighborhood, talk to JD. Right. Like, that's so great that you learned that right away. Welcome to the podcast dedicated to real estate, insurance, and building your business. Join us as we take you along our own business building journeys with additional wisdom from our network of local and national experts. Welcome to Bricks and Risk.

This episode is brought to you by Property Management Redefined. PMR is not just managing properties, we're creating partnerships that build long-term success for property owners. John and his team can be reached at manage at gopmr.com or by phone 267-753-6005. Tim. Yes, Sean. Who's a good client for PMR?

Property management redefined is looking for property owners who value three things accountability, reliability, and a results-driven approach. You want to maximize returns, but still provide client and tenant satisfaction.

There's a lot of property managers out there.

There are what does PMR do really well? Biggest thing is they're seamless and they're worry-free. So with that approach in mind, it allows the property owner to put their trust in PMR and know that the results will be there. The other thing I think a property owner is really gonna value because they do it so well is that they have a local expert team boots on the ground, managing your properties and your tenants' expectations every day so that you feel good about your investments.

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Right here, guys, reach out to John Sachs and his team at Property Management Redefine. Take good care of you. Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Bricks and Risk. I'm Tim Garrety. And I'm Sean Mooney. Today, Sean, we have another local guest. We have real estate superstar Jackie Dabrowski, realtor with Space and Company right here in Philadelphia. How are you doing today, Jackie?

Doing great.

Thank you for joining us. Thanks for being here. So JD, as she is called, is Philly born and bred, family, friends, food, and a drink enthusiast. Lover of music, movies, TV, the arts, and Philly sports. Go birds. Former D1 college athlete at Penn State University. Go nets. And a retired DJ and photographer. What remind me again, what was your D1 sport?

Softball.

Softball. What position were you?

I played outfield in college. Nice. I was actually played third base like through high school. Um but then I was fast and they taught me how to.

You must have had a good arm. Third base is not that's not easy. Yeah, yeah. It's about speed and you gotta throw it fast.

Yeah.

Wait a minute. Before we get in here, before we get started with the formal interview, what's up with retired DJ? Oh, I know. Come on.

Everyone asked me to come here. Yeah, what? What real quick, what's the story? You were a DJer and now you don't DJ?

Yeah, well, DJing happens very late at night.

Yeah.

And, you know, once I probably hit, I don't know, like late 30s. Staying out like till bars close at two o'clock and then getting home like three or four did not work anymore.

So like it wasn't like kids' birthday parties. It was like you would go like clubs or bars or whatever. Yeah.

And when you probably weren't a laptop DJ. Because back then. All right, so let's educate our listeners and watchers because everyone goes off a laptop or a tablet now. Like, what were you doing back then? Like, how did you set up for a DJ?

This was records. Like literally turn the.

You were scratching and like moving needles and stuff?

I was more into like the house and club scenes. So I didn't scratch, but um, yeah, I had like a crate.

Milk crate.

Yeah. Yeah. And you know, you only had whatever 50 records to work with. And that's, you know. Oh, is there any round?

Is there any video of you?

Oh I have photos, but like that also like video wasn't a thing. Yeah.

Yeah.

I have plenty of photos, but no, no live video thing.

Oh man. So like uh what were some acts that you would play on a regular game? Yeah, like where were you doing stuff in Philly?

Yeah, yeah. So um Tavern on Camac. So I did a lot of the gay bars.

Okay.

Tavern on Camac. Um my pal Stacy Vay, shout out to Stacey Vay. Uh Stacy Vay. Um, she started we started like a Thursday night gig that got pretty popular. And then actually Stacy ended up buying her own bar. So um Stir is still in existence. Wow. Then it kind of transferred to there, and there was a lot of like pop-up parties at that point. Yeah. So it was a lot of like, you know, just takeovers of places and things like that. Interesting, you know.

Come back and we'll have the DJ. I love the hustle.

DJ J D.

DJ J D. Oh, awesome.

Yeah, it was so great.

Yeah. Fantastic. All right. So I got another one for you. So prior to becoming a real estate agent, we were just talking about this, you worked for Diagio.

Yes.

So for those who have not heard of them, because maybe unless you know John Taffer from Bar Rescue, you might not have heard of Diagio before. What is Diaggio?

Sure.

So Diageo is it's a global company. It's like they own probably like 80% of a back bar. So Speardoff, Querbo, Johnny Walker, lots of wine. Wine and Spirits Company. They also own Guinness. They have a little beer portfolio.

Wow.

So you know the names they own more than the company. But um, yeah, giant, you know, global company.

Um and alcohol. Yeah. So you'd go what to bars knocking on doors, uh taking orders.

Uh yeah, at that point, um Pennsylvania specifically, they had kind of like a test because it's like wholesalers, there's a supplier wholesaler, bars, restaurants.

Yep.

So they started a smaller, like direct sales company, and I was part of that sales team. And um so I called on liquor stores. And but the liquor stores buy directly from the supplier, so you would have to like get the pull through. So we did promotions and build displays, and there was also an on-premise side of it, um, where we basically I mean, this was a long time ago where we'd just like get a limo on a Tuesday and like do a bar crawl like down Main Street. Awesome. It was wild, it was wild.

That reminds me of a time in my life when I had a good friend that worked for Budweiser.

Yeah.

And the and the guy from Budweiser would get like a spending, like little little kitty that you could spend and go out. I was a good time.

I remember those times, very fun. I yeah, I did two summers of that. I think we've had this conversation before. I was I was a promotional rep.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And all I did, I met them at a career fair at LaSalle University. One of the best conversations I ever had in my life. And um, down at the South Jersey Shore, I represented like Coarse Light, Budweiser, and I was going bar to bar with gear and a budget, and my job was to trans whoever was drinking a coors light, if I was Budweiser, my job was to get a butt in their hand, even if I had to buy it for them, and then they would have they'd buy five more on their own dime. So it'd be like that. It was like conversion, it was like being fun and like meeting people and shaking hands and telling them why you're doing what you're doing and why coors light is so superior to Miller Light. And like you would just get into all these like drunken conversations with people, and literally it's like, let's just turn around, like we're all at the beach right now. This is fantastic. Um, all right. So you get hooked up with Diagio. Was this through Penn State? Like, how'd you get how'd you start with them?

Sure. So actually, one of my friends from Penn State had already started working there, and again, this was like a time when there was a lot of jobs, right?

Yeah.

Um, which, you know, sadly that's not necessarily the case now, but there was plenty of jobs, and he worked for them. Um his territory was Harrisburg, and uh uh Philly territory came up and he was like, Hey, you know, do you want I was interviewing for any anything at that point. Do you want to take this interview? And I'm like looking up the company and I'm like, is this real? I get to sell I get to sell this, right? I'm like a senior, you know, about to graduate from Penn State, and I'm like, this is a real job. Um, so yeah, and and literally my interview, they were like, So it's Cinco de Mayo, and you need to sell Jose Cuervo to and I'm just like, like still, like this is real, and yeah, so it was wild, and it was like one of seriously one of the best times of my life. But same thing, like with the DJing.

It gets old.

Yeah, when you can't get your friends to come out on your budget and like hang out anymore.

And then you just you're always at the bars, you're always out late, you know.

Sometimes you outgrow that lifestyle, you need to move on and just a little bit.

Um all right, so you get started with Diagio and you were a rep. So you said you worked with liquor stores. Yeah. So was the job to basically like build a relationship with the different liquor stores, and then eventually they would just keep buying things through you, or your order would get bigger, or like the selection would get bigger? Like, how did that work?

Right.

So, yeah, because again, it's like all run by the state and they buy from the supplier. So you're doing like shelf sets and trying to like spread, you know, your product out and like build bigger displays, and you know, at towards the end of it, you could have like promos in store with tastings and so yeah, I mean it was it was interesting because it was sales, but like it wasn't sales because it was buying from you. No, correct.

Yeah, but you but you were pushing the brands.

Right.

So you're like, hey, let's just use an example.

We're marketing.

Let's say it's yeah, let's say it's fireball, and that's a good one for doing a couple shots, let's say. And it's like a Friday afternoon, it's in July. Like you could say, like, hey, I want to set up in your liquor store. I'm gonna bring in bring in some fireball gear. I got some signage, I'm gonna be here. I'm gonna be shaking hands, me trying to push push more product. Oh, have you ever mixed a drink with that? And I'm gonna get your sales up a little bit because I'm I'm JD good times and I'm trying to help you because you know, if you like me and I'm helping you, then maybe you're buying more fireball, or maybe you're buying some of the products that I offer that maybe you're not selling a lot of now. Like you're almost trying to be like a partner to help them like sell more product or sell some more of the products that you represent.

Exactly.

Very cool. Awesome. All right, so let's dive right into both yours and my passion. Sorry, Moni. Real estate. So we were chatting about.

Wait, how do you know it's not a passion of mine?

Well, actually, I know it's becoming more of a passion of yours because you just bought a building for your business. Yeah. Am I allowed to say that?

Uh so this is So maybe it is a passion.

Yeah, maybe it is. Uh so talk about again, like, how did you get into real estate? Like, why did you get into it? You got this great career, obviously. You're maybe you know, you grew out of it, got too old, but like why real estate?

Right. So um actually, um because of this job, and at that point I was living with my parents. Okay. Came home from Penn State, lived with my parents for like a year and a half.

How'd that go?

It was interesting, you know.

They probably loved it.

There's always a cost, you know. It might not be um dollars, but that's what I tell my kids.

Everything, everything, and there's a cost to everything in life.

Yes, very true.

Great of everything.

Yes. So I had a corporate, you know, credit card. I had a car. Yep. Dang. Very minimal expenses. I live with my parents, and you know, so the money was just coming in. I couldn't spend it fast enough, honestly. Yeah. Um, and so when I was 23, my like good friend at the time, her mom was a realtor, um, and she was uh mortgage broker, and they were like, You should buy a house. So I was like, Okay, you know, like just young and why not? I got all this money, I'm not allowed.

I gotta do something with this money, might as well buy a house.

Trying to get out of my parents' house. Yeah, right. Um, and it was like when the 0% down mortgages that was like a the CISAs and the Nina's dated income, no, no income. Yeah. Um, so yeah, so I I bought my first house at 23 and my friends live with me. Like it was awesome. It was in Manion Care.

So you're house hacking, basically.

Yes.

You know, you people are paying you rent.

Right.

You own the place. Did anyone else own it with you? Like family, friends, anyone? You you owned it all yourself.

Just me. Yep.

Okay. You bought it cash.

All that money. If I could go rushing at DiAngio. Um, and I did drive a minivan at that point. Awesome.

Yo. Yo. He had a minivan. What was it? White lightning?

White lightning in college. Shout out to White Lightning. So this is this is a great source. Rest in peace. Let's say university, we'd go drink at the field. Like Friday afternoon every down, so like everybody comes in. And I would uh I would drive the van down to the field because you can fit like a hundred people in the van. Maroon interior, am I correct in saying that? Oh yeah, yeah.

White minivan, maroon interior, but like 20.

Yep. And uh everybody would be like at the keg. They'd be like, oh no, someone's parents are coming. Go over here. Called the Narc. Yeah. Oh. But served us very well in college. Yeah. Fill a lot on that thing. We took the back seats out and put a card table and we had like beach chairs and like coolers and all right.

So you're rolling around in a minivan, bought your first place. Yeah, a minivan.

That was because again, you were, you know, I had like sign it all, right?

So truck around, all this stuff.

Yeah. So there was all this stuff, and that's what so people would take out the third seat. Yeah. Um interesting. But a lot of the We took out the middle seat. That's what I was gonna say. A lot of the guys I worked with, they took out the middle seat and they're like, Limo. Right, right.

That's true.

So I had this minivan, like I was like almost bought a motorcycle. Like, I was trying to like, I would I remember like when I would go places, I would park it like miles away. And it was like a Chrysler, you know, whatever town and country. It was like a fancy minivan.

It's fine.

But still, like you're like, I'm in my 20s. Exactly.

I'm not supposed to be rolling around this thing, like perception-wise.

Exactly, exactly. So the idea of like you should buy a house, I'm like, that sounds like a great idea. Get, you know, this minivan can move over here, get out of my parents' house. My friends, like their rent was like so cheap compared to everyone else. It was like a win-win for everyone.

Yeah.

So that's how it started. Um, and then eventually, like a couple years in, um I wanted to move to like closer to the city. And I found this um like old converted warehouse that like they converted to condos and they were like selling directly from the people that you know. Yeah. Um, so I bought I sold the place in Manioc, um and that was like off-market. It was like a friend, you know, wow kind of thing, a friend's friend. And then I bought the place from in in Fishtown from the developer, also without a realtor. So interesting.

What year was that? Can you uh timestamp that?

Yeah, I can because it was 2009. Right?

So again, that's an awful time to be buying a condo.

The whole market and everything is falling apart, and I am in my own world, like doing my off-market real estate. Again, had no clue really, like the graph. Exactly. Figuring it out. So that purchase, then I was like, you know, I kind of like this. Like, and while the corporate things getting old, and you know, I'm like, what am I gonna do next? I start DJing, I start photography, I get my real estate license. I'm just like trying things. If anything to distract me from like being unhappy with my not that again, because I was like aging out of the job.

You probably saw long term for whatever reason, DiAgio was maybe not a great long-term fit. Yes, like this is going to get old. Yeah, or it's just I don't think I want to be doing this when I'm like 40.

Yeah. Like that kind of it was a combo of that, and it was also like it's a gigantic company, right? So like you can't just stay in Philly. Like I did what I could. I did, I you know, I did the liquor and spirit side, then I went to the beer side, and then like basically my options were like move to Buffalo, move to Pittsburgh. Oh, gotcha. You know, like it just and I just had been here my whole life and I had lived here for a while post-college, and I just wasn't looking to like uh change my life like that.

What was the you said in there somewhere there was this appeal for like real estate. Like like what was it? What did you enjoy? What were the parts of it that you just drew you towards it?

Sure. Well, honestly, in the beginning, it was more um like I thought I was gonna get my license to buy my own property.

Right. Right to invest yeah, I don't have to pay someone, I can just buy these properties and yeah.

Yeah, like I figured it out in that transaction, and I did. I like I had some help from like a a friend that wasn't realtor. But yeah, it was like, okay, this looks like a good investment opportunity situation. I'll leverage my, you know, my W-2 for now. Um, and I'll at least be my own realtor, save, you know, that money. So that's kind of like how it started. But then like, you know, the job piece like started to kind of make it was clear that like I wasn't gonna continue that for too much longer. And I'd been there a while, and you know, my friend was just weren't moving to Buffalo. I was not moving, no. So literally, like I had conversations with like the you know, my boss and the couple people above, and was just like, I've been here a while, and like can we make a nice because they didn't, you know, they didn't want me to rotten my position either, you know. Um, so basically we came to a deal and they, you know, gave me a severance and awesome, you know, I started looking into pharmaceuticals and like, you know, there's different packaging comp like there was things that made sense from what I had been doing. And I remember I had this interview and I had a um a recruiter and they were like, here's the questions, here's the answers, and I was like, Okay, and like this is gonna be so easy. I literally like woke up before that interview and I was like, I'm not going. Like, I don't want this life, like I don't want to be in this anymore. And so I canceled it, and then I was like, you know what, I have this real estate license, I got six months of paycheck, so I'm gonna take a shot.

Wow.

And that was 12 or 13 years ago. And it literally was just like, let me see. And I think I felt like that for like probably another like three years.

Let me go back a little bit. Let me go back to to young JD. What were you doing when you were young? Were you working at an early age or and like what were you doing? Because again, to like get out, Diageo, I'm assuming, was probably not the easiest job for a lot of people because not everyone has the gift of gab. And sometimes people are like, I uh you know, I don't know if I can keep doing that. Like you really gotta love people. Sure. Like, what were you doing when you were young? Did you have any like jobs when you were young or like parents, family? Friends pushing you to like hustle and grind, like what was that like? No. Really? Were you DJing? Oh, because you were a being an athlete sometimes, you don't have enough time for work.

Yeah.

So that's uh interesting.

Yeah. Like I always had like a summer job and stuff. Yeah. You know, and it was one time I actually worked right up the street here at um it was called Bendinger Brothers. It was, they made the Catholic school uniforms. Oh yeah, it's right on Chair's Lane. And really, I'm literally it was like a sweatshop. It was like in all through the summer, 1,000 degrees. You were handling like Catholic school sweatshirts and no air conditioning. No air conditioning. It was crazy. But I used to go and get the water ice, I got my pizza, like you know, nice, yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, so I always had like summer jobs, but um, like I played on travel teams. I around the clock. Yeah, like I just was really I was always into sports. And um I did get a job. This is a little bit of a funny story.

Oh, right.

Um I worked at the dollar store for like five minutes in Andorra. Yeah, because when I when I got my license, my parents were like, if you want to drive, you need to have gas money for the car.

Like, how do these cups only cost a dollar?

Six toothbrushes for a dollar really is an insane operation, but that's the best toothpaste I ever had.

Yeah.

But my yeah, they were like, so so like it was like that. They're like, if you want to put gas in the, you know, you want to drive the car, yeah, you need gas money. So, and then you know, I dilly dallied a little bit. And so my mom like worked at, you know, she was a nurse like your mom, and um her office was next to the dollar store, and she's like, here's the application. And I was like, She's like, Well, you know, you're not finding a job. So I was like, fine, I'll fill it out. They called me like that afternoon.

Like, put on the green apron now.

And again, it was in Andorra where I grew up in Roxboro. So I saw like everyone I knew, and they were like, ah, it was like a whole, yeah. But very quickly I learned that, like, okay, I'm gonna go out, find my next thing. Yeah, so I always again I had little odds and ends, you know, to um have my spending money, have gas money. But the sports were, yeah, a lot of my life, even college, you know, that is like a full-time job.

That's yeah, that's like, you know, you're trying to find time to study. There's no sports off-season either.

It's like no training, in season, off-season, training.

Right. Yeah, yeah. So I I never really had jobs, like significant jobs, really, till I graduated college, honestly.

Interesting. Did they have white out games when you were there?

No, that was af after I graduated. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I've experienced some, but not. Yeah.

Not on my bucket list.

It's pretty wild. Yeah. And I will say, our younger is starts at Penn State in the fall.

Oh, nice.

I hope to be back up there soon.

I don't think I heard that news. I think the last time we spoke, like she was going back and forth between there and like Wisconsin in another school was Wisconsin. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so she'll be close and I can get to relive experience again.

It's a good mom right there. Woo! Awesome. All right, cool. So you get into real estate, you got some severance from Diageo. Yeah. I just start learning real estate. Like, you know, you've been with space and company the entire time.

Yeah.

Okay. So, like, watch you choose space and company like you're still there today, you've been there 12 years. That's that's not the norm in our industry. Like, go into that a little bit.

Yeah. Um, well, honestly, I I started there because that was literally the only company that asked me for a resume. And that was like literally like what I was used to. You know what I mean?

It seemed professional.

Yeah. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? Really? Like, oh wait, wait, let me see.

Yeah, yeah, you're good, JD. Come on in.

Sure. So they're like, what's everyone's phone number? Who do you know? You know what I mean?

Here, breathe on this mirror real quick.

Yeah.

No, so you okay, just to set the frame, you did talk to uh so you're like, Oh, I want to do real estate. Let me go talk to a couple different shops, yes, see what's out there, see what I fit, see what I line with. The the first couple that you talk to were like, Yeah, okay, come on in. Like here you go, here's a desk.

Exactly.

There's your nameplate. Bring your own notebook. Um, and then you talk to the people at Space and Company, and they were different, yeah, and they asked for a resume.

Right. And you were taken aback by Yeah, because that is like not what I knew. You know what I mean? Like I I had been on other interviews, and like it was, yeah, like, and little did I know, like, again, with real estate, it's like you earn your keep, you make money great, you don't, you can leave if you want.

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Yeah, so that really um but it was a differentiator in your mind that what did it make you think initially when you were like, oh wait, they they want a resume? Like, what was the like how how did that that obviously was different than other ones, and that was uh a benefit to them? Like it was set them apart from some of these other shops.

Yeah, it felt like legit. Yeah. Like it felt like a job, right? Not like just something that I was gonna try out and just even though that's what I was doing, right? Just like trying to felt not like so wildly different from any world that I've ever lived in as far as a job.

You know what's interesting? Like, sorry not to interrupt, like we you and I kind of had to have different mindsets back then because we both started with independent brokerages. I ran an independent brokerage for almost 10 years. Everyone else was going Keller Williams, Cobalt Banker, Century 21, Remax, like these were the big names back then. Like, were you worried about that at all? Like getting in, you're like, is that going to hurt me? Like when I do a listing presentation, when I put a sign out, when I tell the seller, I work here, I don't work there. Like, what was going through your head?

Well, honestly, it was I was it that drew me in, right? That it was local, that it was one office, it was Philly specific. Because I had done like that whole big thing.

Big box thing. Yeah, so funny. That's kind of what I felt like too.

Yeah, and like I didn't have plans to like operate in other markets, like maybe New Jersey or Delaware.

I don't know. But like, you know, it didn't like need that national brand to then do these other deals in other states.

No, yeah, and it just felt like it felt like the right fit. It felt like it was very city focused at that point. I was living in Fishtown. Um, yeah, it just felt like neighborhoody and local, but still on a like there was always like a fancy piece to it, you know, like like a level of professionalism, like a step up. Yeah.

Like they're going the extra mile for like the branding or the training or the support for the staff or whatever.

Right. And like the, you know, they had a holiday party that was, you know, at um union trust. Like it was, you know, and ice sculptures and uh waterworks, and you know, like it just felt like, oh, okay. Again, more of the stuff that I knew like from a corporate life, but like also this local piece that felt like very important for me, at least in real estate. Because like again, I wasn't I'd never really gone out there much further, and I was planning on like keeping it local, so it felt like a good idea.

Like an elevated culture, probably almost felt like yes. Interesting. All right, so you get started in real estate, you know, still with the same brokerage. How were you getting started? Like, how were you getting in front of buyers, sellers, tenants, landlords, investors? Like what what kind of things were you doing to get started?

Sure. Um, so it was, you know, my first client was actually my best friend that got me my first house.

Awesome.

She was my first client. So it started with friends. Full circle. I know, right? Right.

Yeah.

Um so it started with friends, and then, you know, the referrals started slowly. Um, and then open houses were like a big thing in the beginning too. Um, you know, because I think it's it was a little different than it is now, right? It was like people were interested more in talking and maybe meeting, you know, agents, whereas now, like it's tough, right?

Because it's a little bit more of a turn off now because it's so invasive and like people don't want to give their information. They don't want to they want to meet someone they don't like, so they kind of wait, what do you mean by that?

What do you an open house? Like, what is invasive about an open house?

Well, I mean, if I could you know weigh in on this, like so back then when you were doing an open house, like people probably didn't have an agent yet. And if they did, they're like, maybe I'm maybe I'm unscrewing it. Or browsing. Yeah, yeah, browsing. It's like window shopping. But there was also the promise that maybe they would meet like a JD and say, maybe we'll meet someone cool to be our agent, right? Or better than the agent we have. Whereas today, people are just more prepared with the information that's out there. Right. Again, the zip Zillow, you can show you everything you want. There are videos of properties, it's like the you can communicate with people on social media, on email, like text, like before you even step foot in an open house. So the open house was like an opportunity to like go out and learn and meet people. Yeah. Whereas today you can kind of learn and meet people without doing that. But open houses still work today. It's it's just a different, it's a different model, it's a different way of looking at it.

Well, I guess too, if you're there, you are either like related to the you're working with a person that's the listing agent or whatever, you're um in and around the neighborhood. So you probably kind of know. So I guess there are some advantages of having Right.

You were more like a resource, right? Whereas, you know, again, now people have so much access to everything and they've already like made a million decisions before they walk in that door. It wasn't so much like that.

So you were sitting in them as much as you could to just get in front of as many people as you could.

Yeah, because I knew that like the cold call piece like wasn't really a good fit for me, or um, you know, like just some of the different ways people do it. And I and you know, we were always taught um like expireds are, you know, like because that's a thing people you know call expired list things to try to like then scoop them. Like that's you know, like people are unreasonable if they didn't if their house didn't sell, you know. So it was more like yeah. So that was another piece like with space and company. It was it it is still and always was like very community and like basically like if you're a leader in your community and and in your life, then like that in turn should like bring you business and good business and people that you actually enjoy working with and they enjoy working with.

It's thinking outside the box, it's relationship 101. We talk about this all the time on the show. And if you it's like another way it's been worded, like Bob Berg from the Go Giver said, no like and trust. People first got to get to know you. Then once they get to know you, like, do I like JD? Do I not like her for whatever reason? Some people are not gonna like us. And then do I trust her if I like her? Because again, real estate's the biggest financial decision people make in their lives. There has to be a certain level of trust in that almost like leadership way, because if you're working with a buyer client, let's say, they're gonna want to like use you to look at the properties and also analyze the properties. Is this price high? Is it priced well? Is it priced low? You know, what's the story here? Like, can I inspect it? And what's a deposit? Like, they're almost like using you for that. But then once you get started, where you really can either be a checked-out real estate agent or a super involved real estate agent, is like, well, look, here are two great home inspectors you can talk to, or here are three loan officers you can speak with. And like, if you don't like any of those, like, you know, I'll vet anyone you have. Like, you're letting them know that you're gonna be their guide and and you're there to take care of them for when things go wrong, because they always go wrong in residential real estate. It's super emotional. Like, people are crying, suing people, threatening divorce, like there's all these things that go wrong. And if you can be level-headed and and help find solutions to people's problems, like that's what they don't forget. And then referrals, repeat, be in your neighborhood. Hey, I bought a house on this block, you're looking in the neighborhood, talk to JD. Right. Like, that's so great that you learned that right away because a lot of people don't. They they learn the traditional, I hate to call it that, marketing methods of get on the phone, have conversations. And then I was always like, about what? What are we conversing about? If you need me, let me know. But the weather, yeah, right. You gotta stay in front of them.

Exactly.

Phillies. It's true.

Right, right. There's plenty to talk about.

What do you what do you mean? What do I talk about? That's true. All right, so here's another uh thing I saw on your agent website page. Um so one of the questions was it said, like, share your favorite client story, and you put that is literally an impossible question. It's an honor to be included in such an intimate experience, and I'm humbled each and every time. Like, I thought that was so good. Like, what why that mindset or like what made you want to put that out there?

Right.

Well, because again, like it is like an intimate, it's an emotional experience, residential real estate, right? And and there really isn't like everyone is different, and there really isn't one that stands out because they're all have their own ways that they like feel good and that they're like it's exciting for people, you know, they're changing their lives, they're building wealth in themselves. So yeah, I feel like that that in itself is like that is the thing. Okay, there's not one specific.

All right. Let's go. I'm gonna I'm gonna take that for what you said.

Okay.

All your clients are great in some form or fashion, they've all been in their way, great, great experience, great clients to work with. Here we go. Weird. Give me a weird the weirdest transaction that you've been a part of. That's a good question. Like, you got done that, and you're like, how in the hell? Weird did that person, how did we make that happen? How did we find a dead body in the basement after the inspection? I always go back to that one.

I'm like, have you seen a dead body in the basement? Like, why do you always are you watching? Yeah, or what houses are you going on?

That doesn't happen on Selling Sunset.

I know I watch the um uh murder uh diaries or whatever, something like that. I forget what the name is. Never heard of that one. It's not on the theory. Okay. Any weird ones stick out.

So I don't have a weird one where wait, wait, wait, where it closed.

Oh. I mean, there I'm sure there's plenty of funky ones that just uh I need to go away or like this isn't a good There's plenty of that, right?

But one funny-ish, kind of interesting story that I feel like maybe you're looking for is um it was in the beginning when um it was like take your kids to work day. Okay. One of those. Yeah. So they were, oh God, probably like seven and ten, I'd say at that point. And um are actually maybe a little bit younger than that. Okay. So they come with me to the city, we go to our office, it was at 22nd and walnut, you know, at that point. Um, and you know, they're coloring and drawing and all this cute stuff, and they're like, it's so nice in here, and you know, all that cutesy.

And again, like I'm in the beginning, so I'm like trying to find business and you're like, I still don't know what the hell I'm doing, but keep coloring.

And when the phone rings, like answer it, you gotta make it happen. You know, like you're I'm like in that mindset still.

Yep.

So um, you know, of course I get a call that day, and it's like the person needs to see the property like that day and like, you know, at two o'clock. And I'm like, okay, and in Port Richmond, which again is a lot different now than it was even 10 years ago. Okay, five years ago, ten years ago. Green of so and and I have these kids and I'm like, all right, so what am I to do here?

So I'm like gonna take them to a not so great.

Take your kids to work that you put them in the minivan and you take them down to Port Richmond and show them the house.

Here's some kilbasa. Keep quiet.

Right. So I'm like, all right, let's do this. Buckle up, we get in the car, and I'm like, it's just it's one showing, it's gonna be in and out. No problem, right?

Oh boy.

So we get to the house, and they're like, What? What are we why are we like you know, then the questions and I'm like, should I left them in the car? Like all the things, like what? And I literally open the door, and this guy's like, uh, I'm in here. Um, I'm work, I'm working for the owner. I it was the squatter. And the kids are like, what's happening? Everyone's crying, and I'm like, oh my god, this is horrible. So I just like lock the door and I like run out of the car and I'm like, we're not gonna talk about this, okay?

You didn't see anything.

Don't tell your friends it's school. We weren't here for how does a happy meal sound, kids?

Good?

You guys like move cheeks?

Yay.

So yeah, that was that was That's a little weird.

Weird one squatter. And that's you know, and that that's like not something that a lot of people talk about in our industry, are like, especially when you work in a big city like Philadelphia, and maybe you're going into areas that need some improvement, let's say, where maybe there's some boarded up properties, there's garbage on the street, it's just like it hasn't seen reinvestment for a while. And you got to go through these houses and you'll meet some interesting people.

Yeah.

And and I have many of those stories. Uh, but all right, so here's another one. Uh, biggest struggle you put riding the ups and downs of the market all while staying relevant.

Right.

Let's dive into that one a little bit because again, ups and downs I think most people could relate to. What is it about like relevance like that that kind of popped into your head?

Um I think mostly like just like every other business, I'm sure, like how you're relevant changes, right? So before it could be you work open houses in your neighborhood that you know and you meet cool people and you're relevant, right? You live here, you know. And now that has really shifted, like as time goes by, you know, to the online presence to your Instagram. Right. Do you, you know, do you want to be viral or not? Do you want to invest all your time and energy in that, you know? So like, and you know, I've some interesting people I work with that like literally that is their business, right?

They that's their business model. They're investing time in social media and getting business done.

And they've figured it out. Yep. So, you know, it's that like, how do I stay true to me and how I work and what works for me and why I like this, right? And also how do I stay relevant enough to some capacity to have enough business, right? Without like doing things that I don't like or becoming, you know, who I don't want to be, or you know, like having a business that I don't want. Yeah. So that's like the relevance piece for me.

What I'm like getting a sense of like through this conversation is you don't you don't necessarily like buy into things right away. Like you don't doesn't sound like you get shiny object syndrome very often, or if you do, you kind of check yourself and you're like, I don't know if I see myself doing that. Like, all right, so what are some things that you do with either people you know, past clients, you know, code leads, like whoever you get in front of to stay relevant. Like, what are some of the things that you do to keep your business going? You've been doing this 12 years.

Sure. So I think it's twofold. One is um past clients, right? It's still being that person, you know, maybe in the transaction, you're the person that has the inspector that has the mortgage person title. Post closing, it's you know, if you have you need an electrician, you need a plumber, you um like so that piece also um like just treating this as you know a financial as much as it is your home, it's also you've invested. Invest in yourself. Right. So it's regular check in check-ins like on equity and like just where you're at with your life and like what are your plans? Like treating this each purchase as the whole picture. Like I'm your realtor, I'm your AI, I'm your Google. Right. And, you know, hopefully we are partners in this from this house till the last house and everything in between. So it's that yearly check-in. It's that, you know, staying connected to people socially, right? So great, we're doing all this real estate together, but also like we're friends, right? So keeping that relationship.

Coffees, lunches, dinners, that kind of just staying in front of people, like letting them know you care. Like so for the annual check-in, let's say, let's use that as an example. Are you reaching out through phone, email? Are you saying, like, let's meet for lunch and go over?

Like always text.

Okay.

At this point, right? At no, it's good.

This was phone calls. Yeah, we want to get into like what works for you.

Yeah. I feel like emails are like gap coupons, right? They're because I know I get Wait a minute.

Everybody likes a gap coupon. I get 10% off. I'm going.

But you don't need it, right? You go on you go on the gap website and then you just add it there. Like, what do you need? That do you um do you still use the coupons on the email?

As you can tell, Mooney bought his entire outlet. I thought Brew Gap was like the gap outlet. A thing for me.

That looks like old Navy.

Right, right. It does.

That's fun.

Yeah.

That's the fun side of gap.

Nice. So you're texting people, and then are you going to their house? Are you getting together like a location in between? Like what do you do?

So it I really love when people invite me to their house, like after we've closed to show me what they've done. That's always awesome and fun. Um, then there's like let's grab, you know, coffee, a drink, dinner at like your local spot, right? Let's do a business boom with let's get to know your area.

That's awesome.

I have other clients who moved also locally.

Yeah.

Can we all meet? Are you interested in making new friends? You know, so like trying to be a connector as well. Yeah.

Huge.

Yeah. Like, because you know, plenty of people move in the places where they don't know people, they don't know really all the spots around them. So, and and I feel like that, you know, it it keeps you connected to them, but also like there's value. You're adding value. It's not like just the you know, the business end of things, right? You're like part of their life, you're enriching their life.

So good. And you become the resource to enrich them.

Right.

It's it's interesting your uh view on from the early on in the interview, in terms of what you said about you know, no one being the exceptional client, or there's no, you know, one that's you know stands out. And your um desire to really take that transaction and take it so much further than maybe some other people in your industry.

Like clients for life philosophy. It's like I took care of you, I'm still here, I want you to know I'm still here, and what else can I do? Can I make your lifestyle better? Can I make your help you make your home better with a good contact? Can I like give advice on like, yeah, don't don't do a red kitchen because when you go to sell it, you know, 90% of people aren't gonna want that. Right. So yeah, I think that's so.

What's your approach too? It's your approach that you're not looking to sell them a house. You're you know, the the vested interest you're trying to take is to make sure that they land in a great spot and they take advantage of all these things that the neighborhood can offer. Like to me, it's just so much more you from where you're coming at it, like your uh approach uh is just so much more than just okay, here's your key, see ya, bye. Right. Has it has always been like that, or is that something you developed over time?

I think to some capacity, it has been like that. Like it was always kind of the direction like that it was going um for me in this business, and it just exponent exponentially got more like that because honestly, it's a little bit selfish because this is for me what keeps this interesting and keeps me able to work, you know, 60 hours a week.

Right. Yeah.

It's liking my people and caring about what they do and feeling like a reciprocal relationship in that capacity.

Yeah. So good. And we try to do it, it's a very hard thing to do, is this that value add, like what more can I do? You know, without trying to feel like you're right trying, right? Like you almost, it seems like the way you describe it, it's almost like second nature.

Yeah.

Because you care about the people, you care about their trans, you know, their home, they care about them being welcomed, you know, feeling right um in the near. And we try to do it with insurance to a certain extent, is like we have so many conversations where they say, Oh, you know, I haven't talked to my I don't, you know, I I tried calling them uh, you know, because I had some questions about the policy, or I had I, you know, we had this claim, but they didn't really give me any information. You know, we always try to go a little bit further um when dealing with our clients, which has been our approach, which, you know, for us it's I've always been that way um because I want to be the solution to their problem, and that's when we get calls, is like, you know, we're having this problem.

Yeah, I'm sure in that business. Yeah.

So um similarly, it's like we try to go a little bit further than what most people out there are offering.

You know, this came up on a recent episode. It's it's really like it's the hunter versus the farmer mindset. Right, right. So the hunter, if they do a transaction with someone and it doesn't go well, they'll get another one tomorrow. And even if that one doesn't go well, they'll get one the next day. The farmer thinks differently. Farmer treats every person they meet with with like kid gloves. Like I want you to feel really good, not only about me and me being your guide through this process, but I want you to feel really good about what it's like to buy a home, to sell a home, to rent a home if you're gonna hold on to it, to like invest in a property, to like flip it or buy a rental property. And you got to be good with me and my knowledge and and how I look at that at things in order for this to go well. So that's like, I feel like when you're more the farmer, you think like that the first minute you meet them. But the beautiful part about being a farmer is that thought never leaves your mind. Like 20 years into the future, you're still thinking, how do I make your real estate uh investments, your real estate quality of life, whatever it is, better? And if you can do that, they're just gonna tell, they're gonna be your biggest cheerleader. They're gonna tell everyone that they're like morons for not working with JD. Like if you don't talk to her, you're like personally insulting me because I love her. Like it's really that mindset. Whereas like the hunter, and there's nothing wrong with like the hunting philosophy, but they don't think like that. There, it's more like, all right, it's deals, and then once I finish this, there's more deals. And if it goes well, I'll get a referral from the deals where it goes well. And if it doesn't go well, I'll hop on the next deal. And you can make a ton of money being a hunter, and you can be in real estate for 50, 60 years and be one of the top producers in in the country, in the world. Yeah, it's just a different mindset. And I think you having that mindset is is good because a lot of what we share on the show is like Sean and I have a similar mindset and he's in in a different industry entirely, and we talk about this all the time. Um, which also brings me to your quote, which was fantastic. You had said, believe you can and you're halfway there by Theodore Roosevelt. Why that quote?

Um because it it's true, you know, like that that is one thing I have learned through this job for sure, is that that is most of the battle, right? Like why do you belong in a certain room versus the next person? It's because you feel like you belong there, right? The rest you can figure out. But yeah, that's that's really been you know a part of like kind of who I am and how I work for sure.

It is true, like mindset. If if if you believe it, you know, it it removes so much of the hurdle of getting to where you want to go.

Yeah.

And and a lot of times, I mean, think about the scenarios in life where it's fake belief. Like, if you can kind of just trick yourself into it, yeah. To think, like, oh, you know, I I can do this. You know, maybe you can, maybe you can't, but like if you're do have that belief and you can at least commit to it, chances are you're probably gonna accomplish whatever you set out to do.

Yeah. Like even this, I'm like, what would they want to talk to me about? No, this is a fancy podcast.

I love that.

It's never gonna leave my mind. Well, you're fancy. A real estate pro and you're a D1 athlete, and like that's what this show is designed.

And you bought your first real estate and you were 23. Most people can't say that. And and I think that probably did have a lot to do with your trajectory of like belief in yourself and and working for yourself. Um, this has been an awesome conversation. So before we shut this one down, why don't you let our bricks and riskers know where they can learn more about you and everything you got going on?

Okay. So I would say probably my Instagram is the best place to uh start. Okay. And what is it? Real estate by JD. What is it, Tim?

I think it is, yeah, like real estate by JD. Maybe a dash in there. Noah. Maybe, maybe can you maybe there's a call?

Jackie's Instagram and tell us.

Underscore JD?

I think.

Oh my god, is it terrible?

No, terrible. Actually, we'll have it like scroll.

I'm analog, okay? I want in real life experiences. Real estate by JD, but and there's an underscore in there somewhere. I think it's at the by JD. They can find you. Yeah. Nice. Anyone else to go with my name? Your name. Awesome. DJ J D. No. You're right, right.

Awesome. Cool.

Bringing it back. Vinyl. Right? We should have had you intro this video. We should have.

Oh my god. Do you want me to? Yeah.

I could go to your house. Maybe there's a little bit of a little bit more. Do a little taping.

I don't know.

Awesome. Well, that's all we have for this one, folks. Thank you for tuning in again to another episode of Bricks and Risk. See you next week. Thank you for joining us on another episode of Bricks and Risk. Our goal is that you walk away with one or two valuable nuggets, and we greatly appreciate you sharing your time with us today. You can find all BR episodes on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and anywhere else to get your podcast content. Until next time, keep learning and keep growing.