Louise Phillips Forbes describes her transition from dancer in Broadway to an industry leader in real estate. Louise talks about what is she and her team doing now at a down market. Louise also discusses the importance of building relationships with other realtors. Louise also talks about how her very authentic style/look impacted her business. Next, Louise discusses the importance of participating in associations and giving back to the community. Last, Louise discusses teams in real estate business.
Please follow Louise on Instagram here and also her team here.
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Louise Phillips Forbes can be reached at 917.846.8640 and lphillips@bhsusa.com.
This episode is brought to you by Real Geeks.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
Today we’re gonna talk to an agent who had no business background before becoming a real estate agent, and his todate closed over 5.5 billion in real estate by embracing her authentic self. You’re gonna want to check this one out. So stay tuned. This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by real geeks. How many homes are you going to sell this year? Do you have the right tools? Is your website turning soft leads and interested buyers? Are you spending money on leads that aren’t converting? Well real geeks is your solution. Find out why agents across the country choose real geeks as their technology partner. Real geeks was created by an agent for agents. They pride themselves on delivering a sales and marketing solution so that you can easily generate more business. Their agent websites are fast and built for lead conversion with a smooth search experience for your visitors. Real geeks also includes an easy to use agent CRM. So once a lead signs up on your website, you can track their interest and have great follow up conversations. Real geeks is loaded with a ton of marketing tools to nurture your leads and increase brand awareness visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and find out why Realtors come to real geeks to generate more business again, visit real geeks.com forward slash keeping it real pod and now on to our show
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents. And for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, I am your guide and host to the show and in just a moment, we’re going to be speaking with superstar and I really mean superstar Louise Phillips Forbes from New York. And before we get to Louise in really You guys can’t get we can’t get to her fast enough. But before we do, please do me a favor to things leave us a review whatever app you’re listening to us on. Let us know what you think of the show. We really do take those comments to heart and it helps us get in front of more people and also tell a friend I think one other realtor that needs to hear what Louise is about to tell you and trust me you’re gonna want to share it after you hear this but let’s get to the main event. my conversation with Louise Phillips Forbes.
Today our guest on the show is a New York City legend Louise Phillips Forbes with a Louise Phillips sports team with Brown Harris Stevens in New York City. Let me tell you more about Louise. For over three decades Louise Phillips Forbes has been an industry leader in New York’s residential real estate market with their career sales exceeding dramatic pause 5.5 billion end up dramatic boss she is considered one of the elite power brokers in Manhattan she really is a true superstar Louise has been named residential agent of the Year by REBNY, which is the Real Estate Board of New York for her consistent achievements and leadership within the industry. She’s a multi time winner of homesteads real estate, which is now brown hair Stevens esteemed broker of the Year award. Louise has also been acknowledged many times as the number one listing broker company wide and currently lists one of the firm’s top sales sorry currently leads one of the top firms top sales teams, she has developed a significant following among developers buyers and sellers throughout Manhattan from the Upper West Side and upper east side to the West Village Tribeca Wall Street really everywhere Manhattan and and the boroughs are Louise probably serves prominent New Yorkers, please follow her on Instagram, which is Louise Phillips Forbes team. I will have a link to that in the show notes and also visit our website which is Louise Phillips forbes.com. And we will also have a link to that as well. Louise, so happy to have you. Thank
Louise Phillips Forbes 4:06
you. I’m just gonna add to that lovely intro. That there’s also Weezy underscores says and that’s W E z e underscore F E z if you really want to get a little essence of Weezy
D.J. Paris 4:23
should I call you Weezy as opposed to one
Louise Phillips Forbes 4:25
I met my husband on a blind date and I was like oh, all my friends call me my husband’s very elegant and he certainly elevates me. And I was like oh my friends call me Wheezy and he was like turning the menu going. I will never call you with a
D.J. Paris 4:42
fan of the Jeffersons or
Louise Phillips Forbes 4:44
I don’t know but you know I’m from Nashville, Tennessee, and that’s just what everybody called me growing up. So I
D.J. Paris 4:51
love that you still have a little tiny bit of that Nashville accent which I just think is one of the best accents in our country. I love that Nashville accent Well,
Louise Phillips Forbes 5:01
you know, when I when I’m negotiating particularly, it’s something that I don’t intentionally do it. But when I’m a little nervous, I go home, you know, we go home, my home and my accent and so, yes, wait till I spend about 10 days in Nashville. And then I’m like, y’all, it’s waiting for y’all do it.
D.J. Paris 5:23
Oh, I love Nashville. So my everybody loves Nashville. It’s pretty much a universally beloved city. It’s like Charleston is kind of that way, Austin, there’s a few cities that you’d never you’d be hard pressed to find somebody that goes, Oh, Nashville, yuck. Like everybody loves it. But anyway, let’s get to to your origin story. Like our audience always loves to hear I know you’ve been been in this business for 30 plus years. But why did you get started? And how’d you get started in real estate?
Louise Phillips Forbes 5:53
Well, I always say that I kind of fell off the boat from Nashville to New York City, I came here, really seeking the Broadway lights, I was a dancer. And, you know, I still I miss it. I did some off Broadway things. But you know, really, with everybody who is in real estate, we all have multiple chapters in our life, I would say the new generation is being educated to be in real estate. But my journey was through the back door, which was through through coming here and ended up in New York. And literally, I was bartending and somebody was like, you’d be so great in real estate. And I went, I took the card, I met her friend, and he was like, You got a job. And I called my brother, I was like, I got a job, I got a job. And he’s like, you know, that’s commission only. Oh, no. And for all the new brokers out there, I just want to say keep coming back, because I literally made $8,400, my first year. And I lived on 30 bucks a week, I came to New York with a ton of bucks in my pocket. And, you know, almost $6 billion later, you know, I have I am. So in the right place, I have a degree in special education and elementary education. And I had a scholarship to dance and dance to dance companies, and how real estate, build all those holes, I have no idea. But it’s not the business of brick and mortar. It’s really the business of people. And that is what blows my skirt out. You know?
D.J. Paris 7:39
You know, that is, by the way, just the blows my skirt up expression is adorable. I love I love that. I love that. But But you’re right. And it is it is a relationship, of course business. It’s an interpersonal business, and you know, brick and mortar. Even real estate offices aren’t that packed anymore, unless there’s teams that are working in need to sort of have that space. So many people are, you know, moving away from from the brick and mortar offices, although I still there’s obviously still tremendous value in that. But I would love to learn a little bit about, you know, you’ve been here, you’ve been around 34 years, I want to dive into sort of just a more challenging topic, because of where we currently are. And it’s something that everybody’s probably experiencing some version of, which is it’s a down market, it just is we it’s where we are. And the interest rates are up, of course, inventory is down again, I know Manhattan is kind of its own echo system there that maybe sometimes a little bit outside of what the rest of the country is, is experiencing. But, you know, I would always love to hear from huge producers like you and your team. How are you keeping everyone motivated work moving forward? What is your team focused on right now? Because of course, you’re still working?
Louise Phillips Forbes 8:58
Right? Of course. I mean, listen, I I didn’t have a Rolodex for all the young listeners, that was a thing that we held all of our contacts in. Now we have our phones, but but I had no context. All my friends were like starving artist. And, um, and you know, I would just say that I was not comfortable with the Commission model because that meant that I needed to, I had to find I had to be worthy. I needed to earn my keep. And and something clicked in me which is a philosophy in down markets and up markets. It doesn’t matter. That I realized that if I looked at myself, not as a salesperson, but an educator. I felt much more comfortable and if I operate it from being of service at all times, what goes around comes around. So these are those markets that operating by Mike by being of service to my competitor, and sharing my knowledge and collaborating and doing more than I need to do comes back 18 fold. So, that is one of the greatest wisdoms that I’ve learned through trial and error, honestly. And there’ll be people that will, you give them an inch, and they take a mile. And then when you really need them, they’re not there. But for the most part, for the most part, it is, it is appreciated. And honestly, it’s what buyers and sellers come and go, but we have each other for decades, and the richness that that gives you in wise wisdom and experience, and I love it when I’m going to lose a piece of business. Hopefully, I’m losing to somebody I respect.
D.J. Paris 10:58
Yeah. And and, you know, there’s enough business to sort of go around, right, and you don’t win every deal. Of course, as you have been in this business long time you win a lot of them, obviously. But it is it is always I always say it’s always a good idea to play nice in the sandbox, especially because it is at least for now. It’s called a cooperative commission. We’re supposed to be cooperative. Yes. Yeah. How important? How important is the relationships you’ve built with other realtors over your career?
Louise Phillips Forbes 11:25
Massive, massive? I mean, every time I do you know, so you’re talking about like, you’re asking me, it’s a difficult market. So what’s my advice? What are we doing? You know, we are out there every day. I, I am very data driven. I always say I’m not the smartest pencil in the in the bucket. But But I but I get so much accolades for effort, energy consistency, I never I never give up. And and I think these are the markets where your knowledge and data like who can figure out what anything is worth since COVID. Right? Because it’s so there’s no cycle, right? And so I, every time I get a pitch, which we probably average five to seven a week, if not more. I talked to 50. I’m not saying for 50. Brokers just for that analysis, what’s happening? Do you have any offers heavy, you know, when you drop the price, did it make a difference, then I’m not only giving my owners a bunch of numbers, I’m telling the story to the texture, the broker wanted to list this at $2 million, but the owner asked to put it on for three weeks at two and a half. Well, eight weeks later, they just dropped it to 199. And the market is different today. So So that’s telling the story. So I don’t have to pressure anybody, we’re partnering together. It’s like, Hey, I can’t make up the market. So that kind of collaboration is how I approach everything, whether it’s a buyer, a broker, I’m interviewing to an agent to come and work on our team, like, Who are you, and you demonstrate that by the data points that you share them?
D.J. Paris 13:19
Yeah, so it’s important to know the market and to study the market on a daily basis, which I suspect, most agents probably could upgrade their amount of time they spend learning, learning the market and on a daily basis. And in addition to the prospecting and working with their existing clients, and all of the things you need to do to keep the business running is this idea of and collaboration, learning from other agents is so important. And I wanted to go back to something you had said about educating because you are an educator, that was your, that was your training. That and and in in special needs, which of course is requires an even really a more sophisticated skill set to be able to address the needs of of people with developmental disabilities and those types of challenges. And it probably I would assume your level of patience that you have, in communicating with with clients and really educating them is probably served you extraordinarily well. Because again, as Realtors we oftentimes can forget how challenging, you know, emotionally a purchase or sale can be for the client, it’s easy for us to sort of say oh, it’s all going to work out, but it may not feel that way to the client in real time.
Louise Phillips Forbes 14:32
salutely Absolutely. And I would also say that I learned a long time ago for myself, because I used to be on the same roller coaster as is them when we didn’t get the deals. I was so disappointed. I also felt it was somehow another my fault. And and you know what I have come to look at everything and this is part of me having an executive coach and me learning so that you know, like, sometimes your skill is not necessarily the most important thing, if your will is there. And, and it’s also how you perceive it like, listen, have faith in the process, that was not the right house for us. And we have to, we have to say, what can we have learned from that? What would I have done differently? Should we have given that extra 20 grand that we really wanted to wait? Maybe we could have gotten their attention. But But I also don’t dwell on it. Because usually, we learn a lot about ourselves. And most of all, they learn about themselves in their partnerships, their relationships have of who’s going to really make the final decisions, and when do you let go of the numbers and you focus on the heart of it. Because that, to me, is why I really am so fulfilled, because what I do is not a transaction. It’s it’s, you know, it’s purposeful, it’s it’s making, it’s, you know, I built the rest of my life around my home. To be a part of that is such a privilege. Yeah,
D.J. Paris 16:10
it really is, there’s, I think we couldn’t ever over focus on the interpersonal importance of, you know, being in this business, you’re legitimately, you know, working with somebody who maybe it’s their largest financial purchase of their life, or certainly one of the larger financial purchases in really, probably anyone’s life. But it’s more than that. It’s that emotional connection we all have to our to our abode to our residents, we we feel a certain way about it, it’s important, it defines us in a lot of ways. And you I also want to talk about aesthetics, just just briefly, because I think we never talked about this on the show. And of course, aesthetics are just one little minor portion of anyone’s business. But I love the fact that you have a look, you have a style very much unto you, that is very much you. And it’s very cool. And you are a creative person, you are a dancer, you know, so you have this really cool way of expressing yourself physically. So I would just love to hear a little bit about how you’re able to do that in real estate. I love that. I
Louise Phillips Forbes 17:15
love that. Well, you know, talking about my look, I always when I teach real estate classes or whatever I’m working on in collaboration with with some of the real estate board or our courses for continuing education. I literally tell the story about when I showed up. My first day in real estate. Okay, just everybody close your eyes, I usually say Okay, good buddy. 400 kids in the audience, and I’m like, close your eyes. All right. Imagine a unity car with a prairie skirt, green cowboy boots with a hole in my left one. And shoulder pads. I just I just want you to have the visual. And honestly, I had never been in an office. I was a dancer. I have a degree in special education. I didn’t. I didn’t even I did Tony Roberts, creative visual Robins. I listened. I listened to his I learned how to creatively visualize who I wanted to be. Yeah, I was in my 20s. And I’m just wasn’t, I was pretty cash. I mean, as you see, I haven’t changed that much. But I do have a look. Because, you know, I remember when my sister I’d go home and my sister was a school teacher, and she married her college sweetheart. And she’s amazing, but we’re like, getting in gang. And, and she would like Let’s go shopping. And I would end up with all these outfits that my sister would wear. And I was like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing? So I would say just embrace who you are today and who you become every day. You know? Because I don’t know. I mean, I’m a lot for a lot of people. So I mean, yes, sometimes I’ve left and the wives would say like, you know, I’m gonna go next time, my husband, you’re you’re really high energy for my husband.
D.J. Paris 19:17
But I think I think what comes across for you in your sort of your energy in your presence is two things that come to mind. For me authenticity is absolutely first and foremost, I believe you. And I believe that you are the person you’re portraying, which is really a skill in and of itself, because a lot of us have fear around being, you know, uniquely ourselves and maybe how that may be perceived. And also so there’s that authenticity, authentic part, but also I think there’s this sort of passion that sort of also radiates from you that is very clear that you are doing what you want to do. in your business, it is there doesn’t seem to be hesitation or you I mean, you’ve been doing for 34 years. But it is like you are you are, it seems you are as into it today, as I suspect if I would have interviewed you 33 years ago, I bet it would be about the same level of passion and excitement.
Louise Phillips Forbes 20:16
Yes, other than I would be a little more timid, because I will never forget the first coop deal that I did with the attorney who I’m still working with today. And she it was a $63,000 walk up, apartment. Yes, they did exist at that point. And she’s like, so how’s the board package coming in? I’m like, what? She’s like, well, this is a call off. And I’m like, wait a minute, what does that mean? So I just want you to know that it’s okay to not know everything. I mean, you might want to know a little more than that. But, but, you know, I learned a long time ago, I’m terribly dyslexic, and I only make dyslexic children. And, you know, owning those imperfections in ourselves, actually, for me, turned out to be my secret weapon. My spatial memory is like rain, man. So I think that sometimes, I have heard kids say to my own kids, wow, I would never tell anybody. I’m dyslexic. And my son is like nine years old at the time was like, just means I learned differently. It’s no big deal. But that vulnerability is inviting. Yes. It’s like, I’m going to trust you with a little bit about me. Yes.
D.J. Paris 21:32
And I’m trusting you with information that you can use to harm me, meaning you can reject me, you can make fun of me, you could and most people won’t do that. So it’s this fear we have of like, If I reveal this about me, maybe I’ll get punished for it. However, most people aren’t like that. Yes, once in a while somebody will, you know, especially kids in a playground, maybe in grade school, they’ll make fun of, but, but adults aren’t really so much that way. And I think I think the courage to be vulnerable, is is both one of the hardest things to do. It’s also one of the most rewarding because what you find what I found in my life is that people don’t run away generally. And
Louise Phillips Forbes 22:12
I think, you know, listen, I have had, you know, my, I’m not sure my passion came came from being just so incredibly grateful. I mean, I lost my mom when I was 23. And my brother died in my arms when I was 30. I had a boyfriend who passed away when I was 38. And my dad passed away 10 days after I met my husband on a blind date. And, and I literally think that my mother sent me my angel and brought me from, you know, took hers back. But but when you go through those kinds of obstacles in your life, you just can’t sweat the small shit. And believe me, I still do a maybe you can believe that. Sorry. That’s okay. But I still do but that but but but when you have loss, and when when you have the privilege to be focused around people’s homes, because what is home thing for you, it’s family. I left my family, right, I lost a lot of my family. And so my clients, I have seven, eight, God children, you know, they can’t I mean, I met my husband on blind date from a client. So I created a new family that happened to be part of what I do in business.
D.J. Paris 23:29
I am so I am so touched by that. And you know, you did just list a lot of challenges that you have gone through, because of course, you’re human and people leave us they you know, it’s just part of the deal.
Louise Phillips Forbes 23:45
I was gonna say it also armed me to deal with this dates, and loss, and family. And when I have I hear from my clients that they have an autistic child, well, I am the first person to connect the dots. Let me let you talk to my friend who has three boys and her son is three and he’s autistic. And she’s got so it’s like, sometimes it’s too much for people. But again, I just want to be of service whether or not exactly
D.J. Paris 24:14
and you know, also going through tremendous heartache and pain builds resiliency, and that allows you to realize, wow, I can get through difficult times I can I can survive them. And I can emerge a stronger person because now I know how to handle some of the really, really tough, you know, valleys of life as they say. I would you know, you are very immersed in in giving back specifically, I know that you do a lot with the local association, and maybe even statewide and national but certainly I know you have contributed a lot Can we just tell all of our audience because I I do a lot of volunteering at the at the local level. Here with our association. We tell everybody they should Get involved with their local association. Yes,
Louise Phillips Forbes 25:02
yes. And, you know, it is through giving. I mean, a sounds like, I feel like I’m a minister for a minute, but in through giving, we receive so much. And, you know, I think that, that I’m always an all when somebody who always is like, well, you’re so busy, it’s like, but if I’m too busy to make a difference than I am missing my purpose. So I will say that, again, if I am too busy, to try to make a difference to pause to be present for somebody’s need, then I am missing my purpose. And that’s really, if you live like that, that that, you know, it does pull you thin, because I don’t have probably enough boundaries. But I, I think that’s the way to live, if I go to bed, and I still haven’t done enough, and maybe I’m gonna wake up tomorrow, again, with the purpose to do more.
D.J. Paris 26:06
You’re right, and I feel the same way. So I’m probably stretched too thin myself, however, I can always pull back on certain obligations. But what I have gained by getting involved with our local association here is I’ve gained a social life, way more than I had before. I have all sorts of events to go to. But more importantly, I have all of these like minded other real estate professionals, who are committed to helping and being of service. And boy, is that a great energy to be around. And whether it be up totally
Louise Phillips Forbes 26:38
whether you’re doing you know, I mean, we are in every kind of nonprofit world, the people in our world of real estate, because they’re, you know, they’re not just a handful of us, they’re millions of us. But you know, nothing is better than when you’re doing dealing with something that’s for Housing Works, or for ALS. I mean, I have I’ve been to a number of the my, my dear friend was honored and also client honored for the American Society for cancer for breast cancer, and she was a survivor of breast cancer. And that’s just been the last three weeks. But it is really like, if we can find what fills our soul. And it’s not about ourselves. It’s also where you know, your, your sphere of influence becomes where you can be a part of the fabric of a community.
D.J. Paris 27:36
Yes, and you know, I always say to, you know, life has so many challenges, and so much pain is going to come into all of our lives. It’s just part of the human experience. So if you can build in sort of guaranteed wins throughout your life, they help sort of offset some of the challenging times. And being of service for me has been one of those things that it just feels too good to give up. It’s almost I almost feel a bit selfish when I do it, because I’m really sort of doing it for me, because I want to I want to feel good, but I’m also hopefully doing some good out there in the in the community. But, but I do it for me. Sort of Yeah, for sure. Because I know I’m going to feel proud of myself this
Louise Phillips Forbes 28:19
this morning. And literally I just said to my my husband because my kids one my son is in college and the other one is in boarding school and I was like for Thanksgiving, why don’t we go to the Bowery and let’s serve. And then let’s go look at the parade. Like you know, like, and, and I, I listened to a guy who was a doorman, who goes every Wednesday, every week to serve breakfast a meal at the Bowery. And he’s like, my whole week is like set. You know what I mean? Like it sets appreciation, gratitude, that you know, being thankful. And he said he just gets to work as a doorman and he’s like, there’s nothing that’s gonna shake me because life is great. I have my health and I have a roof and so you know, I’m not everybody’s journey to finding what what blows his skirt up is going to be different but but but make the time to do it because it’s it’s really in giving. You know, my mom used to say you have to give it away to keep it and I would be like, but wait Ma, if you give it away, you don’t have it. Right. So you know that one by one.
D.J. Paris 29:37
And what you said earlier, it once you give it away it comes back and you said 18 fold, which again, I’m sure it’s just a number that you’re using. But it’s but it’s it’s it’s not so much whether that’s accurate or not, but it’s accurate enough to be able to say it comes back in multiples and that is something that I have found absolutely true. There’s almost a little magical element to it that I can’t quite put my finger on why it comes back? You know, but it does, it seems. Yeah.
Louise Phillips Forbes 30:04
Yeah. And if it doesn’t, it’s that that’s like that that story, pay it forward, it doesn’t doesn’t matter if it’s not that person. It’s the seed that’s planted. You know. Um, so that’s the way I feel about sharing about my dyslexia, about having lost, it’s like, I might make somebody uncomfortable, but I might make somebody go, Oh, I’m not alone. Yes, you know, um, I wanted to say also that kind of, in bringing back to what we do, and when you have this philosophy of being of service, and, and being generous with your knowledge, you know, hey, you know, having people that I probably just said this last night, I was talking to somebody about meeting them for coffee, because they’re, they want to do something different. And I was an asset, I think that I probably brought, like, 80 people into real estate by this point, you know, where people are like, Well, I was a sales manager, I was an architect, I was an investment banker, I could do this, you know, or I was an actress or whatever. And, and I will say that the time that I had that cup of coffee, I promise you, when you get you see, you know, when you see somebody who’s going to be great at real estate. And, and when you get that time, and you give that time, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on the other side of the negotiating table. And they’re five bids, and they’re like, Wait, please, listen, here’s the deal, you need to come up, I would love to see if I can’t tell you what the other bids are. But you know, you really get you extended yourself to me. So I want to make sure I do my best for you. Because I know they’re your personal friends. Right? That’s, that’s all about relationship.
D.J. Paris 31:58
I mean, what that is worth is almost it’s almost not countable. Because it’s so it’s, it’s worth so much to build those relationships, and then those relationships will possibly help. And that is I wasn’t expecting
Louise Phillips Forbes 32:11
that just to be clear. But again, it’s just a seed that was planted. And I’m saying that for people, when you know, even when I know, I can’t make an appointment, like, I know, I can’t do it, because my owner is definitely not gonna let me in. I sometimes pick up the phone, and I will say, I’ve just done my best I cannot even negotiate this. But let me tell you what I can do for you. Because and brokers are like always, like, you didn’t need to call me for that lease. But to me, doesn’t that make you feel important? Yes. Because I do care. And sometimes I can’t do anything about it. And that seven tene second phone call is like 27 chips. Again, not why I did it. But but that’s how I know how I feel when somebody makes that effort.
D.J. Paris 33:05
Yeah, it’s it’s important to be heard, to feel heard, to allow others to be to be feel heard as well. And that is something that that is so so critical. I want to switch gears to talk just a little bit about teams because you run an incredibly successful team. And right now we have seen over the last, well, gosh, you’ve you’ve been at this much longer than I but certainly a flight to teams or a trend towards team building. In the last I would say five years or so certainly in the last
Louise Phillips Forbes 33:37
I would say 15 years. But yes, there are some I mean, in New York, we have some teams that have, you know, 1230 I mean, you know, the sort of I mean, Serhan has his own business now. You know, so listen, I I built my team, not purposely because honestly, I don’t think of myself as a business person. However I am, which I’ve come to learn. But it really came out of being of service and I can’t be everywhere and I don’t like it when somebody says you know, she’s my boss. I mean, I can’t stand that it’s like minute and a we are a machine and I’m a spoke and you’re a spoke, and we all need each other. But I think that the most important thing and I said it earlier you know, I spent many many years not wanting brokers or agents who were in the business to come on my team. Number one, I’m dyslexic, I have to do things a certain way. I rarely write my emails because I will be here for 973 minutes just to get three paragraphs. Um, and I say that jokingly but it’s kind of an accurate. And, and so I need a lot of support. And and I don’t want very established agents habits. Because the philosophy of being of service, the philosophy of going above and beyond the philosophy of, you know, well, can I just send it like this? And we’ll just add that other stuff later? No, we have to provide excellence and value every turn, because that is demonstrating why they should choose to operate with us. It shouldn’t even be a question, if we so so. So that’s sort of one thing, I would say. And I think there’s a natural mentoring, although people tell me I’m very intimidating, which I find very funny, because if you really knew me, it’s like, I’m just a little kid. But I guess I guess it’s really I built my team, purposefully today around the support that I need, but also looking for the right chemistry, because we all have to have the same philosophy. I’ve always, you know, I don’t like to have one person work on this and one person work on that. I don’t even want to have the energy to try to figure out who should be what I do match personalities. I don’t match the financial or the specialty. I match personalities, because I do know, my clients.
D.J. Paris 36:39
You use a personality test to do that as well, correct?
Louise Phillips Forbes 36:43
I do. I mean, my husband is wicked smart. And people are always like, you know, you and your husband worked as like, oh my god, we he would just, I would drive him crazy. Because he is I always describe us as like, I’m the kite and he’s my streak. So, so, but he is very smart. And he is a tech entrepreneur, and has built and sold a number of companies. And at some point, you know, he started trying to figure out how to hire the right people in his own businesses. And, you know, he, he, for the heck of it, he gave me this personality index. And it was created by the guy that was selecting the bomb, the person who dropped the bomb, so it’s a pilot, and the copilot. And so that’s how it was created in the 40s. But it’s morphed into this tool of determining personalities and what people are good for? Well, you know, it’s a, b, c, d, personality traits. Well, I am so off of what’s important on relationships, that’s the B, it doesn’t even mark and not only that, my husband jokes, he’s like, You care more about the relationships that that are not nice and don’t like you, and you want to figure out why than the ones that are just right in front of you sometimes. You know, I just want to try to figure out what makes those people tick. Sure. Um, and so what I did come to realize that I had at one point in marketing guy who was also a real estate broker who came back came in from the advertising world. And he was desperately trying to be a broker. And he presented well, and he was amazing. But when he did the personality index, he was literally turning himself inside out. He was not at all being who his natural self was. And so, you know, I know. I mean, now I have enough of the right people in the right seats, that we literally can finish each other sentences. And, and by the way, when I piss somebody off, which I do, because I’m a lot, you know, the intent is, you know, my intent. It’s not that it’s just not having time. And so the trust that’s built with those moments, and lots of them, you have built your own dynamic of a family. I also, I want to say one more thing about compensation because I remember watching older agents have assistants, and they kind of barked at, like, get me copy and make copies and that’s a typo. do that over again. It’s like it was not collaborative. And I really wanted to have something that was people I couldn’t hit, I can’t be everywhere. So I didn’t want many knees. I just wanted people that complimented my many weaknesses, but also that diversity of who’s going to be attracted to who I As we work together, and and that that is was a really good. I don’t know if it was intentional, but it just sort of happened where, where I felt I feel I filled the seats with people that complimented my weaknesses, or, you know? Yeah, I would say that. And so they don’t think like me, they, they complement our strategy.
D.J. Paris 40:30
I love that. And we should also mention, too, that if you are a realtor in the Manhattan market, and maybe you are thinking of a switch, or maybe you just want to see what other opportunities are out there to see if there is better chemistry. Maybe you’re not currently on a team and you think that could you could provide some value to the team and maybe get some value as well. Or maybe you’re somebody that’s currently on a team and it’s just maybe not the right fit. Of course, not all teams are. And so if you think that you would like to partner with Louise and her team, obviously she does not take everyone in fact, she doesn’t take hardly anyone because she wants to find the right fit. But when she does find that she she embraces them and brings them on, she has a very successful team nearly 6 billion in sales. So Louise, if any of our listeners who are realtors in your area, are interested in thinking that maybe they would be a good asset to you, what’s the best way they should reach out? You
Louise Phillips Forbes 41:28
can do you can DM me on Wheezy underscore says or you can go to the website. I don’t know if if if you’ve got a chat log in your in your podcast. But no, I mean, I think those are two great spots.
D.J. Paris 41:44
Yeah. And and also realize too, that, you know, when you’re reaching out to top producers, like like Weezy, she’s, she’s busy, she’s a very busy person. So so be be patient. A lot of people listen to our show, and a lot of people will probably be messaging her. So please be patient there. And also think about I always think if you’re going to approach a top producer, think about what you can, what problems you can help solve for them. And if you can think about what, what you can bring to the table, as opposed to just what you might get, you’ll probably get a lot further. And Louise and her team obviously are exceptional. They’re really they’re legends in the New York market. So it is a very, very big deal. And please do reach out to her if you think you could be a good fit for her. And then her and her team will we’ll take a look. But also I want everybody to follow Louise, check out her website, which is which is sorry, it is Louise
Louise Phillips Forbes 42:41
forbes.com.com. And
D.J. Paris 42:44
then Louise Phillips Forbes team is where you find her on Instagram. We will also have a link to your Wheezy one as well. We will have a link to all your social profiles, but also just wanted to ask one final question. What was the biggest mistake that you think you’ve made in your into 30? Or a mistake that you sort of wish that you could go back and correct? Because I always like to humanize our guests a little bit too. So can you think of something that you wish you would have done different in your career?
Louise Phillips Forbes 43:14
Hmm, wow, there are so many things. What would I have done differently? I mean, I you know, I don’t I don’t think there’s I am grateful that I don’t live in regret, right? Because even if I’ve made mistakes, which there are pretty much every day, the ability to clean up your mistakes and own your part in it, I think is really valuable. So you don’t live in the negative. I’m trying to think of an example that that that just stands out. I mean, I’ve I’ve
D.J. Paris 43:58
here’s what I love. Here’s me by the way, just Well, here’s what I love about why, why you’re stopped. I love this because you don’t live in regret, you keep your side of the street clean. When you make mistakes as you say you do every day, you own them, you acknowledge them, you make amends if you need to, and you move on and you don’t hold on to it. So the fact that you’re not holding on to it doesn’t mean you you don’t didn’t make mistakes you admitted as much. But that you know, you don’t you don’t have a list of these horrible atrocities that have been committed, which probably weren’t horrible anyway, but the idea of letting go and moving forward is really
Louise Phillips Forbes 44:35
I will say one thing about and I can think of one of the most difficult times in my I almost got out of real estate. So I had a team, a couple of team members that worked with me, and you know, I had a contract but I am not a business minded individual. And, you know, I just it just, I operate with such trust and You know, people I used to I remember, I had somebody who sat next to me and when I was young, younger in the late 90s, early 2000s, and she was locking up her desk with all of her files. And I thought to myself, like, how odd is that? And so I never felt like, you can’t take AI relationships. Right. But in fact, you know, I had a team members that worked for me for a decade, and just shy of a decade, and we had had such an intricate fiber of how we operated. That, you know, I knew exactly where I was, you know, if I’m, I’m selling an apartment to somebody that my kids go to preschool with. And I’m kind of clear where that that relationship came from. But I had a couple of agents that left and went to another firm, and they left very strategically on time at, you know, planning, probably three to four months in advance and targeted my business for five years still today. And I was so devastated emotionally, that I just didn’t understand that betrayal, that it took me three years to thaw out. Trust, unconditionally, however, I got my ducks in a row. So. So if you’re building a team, even if it’s your best friend, have a good contract, don’t be short sighted. And also, if you’re going to have employees, like operations, drivers, marketing people, have a third person, contractor, third party contractor, hire them, have them on a payroll, pay 20, whatever percent more for their salary, protect yourself, because I have had, I’ve had people fall and be disabled. And you know, or go on disability, and I would never have known how to manage that. So it’s a big thing that people who build teams are not addressing, and it’s going to bite them in the rear end.
D.J. Paris 47:11
100% agree. So if you are joining a team, make sure that that team seems to have their HR in order and some sort of operations in order so that you can
Louise Phillips Forbes 47:22
clear yes, contract terms, everything. Because you’re in the business and you you need to take care of yourself. Sorry about my phone.
D.J. Paris 47:32
No, it’s no, it’s perfect timing, because I gotta get a good call as well. So this is perfect time for us to wrap up, you’ve provided so much value to our audience. So on behalf of everyone listening, we thank you, Louise for your time today. You are a superstar, obviously in the New York market. And we are so honored to get some of your time today because we know how valuable that is for somebody as busy as yourself. So on behalf of the audience, thank you. And on behalf of Louisa and I we want to thank the audience as well for sticking around to the very end, please tell a friend about this episode. Please leave us a review. Let us know what you think of the show. But the best thing to do for sure is just keep spreading the word. Let other agents know that this podcast exists. And we have grown to we just crossed over 3.2 million downloads. Thanks to you guys. Not things. Not thanks to me. So we apply it. Thank you on behalf of our entire crew here. And Luis thank you again. We will see everybody on the next episode. Thanks a lot. I’ll
Louise Phillips Forbes 48:27
see you in New York soon.
D.J. Paris 48:29
I will be there and I will we’ll go to Katz’s or something we’ll have fun. I love it. Alright, see you later. Bye bye
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