Written by and about Austin Karrick

The last few months have been quite the whirlwind for me. I married the love of my life, we put a new house under contract to purchase, put my current house together and got it under contract to sell, and most recently served as best-man for my lifelong friend and his lovely wife at their wedding. The feeling of having less and less time for actual work was hard to shake, but as our broker, Scott Clendening, loves to say, “Real Estate never sleeps”.

In my last post I talked about the trials and tribulations associated with the “eat what you kill” pay structure and how it took some getting used to. This industry is always full of new obstacles and surprises and some consistent barriers, which is why I think success in it is so hard to come by.

Your ability to succeed depends solely on how you attack and overcome these.

The Gap

Another saying that is tossed around in our office a lot is this: 99% of the deals are done by the top 1% of agents. When you step back and take a look at the done deals and who is doing them, that statement is not that hard to believe. So, as a “young buck” how do I join that 1% elite?

I must bridge the gap.

As I stated, success in this industry doesn’t come easy, there are many years of triumph and failure that work to mold you into a top producer. The first time I walked into a pitch session I think I brought the average age down about twenty years. I say this not in jest, but to help paint the picture of who controls the 99%. It isn’t the young hot shots, but the seasoned veterans with the long-term established relationships and black book of done deals to wave in front of prospects’ faces.

If I want to be one of them, I must connect with them. Which, ladies and gentlemen, creates a generational age gap for me that needs to be overcome. The fastest way to become an “elite” is to make yourself look like one of them. So, I dusted off my penny loafers, grabbed a pocket watch, and bought a paper day planner… I kid, they are not THAT old.

Dale Carnegie Saves the Day

Looking back, the single, most pivotal thing that I did early on in my career thus far was taking the Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People course. As a quiet and shy person that enjoys their quiet time, the environment of sales was and continues to be a slight stressor for me. I am out of my normal comfort-zone networking and meeting random new people, but this course gave me confidence and the tools needed to overcome that uneasiness.

Prior to the course, networking gave me the cold sweats – not the wake up in the middle of the night screaming type, but just a general discomfort. After completing the course and now having a better understanding of people and how we interact, “what beautiful weather we are having” is no more. Those lame, surface type conversations are out and now it is actual deep connecting conversations that I am having with colleagues and prospects alike.

My Takeaway

This is the single-most paramount thing I see in overcoming any significant gap in age or life experience. Deep down there is a mutual connection between you and the person you are engaging with. Finding it can be tough. There is a plethora of books you can read and presentations you can listen to, but for me it comes down to this: Be present and attentive with the person you are speaking with. Listen to what they are saying, ask genuine questions about themselves and they will most likely walk away from the conversation with a much more positive view on you.  

So, when I say “look like them” it is not figuratively, but metaphorically.

*I say as I reluctantly pack up the loafers and snazzy pocket watch*

Find a connection with the person you are speaking with, get them talking about themselves and something they enjoy or find pride in and you will have a new friend when you walk away from that conversation.

As I said in my first post, I am an old soul, so finding topics of discussion does come a bit easier, which I don’t know if that is genetic or environmental, but we will not go down that psychology rabbit hole, either way I am thankful my gap is not as wide as it could be.

Outwardly I am “Young Buck”, despite the effort with the loafers, watch, and paper day planner, but internally I am that hard-working person looking to be in that 1% elite. Networking and socializing no longer evokes cold sweats, but a sense of pride of accomplishment and honestly some new friendships. Despite my age and experience, it is readily apparent, there will always be a need to bridge the gap.

This is me. I am Young Buck.

Written by and about Austin Karrick

Those that know me, know that I am an old soul.

I would rather listen to Led Zeppelin than Drake or Post Malone. Yes, I did have to google “Billboard top 100” to make sure those two were still relevant. A fun night for me is hanging out at home watching DIY shows or a good Netflix series. Now I have done my share of partying, but as the saying goes, “those days are behind me now”. I’m not quite to the point of sitting on my front porch and harassing the whippersnappers about staying off my lawn, but who is to say that day is not around the corner.

But I digress.

Yes, I am an old soul, but when I walk into our office every day, I am the Young Buck.

Prior to bringing on Erica as part of the team and into Commercial Partners, I was the youngest person by 15 years. Being that I enjoy the things of a person older than myself, I did not find it too difficult to connect with my coworkers, but I do still run into the frustration of being the “tech guy”. I have lost count of how many Word or Excel documents I have been called into someone’s office to fix (I’m looking at you Scott and Dan).

When I first started, being the young buck had its advantages. I was able to mess up and it be overlooked, everyone was quick to offer help whenever I had a question or couldn’t figure something out on my own, and I had an ever-growing group of people supporting and cheering me on. Now that I have some years under my belt, and some grey hairs to prove it, I am left with a much shorter leash, but there is still some slack.

The position of young buck is not all glitz and glamour, there are some downfalls. Solving others’ tech issues aside, there was/is a significant age gap and cultural differences with many of my clients and potential prospects that I have to bridge, a constant struggle of how much of voicing my opinion is too much, and the introduction of an eat what you kill type of earning system. I had entered into a whole new world, and it was sink or swim.

While the advantages obviously helped in my current position, it was the process of attacking these issues, failing at it, and trying again that I think really built me into the person I am at this moment. One of my favorite people in history, Abraham Lincoln, is quoted as saying, “I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser than he was yesterday.” I really like this quote as it embodies my personal mantra every day. I approach each day, learning from the last, and applying those lessons to be better, not just in business, but in life.

This is me. I am Young Buck.