It All Started in Sweden...

Back in 2010, I did a grad program in Sweden focused on Sustainability. While enrolled, I found myself watching a lot of TED talks and wanted an excuse to talk the speakers so I started a very simple video podcast on Vimeo called "The SocioCapitalist" (later called GroAction). This basically gave me license to talk with anyone and everyone I was interested in.

Through this process I developed a deep fascination for our food system and focused my thesis on how to incentivize more people to grow food instead of lawns. 

Turning Talk in Into Action

After completing the program in Sweden, I moved to Portland, Oregon on a whim and started growing Microgreens for Restaurants and Farmer's Markets. While I had talked about food plenty, I had never so much as grown a tomato before and certainly didn't know a thing about the restaurant industry.

But, the desire to learn  gave me all the motivation I needed to figure it out.

And soon enough I was selling these little vegetables in 20+ restaurants and a few Farmer's Markets. 

Teaching Others

As I developed my systems and grew my business, other aspiring microgreen growers reached out for help with their operations.

That evolved in more consulting and eventually lead to writing a book called "The Complete Guide to Growing and Selling Microgreens" which has now sold over 5,000 copies.

After seeing the success of other people starting their Microgreens farms, and with the success of the book sales, I began to develop online courses with other farmers I knew who had different niche offerings under a new company called Small Farm Academy. 

Over the span of a few years we developed 5 more online courses and helped thousands more folks get theirs farms started.

Stepping into the Built Environment

While I really enjoyed learning from the other farmers and helping organize their acquired wisdom into easy-to-replicate systems for people following in their path, I found myself burnt out from working on the computer and acting in the "producer" role.

This lead to getting out of the office and revisiting a nascent passion of building things in the physical environment. I bought my first house, fixed it up, and and built a standalone ADU in the back that my daughter would later be born in (that's a whole other, incredibly magical story..) 

Here's a little glimpse of that beautiful bundle of joy.. 

Ok back to the story!

Developing a Love for Building and Design

Since then, I have been fortunate enough to acquire more residential properties to fix up and add value to. Through each project I've  performed every step of the rehab, from pouring foundations, framing, plumbing, electrical, all the way to lighting and design. 

This has an inspired a true love for the built environment and appreciation for high quality design and construction. (And an appreciation for hiring other people to do these hard jobs!)

Getting Licensed

Through the process of buying different properties, I realized how much I enjoy the contract writing and negotiation aspect of buying real estate.

Naturally when friends and family wanted help finding the right property, I always jumped at the chance to help them and it just made sense to get licensed. 

As I begin to build my real estate practice this year I find myself putting a lot of  energy into getting leads.

Finding a Path I Could Believe In 

Conventional wisdom tells you that you must get out there cold calling, door knocking, and even starting fake conversations with friends in your phone just to wait until they ask what you're up to.

And quite frankly, learning that made me want to let my license expire and put my energy into literally anything else. 

Luckily for me, before I abandoned the license, I started learning of the other people who have had similar views on these conventional methods and pioneered new paths in the form of YouTube and SEO content generation.

Learning these methods has allowed me to create the vision of building my real estate practice  offering tremendous value through content generation before ever asking for anything in return.

So Much to Learn, So Many Good People to Learn From

Now, as I work to master my practice, there is so much to learn about delivering value to prospective clients via Youtube, article writing, hosting events, and just generally what I consider to be, becoming a valuable member of the community and a resource that clients can turn to when they need to make these big decisions in their life.

So, what's the best way to master these passive methods of attracting clients?

To develop this website of course. 
 

I figure, the best way to learn is to teach, so why not develop content for other agents like yourself who want to learn to attract clients into your practice without the soul crushing methods of door knocking or cold calling.

So here we are, building this website and youtube channel one article and one video at a time, seeking to learn from the best in the industry about how they attract new clients in and build a wonderful community in the process.

I hope it's been helpful to get to know me and my approach to this project. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for this endeavor. I love connecting with other agents who share the same values of wanting to  become pillars of their community and provide real, genuine content for their clients.

This story has already dragged on too long, but if you're curious how I came to choose Real Brokerage and become a very proud advocate of theirs, you can find out by clicking the button below.