Tuesday, June 4, 2024

I’ve been thinking about meeting your heroes. No doubt you’re familiar with the adage, never meet your heroes, you’ll only be disappointed. I suppose it might apply to situations when a hero is a celebrity, or perhaps a politician. I’ve never held anyone in one of those jobs out as a hero (at least none that are living) so I can’t be sure. I have, however, had plenty of opportunities to meet many of my heroes; more than a few of them work in this business.

This morning, I was listening to an interview with presidential historian Doris Kearns-Goodwin. You might have read some of her books, Team of Rivals about Lincoln’s cabinet, The Bully Pulpit about the friendship between Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft or the Pulitzer Prize winning No Ordinary Time about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during the WWII years. In the podcast interview, DKG (as she’s frequently referred to) talked about meeting for the first time the man who would become her husband. His professional accomplishments had caused him to achieve hero status in her mind prior to that first meeting. She described their initial moments as an immediate and non-stop conversation, one that ended up lasting over 42 years. Now that is some good conversation!

Given that my life mate and I didn’t meet until later in life, we won’t have the opportunity for a 42-year-long conversation. Don’t get me wrong, we could accomplish the conversation part just fine, but the math doesn’t check out. We are aiming to reach at least halfway to 42 years, however, and our conversations are some of my favorite parts of life. When you’re part of a duo like that, it’s easier to spot other couples, other friendships, other relationships who will meet you with an open-mind and an open-heart to engage with you in the world of ideas. It’s exhilarating. You find yourself seeking out those people more and more often.

Which is why I am thrilled at the opportunity to host October Research’s latest offering, the Keys to Real Estate podcast. Weekly, I have the honor and opportunity to interview the newsmakers, thought leaders and yes, heroes of our industry.  Some of them are veteran heroes, whose work helped pave the way forward for us today. Others are currently in the yoke and might not consider themselves to be heroes in the least, yet I’m willing to bet you’ll see their efforts as often heroic. Still other guests are tomorrow’s industry heroes, future leaders who will often shake things up as well as and calm things down once in a while, too. I hope you’ll listen along and meet some of these heroes. We’re having truly engaging conversations.

Each of our weekly guests are heroes who bravely take their place in the arena, striving to make a difference.

Each of them suits up every day and steps onto the playing field, no matter the odds.

Each of them understands what it means when we say, It’s Time to Make The Donuts.

Few exemplify professional hero status more than our first guest, industry legend Phil Schulman. I’m hard pressed to think of a singular person in this industry more impactful than Phil. His warrior status is iconic. You don’t need me to tell you that. But what you might not know is how very hard he worked at it. The effort required wasn’t always obvious right away, given Phil’s sophisticated polish, nimble mind, and quick wit. Yet one night quite by chance, this weary TRID education warrior happened to spot that equally weary TRID education warrior, passing in an airport. Neither of us would have appreciated a photo of the condition we were in. It was late in the evening; Phil’s flight had just landed and he was headed home. My flight was soon to take-off, taking me home to Dallas. My steps that had been heavy with fatigue led me to stand directly in his path. When an exhausted Phil looked up to see who the heck was blocking his way, there was his gracious smile. We shared a quick laugh about our comings and goings and the importance of getting an industry ready for sweeping change. We might have also, briefly, questioned our sanity. But Phil is a warrior, and on he went without complaint.

So, I hope you will meet more of your heroes. I hope you’ll develop new or deeper relationships with some that nurture you. And I hope you’ll enjoy eavesdropping on some of the conversations I have the fortune of having with some of my heroes.

We won’t sign you up for 42 years of conversations, but we do promise to give you an engaging few minutes each week. Time to learn, to imagine, to stretch and to strategize new ways to be a hero in your market.

Until Next Time,

Mary Schuster
Chief Knowledge Officer
October Research, LLC