If your business doesn’t have a good purpose, then what is there to truly keep you going?
My partners and I started our brokerage in 2003, and it’s been growing ever since. Three years ago, my wife and I started our own team inside the brokerage and experienced even further growth. In the last year, we sold over $30 million in real estate through 148 transactions, and I was able to leave production altogether.
Though I had reached every goal possible, I still felt like it didn’t matter. I didn’t have a purpose I was shooting for, and it made me feel empty. The purpose I needed wasn’t being found through growing a business.
This feeling came to a head after my wife and I visited Haiti. On the way back home, my thoughts kept returning to a Haitian girl I met named Lovely. In her daily life, she never knew when her next meal would be. Sitting on the plane, I thought of how we’d be speaking with a builder about something as trivial as the color of granite countertops when we landed.
I realized that selling homes isn’t what’s truly important to me, and I knew I had to strive for something deeper in our business and in our community. We began taking a percentage of each commission check and setting it into a separate account. We asked our clients about causes that needed help, and we found that we could deliver a rapid response to urgent situations.
“The purpose I needed wasn’t being found through growing a business.”
It’s been incredible seeing the leadership opportunities that have come from our continuous growth. Roger Deal has stepped in to take over the roles I no longer fill, and my wife has become the financial director for our business. Our entire staff has been incredible, meeting with people who have needs and making anonymous donations.
I can’t imagine what things would be like if I hadn’t taken these steps, and I can’t believe I used to simply deal with selling homes. We’ve been given a purpose and a reason to feel good about coming into work each day. Even when we’re having a tough time, we know we’re doing something important. We’re investing in our community.
We do a meet-and-greet workshop each month to help people see what we do at the Dave Hooke team. If you would like to attend, have any questions, or would like more information, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
