Meet Trevor James

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Trevor James a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Trevor, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Finding your purpose is a winding road; it can take you to places you never dreamed you’d go. During my undergrad, the siren call of real estate sung out to me, but I resisted in heeding the call. After all, you hear a lot of stories about people who went into real estate and really struggle not just to find their purpose, but just a sale.

However, once I ventured into real estate I had some really unique experiences. They felt like serendipity, where my path was lit by the actions I took. Soon enough I found myself lying on my bed at night, wishing I could help agents. I’d seen a lot of the business in my five years and wanted to help struggling real estate agents to find their passion beyond the commission check.

The next month, I started as a success coach at Coldwell Banker. That led to a fast-paced home sales role at Zillow, on the front line of the new iBuying craze of 2021. Of course, we all know how that ended up. I wound up without a job but with plenty of passion, experience and my own well-developed network.

Once I got my footing after a few weeks. I realized that what I loved more than anything else was helping agents succeed. I loved to see agent’s faces light up after I helped them discover a new tool that’s perfect for them. These solutions are developed every month, and it’s hard for agents to keep up.

Teaching and sharing my passion for people and problem-solving is my purpose. It didn’t come easy, though. Trial and error, along with an arduous path, led me to where I am today — happier and more fulfilled than I’ve ever been.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
At Modern Agent Coaching, I believe in one guiding mission—real estate is better together. Considering all the options for people to sell their homes, agents need to be on top of their game.

When we look at the next five years in real estate, there is some change and innovation coming down the pipeline. Agents need to adapt to the 21st century.

Did you know the average age of a real estate agent is 55? Keep in mind that most agents struggle in today’s digital world. They have a lot of knowledge but every year, their client base is being eroded by those adapting to the times.

I work with real estate agents on a 90-day program to get their business running in top shape. We take a look at your current strategy and I help agents to understand that first and foremost, this is a sales job. It takes stamina and work—sales won’t land in your lap.

I believe that all agents should have equitable access to coaching in order to improve. To that end, I work with agents on a sliding scale, providing individualized attention and 1:1 coaching for all of my clients to ensure they are learning and growing during our time together. We meet biweekly to review your activities, improve your processes, talk through solutions and work through your personal business strategy for success.

As the 2021 LGBTQ Real Estate Alliance Colorado Chapter President, I am passionate about LGBTQ homeownership equality. The LGBTQ community has nearly half the homeownership rate as the rest of the country. Improving that number is paramount to seeing a continued improvement in the economic freedom and empowerment of my community.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Persistence. Sometimes it’s hard to keep going, and we’re all going to have bad days, weeks or even months. That’s okay. Shake it off and keep going! Life is short and there’s so much to experience. Take the ups with the downs. Remember that the tide ebbs and flows, especially in sales and entreprenurship.

2) Empathy. Working as a real estate professional can be an intimate job, where you can learn closely-guarded details of your clients. Being able to put yourself in their shoes is really important—after all, there are always two sides to every story. Remember to really listen to people and respond to what they’re saying. Make them feel cared for and heard.

3) Nike’s slogan is well-known for a reason: Just Do It. Get your tasks done. Do your calls, your follow up emails and your paperwork. Does it suck? Most likely. But if you’re able to frame a hard tasks around curiosity and learning, instead of slogging through it, you’ll find it more interesting. Work and life is full of things we don’t want to do. As was carved on the tomb of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, “your deeds are your monuments.”

If you’re early in your journey or looking to improve on these qualities, I would love to share the idea of a “growth mindset” with you. Think of all your knowledge as a balloon. When you learn something new, you’re able to use that knowledge and blow a bit more air into the balloon. If you’re not blowing fresh air into your balloon, it will soon become stagnant and stale. Pretty soon, the air will start deflating and you’ll be left with a limp piece of plastic. It’s important to keep learning and growing; keep the passion alive and wake up excited and curious for what the new day will bring.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I have ADHD, so the overwhelm can happen easily. Sometimes it’s triggered from work, or emotions, or just information overload. Oftentimes when I feel overwhelmed, it’s because I start drawing lines and conclusions based on what I think will happen. Of course, life surprises you and provides a hail mary at the last second. I think we’ve all experienced that.

While I’m not saying to sit around waiting for life to hand you a win, I think it’s important to know that problems have a way of solving themselves.

When I’m overwhelmed, I make a list of all the items in my head that are swirling around. This gets them out of my head and onto the page. I’m old fashioned and love a good pen & paper.

Once you start writing them down, you’ll quickly realize what’s important and what can wait. Then you can prioritize the items that you actually need to do, instead of flitting around.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,