Angela Territo
In this weekly column, real estate agents across the nation share stories of the lessons they’ve learned during their time in the industry.
What are your dreams for your real estate business? According to coach, trainer and Florida Realtors faculty member Angela Territo, those dreams will require additional training and mastery.
Having trained and coached more than 50,000 agents and brokers in her almost 40 years in the business, Territo has found that a growth mindset and a willingness to learn are key to taking your business to the next level.
How long have you been in the business?
I began my real estate career in 1980 when I was in college. I had an uncle who was successful in commercial real estate, so I understood the potential a career in real estate held.
I earned my real estate license as part of my associate’s degree and did well working in real estate during the summer months when I was out of school. After graduation, my focus changed to doing real estate part-time in order to climb the corporate ladder, though I soon found out that real estate was truly my passion. Back to full-time real estate I went!
In 2002, I was the director of career development for Coldwell Banker Prime Properties in Pittsford, New York, and at that time, I learned more about management, recruiting, coaching and training. Along came 2008 when a lot of us had to reinvent ourselves.
I developed my own coaching company in Florida, where I work with individual agents, teams, leadership staff and broker-owners throughout North America. I also serve as a faculty member with Florida Realtors, training agents all over the sunshine state, while continuing as a New York State instructor.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I see myself writing my first book to share my hilarious stories of busting through the “pasta ceiling” of women in business and real estate. I also look forward to hiring a team of coaches to further expand my coaching company, while continuing to develop as a national speaker.
What’s one big lesson you’ve learned in real estate?
Allow yourself to learn from those who are bigger, better and faster by embracing productivity and technology training. Every day you don’t, you are leaving money on the table.
How did you learn it?
So many agents have such big dreams when they are working on licensure — creating a team, getting their broker’s license, running their own office — however they stop dreaming and reaching once they get their license and face some of those first rejections.
They stop taking courses and stop learning as time management issues arise. They don’t allow themselves to be trained and coached to work through their challenges.
Over my career both within the industry and as an independent consultant, I have trained agents at every level from initial pre-license through brokerage development.
The agents and brokers who are creating bigger businesses have let go of their ego and taken opportunities to learn from others, both through seeking extra training and through coaching. It’s the single biggest thing they have in common.
What advice would you give to new agents?
A healthy ego is a great thing, but don’t let it stand in the way of continuing to learn and grow. Your ability to learn from others is directly correlated to your earning potential.
Are you an agent with a story everyone can learn something from? Reach out to us (contributors@Inman.com). We look forward to featuring more of our best agents and brokers in a future edition of “Lesson learned.”
Christy Murdock Edgar is a Realtor, freelance writer, coach and consultant with Writing Real Estate in Alexandria, Virginia. Follow Writing Real Estate on Facebook or Twitter.
