Don Ha: From Baker to $1B+ RE/MAX Leader—Work Ethic, Mindset, Referrals & Exponential Growth

In this episode of Leading and Growing Your Real Estate Business, host James Short interviews Don Ha—RE/MAX New Zealand regional owner/director, Forbes Books author, keynote speaker, transformational wealth coach, and founder of Exponential Coaching—about his journey from working 72-hour weeks as a baker to selling 86 properties in his first year in real estate and scaling to record-breaking results, including surpassing $1B in annual sales.

Don shares why his biggest regret is not thinking big enough early on, how relentless productive hours and face-to-face relationship building still beat technology alone, and how referrals and trust drive long-term success. He also unpacks leadership values (loyalty, trust, respect, hard work), delegation to “create another you,” perspectives on younger agents and mindset, and his ambition to sell globally via online presentations.

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00:00 Thinking Bigger Regret

00:22 Show Introduction

01:05 Meet Don Ha

03:39 From Baker to Agent

06:13 Work Ethic Wins

07:50 Tech Versus Face Time

09:42 Scaling to Billions

11:46 Mindset and Ambition

13:51 Leadership and Values

15:44 Future Agents and Referrals

19:05 Self Belief and Resilience

19:49 Rapid Fire Quiz

23:36 Regrets and Big Goals

24:39 Advice and Closing