Real Estate Survival Guide

Today finishes my story where I have talked about my journey from having no success with W-2 jobs to the success I’ve built in the entrepreneurial world in real estate. In the last episode, I talked about finally starting to have success in my business, and today I want to talk about 2021 and 2022—the things I’ve done to create success and where I’m going from here. I had a huge 2021 where I tripled my income from the previous year. I shared previously that we had paid off all our debt other than our home by September of 2020. We were very excited by that, but our next goal was to save 10 months of expenses by March of 2021. I continued to have success in real estate and easily made that goal, in fact in March when my daughter was born, I had over a year’s worth of living expenses in the bank. God had blessed our business and family so much. We were finally able to meet our goal of my wife being able to stay home with the kids. I’m not saying that our life is a complete joy ride just because we are secure financially—there are still hard days. It can be hard with two children under two and a half, and I’m so thankful that my wife was willing and able to stay home with them. Some aren’t willing to do that and it’s hard work. I couldn’t do what she does—what she does every day is much harder and more exhausting that what I’m doing while having fun selling homes. I am very thankful for her. It’s been nice to be able to dictate my own schedule recently rather than letting that schedule tell me what I need to do. That was all thanks to a great 2021. I’m just doing everything I can to grow the business and create success with real estate and obviously the podcast is a huge part of that. I’ve added an extra episode, so we’re doing three times a week now and I have a great system that keeps that from getting overwhelming. We talked about the power of compound effect, and I still do those things. I’ve gotten better and faster at the podcast and my real estate business and that takes a lot of stress off me and gives me more freedom. I’m also coaching Realtors, offering help with social media presence, and continuing to help my team. The work for my team is a little different in that I’m the operations director—in charge of a lot of things and making sure they are doing the work to create success. I’m just very thankful for them and for those relationships. I’m excited about the things I’m building and am really encouraged by the people who reach out and say the podcast is helping them. That means a lot. I love trying to help people find success in their real estate career. Real estate is going well, the podcast is going well and there are lots of things on the horizon and I’ll share more as we go along. I’ve worked hard to create time, location, and financial freedom and that’s what I’m going to continue to do. I hope that you can see the journey that I went through and apply it to your career. I have literally come from the worst situation where I thought we were going to lose our home to building a successful real estate business and being blessed so much. I hope these episodes have given you a glimpse into my world. I hope you can apply some of the principles I’ve shared to your business and know that you can trust the process and have success too. I look forward to having some great episodes coming up as we talk about what 2023 holds. Thank you so much for listening, and if you enjoyed this episode, we would appreciate it if you'd leave us a review on iTunes. It helps others discover the show. Thank you so much, and we will see you on the next episode.

Resources

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

If you’ve been following my story for the past few episodes, you’ll remember I talked about the power of perception in my business as well as the power of compound effects. Today we’ll be talking about the really big month I had in August of 2020 and about finishing the year and going into 2021. It’s been awesome to look back and celebrate the wins because the journey has been so hard. None of this would have happened without hard work, a good foundation, and God blessing me and my family. August 2020 was huge for me. I had five settlements, so more than half of my income from 2020 was made in August. COVID was terrible, but it was huge blessing that my wife and I could both work from home. It helped us balance caring for our infant son. Those days in August were where I finally started to make it in real estate. I had put in the effort and proved those doubters wrong. I could still hear them telling me I should get a real job, and at times I had started to believe them. August was when I quit listening. I was making my business a success and I learned that I didn’t really need the approval of those people—I didn’t need their opinion. So, I had five settlements in the month of August, and it was crazy. What I want to point out is that I didn’t stop in August, I had huge goals that weren’t just about money. Our goal was for my wife to be able to stay home. I knew we would get there. We saved and saved a bunch of money—we basically saved what I made and lived off her salary. We weren’t buying new cars or eating out a lot. We weren’t doing the things a lot of other people around us were doing. By our son’s first birthday, we paid off the last of our debt (mainly student loans). We were debt free other than our house. God was starting to bless my real estate business and we decided to continue to save up 10 months of living expenses before our daughter was born in March of 2021—so if something happened and I couldn’t work, we could cover living expenses for the rest of the year. So, I wasn’t satisfied in August to just hit a goal, but I wanted to keep growing the business and applying what I’d learned to create more success. I didn’t need the approval of others, I only wanted to make God proud of the work I was doing, I always wanted to give thanks to God because everything was a result of His blessing. I cared about what God thought and I cared about our family and our decisions. I continued to hustle and finished the year strong. I continued to have success after August and continued growing my real estate business and meeting more clients. I started keeping track of clients on a white board to make sure my ducks were in a row with inspections, appraisals, deadlines, etc. I also did this with prospective clients to help me remember to check in with them. I still use this today, I have shifted it a bit because I don’t have a spot where I can have the whiteboard at home, but I keep it in the notes on my phone and check it often. I make sure I’m checking up on clients on their birthdays, anniversaries, and things like that. It’s good to finally get to the episode in my journey where I had success. I want to encourage you to set big goals and go get them. Trust God during the process and lean on Him and seek Him during the crazy times. Thank you for listening, I’m excited for the next episode. We’ll close out the story, get into 2021 and what I’ve done in 2022, which will bring you up to speed on my story. I’m thankful for those of you who have supported me, and I look forward to sharing the next part of the story. Thanks for listening to the Real Estate Survival Guide. If you enjoyed this episode, we would appreciate it if you'd leave us a review on iTunes, it helps others discover the show. Thank you so much, and we will see you on the next episode

 Resources

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

We’ve been talking all month about my journey from working W-2 jobs to starting a real estate career, and all that I learned along the way. We talked about the power of perception on the last episode, and I want to encourage you that no matter where you are in your journey, there is always a chance to grow and improve. On today’s episode, we’re going to talk about my summer of 2020 and how it propelled my journey. It had been almost two years to get to the point where I had made a settlement and was feeling like I could be successful. I’m not to the five-year mark yet (you know only the top 13% last that long), but I’ve grown my business and income, so I’m on pace to be one of those top Realtors. I’m in an income bracket that only 20% of Realtors reach and it hasn’t even been two years. I hope that motivates you to keep grinding and hustling. There really is power in believing and trusting in yourself—I think I would call it the power of compound effort. I made that first deal after putting all the effort in and felt like I could run through a brick wall. I was ready to get better, more efficient, and quicker. With my first deal that closed, I had been posting on social media for those 60 plus showing I did, and it made me look like I was thriving in the real estate business, even though I only had one client. That just shows the power of compound effort where all the things I was doing paid off. A good example is the podcast—episodes I released a year ago will be heard six months or a year from now and still be impacting people without any effort from me. In that summer of 2020, I was on top of the work with the foundational things and social media. In fact, I found that I had had a pretty big social media following by the end of the year. I was probably one of the biggest social media brands in Lancaster real estate by that summer. I hired my friend, Steve Glick, to do some amazing videos for me. We did an interview with my first client and his wife, and he said some kind and wonderful things about me—that I was the best and would outwork any other agent. Those words were worth the price I paid for those videos to be done because what they said transcends everything I do. I use that clip on my social media. They’d worked with quite a few Realtors in their lifetime, so their words meant a lot. I recommend getting some videos with clients telling the world about their experience. It’s a game changer. Every time I have a settlement, I contact the client and see if they would be willing to do a video interview. Usually, half are willing, and it has made such a difference to my business. I saw the power that videos and interviews added to my social media. That summer I had between five and ten buyers that chose me because of what they had seen on my social media. It was just a compound effect, like compound interest. That summer I was out showing houses a few times a week and people would see me every couple of days. I think I had two or three closings that summer, but I continued to post, increase my social media presence, and continued to see the power of that. I learned it was like stacking blocks—you have to have a good foundation to build that tower. That’s what I learned that summer. On the next episode, I’ll talk about the big August I had going into the fall of that year. Thanks for listening to the Real Estate Survival Guide. If you enjoyed this episode, we would appreciate it if you'd leave us a review on iTunes. It helps others discover the show. Thank you so much, and we will see you on the next episode.

 Resources

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA,with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the AndrewWelk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions &values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions &values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions &ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

Last episode, I talked about gaining my first client, trusting the process, and realizing that if I could do it once, I could do it a hundred times more to build my real estate business. That first client looked at a lot of homes—we looked at homes for four months. What I really learned through that process is what brings me to today’s part of the story—the power of perception. A lot of what goes on in real estate is not necessarily what is actually happening, people don’t necessarily see the success, they see what I create. At this point in my story, I realized the power of social media and the power of perception. Although I only had one client at the time, I was posting homes on social media, and people perceived that I was having success and was busy helping people. They wanted to work with me. Now, I wasn’t lying about anything, but I learned that for many people watching social media, perception can be reality. The more I posted, the more successful I looked. Of course, today I don’t have the bandwidth to show 63 houses to every client, but if someone did need that kind of attention, I’d probably split it with someone on my team. I’ve done that recently with my business because I don’t want to work a ton of hours to make more money—I want to work less. But back in 2019/2020, I was in a different place. What I want you to hear, especially if you’re in real estate, is that every single time I showed that client a home, I posted it on social media. I wasn’t lying, wasn’t saying that I had a bunch of clients—I just said that I was showing a client a house today, took a picture of the house, and posted it. Then I would do the same with each house. It made me look busier and more successful than I was. The power of perception was that perception became reality. Eventually after showing the 63 homes, they found the home that was right for them, but by putting it on social media, it helped my business grow. I wanted people to perceive me as a great Realtor that would be willing and able to help them, to run out of the house to show them a home if they needed—so I was willing to show houses and post them on social media to grow my business. I also hosted open houses. You aren’t making any money when you host an open house, but I could make a post asking others to visit me at this great open house. No one (outside of the real estate world) knew I wasn’t making money, and it made me look successful. A person I went through real estate class with asked me how I was crushing it in the business. I simply said I was sharing everything on social media. This person didn’t survive and was no longer a Realtor because they weren’t putting anything out there on social media. I even told them I only had one client and was doing open houses—but to him I looked like I was successful. It was all about perception. The next part of the story is when those clients bought a house, and I got my first paycheck. Once I had that success, I felt like I could really do it 15 or 20 more times. I could build relationships and help people with one of the biggest decisions of their lifetime—and get paid for it. And the cool thing is that perception led to more success. On the next episode, I’ll share about the big summer I had after that settlement in April of 2020. It really propelled my business, but none of it would’ve been possible had I not used social media and understood the power of perception. Thanks for listening to the Real Estate Survival Guide. If you enjoyed this episode, we would appreciate it if you'd leave us a review on iTunes. It helps others discover the show. Thank you so much, and we will see you on the next episode.

Resources

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

Today we are on part five of my story. Today's episode talks about one of the hardest seasons as a new realtor. After I got my real estate license, people didn’t understand that having the license didn’t mean instant success or instant money coming in. It takes hard work, time, and determination. There were a lot of comments from others telling me I was not good enough, I should get a real job, and that I was a failure. Through all this, I learned to trust the process. If you’re a Philadelphia Seventy-sixers fan, this is a phrase you’ve heard before—it was a strategy used by Sam Hinkie when he traded players for assets, and it paid off. Trusting the process is essential in real estate. Having good conversations, connecting with people, establishing a social media presence, and telling everyone I was in real estate—trusting the process. I bought a computer for my real estate business and while I was in the Apple store, I made sure everyone in that store knew that new computer was for my career in real estate. I made sure that people knew I was a Realtor. I continued to trust the process—I knew I had to if I wanted to create success, because I didn’t have any clients. I knew the numbers. I knew the statistics. I wasn’t going to let myself become a failed statistic. I continued to build relationships and have conversations with everyone I could. My friend Jonathan, who I had worked for at Chick-Fil-A, was one of the first people to contact me with a potential client. His parents were moving to the area and needed a Realtor—he recommended me. It was such an honor that he trusted me with his parents—he told me that he knew I’d take good care of them and do a great job. I remember the stress and anxiety, but also the excitement. I was celebrating Thanksgiving with extended family, and they were asking me about how my business was going, and I didn’t really know how to respond. Jonathan’s dad called me while I was there and as I talked to him about buying a house. It gave me so much confidence when I didn’t scare him off that I felt like if I could have a good conversation and create a relationship with this person on the phone that I could really do this business. If I could do it once, I could recreate that process a hundred times over and I would have success. I’ve had thousands of conversations since that first call, but Jonathan’s dad was my first client, and it was all about trusting the process and getting that first client to work with you. I’ll often tell Realtors that I’m coaching, that once you have your first settlement, you’ll feel like you can run through a brick wall like the Kool-Aid man. That exhilaration makes you want to do it a hundred times more. That’s how I got my first client on Thanksgiving Day. I felt like I had the potential to become successful in real estate now that I had earned a client. I knew I had to continue to put in the effort and work and find another client. I didn’t get there overnight—it took from February through November. On the next episode, I’ll talk about faking it till you make it, my interaction with that first client, and the power of perception. I appreciate you being along for the journey and look forward to sharing the sixth episode with you. Thanks for listening to the Real Estate Survival. If you enjoyed this episode, we would appreciate it if you'd leave us a review on iTunes.

Resources

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

Today, I continue to share the story of my real estate journey from the years I held W-2 jobs, through getting my license and becoming a Realtor. In the past few episodes, you’ve heard how I lost my last W-2 job and the mental breakdown that followed, along with the incredible support I received from the people around me. I was able to get through that dark time, but there was the lull of not being able to find another job. It was this lull that led me to getting my real estate license. Today we’re going to talk about new life—not only had I finally finished getting licensed on August 28, 2019, but our son was born a few days later on September 2nd. It was a wonderful, stressful time, trying to figure out how to juggle working my real estate business, Valerie going back to work, and our new baby. I think it prepared me for the stress and changes that can come with being a Realtor because so much happens at the same time in real estate as well—and you just have to handle whatever comes your way. I was trying anything I could to do the real estate work and get my name out there, while also helping with my son at home. New life was a theme for this season of our life—new opportunities and beginnings. That’s how we closed out 2019. So, I was busy interacting with people and telling them about my real estate business, learning to be natural and not a pushy salesman about it. Once you get licensed, you don’t start making money right away. At home we were trying to get into a routine, my son wasn’t sleeping well. I tried to support my wife during her 10-12 weeks of maternity leave. When she went back to work, it was a big adjustment. I learned that if you’re going to have success in real estate, you have to figure out how to get work done around things. Even if you only have a 15-minute break, get stuff done—emails, calls. I worked while he rested, while I was feeding him, or while he was playing quietly—getting podcasts done or connections with clients or other Realtors. Watching my son at home really helped me learn the importance of using my time wisely. When you’re a new Realtor, you’re not going to have success in the beginning. I didn’t have any settlements until April of 2020, but I learned to use the relationships and connections you make to tell everyone about real estate. I could build relationships with people and let them know I was in real estate. I still do that in my business today. I reached out on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc., to connect to people. A friend reached out to me from Wisconsin as a joke and asked if I could help her buy a home out there—I was actually able to say yes, because when you’re a Realtor, you can refer to any Realtor across the country and get 25% of the commission. I ended up making a connection and a thousand dollars. Some of those early conversations paid dividends later, but I had to be patient. Whether you have a new child, or start a new business, it takes time—like riding a bike. Just like with a child, you are trying to grow and mature your real estate business and keep it alive. It was definitely a journey and those first couple of months were tough. I just continued trying to create and build relationships with people. As a person of faith, I think about resurrection and new life. There’s this great line in the song, Dare You to Move from Switchfoot that says, “Maybe redemption has stories to tell. Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell,” and I think the lesson is that there’s always a chance at redemption. In real estate, there is always a chance at success, a chance to grow and develop—you just have to find it and create success with it. On the next episode, we’ll talk more about connecting to my first client and how things went from there. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, we would appreciate it if you'd leave us a review on iTunes. It helps others discover the show. Thank you so much, and we will see you on the next episode.

 Resources

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

On today's episode, we are continuing my story from my W2 life all the way to building a successful real estate business. In part one of my story, we talked about losing my last W-2 job on February 26, 2019. The second part we talked about the mental breakdown and emotional journey that resulted from that loss. Today I want to talk about how I went from that point to real estate and getting my real estate license. I remember calling Andrew, who is now my team leader, and asking him about real estate. When he asked about banking, I told him the story of losing my job and how I had always been interested in being a mortgage lender. Real estate always interested me, but I never saw it as an option. Andrew filled me in on the good and the bad—what he loves and doesn’t love about real estate. He had seen my gifts with people and relationships, as well as sales, and he thought there might be an opportunity for me in real estate. I saw it as something that I would love to do down the road…someday. I thought I’d look at getting licensed but get another W-2 job in the meanwhile. I went through this lull from February through June. I applied for a ton of jobs and had a ton of interviews with many banks in the area. I even talked to my old bank about a job and while they brought me in for several interviews, they always went with other candidates. I did everything I could to find another W-2 job—I had five to ten interviews a week. I was just trying to survive. I was concerned that we would lose our house and just not survive. My wife was working at the company that had just fired me and was due that September with a baby. There was a lot of pressure and stress. It was amazing the negative comments I got about not being able to provide—rude and obnoxious comments. I remember the haters and the doubters too well…but now they motivate me and I’m thankful for them, because they motivated me to prove them wrong. In June, my wife and I processed everything and felt like God had something different for me—I didn’t know what the plan was, but I knew I trusted Him. I looked up the real estate classes and decided to sign up. The classes went from June to August, and I continued applying for jobs and interviewing in the meanwhile. I remember the last interview I had—I really thought I was going to get the job, but an internal candidate came in at the last minute and they gave the job to them. That was when we decided I would stop applying for jobs. I finished the classes, studied for the exams, and passed the state and national exams to be a Realtor. I remember Andrew telling me that if you want to be successful in real estate, you must put the effort in and be all in—that it was hard to be a part time Realtor. He encouraged me that if I wanted to do it that I should do it full-time and do anything I could to make money now. I literally was doing anything I could to make a dime—Ubering, DoorDash, Lyft. I would have to be really desperate to go back to that, but I was willing to do anything I could to provide for our family. Looking back, I can see how God provided for us and took care of us. We were able to pay our bills and keep the house. I felt like God wanted me to do real estate. Once I decided I was going to do real estate, I went all in, but that’s a story for the next episode. So that was the lull I went through from February to June where I officially decided to do the real estate classes. In August I got licensed. On the next episode I’ll talk more about that. Thank you for listening to my story and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode.

 Resources

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

On today's episode, we are continuing part two of my story. It’s funny because originally, I was going to do eight episodes to tell my story, but I felt like I was leaving out a major part of my life during that time—the mental breakdown that occurred after that February 19, 2019. This episode was actually the last episode I recorded after deciding that I don't care what people think. I feel like I need to share this part of my story for others, like my friend Josh, who have struggled with their own mental health battles. I hope that this encourages you if you are battling things mentally and are struggling. I hope this encourages you to have hope and faith. If you're not struggling, there are people around you who are that you can help. Going back to that day, February 26, 2019, I didn’t want to live anymore—I thought my life was over. I felt like I had unjustly been fired from a job that I was successful at—that I had never been disciplined for once. In fact, I had received multiple promotions with multiple institutions. I was shell-shocked and hopeless. I called my friend Vincent Pugliese, who is amazing, and he told me that it was actually the best day of my life because I could build something in the entrepreneurial world, but at the time I was in no place to hear it. I felt worthless. As people learned I had lost my job, they criticized and judged me, saying mean and hurtful things instead of supporting me. They accused me of hiding the real reason I lost my job. I spent the next three or four months spiraling downward, thinking of killing myself every day. There were many hard conversations and tears between Valerie and I during that time. Through it all, the support she gave me was incredible and I love her so much. Pregnant with our first child, she called me from work multiple times a day to make sure I was alive. She made me promise that I would be here when she got home from work in the evening. I am convinced that I wouldn’t be here without her constant encouragement—her insistence that she needed me and was proud of me. That time in my life embarrasses me now, and I never thought I would share this journey with anyone—but in September of 2020, my friend Josh posted on Facebook about wanting to kill himself. I spent days trying to track him down, messaging his friends and family members, to do everything I could to make sure he didn’t take his own life. I finally connected with Josh after he had spent some time in the hospital getting help. He told me I could never understand because my life was “perfect”. I cried as I talked to him on the phone, sharing my story. He was shocked that someone who seemed to “have it all together” and looked so happy could struggle with their mental health and have suicidal thoughts. This is when I realized I had an obligation to share my story, not for my benefit or to look good, but because I didn’t want one other person to consider taking their own life because they thought no one else could understand. I still check in with Josh and try to encourage him because I have also learned that mental health struggles are not something you deal with once and they’re gone—it’s something that you must stay vigilant and fight against. You may only struggle every couple of years, or it could be a monthly or daily battle. Less than two weeks after talking to Josh, I attended my first Total Freedom Life retreat. That weekend changed my life—it gave me meaning and purpose, and I no longer felt alone as many do in business and their entrepreneurial life. I had my board of directors and my TLF family. I grew spiritually and emotionally. At the time, I told very few friends and almost no family about my struggles because I felt judged and looked down upon. I wasn't interested in their criticism, so there were only a couple people I could trust, a few friends and my wife—people who just loved and cared about me. I wouldn't be here without a handful of amazing people—in the deepest and darkest struggles, I was so thankful to have people that I could talk to. These great friends who supported me during those hard months were some of the reasons I lived, if I’m honest. I want all of you to know that you have meaning and purpose and there is hope. If you’re struggling with your mental health, reach out to someone for help. If you know someone who is struggling, be that encouragement, be that help for them.

 Resources

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

Today’s episode begins a series that is a retelling of my story before I share what’s new for 2023. The series consists of the eight seasons I went through as I transitioned from my old W2 life into real estate—from not having a deal for the first nine or ten months to now having a very successful real estate business, podcast, membership, and more coming this year.

Today’s episode will specifically be about losing my last W-2 job, February 19, 2023, the worst day of my life that turned out to be one of the greatest. I had quite a few W-2 jobs that never worked out for one reason or another—sometimes I lost my job through my own fault, sometimes I just moved on to something else. I always felt a little nervous at my W-2 jobs like when you go through a bad breakup, and you constantly feel jaded and always feel like you're in trouble. There are horror stories I have tried to block out of mind, one of which was during my time at Chick-Fil-A, where I was on track to be a Chick-Fil-A operator and be part of the leadership development program with corporate Chick-fil-A. I remember the conversation I had with the operator of the store, who was about to send me to learn and train at another store out of state with another operator. I asked about my performance and was assured I was doing great—and then was fired the next day. No complaints, never written up, no warning. After that, I had some success in Pittsburgh for a while, but after meeting Valerie, I wanted to move to work near her. This led to my last Chick-Fil-A job in Redding, which ended when I had a clash with the general manager, who was the operator’s brother-in-law. I have nothing against Chick-Fil-A—I have lots of friends that work for Chick-fil-A and did really well there. I still love Chick-fil-A as a company, what they stand for, and still support them. I just realized it wasn't for me after losing that last job.

It was at this point that I went into banking. I had some success with it and got a promotion four months into my first job as one of the top employees. I enjoyed banking, and after about a year and a half, I applied for their management training program where there were a thousand candidates for eight available spots. I got the position and was very thankful. I knew I was good at sales and relationships, and through the training I decided I wanted to be a relationship manager or a mortgage loan officer—someone who meets clients and builds relationships that expand on the banking relationship. If this sounds familiar, it’s exactly what I do as a Relator. I was never written up or reprimanded during the three years I spent in banking. I continued to say that I wanted to do something with sales outside of a branch—a mortgage loan officer, relationship manager, etc. During the program, you spend your time meeting with all the different higher-ups, learning and training through 12–14 rotations over 15 months—you really have to adapt because you’re changing jobs every few weeks. Toward the end of the program, I remember them telling me they were sending me back to be an assistant branch manager or branch manager after the training.

This was the moment that turned me against W-2 jobs for life. What was the use point of a program that was going to send me right back to where I had been? Yes, I developed skills, I learned so much, and met so many amazing people, many of whom are still friends of mine. It just boils down to the fact that they teach you skills but put you where they need people. I told them I wasn’t going there, that it’s not where my gifts are. I was good at sales, and I wanted to control my own schedule as we thought about starting a family. Their reply was that we’d figure it out. I went back to my rotation, but the rotation manager wasn’t communicating with me, and I told my wife I was about to get fired.

She said that was impossible because I had never been disciplined or reprimanded.

I just had this weird feeling and sure enough they brought me in one day and said that I wasn’t learning fast enough and since I didn’t take their recommendation to go back to the branch, they were going to terminate me. That was February 26, 2019, the day I thought was the worst day of my life. I went through a downward spiral for a few months until I gave Vincent Pugliese a call. I still remember the words he said: “John, this is the best thing that ever happened to you. Now go and build what you actually want to be doing. Now.”

At the time, I thought it was photography because I had been doing that on the side, but I later realized that I didn't want to do that—sales and relationships were where I wanted to be. I learned that being a W-2 employee didn't work for me—I was not great at having a boss. Now I look back on February 26, 2019, as one of the most amazing days of my life because it led me to this. I love what I get to build. I love doing this podcasting. I love being my own boss and the flexibility that comes with it. Sometimes that can be hard, I get to do the work I love every single day, and I am very blessed. So, that’s part one of my story. On the next episode we’ll talk about the lull and what happened after I lost my job.

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast is edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener. 

I hope you are all having an incredible start to 2023. I am excited to have you guys on this episode and talk to you about who this is for. On Wednesday’s podcast, we talked about who this is not for, and I have often talked about your avatar—who your business is for—and finding the right clients. I have also often talked about building the things that I wish would've been around when I started my real estate career. My main point in this is that I'm learning so much about really diving into who my avatar is. So many people try to get into real estate because they think it's a quick way to get rich. They watch Property Brothers or Chip and Joanna Gaines, and they think it's going to be easy money, but real estate is not easy money. Real estate investing, the membership, the podcast…they all require hard work. The people that are having success are the people that are hardworking, genuine, helpful, and self-motivated. If you're looking for handouts, I'm not interested in helping someone like you. If you're looking to just take and take and take what you want and not give back, then that's not going to be something that really jives with what I'm doing and who I'm trying to help and serve. However, if you're generous, if you're kind, if you're hardworking and helpful, then I absolutely want you to be a part of what I'm doing. That's who this is for. You can think about this in your business—who is this for and who is it not for? You can think of that in terms of clients like I've had to do. Who's that avatar? You can think of that in terms of a podcast, a membership, a brand, or whatever you're building, and I hope that you can try to set some clear boundaries in your business. So, I hope you could think about this your business in 2023. Am I going to be successful? Am I doing those things? Hopefully you are. Think about how you can serve and help people.

Free social media coaching calls are back! To schedule your free social media coaching call go to: https://calendly.com/realestatesurvivalguide/social-media-strategy-for-realtors

Podcast edited by Kenny Carfagno.

Show notes and blog posts are created by Jennifer Harshman and RealtorEmails. John Schuchman is a licensed REALTOR® in Lancaster, PA, with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty and a part of the Andrew Welk Group. The opinions shared on this show represent the opinions & values of John Schuchman and do not necessarily represent the opinions & values of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty. The opinions & ideas shared in this podcast do not guarantee or promise any results of success to the listener.