Tarrant Real Producers - June 2021

TA R R A N T

C O N N E C T I N G .

Troy George of the Troy & Lucy Show

E L E VAT I N G .

I N S P I R I N G .

RISING STAR: Sascha Chatman FEATURED AGENT: Sonia Leonard PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: AC Executives

Photo by: Traci Schwomeyer

JUNE 2021

2 • June 2021

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Tarrant Real Producers • 3

TAB LE OF

CONTENTS 06

08

12

Index of Trusted Partners

Publisher’s Note

Magazine Release Party

18

25

26

Rising Star: Sascha Chatman

Your Tarrant Real Producers Logo

Partner Spotlight: AC Executives

32

36

44

Coach’s Corner

Featured Agent: Sonia Leonard

Cover Story: Troy George

If you are interested in contributing or nominating REALTORS® for certain stories, please email us at lance.dunahoe@realproducersmag.com.

DISCLAIMER: Any articles included in this publication and/or opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of The N2 Company d/b/a Real Producers but remain solely those of the author(s). The paid advertisements contained within the Tarrant Real Producers magazine are not endorsed or recommended by The N2 Company or the publisher. Therefore, neither The N2 Company nor the publisher may be held liable or responsible for business practices of these companies.

4 • June 2021

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MEET THE

TA R R A N T REAL PRODUCERS TEAM

Jordan Espeseth

Lance Dunahoe

Co-Owner

Co-Owner

Katherine Fondren

Les McGehee

Amanda Thornburg

Missy Kremer

Content Coordinator

Ad Strategist

Writer

Editor

Jenica Hein

Administrative Assistant

Samantha Farris Photographer

Rick Davis

Videographer

Traci Schwomeyer Photographer

Jason Van Sickel

Photographer/Videographer

If you are interested in contributing or nominating REALTORS® for certain stories, please email us at lance.dunahoe@realproducersmag.com.

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Tarrant Real Producers • 5

PREFERRED PARTNERS

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These local businesses are proud to partner with you and make this magazine possible. Please support these businesses and thank them for supporting the REALTOR® community!

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BUSINESS COACHING Rialto Academy (512) 743-4330 RialtoAcademy.com

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CHARCUTERIE PLATTERS & DISPLAYS The Rustic Board, LLC (713) 376-2592 TheRusticBoard.com

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Gracie Morrow Mortgage Group (972) 757-2132 GMMG-MTG.com

HOME INSPECTION TEAM HomeTeam Inspection Service (972) 400-7034 HomeTeam-DFW.com

MOVING SERVICES Stonebriar Moving Services (469) 734-9000 stonebriarmoving.com

HOME WARRANTY Achosa Home Warranty (817) 933-8707 www.achosahw.com

PHOTOGRAPHY Metroplex Headshots (817) 455-7384 MetroplexHeadshots.com

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She’s My Sky Photography (817) 313-4091 ROOFING PROCO Roofing and Construction (817) 975-5948 procoroof.com Tarrant Roofing (817) 987-1210 TarrantRoofing.com TITLE COMPANY Alamo Title Company - Southlake (817) 896-8686 AlamoDFW.com Allegiance Title (817) 510-6490 AllegianceTitle.com Boston National Title of Texas (972) 584-9660 bnttexas.com Fair Texas Title (602) 421-6417 fairtexastitle.com Texas Excel Title LLC (817) 980-1018 TexasExcelTitle.com VIDEO PRODUCTION/ MARKETING/PHOTOGRAPHY Flux Media Productions (469) 955-5833 fluxmediaproductions.com WINDOWS & SIDING Tarrant Windows & Siding (817) 987-1210 TarrantWindows.com

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Tarrant Real Producers • 7

a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune.

publisher’s note I am not going to lie: for most of my life, I HATED this word.

Just ask my dad. I grew up in Thief River Falls, MN — home of Arctic Cat. My dad was very influential in getting Arctic Cat back on its feet when they went bankrupt in 1981. Arctic Cat was an integral part of his life. In fact, my dad grew up racing snowmobiles on ice oval tracks — like Nascar for snowmobiles! He was pretty dang good, too.

Naturally, my dad bred his three boys to be snowmobile racers as well. I started around age four and retired at age seventeen. I was a semi-pro on the National Snocross Circuit my last year of racing.

Snocross is essentially Motocross on snowmobiles. Yes, growing up I spent most of my time jumping 450lb. snowmobiles, 20ft. high, and 100ft. in distance. Standard stuff.

By the way, it should be illegal for a 120lb., 14-year-old kid to be racing a 180-horsepower snowmobile.

8 • June 2021

My dad was my mechanic, boss, and coach. His FAVORITE thing to say to me was: “Jordy... adversity.” After many of my races that didn’t go as planned, I would come back to our race trailer in a not-so-great mood, telling my dad a whole list of excuses as to what went wrong.

“I got roosted, and I couldn’t see!

My goggles were fogging up! It’s too freaking cold! Make my sled faster!” And every time my dad would sit down next to me and say, “Jordy...adversity. Everyone is dealing with the same stuff you are. It is up to you to adapt in the face of those challenges and find a way to make it happen. If not, maybe you should get off the track.”

Dad. I am admitting that you were right! I know he has a smirk on his face as he reads this.

Real Estate is changing rapidly.

The things that worked five years ago don’t work as well now, and what we do now won’t work as well in the next few years.

It is going to be challenging. It always will be. But just remember the wise words of my father: “Everyone is dealing with the same stuff you are.”

So, I ask you—how well do you deal with adversity, and are you willing to adapt to the changes that are coming? I hope so. If not, maybe it’s time to get off the track.

See you in the next issue, y’all!

I always had the same response: “Whatever, Dad. You don’t even know what it was like out there.”

I used to be a little sassy. But, in hindsight, he was right. Yes,

Jordan Espeseth Co-owner jordan.espeseth@realrproducersmag.com

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Tarrant Real Producers • 9

MEET THE CO MM UNI T Y Check Out Some of Tarrant County’s Top 500 Producing REALTORS®!

10 • June 2021

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Nominate a top REALTOR® you’d like to see featured by emailing lance.dunahoe@realproducersmag.com.

Koty Riley

Clint Blackwell

SALES EXECUTIVE Fair Texas Title – Mansfield kriley@fairtexastitle.com

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Tarrant Real Producers • 11

event recap

MAGAZINE RELEASE PARTY April & May 2021 Issues

Starting in 2021, Real Producers is now doing mini Magazine Release Parties! In attendance for these events, we will have those real estate agents and businesses that were featured in the previous issue or two along with a few non-featured advertising partners.

This was our second-ever Tarrant Real Producers Celebration Party, where we showcased the April and May issues. It was so much fun! It was such a great way to debut the magazines and connect a smaller group of rockstars. Cherry Creek Mortgage allowed us to host this event at their incredibly beautiful office!

12 • June 2021

Congratulations again to Randy White, Sarah Thwaites, Cherry Creek Mortgage, Wynne & Perry Moore, Niña Henderson, Mike Bowman, and Tarrant Roofing.

Our team feels very grateful to have had the chance to share your stories and celebrate with you. We look forward to continuing these smaller celebrations in the months and years ahead!

Cheers, Lance Dunahoe & Jordan Espeseth Co-Owners Tarrant Real Producers @realproducers

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Tarrant Real Producers • 13

14 • June 2021

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Tarrant Real Producers • 17

rising star Written by: Kaitlin Davison, Rialto Coaching Photos by: Traci Schwomeyer

18 • June 2021

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Sascha Chatman Six Sigma Selling

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Tarrant Real Producers • 19

M

Many real estate professionals use analogies to describe their business model. They use healthcare analogies about how they care for clients, or assembly line analogies about how their business flows. But few REALTORS® have actually come from a healthcare background or have studied business operations at the level of a Six Sigma black belt.

Sascha Chatman, a unique exception, has done both.

After a long career as a healthcare executive, Sascha was ready to make a change. His lifelong mission is to help people. Yet the humdrum day-today corporate life, the jumping through hoops and navigating red tape were making it hard to feel like he was helping people directly.

“I knew I wanted something different. I knew that I wanted to help people. I wanted something with upward mobility so I could make an impact on my community.”

While in healthcare, he had a mentor that introduced him to the power of owning real estate.

Sascha rode along with him as he collected rent and addressed his tenants needs. “I knew these entrepreneurs were living in a world that I couldn’t even begin to truly think through, and that seemed very attractive to me.”

A frustrating experience buying and selling his own homes made Sascha confident that he could do a better job than his REALTORS® had done.

“The two transactions I had in real estate before becoming a REALTOR® were just terrible. The (REALTOR®) I used to buy my house – disappeared as soon as we went under contract. The guy who sold my home put a sign in the yard and prayed it sold. I felt like I could do this better. People are more than just a transaction. They are buying their future here.”

Sascha knew he wanted something different. “I knew that I wanted to help people. I wanted something with upward mobility so I could make an impact on my community.” Real estate fit the bill, so he took the plunge and enrolled in real estate courses.

At first, he straddled the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds. Easy money doing part-time

20 • June 2021

consulting is a hard gig to give up, but it also left Sascha with a divided focus. He found it challenging to find his motivation, dedication, and drive to grow his real estate business. Real Producers will recognize this commonplace scenario: A lack of focus is why most new agents get lost and drift out of the industry. In 2019, Sascha took a stand. He would NOT be one of those lost agents. He leaned into his new role as his own boss and decided it was time to go all in.

How does someone with Sascha’s unique healthcare and Six Sigma background lean in? “Healthcare gave me discipline. Corporate America gave me discipline. But working on my own at home — I wasn’t getting any work done.

So, I created a job description for myself and I took all the tools I used back in healthcare and I brought them to real estate. I gave myself a work management board, mapped out the entire real estate process, and I created a block schedule.

And I held myself accountable to different metrics.

I started doing that in 2019. Next thing I know, I sold five houses one month and six the next! Then I knew — I’ve got something here.”

With a focus on process improvement and a commitment to churn through the important — but often boring — systems required to generate and nurture leads, Sascha broke through his ceiling. He went from working several part-time jobs to explosive REALTOR® growth. He closed 53 home sales in 2020 and now leads a team of three other agents.

Sascha chose to take an educational approach to his real estate business and lead-generation processes, “because no one educated me at all – not my lender, not my agent that represented me, not my home inspector … That’s why I do webinars and use technology the way I do.” The video-based lead cultivation system (BombBomb) Sacha’s team uses now builds trust by leaving less room for interpretation or misunderstanding. “We want our clients educated throughout the process.”

Here’s one thing Sascha learned. “For every listing I take, I can multiply it into four additional transactions.” This is where his process improvement background from the healthcare industry comes into play.

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Next thing I know, I sold five houses one month and six the next! Then I knew — I’ve got something here.

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Tarrant Real Producers • 21

Sascha with his wife, Stephanie, son, Sascha, Jr., and daughter, Selena

“As a Six Sigma black belt and process engineer, my executive role in healthcare was to improve the overall outcomes of financial metrics for the hospital. In order to do that, I needed to find the leading and lagging measures to improve on. When you get people to focus on the right leading measures, the lagging measures will come out just fine. I know if I talk to and have a meaningful back-and-forth conversation with 38 people every single day about real state, I’m going to sell five houses that month.”

“That’s what we’re building towards, families like us trying to step up their game.”

And this ex-healthcare executive Six Sigma black belt’s family is all in and loving it, supporting those goals. “My wife networks better than anyone out there.” Both of the kids (11 and 13) assist him at the 4-6 open houses he 22 • June 2021

does each weekend by signing people up at registration. His daughter can stage a home and his son edits the videos, because “they’re both little entrepreneurs in their own way. As a family, we run this thing and rock it out. We have fun with it. That’s what we’re building towards, families like us trying to step up their game.”

You can find Sascha at The Potters’ House of Fort Worth, partnering with them to host Home Buying and Selling Seminars. He’s known as “Coach Sascha” in many places too, coaching youth basketball, football, and volleyball. “I absolutely love coaching kids and watching them grow. My passion for coaching is what led me to coaching agents!” Sascha coaches agents through his real estate coaching program, The Real Estate Tech Ninja. Or he relaxes by golfing or playing basketball with friends.

Wherever you find Sascha, the Six Sigma Black Belt is likely improving a process as he goes.

To learn more about Sascha and his team, visit chatmanrealtygroup.com To learn more about The Real Estate Tech Ninja visit realestatetechninja.com To learn more about Six Sigma visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma To learn more about The Potter’s House of Fort Worth visit tphfw.org

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Tarrant Real Producers • 25

partner spotlight Written by: Kaitlin Davison, Rialto Coaching Photos by: Traci Schwomeyer

26 • June 2021

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AC

EXECUTIVES Cool A/C Runnings

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Tarrant Real Producers • 27

Jay and Stacye Sanford met on a flight from DFW to NYC. Thus began a story of inspiration, grit, and encouragement. At the time, they were both employed in the travel industry, but after 9/11, their livelihoods were no longer on solid ground.

They faced a choice: It was either hunker down and wait for the next furlough — OR —they could use the instability as an opportunity to make a big change.

After learning that Jay was interested in the HVAC industry, Stacye surprised him by signing him up for orientation at Lincoln Technical University in Grand Prairie. He wanted to do it, and she nudged him to actually go after it and do it.

Just like with real estate, schooling and pre-exam study prepare you for just a small portion of the actual day-to-day professional realities. Jay knew that he had about 90% left to learn. “When I graduated from school, I was bound and determined to learn this. My whole thing is to learn as much as you can and, once you get that knowledge, you’re headed for success.”

He was willing to do whatever it took to get that experience. “I gave myself away,” he teases. “I met a co-worker who had experience in the field, and I said, ‘Listen, you don’t have to pay me, but I want to come on every job you’re doing. I just want to be there beside you and learn this.’”

It’s his drive to go the extra mile that makes AC Executives a Tarrant REALTOR® favorite. Jay and Stacye are committed to their business, to say the least. These are Tarrant entrepreneurs, mentoring our Tarrant technicians and supporting Tarrant real estate. And driving every day toward their own version of the American dream.

After soaking up as much knowledge as possible, Jay landed a lucrative gig subcontracting on installs with large corporations and builders. In two months, he made enough for the couple to put a down payment on their first home here, right before their first baby arrived. “At that point, I knew I had something — something clicked. Something inside of me said, ‘You can do this and grow a successful

28 • June 2021

business.’ So, I just continued to build it, and build it, and build it.”

In 2018, Jay was inducted as an inaugural member of Lincoln Technical University’s Hall of Fame, where he was recognized for his success and his mentorship. Jay regularly goes back to the school to hire graduates. “Once you’re willing to learn, I will teach it to you,” he says. After being told by prospective employers after he finished school, “You have no experience,” he wants to give others a chance. “If I can give you a chance so you can build up your experience, I just streamlined your career moving forward.”

First our community learned how capable AC Executives were, then big builders, and Tarrant REALTORS® took notice, too. Stacye jumps in to share, “We came from a place where all of our customers were friends or friends of friends saying, ‘Hey, I heard you know how to fix air conditioners,’ and now we’re working with multimillion-dollar Fortune 500 companies that build homes all over the world and America. Once you get to that level, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and pride that they trust your knowledge and expertise.”

When times have gotten tough as business owners, it’s that sense of pride that has helped the couple push through. “I was on the brink of wanting to the throw in the towel many times,” recalls Jay. “But what kept me going is that I’m afraid of failing. I failed my whole life. I was told my whole life, ‘You won’t be able to do that. You won’t be able to do this.’

So, for me, failure at this business wasn’t an option.”

When they’re not working, Stacye and Jay enjoy escaping to their happy place on the beach with

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Tarrant Real Producers • 29

their three kids, Justin, Jaden, and Skylar. Ever the entrepreneur, Jay spends his time at the beach observing and finding opportunity. Just before COVID-19, they had plans and investors in place to open up a beachside bar and grill in Grand Cayman.

Jay got tired of waiting for the pandemic to subside, so he decided to go ahead and bring “The Best Caribbean Food in Texas” to town with a food truck. You can find Island Time Beach Bar & Grill, where “It’s Island Time All the Time,” off 170 near Cabela’s.

The couple’s motivation to provide for their family has kept them going. That, and serving as role models for others. “Jay is originally from the Caribbean and I grew up in Detroit,” Stacye says. “As a couple, we have so many dreams and aspirations for our family and that is a motivation to keep going.”

“We’re African-Americans,” she adds. “We want to set an example to those who will come after us that you can own your own business and succeed.”

Learn more about AC Executives at acexecutives. com or call 817-307-9204.

Learn more about Island Time Beach Bar and Grill at islandtimebbg. squarespace.com

30 • June 2021

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Tarrant Real Producers • 31

Going from

Pt 2

Great toLevelGreater Up Leverage coach’s corner Written by: Les McGehee, Head Coach, Rialto Coaching

Congratulations on being a Real Producer! It’s quite an accomplishment. To get here, you definitely helped a lot of people and likely did some extraordinary things.

But — are you done? Finito? Glad it’s over?

Of course you’re not done! We talked about this last month. Even though you’re already successful, you aren’t satiated by your previous successes.

Your appetite for growth is ongoing. You get that your business is great for what it is, but you still want to go great-to-greater.

In this issue’s Coach’s Corner, we’re focusing on unique opportunities Real Producers have for leverage. Are you ignoring top shelf leverage opportunities?

Here are 10 top leverage opportunities, that we turned up to 11 (like Spinal Tap!), for you to consider for taking your team from great-togreater, again and again.

Pop-out: “Real Producers have different leverage opportunities than newer, less productive, or less networked teams.”

Leverage #1: Tap into Allied Vendors Leverage your vendors for training.

A great example of allied vendor training would be for a successful Real Producer home inspection company or roofing company to teach your agents proven techniques for

32 • June 2021

recommending and debriefing reports and strategies. (Remember that vendors in this magazine are hand-picked as the favorites of our Real Producer community.)

Leverage #2: Involve Your Associations Some innovative associations are laserfocused on serving your agents. Case in point: Greater Fort Worth Association of REALTORS® just launched a cuttingedge Rialto Virtual Campus to increase their quality and availability of training.

Yes, they have continuing education, but also specializations, professional development, and opportunities to network with Real Producer peers at the association.

Leverage #3: Learn from National Trainers National trainers have never been more accessible or affordable. Who’s the best in your niche in the nation? Often, Real Producers are willing to share even more techniques to Real Producers in other markets. You don’t have to hire the same local person you’ve hired many times — you can mix it up with national experts.

And being virtual, their prices have likely gone way down. Or... trade!

Leverage #4: Lean into Your Internal Production Leaders Have your most-tenured, first-time homebuyer agent lead a training for that niche.

Or have your top seller representative lead

@realproducers

a session on bringing listings to market.

Use your internal team power!

Leverage #7: Trade with Another Real Producer

Leverage #5: Distill YOUR Secret Sauce!

What’s a fellow Real Producer doing well that you could benefit from and vice versa? What other Real Producer is supporting the market that you’d like to share with and learn from?

Teach a strategy to their team and they teach one to yours.

Have you distilled your top three beliefs or strategies that are most responsible for your success? For a minor investment, you could get an instructional designer to build your course, increasing your influence on your team’s culture, unique value proposition, and tone with which your agents represent you.

Leverage #6: “Learn a book!” (Cecily Strong, SNL) Harvest strategies from top authors and get them into your operations. Leverage the best content ever created. In Rialto Coaching, for instance, we strategically leverage books in three ways: • Digest the book. Reading the book quickly is fun and can make agents smarter. Tip: A renowned business author once told me he was surprised I’d read the second half of his book because “Most business books are only good in the first half. It’s not like you’re waiting for the surprise ending!” Warning: Digesting a book is often the least effective technique for changing behavior.

• Teach the book. Have your team trainer identify 1–3 primary strategies from a book and figure out how to teach them.

Don’t bother making everyone read the entire book unless you’re going to use the next strategy.

• Invite the book to influence daily behavior. This is Rialto Coaching’s favorite: The entire team reads 3–5 pages of the book daily and discusses it for five minutes at team meetings.

This technique is not about digesting the book or teaching it; it’s about inviting the book to influence team behavior daily and create new habits.

Immensely doable — and immensely focused and impactful.

realproducersmag.com

Leverage #8: Engage with Technology Providers Your brand and/or tech provider wants your team to get better at using their systems, and they want you to have return on investment so that you continue using their services! They would likely be happy to provide a professional-level training specific to your team that can improve your ROI on their product.

Leverage #9: Encourage Agents to Bring Their No. 1s Spend five minutes at team meetings with No. 1 questions for small panels.

What’s the No. 1 thing you’ve gained from your coach this season? What’s the No. 1 strategy bringing you the most business this year? What’s your No. 1 fun thing right now? Or get ahead of the curve and share your No. 1 focus for where our market will be next!

Leverage #10: Increase Shadowing When Onboarding Choose an agent who’s not only great at sales and service but is also great at embodying your team culture and language. It’ll accelerate your onboarding, production, and retention, and will likely make your top team members proud and more engaged as well.

Leverage #11: Align Your Agents’ Coaches How many business coaches are in your mix? Are they aligned with your

goals for the year? There is a LOT of leverage available from aligning various coaches’ input so that your team is able to grow together and have focused conversations on the most important initiatives of the current season. Consider using a coaching provider who has the ability to align their focus for greater effect. For instance, we recommend you take a team assessment as well as individual assessments, to be able to see your big picture for maximum results.

Bonus Tip: Get YOUR Coach to Step Up! Surely, as a Real Producer, you have a coach! If everyone from your favorite athletes to your favorite actors to your favorite business icons have coaches, why wouldn’t a Real Producer like you have a great coach?

And because you do, ask your coach to bring a training or mastermind on a top strategy for your team. Great coaches will say yes because of the increased results it will bring you.

Real Producers can exercise leverage leadership and leverage up!

If you’d like to learn more about these or additional leverage strategies or get a FREE team assessment from Rialto Coaching to focus your team journey, get in touch.

Les McGehee is Head Coach of Rialto Coaching, a division of Rialto Academy. Rialto Coaching specializes in growing great businesses and businesspeople to No. 1 and above No. 1.

Email Les at Les@RialtoAcademy.com.

Tarrant Real Producers • 33

YOUR LOCAL TEAM Our warranties provide BETTER COVERAGE and at a LOWER PRICE FREE LISTING COVERAGE

WOW YOUR CLIENTS with a hand-crafted charcuterie board Ashleigh McGhee | Head Cheese Lover TAWN GRAY

Regional Sales Manager

Mobile

713-376-2592

www.therusticboard.com

817-538-8977 For Claims Call

Julie Jones Vice President, Real Estate Sales

972-739-9000 tawn.gray@homeserveusa.com www.home-warranty.com

HomeServe Home Warranty formerly Nations Home Warranty

34 • June 2021

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featured agent Written by: Les McGehee, Head Coach, President of Rialto Academy Photos by: Traci Schwomeyer

Sonia

Leonard 36 • June 2021

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Easy as Pie: FUN WITH THE HOME WHISPERER Eat your pie quietly so that you can best hear the Home Whisperer. You didn’t get your pie? Well, if you knew Sonia Leonard, you’d have no excuse.

Let’s start at the beginning and work back up to pie.

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Sonia Leonard has been helping our neighbors find amazing homes that are a match for them for 18 years and counting. That’s why she has become the Home Whisperer. That title came to her after her intuition and understanding of her buyers’ situations revealed her uncanny ability to select homes that uniquely satisfy her clients. It typically goes like this… 1. Sonia selects and shows a home. 2. Clients ask to see other homes. 3. Clients decide that the first home was the uncanny match and go with Sonia’s first choice. Hence, the Home Whisperer.

Have you ever noticed that while Texan is clearly the finest of all languages, adding a touch of British accent makes it sound even cooler?

Sonia’s whisper sounds different, mainly because it’s a delightful mix of British and Texan. A graduate of Liverpool University and later a London resident right down the road from Downton Abbey, Sonia came to our neck of the woods from across the pond some time ago and has been helping neighbors with homes ever since. “I sound a bit like Midland, UK meets Midland, Texas,” she quips.

Have you ever noticed that while Texan is clearly the finest of all languages, adding a touch of British accent makes it sound even cooler? And we’re so exceedingly humble, too! Humble pie! But I digress — we’re working our way back up to pie.

Sonia has done some powerful things consistently that show her character in unique ways. Sixteen years of helping homeowners with RE/MAX. Many years with Buffini Coaching (she’s a “gardener”).

And years of giving away pies and creating fun on the red carpet. Dang it, we’re accidentally talking about pie too early again.

Even though Sonia is the Home Whisperer, she finds herself helping sellers quite a bit lately. Here’s a common conversation for Sonia helping a client this year: “It’ll take the weekend. Let’s go ahead and set our appointment for Monday to review your offers.” Business is good, and so is Sonia. “I’m giving myself and my experience to my clients. So I ask a lot of questions about what is important to them. I get keenly aware of the other person’s situation and I serve it.”

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My purpose is to help and thank my clients, but they keep thanking me!

“I get keenly aware of the other person’s situation and I serve it.”

OK, thankfully we can talk about pies now. Sonia is keenly aware that we’re ready to talk about pie, AND the red-carpet party, AND the gratitude of Thanksgiving. One of the cool, fun things that Sonia does that shows her character is how she practices Thanksgiving gratitude for her clients. Every Thanksgiving, she hosts a Thanksgiving Pie Day, where she rolls out the red carpet for her clients — literally — along with the red velvet ropes and stanchions. She then gives her clients pie, but not any random pie. She finds out which kind they like the best and that’s the pie she gives them to show her gratitude.

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Another sign of her character: When she realized that her Pie Day had gotten so popular that the drivethru line to receive your pie was 20 minutes long, Sonia added themed music, treats for your pet, coloring books for your kids, and raffles and prizes — basically fun stacked on top of more fun and topped off with pie.

Because Sonia is “keenly aware of the other person’s situation.”

are. And her clients are so grateful that sometimes she visits them and sees a photo of herself with them in their home! “My purpose is to help and thank my clients, but they keep thanking me!”

When not feeding us amazing pie, creating fun and memorable experiences, and putting us in perfect-match homes, Sonia is typically focused on growing her leadership, nurturing agent growth, and tending to her own personal growth. She confesses to being a bit of a “growth” nerd, as many Real Producers

For more information about writer Les McGehee visit RialtoAcademy.com.

Thank you, Home Whisperer.

For more information about Sonia, visit sonialeonard.com or call (817) 714-6292.

For more information about Thanksgiving pies, get to know Sonia.

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If you’re at the top of your game, congratulations!

But … are you done now?

(We have proven success helping Real Producers get even realer)

COAC HING Save the date: August 11, 2021 Rialto Presents Live Webinar: "Strategies for the Oncoming Market Shift: An Expert Panel from Markets Coast to Coast (and TX)" Hosted by Les McGehee Expert Panelists will be announced in the NEXT ISSUE! Email coaching@rialtoacademy.com for your free pass

Les McGehee, Head Coach

BUSINESS COACHING

REAL ESTATE COACHING

COACHING CERTIFICATIONS

Ask us about the Real Producer special! coaching@rialtoacademy.com realproducersmag.com

Tarrant Real Producers • 41

42 • June 2021

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Tarrant Real Producers • 43

Troy George of the Troy and Lucy Show

cover story

Written by: Les McGehee, Head Coach, Rialto Coaching Photos by: Traci Schwomeyer

Troy is the man behind George & Noonan Real Estate group. His business partner, Lucy Noonan, is the lady behind that same biz. Together they are lovingly known to many of us as the Troy and Lucy Show. Why is Troy such a big deal? Multiple reasons and numbers.

In 2008, Troy George with The George Group joined forces with Lucy Noonan, who ran the No. 1 Real Estate company in Tarrant County, to create Synergy Realty, LLC. Synergy is a luxury boutique real estate firm located in Southlake, Texas. Synergy Realty is ranked one of the top five brokerages in Tarrant County for sales volume in 2021. Troy is proud to work with each one of the top-producing REALTORS® in their Synergy family. They define synergy as each team member working together to achieve success while encouraging each other through vision, culture, and support.

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In the past few years, Troy and Lucy have sold more than $240 million in local real estate. The George and Noonan Real Estate group is currently No. 1 in transactions and sales volume in Westlake, Texas. “We specialize in luxury homes and pride ourselves on meeting each client’s unique expectations and needs. We have strong market knowledge and always try to be industry innovators, not just real estate consultants.” Over Troy’s entire career he has sold over a billion in real estate. Yes, billion with a ‘b.’

Troy was born Texan, which we all know is the most powerful and

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Tarrant Real Producers • 45

Troy George and his business partner, Lucy Noonan

humble of advantages. In addition, he has become a Texas Real Estate Icon. “My experience working for a home builder at a young age was the catalyst that helped shaped me into the passionate and professional REALTOR® I am today. My mom and dad taught me the value of hard work, ethics, and the power of faith. Every day this industry helps shape and reinforce my character.”

After 15 years of experience with developers, REALTORS®, and builders, Troy became an independent REALTOR®. In 2001, he became a licensed Texas Real Estate Broker. He has received many awards and recognition throughout his career.

“Over 80% of our business is a referral from past clients. Our favorite part of being REALTORS® is helping our clients’ dreams come true.”

Meanwhile, Lucy Noonan had been an executive leader with US Airways for 17 years. She later served as corporate vice president of Sales for AT&T Broadband and consulted Fortune 500 Companies prior to her real estate career. She led the Keller Williams flagship market center in Southlake, TX with more than 450 REALTORS®.

Troy’s time with builders helped him understand the kind of long-lasting relationships REALTORS® have with their clients. “With home builders and developers, I learned the value of building relationships with REALTORS® since they were my clients. As a REALTOR®, I have continued to develop lasting relationships with them, treating long-term

46 • June 2021

relationships with the utmost respect. REALTORS® and clients together make transactions rewarding and successful.” Lucy describes strength in collaboration among REALTORS® as key to their success.

“Learning and growing together, honing our skills, and sharing best practices are key in our REALTOR® community,” she explains.

“It’s time to play the music It’s time to light the lights It’s time to sell some homes, the Troy and Lucy Show tonight!”

(Lucy’s brother’s version of The Muppet Show song, appropriated) Lucy’s brother calls them the Troy and Lucy Show and teases them with the Muppet Show theme song. They don’t have Kermit and the gang on their team, so what unique experiences can you expect from the Troy and Lucy Show? “We hang our hats on integrity, honesty, experience, and dedication.” When working with The George & Noonan Real Estate Group, you can leverage the corporate, strategic, and consultative mentality of Lucy Noonan, and the experience and knowledge of Troy. “Our strong passion for this business, and our commitment to service, has truly become our way of life,” says Troy proudly.

Troy and team have also made fun and generous contributions along the way!

“We’ve been long-time board members for Kids Matter International and still support this charity in many ways.” One time, the nonprofit had a contest for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Andrea Bocelli sing in his Teatro del Silenzio in Bocelli’s

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We hang our hats on integrity, honesty, experience, and dedication.

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hometown in Tuscany. Knowing Troy and Lucy are big fans, their clients surprised them by inviting them to go… And they DID go with them, creating some amazing memories.

Troy is most happy in life when surrounded by many friends and family around the dinner table or outdoor living at Possum Kingdom Lake. “I raised three amazing children—London, Christian, and Channing.” Meanwhile. Lucy was usually in a full house too, having been one of seven children herself, then having her own parents live with her for 16 years while watching her son, Demetri, grow up to be an international paintball professional. Yes, there are international paintball professionals. Ask Lucy, she knows all about it. “Anytime I can be free, I’m usually with Demetri or traveling to visit family!”

Troy and Lucy continue to lead the way in 2021.

“The opportunities and demand are extraordinary.

We’ve already sold more than $65 million in real estate in 2021, so far. Helping buyers compete, navigate, and successfully purchase their desired properties is challenging and rewarding! In this environment, we must become even more creative

and innovative and continuously improve our processes and strategies.”

And after 2021? “With the vast demand for homes, new developments are critical. Through our success and proven results, we’re proud to partner with key developers and builders as their exclusive REALTORS®! Our most recent successes include Quail Hollow, Westlake, Saddleback Ridge Estates, and Southlake!” The team will continue their journey through this year with new opportunities and help create a positive impact on the luxury community landscape in 2021.

Stay tuned for more of the Troy and Lucy Show!

To learn more about The George & Noonan Real Estate Group, visit George&Noonan.com To learn more about Kids Matter International, visit KidsMatterInternatinal.org To learn more about The Muppet Show, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muppet_Show

Troy, Lucy and The George & Noonan Real Estate team

48 • June 2021

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“It’s not about the loans we do; it is about the hearts we change and the people we help.”

Anginette Cells Jorrey, Loan Officer | NMLS # 216856 / 2289 Office 817-812-2276 | Direct 214-908-2828 anginettej@fairwaymc.com | AnginetteHomeLoans.com

I look forward to building a relationship with you.

Give me a call TODAY! 1201 Hall Johnson Rd, Suites 100 & 101 • Colleyville, TX 76034 Copyright©2018 Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation. NMLS#2289. 4750 S. Biltmore Lane, Madison, WI 53718, 1-877-699-0353. All rights reserved. This is not an offer to enter into an agreement. Not all customers will qualify. Information, rates and programs are subject to change without notice. All products are subject to credit and property approval. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. Equal Housing Lender. Fairway is not affiliated with any government agencies. These materials are not from HUD or FHA and were not approved by HUD or a government agency.

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