This week's contributor profile is Bret Calltharp. Check out his work on his Inman profile. I had a little q-and-a session with him, and here is what he had to say: BRET'S INMAN PROFILE Bret Calltharp currently serves as Manager of Business Development for RE/MAX Crest Realty (Metro Vancouver Properties), an eight office RE/MAX franchise group whose 550+ agents have been recognized by RE/MAX, LLC with the #1 Multi-Office Sales Volume Worldwide Award five of the last six years, including 2014. Working with hundreds of real estate agents at brokerage groups in the United States & Canada has given Bret extensive exposure to the many aspects of this fast-paced, performance driven industry. A Kansas native, Bret entered the real estate industry 16 years ago in Southwest Florida, originally in luxury property management before moving to RE/MAX in 2004. Bret enjoys sharing his experience with others through public speaking engagements/seminars, social media outlets and as a Contributor to Inman News. He was chosen by Inman News as an Inman Ambassador for the "Real Estate Connect New York 2015" Conference, one of 21 real estate professionals worldwide selected. Bret has been featured in NAR's "REALTOR® Mag", REALTrends' "LORE Magazine", the Huffington Post and RE/MAX, LLC's "Above" Magazine amongst other media sites. He was a featured speaker at the 2014 RE/MAX Western Canada Fall Super Sales Rally, 2015 Agent Reboot @ Inman Real Estate Connect New York 2015 and the 2015 RE/MAX International R4 Conference in Las Vegas. He will also serve as a featured speaker at the 5th Annual RE/MAX Brazil Conference in São Paulo this May and the Aspire 2015 CE Event in Indianapolis this June. Bret is a proud alumnus of The University of Florida, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Business Administration. He is also an avid marathoner and unabashed Star Wars "fanboy", which explains his Twitter handle of @REMAXJedi. He welcomes anyone to connect with him on Twitter, Google Plus or at about.me/BretCalltharp. | How long have you been a contributor? I have been a contributor since last April. What made you want to contribute? There was an article in Forbes entitled "Are real estate brokers obsolete?" And I saw a post in the Inman Facebook group asking for responses/thoughts. I wrote a quick post and was asked if I'd flesh out my thoughts more as an actual contribution, which I did. I was actually a journalism major coming out of high school and found that I really enjoyed that process, so I've continued since. What has been your favorite piece of feedback so far? I'd say my "welcome to Inman" moment was when I received an email from Errol Samuelson complimenting a piece I did on Zillow's "Coming Soon" listings. However, my favorite piece would have to be an email I received from a young guy getting into the business. He mentioned that a lot of the agents he spoke with were warning against pursuing a real estate career, but that an article I wrote on agent specialization and opportunity really spoke to him and convinced him otherwise. Ultimately I write when I'm inspired and hope to inspire/inform/entertain others as a result, and it was nice to know I'd done that. What do you do in your spare time? Honestly since making the big move from Vancouver to the Realogy headquarters in Madison, New Jersey I haven't had much! However, when I do find the time, I've been a musician all of my life and enjoy being an unapologetic Star Wars geek. I collect autographs and have helped with the autograph hall at the last few official Star Wars "Celebration" conventions, which are always fun. What is your passion? What I'm doing right now. For years I would have said it was music, and I'm quite fortunate to have had a few bands do relatively well, playing some great shows with major bands and fantastic venues and putting out some CDs that I remain proud of. However, it struck me recently -- actually it might have been at Inman Connect in San Francisco -- that I never worked as hard at music as I do at real estate. I truly love working with the entrepreneurs in this business and helping them to grow. My role here at BHGRE literally felt like it was designed just for me and the aspects of this industry that I'm passionate about. What advice would you give to other aspiring real estate professionals? Keep going and never stop learning. There's a reason you see mega producers at conferences -- they understand the fluidity of this business and that you never know when you'll learn the next thing, the next turn of phrase perhaps, that will help you to be more successful. Schedule your time wisely, learn to love prospecting, get a good CRM and go out and meet people! What advice would you give to new contributors? Everyone writes for different reasons. There's certainly not a shortage of opinions in our business, so my advice would be to make sure to put your heart into what you create and don't write just because. To me contributing to Inman, serving as an Ambassador at Connect, etc., is partially how I give back to an industry that has been so good to me. Yes, it's been amazing for networking, and I truly believe that I would not be here at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate today in the role that I'm in had I not submitted that first piece. It really was the snowball that led to a bit of a career avalanche. However, it's not why I wrote and it's not why I'll continue to write. I have submitted less contributions than I could have because I only write when I truly feel inspired to. I think quality for me trumps quantity, and the question I ask before I write is simple: will this help an agent or broker to grow or is it just me venting? I want anything with my name on it posted to Inman to somehow bring value to whoever reads it. |