On this week’s episode of the Powerhouse Podcast, host Diego Sanchez said: first team real estate CEO Michelle Harrington engages in a provocative conversation about female empowerment, real estate leadership, and recruitment strategies.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The two begin their conversation by exploring Harrington’s path to the CEO role with the first team.
Michelle Harrington: After entering real estate sales as a new graduate, marinesI started my own securities company. Six years ago, my entire company came to FirstTeam. Over time, I became Chief Operating Officer. And Cameron Merage thought I could really lead the company into the next generation.
Sanchez: Looking at the industry, over 60% of real estate agents are women, yet only 26% of leadership positions in the real estate industry are held by women. why is that?
Harrington: As women, we want the flexibility to have a great career, family, and other things in life. If you look at the leadership track, it’s a little more structured. If women don’t come forward and provide leadership, it will negatively impact our industry. I chose to step up and become a leader because I love our industry and felt I had something to offer it.
Sanchez: You’re also very active in recruiting right now. FirstTeam is on track to exceed $1 billion in team recruitment this year. How are you doing in this crazy housing market?
Harrington: We have a unique recruitment method. We have always been a new agency company. Our licensing school takes in new agents and trains and develops them to become superstars. If you look at the top 10 agents in Orange County right now, eight of them started with FirstTeam.
Most new agents fail. When you do research, you put new agents on your team and they succeed. These teams are very growth-oriented and want to hire. So we figured out a way to get experienced agents who either have these teams or want to grow them. Their production increases by 20%, 30%, or 40% per year.
We convene these teams and recruit teams. That’s why they are attracted to us and grow with us.
Sanchez: Thinking about expanding FirstTeam beyond California?
Harrington: We believe it is best to keep the fortress very strong and continue to grow. Therefore, organic growth by spreading to adjacent regions is ideal, rather than hopping over and going to some big city in the country.
Sanchez: New buds are beginning to appear in the housing market. What will your business look like in 2025?
Harrington: I think 2025 is going to be a good year, but this year was a real turnaround for us. We sold our corporate offices and significantly reduced overhead costs. We ended expensive partnerships and hired a lot of people. As we continue this upward trajectory into 2025, and we expect the market to improve as well, we think 2025 will be a good year for us.
