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When Victoria told me that she had some big clients that she was going to be prospecting for this week, I don’t think I completely grasped what she meant. Though I quickly realized when the first house that we walked into in the Beverly Hills area was listed at $13 million. It was crazy, complete with a large theater room, pool, and it even had a night club in one of its’ wings. The lowest priced home that we looked at that day was listed at $4.5 million. Definitely a different reality.

This week we are staying at our friend Mike’s place in Hollywood. He is a musician and fine tuning his drumming skills at a music school in downtown Hollywood. He has a small studio apartment so Ian and I are on the floor next to his bed. It’s a week long slumber party.

For the majority of us, buying a house is the biggest transaction that we will make in our lives. As such, Victoria has stressed the importance of really knowing your client and what they are looking for in a home. A mis-conception that I had about being a Real Estate Agent is that the majority of time is spent looking at houses and meeting with clients. I have learned that a lot of time is actually spent researching different properties with online listings that fall with your clients needs. Then the client will decide which ones that they would like to go and look at to see if it is what they are truly looking for.

Although you are working with a larger company, in Victoria’s case Coldwell Banker, it seems more that you are running your own small business; setting your own hours, prospecting for clients, flexible schedule. As with any small business, there is a lot of self-motivation required and the more effort you put in, the idea is the more you will get out of it.

Yesterday, there was a company wide staff meeting and I was able to sit in on that. The branch manager talked about various selling techniques - for example, the importance of “oh, la, la-ing” the family pet. Also, there was a motivational speaker from the Brian Tracy programs which was really interesting too.

Tomorrow night, January 11th, I will be part of a segment on ABC 20/20 which was filmed when I was in New York before Christmas. It airs at 10pm on ABC. The segment is on the pursuit of happiness - what makes people happy, immediate gratification vs. lasting happiness. Read more about it here. I will be a very small part of it, though the entire segment should be really interesting.

-Sean

I left Banff, Alberta early this morning and hopped on a plane to Los Angeles, California. So early in fact that the roommates I was staying with had not yet gone to sleep from the previous night as I raced out the door to catch my flight.

This week I am working with Victoria Massengale of Coldwell Banker as a Real Estate Agent in Hollywood Hills. Apparently there will be lots of previewing houses for a big client of hers, so it should be pretty fun.

Real Estate is something I have always thought that I would enjoy; constantly meeting and interacting with new people, always doing something different, continually in new locations… I am looking forward to see what it is really like!

-Sean

I had a fun week in Banff, Alberta working at the Chiropractor clinic. I learned a lot and was really able to help out Shawna with all of the various tasks associated with running the clinic.

On Thursday, I went to Sunshine Village, one of the ski mountains in the area, and put up pamphlets in the hotel, ski school, and various buildings that are on the hill. Afterwards, I was able to spend the afternoon snowboarding which was definitely a great perk of the job this week. My last day was back at the clinic where I helped out with client exercises and giving massages with an amazing little machine called “the thumper”… I know what I will be asking for next Christmas.

One of the things that I continue to enjoy about this experience is that I not only get a glimpse into a particular job each week but also into the lives of those I am working with, not to mention the city I am working in.

Shawna seems to have done a great job at identifying the many things she loves doing and satisfy these through a combination of both her professional and social life. It reminds me of an email I received a couple of days ago that asked, “Sean, does it ‘all’ have to be in the career?”

I suppose that it doesn’t as we can pursue our passions in the many things we do outside of the work place, though at the same time I am not a fan of putting up with something that you don’t like for 80% of the time, just so that you can do what you like to do with the other 20% of your time. I guess there is some balancing involved.

I am heading out to Los Angeles, California for this upcoming week. As much as I have enjoyed the snow and mountains, I am looking forward to some warmer weather.

I am quite certain that Ian and I will be the only ones you will see at the beach in Los Angeles in the month of January!

-Sean

Dr. Shawna Biegel has been really great this week; simply explaining her techniques, what she is doing and why she is doing it so that I can understand. I had previously thought that chiropractic care was mainly joint manipulation and bone cracking stuff, whereas physiotherapy was more about muscle strengthening and a softer approach to rehabilitation. At the Family Chiropractic Office, Shawna also incorporates different elements such as physio, acupressure and her experience in her study of eastern medicine which has been really interesting to learn.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a Physiotherapist for several years and originally entered University with that intention. I visited a Physiotherapist when I was in High School because my neck was going into spasm after a soccer game. When I arrived my head was tilted at a 90 degree angle and if I moved, the muscle would pinch me shooting pain down my spine. When I left the Physiotherapist I was once again upright and no longer in pain. After that I told myself I wanted to be a Physiotherapist. I am not sure how set on it I was or if it just gave me something to say when people would ask of my future plans. I think a bit of both. Generally you are working with people who live active lifestyles, meeting new people all the time, problem solving… I think I would enjoy it as I have always been involved in sports and am really interested in physiology. The human body is pretty remarkable.

I have realized though that I not a huge fan of routines and I really want to have the ability to be mobile. I think that if I were to have a clinic, I would feel attached to a specific location as you try to build and retain a client base. This could simply just be my perception of what a “routine” represents to me, most likely a mis-conception at that. Though for now, I find comfort in uncertainty and the unknown. I think that’s what has kept me moving for the past few years, always doing something different, continually in pursuit of my next adventure; afraid of settling. I am sure this will change someday. I hope it does. I have come to realize that no matter how far you travel, regardless of how remote it is, the one thing you can’t escape is yourself.

Today I am out of the office at Sunshine Village, one of the ski mountains nearby. I will be putting up brochures and posters advertising the clinic and the treatments they offer. Might just have to get a few runs in while I am there too!

-Sean