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Scaling Up Success Podcast
Scaling Up Success is a podcast designed to inspire and educate entrepreneurs and business leaders on their journey to growth and development. Through in-depth conversations with successful small business owners and C-suite executives, we delve into the strategies, challenges, and triumphs that have propelled these businesses to new heights.
Discover the secrets behind scaling your business, from building a strong foundation to navigating complex market dynamics. Learn from those who have been there, gain actionable insights, and unlock your business's full potential. Join us as we explore the stories of innovation, resilience, and unwavering determination that define success in the ever-evolving business landscape.
Scaling Up Success Podcast
Corner Office to No Office: A Realtor's Evolution with Samia Morgan
What happens when sharp analytical thinking blends with the heart of relationship-driven real estate?
Samia Morgan’s inspiring evolution, from Egyptian immigrant to global luxury real estate advisor, shows that real success stems from embracing change while staying rooted in your values.
Her story is one of remarkable transformation: a chemistry graduate turned tech professional turned real estate leader. Guided by her father’s timeless advice“Keep your options open, be a good listener, and never say no until you’ve heard what they have to say”, Samia carved her path by founding and selling a 50-agent Keller Williams office, adapting to massive industry shifts, and ultimately thriving in EXP’s innovative virtual model.
What makes Samia’s insights truly impactful is her gift for balancing personal client care with forward-thinking technology. “You should be technology infused, not technology scared,” she says, debunking the myth that AI will replace agents. Instead, she shows how tech can elevate performance. Through mastermind groups, global networking, and mentoring rising professionals, Samia also proves that collaboration is more crucial than ever in today’s digital age.
To those entering the field, she offers this golden wisdom: invest in quality training, seek mentors who’ve walked your journey, and above all, “If real estate doesn’t fuel your passion, go do something that does.” Her honesty and dedication shine in every lesson she shares.
Feeling inspired to rethink your own real estate journey or business path?
Tune in now and discover how staying open-minded can be your next big breakthrough. Then let us know, what part of Samia’s story resonated with you most?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bay-Area-Real-EstateSamia-Realty-Group/246136832238/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samiamorgan
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Welcome back everybody. This is Ryan Van Ornum with Scaling Up Success Podcast. Today I have Samia Morgan. Samia, how are you today?
Speaker 2:I'm great. How are you, Ryan?
Speaker 1:I'm fantastic, it's wonderful having you on. I love talking to you. We've known each other for a few years now and I'm just excited to let everybody else know about where you came from and where you're going with everything that you got going on.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you. Likewise really enjoyed getting to know you over the last couple of years and you're an incredible human and you are in so many things. You manage your time so well and it's very impressive.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you, ma'am. So no, let's dive right in. I love the ma'am part. Well, I always got to be. You know, the military side of me always said be professional no matter what. So tell me I know, tell me I, I, I know you're. You've been in luxury real estate for you know a while now, but you've had many different other ventures with you and your husband. Tell me what you got going on with me and my husband.
Speaker 2:Well, we have three kids. No, that's not where you want it to go. Um, well, we've both? Um been in different businesses. I started out in, uh, science industry. I was in oil industry, um, then in tech, after I got married and moved to the bay area, where, you know, tech is what you do. So we both were in tech.
Speaker 2:I worked at Apple computer back in 1983, before the Mac was born, and worked at other software companies and then realized I need a better life, I need to get more control of my stress. So I decided to get into real estate of my stress. So I decided to get into real estate. Yeah, that's exactly what my doctor said. He said you're doing what now? I said, yeah, it's you control your time, you're the boss, you know, and he goes, you just wait. So that was how I got into real estate. Actually, I started by investing in the 70s with my parents, college. Uh, my dad said, hey, I'm borrowing five thousand dollars from the credit union to buy property. Do you want to borrow money from me and we can go in together? I said, sure, um, so my, my parents immigrated, just a point of reference, uh, in 1969, and from egypt from egypt and, um, we needed well, we have three.
Speaker 2:There's three of us girls, so there was, uh, not much of a future for women back then and uh, christianity wasn't really welcomed and uh, so it was to come to a country where you can speak your mind and opportunities are there for your taking. And my father I really am very blessed to have parents with vision who gave up everything they had to come to the US taught us a lot. My dad was an engineer. There were no, it was a recession. There were no jobs for him, so he worked in a furniture company. He just did everything he could. My mom never cooked in her life, never worked in her life, but went and got a job. I was in charge of the budget because I couldn't take a job at 13. So I learned early on about how to manage your money and you know work with a budget, so that was good training.
Speaker 1:Well, I know you have worked your way up and it has been incredible to see the rise. You know you're doing amazing stuff in the real estate side of stuff over the last uh years and I and I and I'm just always been impressed and inspired by what you do. So, um, how, what were like those challenges building up that real estate business over the years?
Speaker 2:well, you know, I joined my first company in 1987 and, uh, as I don't think I mentioned, but I had an undergraduate degree in chemistry, so I have a very analytical mind. And then I got my master's in business. So I love numbers. I didn't want to get involved with the residential side because I thought that was too emotional, and so I worked in the investment side for a while and then the tax laws changed and I found out that people were still thinking that there's a pride of ownership factor in selling their businesses and investment properties and that didn't work out so well. So I actually tried residential and loved it. So I actually tried residential and loved it. I worked for a small boutique office and then I joined a corporate office and when I gave them my business plan they said what's that?
Speaker 2:And I said well, it's my business plan. They said just tell me how many houses you want to hold open and how many calls you're going to make. That's all you need One sheet. I'm like oh, I had conferences I wanted to attend, I had different goals and so I kept those to myself. I had a business coach and back then that you didn't do those things.
Speaker 1:A lot of people still don't in real estate.
Speaker 2:We had the books. We didn't have the internet. We didn't have. I had email actually back then, but not many people did, and so it was interesting to see. Back then we called them the old timers. Now we call each other the veterans. We don't consider ourselves the old timers because we're still active and interested in growing our business.
Speaker 2:Back then things were different. Okay, you got into real estate because you wanted the second income, you socialized, you had a click. All that I was more focused on on a business and I went from. The independent company didn't allow me to have my picture on my business card and I thought, well, if I go to a conference, how are they going to remember me? And so I got little photo labels to put on my business card. People would remember me. Then I joined Remax because they believed in the agent as the brand and they allowed you to have, you know, your pictures and all that.
Speaker 2:And then I came across Keller Williams. I really wasn't keen on going and changing and I did the don't talk to me kind of mode. But I went to a conference because I was believed in keeping an open mind, something my dad taught me early on and I was in a room where this guy in a black shirt was talking about you, know your net income and mind your expenses, and I'm like, whoa, what is this? Who is this guy? So I asked a friend of mine, who's this guy in a black shirt? And he said, oh, that's Gary Keller. And I said, oh, he's teaching realtors about your bottom line. How revolutionary.
Speaker 2:So I joined Keller Williams in 2001. They didn't have an office in my area, so I ended up opening the office and grew it from zero to 50. And we profit share the 23, which was pretty unheard of. And we had one of the largest caps in the business. And the model back then was you know, the agent is the brand. Therefore the agent should be maxing out how much they pay the company and the rest should be theirs. And I thought, wow, that's very progressive, makes sense to me and the education was awesome. And then somebody came to me and asked to buy my office, where I wasn't really looking to sell. But again, my dad was in my ear Keep your options open, be listening, don't say no before you know what they're going to say. So did you want all that?
Speaker 1:You're doing great. Keep on going.
Speaker 2:All right. So I listened and I said, okay, I'm willing to sell, because back then it was becoming more of a job and I really want to continue to build my business. I had a team of five agents and I said, okay, but I don't want just cash. If you're going to sell my office, if you're going to buy my office, rather, I would like ownership in your business as well. Gosh, if you're going to sell my office, if you're going to buy my office, rather, I would like ownership in your business as well, your other companies. And they said, okay, we could do that. So I did that.
Speaker 2:I stayed with Keller Williams for a while because I didn't want anybody to think I was no longer a believer in the model, because I was, and I really was. Up until a few years ago when somebody by the name of Don Hobbs whom I respect dearly because he and I worked together he had his PR and marketing agency and they did a lot of work for me for branding and marketing, and he said come to this conference. And I said, don, you know I have 10 years left in me. What do you want me to do? I'm happy where I am. I'm my own broker. I get along with the broker really well because it's me, he's a tough cookie, but I like her and he said, just come. And I'm like, okay, my dad was in my ear again and I said, okay, I'll come.
Speaker 2:I met some exceptional people at the EXP conference and I took my husband with me because I said, you know, this is something that we would be doing together. And so we met Glenn Sanford, we met Pete Milton I mean all these people who were just so happy to meet you and and tell you, let me know if you need anything, and you follow up with them. And they actually remembered you and were serious about helping you. So it was a very different culture and it, it, it just made me smile inside because you don't see that in corporate America anymore and it's it's all about the company and making money and not about the agent. And the model makes sense. Since COVID we were all working independently and virtually right, so why have brick and mortar?
Speaker 1:Yeah, cuts down on your overhead a lot.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and I remember the rent that I was responsible for paying every month as an owner and I had personal liability. I had a personal guarantee on that rent and the salaries and managing the staff. My biggest joy was training the agents because I wanted to make sure they do the job right. And I still have people who are at my office say thank you, thank you for not letting us hire an assistant right away and telling us we have to do the transaction ourselves first. And I said, yeah, you have to know what goes in there, you're responsible, it's your license and it's your license under me, so it's something that keeps you up at night. Absolutely is something that I never thought I would see the training that they continue to offer the agency, the opportunities to go and work with other people and collaborate. We have the global marketing agent group that I joined as soon as I joined EXP, actually, and it's a collaborative group across different companies that allows you to work overseas, and now I consider myself a global realtor advisor, a global realty advisor, global realtor advisor, whatever you want to call it, but it's true, because a lot of my clients are buying overseas and they're buying without me not knowing that I can help them. So that's kind of the journey.
Speaker 2:My husband is now in the business. I gave him a mulligan. I said you get to do one last startup and then you're coming with me and so he is finishing the funding of his startup and soon will be full time hopefully. And it's a journey. We travel to conferences together, we enjoy meeting people from all over the world and continue to learn. It's a never-ending job. Any job you take on, no matter what it is, there's always opportunities to do more, to learn, to collaborate. I put together a mastermind group last year when people were like, oh my God, the laws are changing. Oh, what are we going to do? We've never done this. I'm like guys, slow down, let's take it a step at a time. I've been using biorepresentation agreements for 30 years, so let me help you with that. I learned through the Star Power program and that's another collaborative group that I joined years ago. So education, training, keeping an open mind.
Speaker 1:And now with technology.
Speaker 2:It's so much easier, right.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say that how has technology changed real estate since you started? Yeah?
Speaker 2:Oh well, technology changed real estate very fast, very fast, early on. I mean the internet, you know. People are like, oh, we're going to the computers or the companies Microsoft is becoming is getting in our business and they tried actually. They came, they interviewed us and and they had a panel and I was on the panel and they said you know how do you do your business? And then they decided this is not a cookie cutter business. I don't think it's good for us and they didn't do it.
Speaker 2:But I love technology because it allows me to have time to work with my clients. I'm currently sitting outside a listing that I've taken and helping my clients get their stuff out and get signage and all that. I have people for that, but it's still the human touch. You need to have empathy for what they're going through with two boys still in school, one of them, and they're a military family. And my client goes we're used to moving, we're a military family, we get this done, but you still need to stop in and say, hey, how's it going? How can I help Technology? Recently, with AI, you know, I see the same fear that people had with the internet coming into business right, oh, ai, they're going to have AI agents.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry. Ai is going to help you as an agent.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Not going to take over your job, no.
Speaker 1:You should be technology infused, not technology scared.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and I'm speaking on a time management panel with Star Power organization next month and time management is my topic and on the panel and we had a meeting yesterday and we're all going like, ok, how many of you using AI to manage your time? Well, we're doing this, we're doing this, we're doing this, and that's what you should be doing is how to improve communication, how to make because people are such an instant society they want you to answer right away and if you're not there, ai can help, but you got to train it right. You can't just say, oh yeah, I'll let many chat respond or usually respond. I mean, you have to train these tools to be like you.
Speaker 1:Right right.
Speaker 2:It's got to speak to your tonality. Absolutely. I mean, I had a nice chat with ChatGPT and I said this is who I am from the time that we immigrated. At the time I got in real estate to the time now. Now you learn what I'm about and what I like and what my values are, so that you can now write a bio for me, understanding where I come from.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's huge. What would you do? Like sorry, let me rephrase this, take two, here we go. So what advice would you give somebody that's just getting into the real estate business right now, like with everything going on, is there a little nugget, a little piece of advice that you would give to somebody just starting out?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely, and I just met with somebody yesterday as a matter of fact. So the best advice I can give them is learn. Spend the time to learn, because getting your license is great, but there may be one or two things from your studies that you're going to use. I use it all the time. 43,560 is a square feet in an acre. Okay, good, that actually is practical.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Riparian rights. Well, it depends on where you live. Right, get in with a company that values training you. I mean EXP. I had my husband go through their FASCAP program and people are doing business from the get-go because they're getting trained right away during the class to go out and and perform the right activities to get business. But, most importantly, don't do it alone. Yeah, get a mentor.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You know you, especially in California where I am, you know litigious society is at the top of the chair, the, the, the um, the ladder. Here I mean, people don't blink an eye before they think of suing you. So you want to start off on the right foot. You want to get the right training, have the right mentor, the right company and enjoy what you do. You know, if you're not passionate about real estate, go find something else.
Speaker 1:Right, I love, I love everything you said and and it is so special to hear, uh, you speak with such passion and vigor and being able to uh resonate with so many people in our audience. We certainly appreciate everything that you've spoke about today and, uh, thank you so much for your time today. It's been a wonderful hearing, hearing your journey and your progress is. You're a true, true like icon in in what you do and I'm just appreciative to be a friend of yours and best wishes and continued success in what you do.
Speaker 2:Thank you, ryan. Same to you. And then I'll continue to watch what you do, because you're impressive and you're, you're great.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you, ma'am, I appreciate it. And uh, once again, guys, Sammy, I'm Oregon she, you can find her out in, uh, San Francisco Bay area with the EXP, uh, the luxury side of things as well. Uh, I'm Ryan Van Ornum with Scaling Up Success podcast, powered by Synergist. If you are looking to scale your business at a fraction of the cost, talk to Synergist synergistcom. Thank you so much, everyone. Have a great day.
