To say Sarah Leonard started her real estate career at a young age would be an understatement — she wasn’t even old enough to drive to open houses when she began working in the business.

At just 15 years old, Leonard started at the front desk of a local RE/MAX office, and she went on to handle every non-sales position there — from marketing to accounting to working with photographers — all before turning 21. That’s when she obtained her real estate license and began a practice of her own.

By that point, Leonard all knew the ins and outs of real estate. But she also had an edge. “People there had been in the business 15 years or so and were stuck in their ways, but I was on the outside looking in,” she said. “I was so young.” And she used that fresh perspective to determine what’s efficient, and what’s not, when it comes to buying and selling homes.

Leonard became an independent agent with RE/MAX in 2005 and found fast success. “When I started, my goal was to have one deal per month,” she said of those early days. But that first year, she did 17 deals. In 2006, she did 30. Then, in 2013, she completed 208 transactions on her own, making her RE/MAX’s No. 1 agent in the state.

But after that success, Leonard realized she needed a team. “I reflected and realized I’d given up all of my time,” she said. In 2014, she hired another agent, and the Sarah Leonard Team at RE/MAX Suburban was born. That team has grown every year ever since, in both transactions and the number of agents. Currently, about 15 agents call the Sarah Leonard Team home.

In the last two years, they have closed more homes than any other team in the MLS — upward of 700 deals annually — and in 2023 alone, they aim to hit 1,000 transactions.

Chicago Agent: How else do you plan to grow in 2023?

Sarah Leonard: Our growth strategy for 2023 is to try anything once. Never say no. We’re getting into radio advertising on WGN and partnering with different lead agencies like Zillow and Realtor.com. We’re always looking for ways to grow and improve our business. We also want to grow our past client relationships. It’s not a done deal because something is closed. We want to create friendships with people we’ve worked with. By furthering personal relationships, we can retain clients for life.

CA: What makes the Sarah Leonard Team unique?

SL: I think what surprises people is the amount of support in our office. We keep a full-time, unlicensed staff of 10 people. The client experience we provide is so important to us that we have our staff set up so that every client feels like they’re our only client. That attention to detail is so important.

CA: What should potential agents know about joining the Sarah Leonard Team?

SL: There are two different avenues for growth here. First, we can help agents grow by teaching them how to network, get exposure and by providing leads. The other alternative is for agents who are already doing $7, $8, $9 million in volume, and we can provide them support with our well-oiled machine of listing coordinators, transaction coordinators, marketing directors and sales agents.

Basically, the team is fully staffed to support an agent who is already doing business successfully. But as an individual agent, you can only do so much on your own. We take necessary but time-consuming duties off their plate, which allows them to just go and sell.

CA: What qualities do you attribute to your success?

SL: Having confidence is key. I’ve never gone into anything thinking, “What if this doesn’t work?” Confidence is the No. 1 trait you need if you’re self-employed. You have to believe in yourself. As I always tell my staff: “If you believe in what you’re saying, other people will, too.”

CA: How do you give back to the community?

SL: We’ve worked with Food For Greater Elgin for years now, donating money and time. We work with a local women’s shelter, too, as well as the police department, to donate coats in the winter to those in need.

I’m also a single mom, as are a lot of others on my team, and we proudly donate to Fellowship Housing. Fellowship Housing helps single moms live in a place with subsidized housing for two years so they can get on the path to owning their own home.