I love mentors and mentoring. I spent a good 10 minutes searching for inspiring quotes to share with my faithful readers, but in the end I decided to just come right out and say how I feel. You know who taught me how to do that? My mentor! Want to know who my mentor is? Too bad! I actually have a whole slew of them because I wouldn’t be where I am today without riding the coattails of those who came before me. So, if you don’t have one, get one. Just go up to that real estate agent you admire and say: “I want to be you; help me get there.” They will either give you a really strange look or be flattered by your gumption and take you under their diamond-encrusted wing. Maybe look at the cover story first for a better approach, but just know that I support the idea, and if you’d like ME to be your mentor, you know how to find me.
It’s that time of year where everyone holds a big party to toss out the old leaders and bring in the new. The North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS® held its installation Sept. 6 at Ravinia’s Tree Top event space. On Sept. 7, The Heartland REALTOR® Organization met at The District in Richmond. Mainstreet Association of REALTORS® held its installation Sept. 12 at Tuscany Falls in Mokena. The Illinois REALTORS® Association held its soiree Sept. 19 at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Resort. CAR installed its new big wigs Sept. 22 at the 140th Inaugural Gala at Hilton Chicago. Shout out to all the new presidents.
There were more than just inaugural celebrations this September. Tons of agents and managers from Baird & Warner gathered at Drury Lane in Oak Brook on Sept. 11 to hear sales guru Larry Kendall discuss Ninja Selling. Now that I understand the ways of the Ninja, there is really no other approach.
Last, but the furthest from least as possible, Chicago Agent held its annual Who’s Who in Chicagoland Real Estate extravaganza! Hundreds of agents, lenders and industry professionals joined us Sept. 14 at The Reed, a new residential tower by Lendlease in the South Loop. Folks enjoyed music, drinks, appetizers, drinks, sunset vistas of the city skyline, and drinks. Congrats to all who made the list this year!
October means spooky birthday alert! Happy bday to Elizabeth “Ghoul” Goodchild and Simon “Slimy” Stein Oct. 3. Oct. 4 belongs to Michael “Monster” Walsh and German “Lantern” Llanos. Then Oct. 6, 7 and 8, don’t hide from Sharbel “Shadowy” Shamoon, Nicole “Haunted” Hajdu and Ryan “RIP” D’Aprile. On the 10th, we have Jenny “Spooky” Sepulveda. The 11th is Beth “Witchcraft” Wexler, and don’t be scared of Josh “Jack O’ Lantern” Lipton Oct. 13. Maria “Moonlit” Thanasouras and Ryan “Wizardry” Wynia share an Oct. 14 bday, while Kevin “Startling” Serafin celebrates the 16th and Christina Breuer “Midnight” McNamee the 17th. Karen “Poltergeist” Peterson will celebrate Oct. 22, while Matt “Gory” Garrison and Emily Sachs “Spine Chilling” Wong can raise a glass Oct. 23. Amy Duong “Darkness” Kim and Jon “Goblin” Goldman will get spookier Oct. 24, while Stefanie Neuman “Nighttime” Lavelle and Cathy “Cackle” Stabb will party Oct. 28. Steven “Startling” Maher and Monique “Masquerade” Pierron-Strong share a birthday Oct. 30, and my list skips to November with Michael “Mausoleum” Thanasouras Nov. 4 and Eileen “Afterlife” Andersen Nov. 5.