Baird & Warner
This broker manager for Baird & Warner believes that selling is a skill and real estate is what you make of it. Agent success, not buyers and sellers, is John Matthews’ priority.
“Many of whom I have been fortunate to train, coach and mentor have followed my advice and structured their work with consistent practice, marketing and follow-up,” he says. “It’s simple acumen, but difficult to put in place. Teaching to keep it in place often is even harder.” This is how he describes what he does for a living. Agents who don’t work directly for him can learn to master the trade by reading his monthly newsletter, John Matthews Industry Insider.
He has managed offices in Lincoln Park, Naperville, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, LaGrange and several more, currently in Oak Park. Involved in the Chicagoland Realtor community, he is a member of multiple industry associations, such as the Mainstreet Association of Realtors, the Chicago Association of Realtors, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, the Oak Park Area Association of Realtors and the Board of Managers at Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED).
“January always starts with zero, so anytime you beat the market and the previous year, it’s a good year,” says Matthews of 2017. “We did both and expanded market share. In doing so, it throws down the gauntlet of challenge for the new year, which has always exhilarated me!” While in Cancun last year celebrating Baird & Warner’s sales contest winners, Matthews had many agents from offices he’s managed throughout the years tell him and his wife how he changed their lives when he hired them. “It was humbling and heartfelt,” he says. Matthews’ approach to working with brokers is much like that of a parent: He listens to agents and asks a lot of questions, to teach them to take accountability in themselves and make career-changing choices on their own.
Elected 2018 chairman of the MRED board, Matthews says it’s a great honor bestowed upon him by his peers. “MRED is one of the finest MLS’s in the country, and to help determine its future direction is a privilege I will never forget and work hard to fulfill.”
Matthews exercises regularly and participates in area fundraisers with his office. He also enjoys auctioning off his artwork for charity at the annual West End Arts Fest in LaGrange. “Desire, determination and discipline” is his motto.
