Having just reached his five-year mark in the real estate industry, Nick Van Gorp is already making waves. In all his transactions, he forms solid friendships with his clients. In fact, his business is based solely on referrals.

Van Gorp worked as a mergers and acquisitions management consultant prior to entering the real estate industry. “Being a real estate broker was the perfect culmination of my love for architecture, functional space design and photography, combined with my obsession for processes and the overall client experience,” he says. His prior experience has helped him not only become an expert on the numbers behind each transaction but also develop a concise three- to six-step plan for every piece of his business. Today, the broker associate, with Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty works with a wide variety of clients, serving markets such as West Town, Wicker Park and Bucktown.

Since he started his business, Van Gorp has been diligent about keeping track of personal benchmarks. He has also made the effort to get into the same room as the best of the best in the industry. Collaborating with other talented professionals has helped him learn that clients are the backbone of one’s experience in real estate. For this reason, he promises all clients effective pricing, a process-driven approach and concise communication.

Van Gorp’s perseverance has made all the difference in his career. “Anyone who knows me knows I literally started in this business at ground zero,” he says. “I had zero contacts, zero family connections, zero friend connections in this city, and no mentors or anyone sending me leads, and I had to build everything from scratch. I wouldn’t change it for the world.” At the end of the day, his ability to connect with clients sets him apart from the competition, as he takes the time to truly understand their lifestyles, what’s most important to them and how they communicate.