Like many brokers, Steven Johnson’s first profession was not in real estate. He had always worked in customer service, whether as a butler to high-net-worth families or a luxury hotel manager. But those skills translated well to selling properties.

Now with more than a decade of experience in the industry, Johnson, senior vice president of sales at Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty, has the drive, experience and numbers that prove he knows how to make deals happen.

Johnson’s years of customer service experience and his competitive nature make him successful at selling properties that other brokers are unable to. He recently sold a 7,000-square-foot Gold Coast home that three previous brokers failed to move. “After researching the property and looking at all possible selling options, I discovered it was zoned for Airbnb,” he says. “It allowed me to focus on a different buyer that the other brokers were not.”

Johnson has worked in real estate for 12 years. He assists buyers and sellers in the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, River North, Streeterville and the West Loop, as well as the western suburbs of Elmhurst and Oak Brook. He has personally lived in or spent a lot of time in these markets, which makes him a local area expert. “It took years to truly understand and see how the neighborhoods are different and what each building and block has to offer,” he shares.

Johnson believes that real estate is a profession you grow into and eventually, it comes naturally.

When he decided to become a realtor 12 years ago, the housing market was at an all-time low. He worked with a mentor, Peter Tortorello of Koenig & Strey, now with Berkshire Hathaway, who showed him how to execute real estate processes correctly. He credits Tortorello’s guidance — he introduced him to people and markets that would have taken years to break into — for helping him make it to the top.