The "Future of Work" Started For Me in 2011

Every Thursday morning at 9 and 11 am I teach content creation and social media marketing for Realtors based in 17 countries. I am the original instructor of these classes which started in 2016.

They are part of the literally hundreds of classes offered for FREE by eXp University. The University is part of eXp Realty's online campus.

The students simply log into eXp World and head to the Productivity Center. There I can share a webcam, demonstrate live or use a slide deck. We were Zoom before Zoom was cool. (Sorry Barbara Mandrell.)

Everyone's name is above their avatar. When someone opens their mic, we know who's talking because their name appears at the bottom of the screen.

The only difference is my students can see me in person. But everyone else is an avatar.

In 2011 The Skeptics Told Me a Virtual Real Estate Office Would Never Work

Founder Glenn Sanford started eXp Realty in October 2008. That was in the midst of what I call America's "Real Estate Apocalypse."

He is a technologist who believed people didn't need to be in the same room to work together. He hired some expert coders, appropriately called the "Working the Magic" team, to create an online office modeled after Second Life.

No one had done this before.

Then he set about finding brokers in each state to spearhead the opening of this new version of real estate firms.

I joined as the founding Nevada designated managing broker on July 10, 2011. The Las Vegas real estate world is a very small world. I received three calls from brokers who owned major franchises who said, "This model will never work. When it fails, please come work for me and manage one of my offices."

I smiled politely. I had drunk the Kool-Aid.

Why the Online Collaboration Did Work

I learned so much from the founding brokers of other states.

David Harbour of Virginia introduced me to BombBomb, a video email service I can now not live without. I am one of their earliest clients. This app has increased my sales exponentially.

Suzanne Fuqua of Arizona helped me set up the online transaction system.

Randy Prothero of Hawai'i taught me about how to deal with regulators.

It was easy to work with everyone because we just logged into eXp World. The online platform was so accommodating I began having meetings in the World with my Las Vegas agents who lived a few blocks away because, well, I didn't want to get dressed!

Then Covid Appeared

For us, it was just business as usual. I had spent the last nine years working and learning in a virtual environment. The only thing that changed for me was it was scary to go out and actually sell homes.

There Is a Place for IRL Meetings

eXp Realty now has an annual convention so you can meet the 59,999 other agents in the company. (I am agent No. 61.)

But I made friendships and met my fellow brokers in real life long before the first one.

I live in Las Vegas, so I became the host by default. People came from all over the Southwest to our gatherings. We invited educational speakers and then went to see "O" at the Bellagio.

The bottom line:

• You CAN be productive in an online environment
• You CAN collaborate without being face-to-face
• You CAN learn new skills online
• You CAN make lifelong friends and form bonds before you ever meet in real life.

I've been working virtually for a decade. I wouldn't have it any other way.