Unlock Your Career Potential: 3 Game-Changing Lessons from 22 Years in Estate Agency

From training new starters to embracing AI, here’s what two decades in agency has really taught me.

Like many in our industry, I didn’t set out to be an estate agent. I fell into it.

What started as a job at 19 years old has turned into a career spanning 22 years. In that time, I’ve worked my way up to MD of a 10-branch agency, been made redundant, launched my own businesses, and challenged the industry status quo.

It’s been a career filled with highs and lows, love and hate – but always learning.

As I step into my 23rd year, here are the three biggest lessons I’ve learned – practical takeaways that have shaped my career and that I believe can help others in agency today.

Lesson One: Train people properly – and they’ll repay you tenfold

Before estate agency, I worked as a fitness instructor. While the job itself wasn’t glamorous (and certainly wasn’t well-paid), the way we were taught to train people on gym equipment has stayed with me to this day.

The process was simple but powerful:

1. Explain the purpose of the equipment.
2. Demonstrate it yourself.
3. Guide them through it step by step.
4. Correct mistakes and explain why.
5. Check understanding and confidence.
6. Finally, observe them doing it alone.

It struck me then—and it’s guided me ever since—that this is exactly how you should train new agents. Show, explain, support, correct and then step back.

Too often, we throw people in at the deep end or expect them to “pick it up as they go”. But estate agency, like fitness, is about practice, repetition, and confidence. Get training right, and you’ll develop better agents, faster – and they’ll thank you for it in performance and loyalty.

Lesson Two: Internal reputation Is everything

I’ll be honest: I’ve got plenty of weaknesses. I can be opinionated, my spelling isn’t great and I’m dreadful at remembering if I’ve met someone before.

But one thing I spotted early is that career progression in agency doesn’t just come from results – it comes from reputation. And reputation, in my view, matters more.

I call it the difference between “winning badly” and “winning well”.

• Winning while damaging the brand? Not acceptable.
• Winning while mistreating clients? Not acceptable.
• Winning at the expense of colleagues’ careers? Not acceptable – unless their reputation was already in tatters.

The real progress came from winning in the right areas – where the business needed it most, where my manager needed it most and where the team could see the benefit. That’s what built my name internally, and that’s what created opportunity.

Reputation, built consistently over time, will take you further than one big result. Results may open the door – but reputation is what keeps you in the room.

Lesson Three: Embrace change – or risk being left behind

Here’s a truth about estate agents: we don’t like change. I’m guilty of it myself at times. But resisting change is holding our industry back.

I learned this lesson the hard way. At 21, I was running an office with a £1m turnover—and had zero management training. Like many of us, I was promoted for results, not equipped with knowledge.

Things only shifted when I started blocking out two hours every Friday for personal development. Whether it was Facebook ads, Google search, or even simple communication skills, learning something new each week transformed my approach. And teaching others what I learned made it stick even more.

Today, the biggest change on our doorstep is AI. Many fear it. I see it as the tool that could help our industry become more efficient and, crucially, more profitable at a time when margins are under huge pressure. Next month, I’ll share exactly how we’re using AI at Avocado Property day-to-day – but the message is simple: embrace new knowledge, or risk being left behind.

If these lessons give you a spark of motivation, then I’ve done my job. Estate agency is never easy, but it’s always rewarding if you’re willing to learn, adapt and build the right reputation along the way.

Here’s to the next 22 years—who knows what agency will look like in 2047, but one thing is certain: the lessons we learn today will shape the industry of tomorrow.