JMPartners

the collection of ‘BreakthroughLuxury’ Coaching and ‘Jere Metcalf Podcast, top real estate agents tell how they do it’. The Story…

It was 2003, and I was lucky. I was 26 years old. Then there was the no car, a minimal wardrobe, and little to no connections part and a few bad decisions before it that got me there. There were also the lessons learned and the circumstances that drove me to learn the industry inside and out, to learn to win business and close deals or “starve”. Within two years, I was the top agent within a top Atlanta office. Once I got it together, like many agents, I decided to try the “team thing”. It had it’s ups and downs until, finally, I nailed it. With the help of doing it the wrong way, way too many times and interviewing, by then, dozens of top real estate agents and teams, I developed a true real estate team, JMPartners. We were a small team of top luxury real estate agents and talented support members always leveling up to do more, give more and contribute more to the residential real estate industry. Our brokerage that we called home was Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. The homes we sold ranged from charming condos and cottages to penthouses and estates to custom build communities. It was no secret to our colleagues nor our clients that we were a team, not a group, a team. We worked cohesively in a way that 1 + 1 = a lot more than 2, ideally ∞. We were just as well known for doing a lot of things that were crazy for the time. We published magazine ads that resembled nothing like that of a typical real estate ad. We created clever video shorts for our listings, not video footage of a house but a story and a punchline. Our clients even got involved. Not only were a few of them in the shorts, many of them graciously gave us video testimonials. The best were the bloopers. Of course, we also had video updates on the residential real estate market. Video was our thing before video was a thing. We got the attention of a few global real estate speakers, not to mention Matthew Ferrara, my initial inspiration. This was just the beginning as I made a few new real estate agent friends around the world, some of the most successful, generous, kind, loving, inspiring and humble people I’ve met. Not what you think of when you think of real estate agents as the world, especially reality tv, seems to portray us but the best of professionals and friends that you could ever dream up. These amazing people, I thought, can’t be kept a secret. I created what became a “world renowned” podcast, ‘Jere Metcalf Podcast, top real estate agents tell how they do it’ interviewing my real estate friends around the country who were breaking records and selling one hundred million or more a year. I was giving our industries best kept secrets to my competition. My business kept growing and I was invited and joined 'Sotheby’s Market Leaders', an exclusive mastermind group of 45 top real estate agents at Sotheby’s International Realty. Around the same time, a few agents in my office who were listening to my podcast and observing my success, asked me about coaching. Long story short, I created a “speakeasy” weekly group coaching workshop for them with a name worth hiding… “12 steps to being a badass broker”. Clearly we had sense of humor and enjoyed a good laugh at ourselves. As much as I love the ride, success doesn’t come without its challenges. As my my listings got bigger, clients got more sophisticated. With more at stake, the difficult conversations got more difficult, but nothing I ever thought I couldn’t handle, not until one particular client about 11 years into my career. Between their angry accusations and my heart palpitations, chest pains and borderline panic attacks, I prayed, a lot more than usual and a lot harder, “God, clearly you want me to learn something here. Whatever it is, can we just hurry it up? I’m not sure I’ve got this, and I’m not sure how much more I can take.” That is when the Book ‘Never Split the Difference’ fell out of the sky and landed in my lap (via my podcast guests’ 'book recommendations'). When it was all over, that same client thanked me and told me I was the the only real estate agent they had ever trusted. I read Never Split the Difference’ 8 times, 16 more times than most books. I grasped the concept and my career elevated to yet another level. I’ll never forget how hard my assistant would make me laugh when she’d say, “Jere you’re like a Jesus of real estate deals. You can heal any deal, and if they die, you just bring them back from the dead.”

After a couple of years of pinging and poking, Chris Voss and his brilliant business partner Brandon Voss, who also happens to be his son, we struck a deal. Chris, Brandon and their team were the guests of honor for JMPartners' 2019 client appreciation party at the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta. At this event, for our clients, I interviewed Chris Voss in person. Chris Voss, the famous former FBI Negotiator and a man who saved so many lives with thoughts, words, understanding and skill, the kind of skill I had never appreciated before. This was most humbling. Of course, Chris Voss and Brandon Voss were Jere Metcalf Podcast guests. I just couldn’t get enough of of this sharing all of the best secrets with my competition. As I doing more giving away of my best lessons and secrets to “my competition” and loving every minute of it, there were many moments when I thought, “what am I doing, trying to put myself out of business?” But, the more my team and I contributed to the industry and our peers, the more we grew. It proved what any great real estate agent already knows and loves about selling homes, our industry is one in which your competition is truly your ally. It also proved and laid the path that lead me to what JMPartners is today, the collection of ‘BreakthroughLuxury’ Coaching and ‘Jere Metcalf Podcast, top real estate agents tell how they do it’, with the vision and mission to empower agents who are ready to breakthrough to their next levels and beyond in real estate. What about the luxury real estate team, the agents who were JMPartners? Each of them is now a member of BreakthroughLuxury’ Coaching, and they continue to receive our administrative and marketing support. We always said, “Building together, stronger together and just getting started.” Today, it couldn’t be truer. Thank you to our clients, brokers, broker owners, business coaches, inspirational speakers, podcast guests, friends and the list goes on for days. We couldn’t have gotten here without you.