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Meet Leonie Tran of JT Real Estate Services & eXp Realty in Pasadena

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Leonie Tran.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Leonie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up, I didn’t have the best health. I was born very prematurely and as a young child, I struggled with asthma, allergies, and digestion problems. Because I was the firstborn, my parents (especially my Mom and Grandma) were pretty protective over me. As I got older, most of my health problems went away but the desire to keep me safe and protected didn’t leave my Mom and Grandmother. Because of this, I grew up hearing “get a stable, comfortable, desk job when you grow up” very often, especially from my Grandma.

Ironically, I have a serial entrepreneur for a mother. She had a W2 for the first 11 years of my life but switched over to several business ventures. Watching her was very inspiring, but to be honest there were times I felt there was more comfort and less worries when she was at her W2. When you combine that with what I continued to hear, “get a stable, comfortable desk job”, I never thought I’d be here today talking about being an entrepreneur.

When my husband, James, and I first started dating, we bonded because we had something in common, commercial real estate. I was working in Commercial Lending and I worked on many Commercial Real Estate Loans while James was working independently as a Real Estate Broker, Investor, and Commercial Real Estate Appraiser. James has a passion for real estate so the fact that I knew what he was talking about was a plus for him. At some point, things started to get serious and I started helping James out with his appraisals. Eventually, we got engaged and I was getting overwhelmed between wedding planning, helping James with work, and juggling my own work. When James saw how stressed I was he proposed I leave my corporate job. I was actually upset because I was afraid of the lack of stability, but he told me my skills serve as a bigger asset to the company and reassured me that our partnership would reap greater rewards compared to what benefits a 9-5 job offers aside from stability. He also said, “you’d be doing the same thing anyway”. It was later when I realize that statement was far from the truth… But I ended up saying “yes.” I left my life in the Corporate world in August 2017 and I haven’t looked back since. Okay, maybe I peaked here and there.

Over the past few years, we’ve gone through many changes, but in 2018, James convinced me to get my Real Estate Sales License. My ego resisted the thought of this because I always stressed to him my fear of sales as I had negative associations to the idea of sales. But I said “yes” anyway. At first, I was only helping out my family and friends here and there while working full time on the appraisal and investment side of the business but as time went by, I started to get approached more and I started to love it! So now after being so afraid of sales, I’ve fully shifted my focus to helping my clients with their real estate needs. I love working with real estate investors or first time home buyers. Because of my underwriting background, working with investors helps me keep that skill of mine alive. Meanwhile, I love helping first time home buyers find a new place to create new experiences. So much has changed since 2017 that I would have never imagined. I went from an employee to a partner to a self-employed entrepreneur in just three years. I can’t imagine where life will take me next, but one thing I know for sure is that when change comes knocking at my door, no matter how scared I maybe, I’ll probably end up saying, “yes.”

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth? Hah! Not at all. But I wouldn’t change a thing. The biggest struggle with transitioning from the corporate world to running your own business is consistency. In the corporate world, if you’re not busy, you still get paid. In the entrepreneurial world, if you’re not busy you’re out of income. However, that’s not to say being busy is a good thing. We are in a service industry. We spend a lot of time educating our clients during sales transactions or writing up an appraisal report, and we receive our income when something gets sold or an appraisal is completed. There’s something we learned in Tony Robbin’s Business Mastery, there’s a difference between income-generating and income servicing. Trying to find the balance between both was, and still is, something we’re trying to perfect.

JT Real Estate Services & eXp Realty – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am the Chief Operating Officer of JT Real Estate Services. We are a real estate company that focuses on Commercial Real Estate Appraisals and Consulting. To explain this simply, for the appraisals, we tell you how much a commercial property is worth. Commercial properties include apartments bigger than four units, retail buildings, offices, industrial warehouses, etc. We also help people looking to invest determine how to get started on their investment journey to financial freedom.

One of the biggest things I am most proud of about JT Real Estate Services is our experience. Not only do we have experience on both the lender side and the appraiser side of how to analyze commercial properties, we also have experience from an investor side. Because James and I also invest in commercial real estate properties, we can empathize from several perspectives.

Up until recently, I was also a REALTOR in our Brokerage department, but I saw an opportunity that I couldn’t refuse. So after having a family/business meeting, we decided to have our business focus on the Appraisal and Consulting side of the business and both James and I joined eXp Realty.

So now, aside from being COO of JT Real Estate Services, I am also a REALTOR at eXp Realty, a cloud-based, international real estate brokerage firm. It is one of the fastest-growing brokerages in the country. When we were presented with the opportunity to join eXp Realty we realized the benefits they offered aligned with our goals in life. After joining, our network has expanded internationally with like-minded individuals and it’s going to continue growing. I pride myself in being apart of eXp Realty for several reasons especially in regards to their growth, but one thing I can proudly boast about is the fact that their stock share prices went from roughly $7 in April to about $37 as I’m writing this in September.

One thing I’ve learned in these past few years is that aligning yourself with the right people is the best way to grow. Because of this, I actively seek out networking opportunities through various groups and meetups. I am a chapter leader of the international Meetup group, Multifamily Masters, I’m a previous ambassador for Grant Cardone’s 10X Growth Con Ambassador Program, and I was previously the VP of Public Relations for Arcadia Toastmasters. Because I’m constantly networking and learning from others, I am continuously improving.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is not a destination, it is a journey through all the priorities in your life. My priorities include my husband, my family, my friends, my community, my health, my wealth, and my personal growth. I want to be the best version of myself in every one of these departments, and because I’m constantly growing, my definition of best will always be evolving.

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