We recently connected with Leisel L. Taylor and have shared our conversation below.

Leisel L. , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you ever seen (or implemented) a really awesome way to show a client you appreciate them

My business is truly focused on giving back to the community, our clients and our agents. We have the firm belief that we would not be successful if it were not for the individuals that patronize and support our business. Our clients truly appreciate the events that are hosted for them. We have an annual event with a live band, DJ and some good old barbecue during the summer that our clients attend annually. Many clients have shared that they feel like family and will continue to do business with us as we show that we care. For community we host an annual Shred Day event where individuals can get rid of boxes of unwanted paperwork. We also planted and donated a tree to a neighborhood community in honor of Earth Day. It just shows that we are truly involved and want to be known as a huge resource for our community. Even the real estate agents get appreciation as there are so many choices for a brokerage and we are grateful that they chose to partner with ‘Village Premier Collection Maryland’. We have hosted ice cream socials and restaurant gatherings for our agents. It also fosters a culture of inclusivity in our brokerage as the agents are able to network and build stronger relationships within the company.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I obtained my Real Estate License in January 2012 and started practicing real estate as a dual career Realtor. Dual career means that I practiced real estate and had a full time job at a the same time. My husband and I were tired of living paycheck to paycheck and needed to find another way to take care of our toddler son and pay our monthly bills. My husband’s monthly income had been reduced by 50% due to salary changes at his job and we definitely needed to do something to make up for the loss in his income. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect having a real estate license to open up a world of opportunities for me or grow a hugely successful business. In 2015, I left my full time job and continued to pursue a full time real estate career. Due to the rapid growth of my real estate business, my husband also obtained his real estate license and joined me in taking our real estate business to the next level.

In October 2021, I opened my own real estate brokerage “Village Premier Collection Maryland”. My company and I are licensed in DC, MD & VA and we help people buy and sell homes in those markets. I have a huge referral base. Therefore I am also able to help clients that are in different states that are in need of real estate services.

Clients love working with me as I come up with out of the box solutions to help resolve challenging issues that may arise during a real estate transaction. I have a team of lenders, title attorneys, appraisers, home inspectors, general contractors that I can call at a moment’s notice to help my clients in any difficult situations. Clients do call me a one stop shop as in working with me they have access to all my vendors and relationships to use at their disposal. I truly believe that this is what sets me apart from the average real estate agent. Clients also love that we are a family owned business and I am truly grateful that I get to work with my husband everyday and build a life worth living together.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

My brokerage is a franchise company called Village Premier Collection. I chose to purchase a franchise company as I did not want to worry about the administrative function. I wanted to focus on recruiting, retention and growing my brokerage. Village Premier Collection already has its back end operations established such as the onboarding process, commission processing to name a few so this is one less system that I have to worry about.

It is actually a very involved process to purchase into a franchise. I did not know what to expect. The actual purchase of the franchise was simple as the payment terms were established and the contract terms were presented for review and questions to ensure that all parties were on the same page. Registering the business in the states were the challenge.

As I am licensed to sell real estate in 3 states, DC, MD & VA, paperwork had to be completed for all 3 states so that my firm will be registered. This application was also being done whilst still in the midst of the pandemic and state offices operating at 70% office staff capacity. Registering my company in all 3 states took about 60 days. Then once my business was registered, I then had to submit my Broker applications to be Managing Broker in each of the states. Once again this was another involved process as there was a huge amount of paperwork to be completed for the states. My applications also took another 60 days to be approved by the different states. The best part of this experience is that it’s already done and if I decide to open additional offices in the near future, this is a step that I no longer have to worry about.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team and maintaining high morale for the team is one of the most challenging yet most rewarding jobs that you will ever have. My advice would be to ensure that you have the right mindset for this path. Here are some tips:

You are going to be a Servant Leader, Coach, Mentor, Boss and sometimes a Psychiatrist.
You must be ready to Coach & Train your team members

To maintain high morale on the team, we held team activities such as hiring a private chef at our home and inviting our team members. We also had a bubble ball soccer competition. We even hosted a bowling ball tournament. This definitely fosters camaraderie amongst team members and builds stronger relationships between the team leaders and team members.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.villagepremier.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leisel_taylormade_broker/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leisel.lashley
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leiseltaylor/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LeiselTaylor/about

Image Credits
Husband & Wife Photo: Bonnie Love-Douglas Headshot: Tyrone Toney