We were lucky to catch up with Evangelos Bardossas Jr recently and have shared our conversation below.

Evangelos, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

I think the most impactful lesson I learned from my parents was that if you want to be successful you have to do the work to hit your goals.

Both of my parents have contributed to the career choices I’ve made.
I’m currently an actively licensed broker manager/sales associate in NJ & NY and I attribute my preference for an entrepreneurial field to watching my father and mother build a house cleaning business from the ground up, eventually becoming one of the most successful companies in the field in the Northern NJ area. I also attribute my success in this field to my mother who I learned persistence from by watching her raise two very hyper active young boys while still working a back breaking 9-5 job and doing it all with a smile on her face.

Evangelos, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Evangelos Bardossas Jr. but I normally go by TJ as it is easier for everyone. If I ever meet you in person feel free to ask how my family came up with TJ as a nickname.

I first got into real estate through a friend of mine who had been in the business for several years prior to myself. I had just recently recovered from back surgery which effectively killed all the career opportunities I was looking for in my previous fields when he reached out and asked me if I was ever interested in getting into the business. I honestly hadn’t had interest prior to this, mainly because I had the bad idea of the sleazy car salesman and I knew that I couldn’t do that. But after talking to him I saw the field was much more about having a passion to help people in one of the most vulnerable and stressful times in their lives.

Once I discussed this with my then girlfriend and now expectant wife she encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and try something new. She had a lot more faith in my abilities back then than I had, And to this day she is still my biggest supporter and cheerleader.

While working in real estate I quickly brought my training skills from previous careers to the business, eventually becoming the main trainer for over 27 offices in NY and NJ until the pandemic hit and caused leaning of departments. During the pandemic I was lucky enough to build upon my real estate skills as a project manager for large construction across the nation, I enjoyed the job but it didn’t give me the same enjoyment of training and selling real estate. So when a contact I made when I first started in real estate offered me the opportunity to manage a real estate office I jumped at it, and quickly realized there was a lot more to managing an office then I had previously known. Many of the same skills that made me a successful project manager also helped in making sure I was keeping an efficiently running office.

After working in that office for a year I made a big jump to Re/Max Property Center as a manager, trainer, and sales associate in NY and NJ. I wouldn’t give up the experiences I’ve had in real estate for anything because they brought me to this great company that not only values my opinion but they also really do care about their agents and staff as if they are family. In my opinion this company makes it impossible not to be successful if you take advantage of the training and the years of experience of the management staff and fellow agents.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

To me management isn’t about I say and you do. That philosophy doesn’t work in a real estate office.

My job as a manager is to be a source of aide and support when my agents need it. My business is unique in that the agents are all their own bosses as independent contractors, so the way we manage the office isn’t a traditional management structure.

I’m here more to help problem solve when our agents hit a wall and don’t have a solution, or if they just need a sounding board on ideas they may have on a transaction or ways to build their business.

For me being an effective manager when building a teams structure or morale is that they know you are there for them and that when they need you, they can reach you. I make sure all my agents know that just because it’s after 5pm it doesn’t mean I wont help them, I don’t look at my job as a 9-5 because real estate isn’t a 9-5 career. My agents may need me at all different hours so when I hire someone I tell them the only time they can’t reach me is if I’m asleep or in an appointment, but they all know I will call back as soon as I’m available.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn from previous life experience was that you can’t just work, work, work and not find any time for yourself and your family.

At one point during the pandemic while I was really pushing myself with work I started to realize I wasn’t enjoying myself and I was always tired and I could see that it was also effecting others around me.

I knew at this point I had burnt out and needed to switch things up a little bit. I started getting back to taking small weekend day trips with my wife and friends again. While taking these trips my wife and I would go to little art shops that had very interesting paintings but many of which naïve TJ thought he could do just as well. So of course I decided that I’d give painting for relaxation a try, and funnily enough it really did help get me out of my own head and just have fun and enjoy the moment.

Now keep in mind I was an artistic minded kid when I was younger but those skills never got fully developed as an adult, so I don’t think I’ll be selling to many paintings but never the less it is a great form of stress relief coupled with my daily exercise in the morning before work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rebybardo.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bardossas_real_estate/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TJBardossas
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evangelos-t-j-bardossas-jr-37800b2b/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BardossasRE
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkrvez9rBsp93yFcSzJ5wug