Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andy Gutman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Andy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

I like to think that I am a different kind of leader and defy definition. I have the honor of being the President of Farbman Group, one of most respected commercial real estate companies in the country, with a Midwest Expertise and a Global Reach. I also am a creative, writing children’s books and songs. By combining the business/ financial mind with the creative, I am tirelessly looking at how we can improve the assets of our clients. I like to embrace unique ways of promoting our clients and ensuring we are never satisfied with the results, always striving to connect the creative to the bottom line, personalizing our services to exceed client expectations.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My primary industry is commercial real estate and as with many real estate professionals, I pretty much fell into it. I graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in accounting and there were no accounting jobs when I graduated. I worked several part time jobs until an accounting position opened up at a commercial real estate company. I fell in love with the industry. I found my true home, however, when I was about four years into my career and interviewed with Burt Farbman and Farbman Group. He has such a love for Detroit and is a man who operates with ethics and integrity and I was sold. I have been with his company in many positions, working for him and both of his sons and working my way from a Senior Financial Analyst to President of this wonderful company.

I am also, by night and weekends, a songwriter and children’s book author. I have licensed songs and written seven children’s books. The books (all but one) came about from songs I had written for my daughter that I turned into children’s books. Over time these have become more than just a legacy for my daughter but also, I hope, an ability, to positively impact the lives of children and families. My latest book, Life Lessons From Brilliant Detroit, was written with children that spent time at a Brilliant Detroit house in Southwest Detroit with their families and together we crafted a book to teach life lessons.

I try to bring the two worlds together by bringing creativity into the business world and by bringing business acumen to the creative world.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Reputation is everything in business. People will want to work with others that operate from a place of trust and integrity. I always tell people that, although we are all selling, I am not a salesperson. My best tool has always been my ability to earn the trust of our clients by doing things the right way, acknowledging and correcting mistakes and putting the needs of clients before my own or before any fees.

There will always be people who are dissatisfied or do not like the results of a transaction or have expectations that are beyond the reasonable, but I believe it is up to each of us to ensure we act in an appropriate manner whenever possible.

After 30+ years in the business, I believe I am someone people know they can trust. They know I will work tirelessly advocating for their success. I am imperfect as is everyone but lead with ethics and integrity in all I do.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing people is one of the hardest things to master and I am not sure you ever master. When I first started out, I believe if you treat people equally, don’t play favorites and simply provide a strong environment based on ethics and integrity, people would line up! What I learned over time is that you need to treat people fairly and individually. You need to care about their success. You need to be a mentor, a motivator, their clergy and their guide. They need to know you believe in them and want them to succeed. You need to be patient, not judgmental. You need to give them enough autonomy to grow, learn and feel valued. You need to help them find their purpose, their “why”.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.farbman.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-gutman-4719a64/

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