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

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

The biggest challenge to the Real Estate Brokerage model is that all of the agents that produce income for the company can easily be recruited away with one simple sales pitch. It is a very transient business and you can have agents come and go constantly. Your cost per independent contractor can be extensive and could easily be a loss if you cannot retain agents. The other side of that is that the average agent closes 3-5 transactions a year. That makes it a numbers game to recruit, retain and to develop agents into producers.

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.

Jennifer Yeo is the esteemed founder and driving force behind Presidio Real Estate, a visionary leader in the real estate industry. In 2011, Jennifer Yeo embarked on a mission to establish a real estate brokerage that would redefine the standards of excellence in the state of Utah. Her unwavering commitment to exceptional service, innovation, and integrity has propelled Presidio Real Estate to become one of the top 5 largest brokerages in the state of Utah today.

Jennifer Yeo continues to inspire and lead her team, shaping the future of real estate in Utah and beyond. Her relentless pursuit of excellence and commitment to driving positive change in the industry made Bravo TV Network (NBC Affiliate) take note of her success and recently filmed a reality show called Sold on SLC about Presidio and the real estate market in Utah. You can find out more about Jennifer and Presidio at www.presidioteam.com

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In Year 5 of the brokerage, I decided that at 80 agents and little profitability, I could either scale or shrink. I was renting an office space for $1800/mo and decided to take a huge risk and jump into a class A space for $11k/mo I knew growing would mean losing some people, but it meant a lot of gains if I put my mind to it. It was the “If you build it they will come” theory. It worked! We quickly jumped up to 300 agents because of the pivot to grow.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

“I can’t even afford a printer!”

These were the words I exclaimed to my boyfriend through tears as I climbed into his car. He had driven with me to my brokerage to help retrieve my belongings out of my office. Earlier that day, I told my broker that I was starting my own brokerage and was excited to do something entrepreneurial. Bruce, my broker, had not taken well to this news. He decided immediately to have the IT department delete 8 years of my internal emails. The year was 2011 and having a company email address was status quo. It also was my only database and contact management system so this reaction was devastating to me and my business. In my shock, I asked Bruce “Why would you do that?” He exclaimed “It’s a business decision, get your items out of the office by the end of the week. And by the way, you will never be successful.”

To add insult to injury, when we pulled up to the office that evening around 6pm, I realized that my key fob no longer worked. How was I to get all my stuff out like my broker had asked if I could not even get into the office? I knocked and luckily an agent was working late and let me in. I felt devastated and discouraged. Here I was taking a treacherous leap of faith, just coming out of the downturn of 2008 and finally making a business decision that I felt was for the better. Yet, I was feeling so dejected. My boyfriend was supportive of this decision and yet the pain of how my broker and someone I looked up to handled it was far more powerful in that moment.

The passenger door closed and I cried. “Why am I doing this? Starting a business!? What am I thinking!? I have no idea what I am doing! I can’t even afford a printer!” Darin hushed my tears and gently said, “I will buy you a printer!”.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized that my brokers response to my new growth was sheer terror. For he knew I was powerful and that I would be successful. Today, I own one of the largest brokerages in the state of Utah. Presidio ranks #3 out of 3500 brokerages. I cannot take all the credit as I have an incredible team, but if I hadn’t had the support of my boyfriend at the time, who is now my loving husband, I may have allowed this moment to define me and my future.

There are defining moments in everyone’s life. Moments when you can retreat in fear and self doubt and shrink from the nay-sayers or worse yet, begin to believe what others tell you about yourself. There are also times when you have the option of challenging everything and formulating your own beliefs about yourself and your capability. This was my moment to take my moonshot! I am glad I did. Oh and by the way, Darin never had to buy me that printer. However, he did hold my hand through all the tough times as I built a company. He did more than buy me a printer, He believed in me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.presidioteam.com
• Instagram: @itsjenniferyeo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565517359645
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferyeoutahbroker/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JenniferYeoLive

Image Credits

Lindsay Romney