We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joshua Garcia Jr. a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joshua, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

What success means to me may be different than another. One can view success as raising and nurturing a family, while I view success as financial freedom. Setting the goal is half the battle, obtaining the goal is the hard part. Regardless of your goal, there are a few key traits successful people have, which they say attributed to their success. Before I say what those are, know that no one is born with these traits. They are acquired through life in multiple ways and under different circumstances. I believe a strong will is the most important trait to have. A strong will allows for everything else to settle in place naturally. You have to understand that life isn’t going to be easy from start to finish. Curveballs will be thrown your way and it will be completely out of your control. You need a strong will to overcome obstacles in life. Accountability for one’s self follows next. We can easily pick apart another person and their flaws but it’s hard to look at ourselves and do the same. In fact, 99% of “difficult” tasks like, getting up early or eating healthier, are not actually ‘difficult”. Saying it is difficult is nothing more than an excuse to not hold yourself accountable. Once you can look at yourself and quiet the excuses, you will see that there isn’t any task you can’t accomplish. Finally, traits that intersect with a strong will are determination and resolve. I can have the determination to open up my own candle shop but if I don’t have the resolve to follow through, I fail. Unfortunately, there are going to be people that do not support your success. People may say and do things to devalue your journey to success. If you do not have the resolve to quiet their judgment, it will cloud yours. That is what it takes to be successful.

Joshua, 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?

I’m a 26 year-old, gay Latino, working as a Realtor in the Tampa Bay Area, FL. For those who are unfamiliar with the area, it is the Clearwater, Saint Petersburg, and Tampa area. I was born in the Bronx, NY, raised in Philadelphia, PA, and eventually moved permanently to the Tampa area, a few years ago. I got into the real estate world out of a need to break out of the 9-5 work life and be my own boss. As a Realtor, I help and educate people with their journey buying or selling a home. A fun fact is that I’m part of a real estate team named The Real Deal DW and we have a total of 8 Realtors with all different skills and traits. Our team is a powerhouse when it comes to customer service and professionalism. We continue to uphold integrity and ethics in our practice to remove negative viewpoints some might have on real estate agents. I’m proud of the work and determination I have as a Realtor, to show clients that owning a home doesn’t have to be only a dream. When working with me, I am proud of my team who will work hard to make that dream a reality. Why? Because we are The Real Deal DW.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Before becoming a Realtor, I was an assistant store manager for Sprint and then T-Mobile. When you go from a 9-5 job that guarantees you money into a 100% commission based job, it is scary. Going from a stable income to $0 my first month was a big change. This risk and lack of belief in yourself keeps a lot of people stuck in their job regardless of whether or not they like it. Having the understanding that the amount of work I put in will dictate my pay, is what keeps me going when I don’t see a paycheck each week right now. But I know I can easily double or triple my salary with real estate within a short time. At my 9-5 job, it didn’t matter how hard I worked, the amount of time I spent working was never compensated equally to the work I put out. I had essentially maxed out my income potential. With real estate I have no income limits. And more importantly, I am in control of how hard I work and my annual income. I continue to go against the grain and I love being my own boss!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

That’s easy! Referrals and Google reviews that reflect my work ethic. My business is all about word of mouth and media coverage. Once my transaction is complete, I always ask all my customer’s to do me the favor of writing a review on RateMyAgent and I copy it to my Google business review page. When asking my customers if they have anyone in mind they could refer to me, I make the point that it doesn’t matter if someone isn’t looking to buy or sell right away. It is more about connecting with people and being available to them when they are ready. I want to keep in touch. Referrals and positive reviews continue to keep my business booming.

Contact Info:

• Website: joshuagarciajr.daltonwade.com
• Instagram: joshuagjrre
• Facebook: joshuagjrreagent
• Linkedin: joshuagjrre
• Twitter: joshuagjrre
• Other: Tik Tok: joshuagjrre

Image Credits
All images were taken by me. If need be, the image with a hard hat is at the new construction builder Dr. Horton.