FROM STUDENT TO TEACHER

WHAT MAKES A TRAINER TICK WITH EXIT REALTY MIND-SET TRAINER, RICK O’NEIL

EXIT associates are surrounded by many successful and gifted trainers within the corporation’s ranks. One can’t help but wonder what extraordinary culmination in experience, genetics and attitude must collide in order to create people of such caliber. Many who subscribe to the principle of forever learning, find the best teachers to be the most relatable people, and MIND-SET Trainer, Rick O-Neil would be the first to describe himself as extra ordinary.

I think my greatest asset is that I’m average, and that makes me akin to everyone I'm speaking with. I can empathize with them. “I know what they're going through. I failed the first three years in real estate...and it all had to do with my mind. I found out later that everything is mental. What will make you successful is the belief that you can do it.

That moment of calling is another common denominator amongst teachers, a catalyst that can almost always be traced back to an encounter at a young age. Having been in real estate since his early 20’s, Rick too can pinpoint when he leaned over to his real estate broker at a speaking engagement and said, “I’m going to do that someday.” But as one famous Ernest Hemingway quotations goes, “In order to write (or in this case teach) about life first you must live it.” And similarly, Rick had to first learn how to walk the walk before he could talk the talk. So gain experience he did.

After giving himself an ultimatum Rick would go from working 10-12 hour days, seven days a week, and not making any money, to building a successful career by working intensely for four hours a day talking to buyers, to sellers, or doing something to get in front of one of those people every day. He went from assuming he was attracting all bad buyers to realizing that assumption was more perception than reality. With real estate success finally in his grasp, he then moved on to management consulting. Twenty years, countless office evaluations and presentations later, Rick had become V.P. of a northeastern region of 800 offices within his jurisdiction. He had staff in four different locations for different states, training centers, franchise sales, and business development all under his belt. He then moved onto a flat fee company and helped them turn things around by growing their office base from 80 to 850 locations during a five-year contract. Decades of constant travel took its toll though, and when his contract was up Rick was ready to spend more time with family. In the meantime, he accepted the occasional speaking job until, that is, he bumped into Hector Castillo, Regional Owner of EXIT Realty New York Metro, and learned about EXIT.

I could barely believe what Hector was telling me about this company. I thought if this is true and this company is for real, then I should be a part of it. Two weeks later I flew up to Canada to meet with Steve Morris, Tami Bonnell, and Erika Gileo while the company hosted one of its regular Broker/Owner Training events. As it turned out I knew some of the people in attendance, and after that I said, 'This is it! This is for me.'

As part of EXIT’s revered training team, Rick splits training courses into one of two important categories, systems or self-development, with a firm belief that one must come before the other saying, “You can learn all the techniques in the world, but if you don't believe in yourself, you're not going to use them. I couldn’t teach even a basic course without adding information that would change a person’s life, not just educate them. Education informs people; training changes people.”

Teacher, educator, coach, or trainer; no matter how you choose to refer to EXIT’s MIND-SET Trainers, at their core is a greater good, service attitude, and a person who’s always willing to learn and grow themselves. Even after building an impressive career spanning over 40 years, Rick still doesn’t think of himself as a trainer. “I really just consider myself a leader using training as a venue to lead people to where they want to go. I’m a spiritual person but my mission in life is to help people grow.” And because content is king for an innovative thinker like Rick, he often writes his own teaching materials or curriculum, finding it hard to integrate into another teacher’s methodology. But when EXIT’s Director of Leadership, Bob McKinnon, invited him to become a facilitator for Ambassador Training, it was a perfect fit.

Rick encourages those who dream of training to begin with Ambassador and to start practicing now. Joining a local Toast Masters Club or something as simple as holding regular web conference meetings with friends can build the confidence to eventually lead a future office meeting. “You have to have your ducks in a row, but you don't have to be the biggest, most successful agent in the office,” he reminds. “It’s about having the credibility that you can sell real estate and being known as a person who can go out and make a decent living. Read every book, watch TED Talks, see which ones you like and never, ever quit.”