 I'm Rusty Komori and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, and it's about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is a national elite realtor who was named one of the top 1% of agents nationwide by Trulia and Zillow. She is Jamie Tion, and today we are going beyond real estate. Hey, Jamie, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Hi, Rusty. Thank you for having me today. I'm excited to be here. Jamie, it was so great meeting you and your husband, Jason, recently on your recent trip to Hawaii, but before we get into some of these exciting things about what you're doing with your life and real estate, can you tell me a little bit about your background, like where you grew up and what schools you attended? Yeah, for sure. So I'm actually a first generation immigrant from China. So I was born in China and I moved to America when I was five years old. So my story is actually, my parents decided to come to America to get their PhDs. So they're both civil engineers. And they wanted to, you know, they had the American dream and they wanted to come to America to kind of find a better life for us. So when I was two years old, believe it or not, my parents actually left me behind in China for two years. They set off to America where they had never been before and my mom and dad both started their PhD programs. My mom and dad actually attended school at different schools because they wanted to go wherever they could get a scholarship to, you know, at the time they couldn't really afford tuition. So my dad ended up going to the University of Oklahoma and my mom went to the University of Pittsburgh. So they kind of had like a long-term relationship for a little bit there for a couple of years. It was tough for them because they both had never been to America before. You know, they had learned English at school and college, but it's not the same when you immerse yourself in a brand new culture and all of that. So they kind of set off and established themselves for a few years first. And then when I was five years old, I joined them in America and the first place I landed was actually in Norman, Oklahoma, where my dad was. So as you can imagine, it was definitely culture shock for me. I had, you know, I was one of the, I was literally the only Asian in my entire school. And on my first day when I was dropped off at kindergarten, I didn't know a single word of English. So my dad just dropped me off, kind of just put me in there. I just threw me into there and then it was kind of crazy. So I obviously was able to adapt relatively quickly being so young at the time, five years old. So I was able to learn English and make friends and all of that. But, you know, it's definitely a challenge for sure being an immigrant at such a young age and kind of just being thrown into everything. So the first school I attended was Madison Elementary in Norman, Oklahoma. So I lived there for a couple of years. Then once both of my parents completed their degrees, they found jobs in Southern California. So we ended up moving to Long Beach first where I attended Buffham Elementary School. And then after that, when I was nine years old in third grade, we moved to Irvine. And that's where I spent most of the rest of my childhood basically and through high school. So I attended West Park Elementary in Irvine, Lakeside Middle School, and then Woodbridge High School in Irvine. So in high school at Woodbridge is where I actually met my husband, Jason. We've been together for a very long time. We met when I was just 14 and he was 16 years old. In high school, we went to winter formal together. And the rest is history. So after that, I attended UCLA and here I am today. So that's kind of a story of my life and my childhood. Oh, I love hearing that, Jamie. And is it true that you almost became a lawyer? Yes, that's right. So while I was at UCLA, I studied environmental science and I had a minor in sustainable building and ecosystems. So at the time, I thought I wanted to go into environmental law. So I was working at a law firm during college just as a legal assistant for a few years. I completed all my LSATs, did all my law school applications and then after I finished all of that during my senior year, I decided I wanted to get my real estate license. So at the beginning, I thought it was just for fun. I thought maybe I could do it on the side or even as a summer job prior to law school. I think I quickly realized once I started the business that it's not very much a part-time job. It's very difficult to do real estate part-time while you're doing something else. Like, wow, I was at school or I thought I could do it during law school but I realized that probably was not gonna be that good. You have to focus on one thing at a time but I closed a couple of transactions before I graduated from UCLA and I just really enjoyed the work. I enjoyed talking to clients every day. I enjoyed how every day was different and I wasn't stuck behind a desk in a cubicle or an office doing the same thing over and over again. So I decided about one week before law school started I told my parents, I don't think I wanna go to law school even though they were like, why are you crazy? You've done all this work already. You've already completed the LSATs. You did so much and they were like, are you sure you don't wanna just finish law school first and then you can always pursue real estate but I just had this passion and I just knew that real estate was right for me. So I went ahead and I didn't go to law school. I went full-time into real estate and now here I am 10 years later. I still love the industry and yeah. Wow, that's funny Jamie because I was thinking about going into law school and then I took the tennis route. So I really enjoy hearing your story about how you were really close to becoming a lawyer. And Jamie, you mentioned your husband, Jason, earlier. It was so nice meeting both of you in Hawaii and I wanna ask you, why do you and Jason make such a great team together in growing your business? Yeah, so I think, I mean, obviously part of it is that we've been together for so long, we kinda grew up together. So we almost just became partners in life and everything so early that we've figured out ways to compliment each other and kinda really focus on each of our strengths. So I think as a team, we work together very well in that. So I do a lot more of the in-person and working with the clients on a day-to-day basis. And Jason kinda takes care of the backend work and all the marketing ideas and all of that. So we're basically just able to, like I said, figure out what each person's strengths are and really support each other at our strengths. And that way, two people can do a lot more things than one person can, right? And it's good to figure out what each person is very efficient at and concentrate on that. Well, Jamie, you guys are awesome together. And you've sold tons of luxury homes. I mean, it is absolutely amazing how many homes you've sold. And you've also helped many A-list celebrities, but I wanna ask you, Jamie, why are you so successful at real estate? So I think honestly, part of it is just what my parents have instilled in me as a child. I watched them kind of build our life for us in America from nothing. And for them, they had no choice not to work hard and not to succeed. There was nothing to fall back on. And they had left their entire family, all of their friends, everyone behind. They brought their very young daughter myself to America. So they just had to figure out how to make it work. So I think I learned from a very young age that nothing is really handed to you and that you really have to put the time and effort into everything. So I think that's kind of what really drove me as a child. I wanted to make sure I was, whatever I tried in life, I always put my 100,000% effort into it and made sure that I would come out on top. And I think that has definitely affected me very much. So I think also part of it was just proving to my parents that I could do it because they wanted me to go to law school. They always thought they wanted me to do something more professional, like medicine, law, they're both PhDs and engineering. So they always believed in higher education and they weren't so much, I guess not as much business minded as myself and Jason are. So I really wanted to prove to them that I made the right choice by not going to law school and that I didn't make a mistake. So I think that part of it was a huge part of it too is just making sure to really stay on top of everything and being accountable for myself and my own time. As a real estate agent, we're independent contractors. So we don't really have a boss or a manager that's checking in day to day on what you're doing. We don't submit time sheets. We're not, we don't have specific schedules. So we're kind of responsible for our own time and our own tasks every day. So I think for me, one thing is just being super accountable for my time, making a list of all the things I have to do every day and then making sure I complete those tasks. Well, there's no doubt that your parents are extremely proud of your success. And Jamie, I felt so great meeting and talking with you on your trip to Hawaii and then giving you my two books because you are definitely somebody that goes beyond the lines and beyond the game. And your personality is incredible. And I wanna ask you, Jamie, how did you like the books and what stood out to you in it? I very much enjoyed the books. I think that it's a very easy read. It's not like complicated or anything. And I like how you tell the story, you tell it through stories basically. You tell your story and then you bring it back to how that affects, how that affected your team and yourself and how that would apply to everyday life and business. So I think it was just very, very motivating for me and some of the things, I may already know these things, but I may not be thinking about them constantly. And just being reminded was very refreshing. I liked it very much. I loved all your quotes that you have. I know you said in your book that you have a quote every day at the start of practice for your team which I absolutely loved. One of the quotes that really stood out to me was, if better is not possible, then good is not enough. That really, really stood out to me because I kind of feel that way about everything that I do. I want to always make sure that whatever I do is the best that I personally can do. If I can do better, then it's not good enough. Even though most people may say, this is good, this is good, this is good enough. For me, as long as there's something better that I can be doing to improve, then it's not good enough. So I think that's what kind of really drives me and I never really was able to put that into words. And then when I read that quote, I was like, wow, that really very much resonated me because that's how I make every decision every day and how I live my life. So. No, I love hearing that you said that because you're definitely not someone who's complacent. Yes. And Jamie, I want to ask you about ARIA, the Asian Real Estate Association of America. You were named ARIA's A-List producer, and tell me about that. I mean, that's such an honor. Oh, thank you. So the Asian Real Estate Association of America, we have over 18,000 members and each year they award the top 50 producing agents based on sales volume. So I've won that award for the past five or six years now, which has been a very great honor. And it's a great program because it just kind of allows us to kind of highlight our members and around the country, different markets, different cities. And then it also allows us to kind of do networking events and interact with each other and share ideas as well. And you were in Hawaii for the ARIA event. Being a panelist, I was a speaker and I felt so honored to have Alan Okumoto there, the founder of ARIA and Tom Keabu, who's the president of ARIA in Hawaii. And it's such a great, great event. And what a terrific organization ARIA is. And Jamie, you also got the under 30 award. Can you tell me about that? Yes. So the National Association of Realtors honors 30 agents under the age of 30 every year for their achievements. So it's based on sales volume, number of transactions, and also community involvement. So based off of that, they choose the top 30 candidates and they give us that honor, which is kind of amazing because every year we meet the new people that have been given that honor and every year we have like a meetup somewhere around the country. So this year, it's actually next month, I'm very much looking forward to it. We're gonna be going to Orlando. And so all of the past 30 and 30s are invited and we kind of mastermind also share ideas as well. And then network and we're able to share referrals when we have clients moving in and out of different cities. So it's been a very much an honor and yeah. Well, it's so impressive, Jamie. And what you've accomplished at such a young age and Jamie, I wanna ask you about empathy. I mean, let's get into more details about why you're successful. Now you might have empathy for your clients, but the key is they need to know that you have empathy for them. How do you make sure that that happens? I try to put myself in the client's shoes and really understand their perspective because every home buyer or seller has a different story and a different reason for what they're doing. So I really do try to ask them a lot of questions and listen to them. And from that, I can kind of really put myself in their shoes and understand what their goals and needs are and then make sure that I'm there for them in a different way. So I feel that I kind of, I noticed very quickly that each type of client needs different type of service. Some clients really like to be handheld every step of the way. Others are more independent and they don't like that. So I try to figure out what their way of communicating and their way of doing things is. And then I kind of try to basically mirror them so that they were communicating in a way that they best understand. No, I love that. That's so important that you brought up communication. I mean, that is so powerful right there. And I know that you care greatly about your clients. I mean, you have such great character and I know a lot of real estate agents and they need to be learning from you, Jamie. Now, how important is character in your business? I think character is everything in this business and in every business. Although there's now I think 1.6 million realtors in the United States. At the end of the day, the realtors that are really doing a lot of transactions and it's all a small circle. So I kind of feel like your character and your ethics is so important because it's always gonna come back and kind of bite you in the butt if you don't act the right way, you know what I mean? So I make sure that I'm always honest. I'm always truthful to my clients. I'm never, realtors can sometimes be known as pushy or salesy. And I really, really try to avoid that at all. I think at the end of the day, we want what's best for our clients. And so we have to kind of really understand what their needs are and try to figure out the best way to help them out. So sometimes that means telling them that this is not the right house for them even though it could make a commission on it and sell the house. Sometimes it's just not a good fit and you know that then you have to make sure that you're honest and truthful. And in the long run, it always is a good thing and it comes back to you in referrals or just building your name and your brand out in the community. Now, Jamie, what is the current scene like? What is the current market conditions like as you see it right now? The market is definitely shifting right now. So I'm sure you have heard that in the last couple of years, the real estate market has been crazy around the whole country. I mean, markets were most of the most big cities and even the all the suburbs are experiencing huge amounts of pro 30, 40% in a year. And there was a time maybe like six to 12, even up to six to 12 months ago where we were seeing 20, 30, 40, even 50 offers on one property, you know, it got crazy just because the interest rates were so low. And I think also during COVID, just having a home base and it was really important to people. And so people kind of focused more on building their own home and having their own place. So that coupled with the lack of inventory and the extremely low interest rates just drove a huge amount of demand for housing. In the last few months, the interest rates have gone up a little bit. So the market has slowed down a little bit. We haven't seen prices dropping per se, but just we're seeing like one offer, two or three offers instead of 20 to 30 offers per house. So I think the market is shifting a little bit more towards buyer's market. I would say that it's still a seller's market, but it's not so much polar on one side anymore. It's shifting a lot more towards the middle and it's giving buyers opportunities to, you know, negotiate a little bit. They can actually shop around and find a house that they really like, which I think is a good thing in the end of the day. You know, it's more normal. So, yeah. Oh, and I wanna ask you about staging because when I go to some open houses, I can see that some realtors are really great at staging and some realtors are not so good at staging. How important is that? Staging is everything. I mean, I like to give the example of, for example, if you're going for a job interview, you put on your best suit, you know, you make sure you look clean and tidy. You could go in your sweatpants, but you probably won't get the job, right? I mean, at the end of the day, your character is still the same, your experience is still the same, but you still wanna present yourself in your best light. So at the end of the day, staging is everything. I've had situations in the past where the client didn't wanna do staging, you put it on the market, it didn't sell for two, three months, took it off the market, staged it, put it back on the market at the same price, and then sold it for over asking with multiple offers. And if you do some research online, there's a lot of studies that show that staged homes sell for way more than the price that you put into the staging. So it's very, very much important to always present each property the best way you can. Also, staged homes actually appear larger than a vacant home. Obviously, if you stuff a home full of stuff, it will appear small, but a completely vacant home actually appears small too, because there's nothing there to use as scale to compare. So you can't tell, it's a giant room, you're like, I could put a couch here, but you could actually put a lot of chairs, lamps, other things, plants, right? So as you fill the space with the perfect amount of stuff, it actually makes the space look larger, and it also helps the clients imagine what they can do with the space. So they can imagine how their furniture would look there, how they can utilize the space. Sometimes you have spaces in homes that are flex spaces, they could be used as an office, they could be used as a bonus room, a play room. So it's nice to kind of stage it, how you think that the market, that particular market would most likely want to utilize it, and it helps them imagine it better. I like hearing all of this, Jamie. And let's talk about the priorities. When you're selling a home, what are your priorities in terms of maybe doing a little upgrade or renovation for the exterior of the house versus the interior of the house? Yeah, that's a really great question. So I do think that curb appeal is very much important. It's the first thing that people see when they arrive. So we do like to, if it needs it, I like to put in some new landscaping, flowers, give it some color and cheerfulness, and then also painting sometimes as necessary. I had a listing recently, it was kind of like a dullish gray blue color on the entire outside, and just thought it didn't stand out. You would drive past the house and you barely see it. So we ended up doing a bright red door white house with all black trim, and it just really gave a contrasted out. So many of the neighbors drove by and they're like, wow, this looks like a completely different house now. And I was like, it was minimal cost, just paint. So definitely, I like to, when at the first time I see a property, I walk through it with the client and I give suggestions on what I think would be the best value for the money to make updates. So that usually does include landscaping, exterior paint, interior paint. And then from there, like to focus on obviously the kitchen first and then the bathrooms if needed. There's kind of like different hacks and ways that you can change things out that aren't super costly, but still make a huge difference. Like one thing that I like to do is when I see a very dated kitchen with like old cabinets and things like that, sometimes we'll slap a coat of paint on the cabinets. But one thing that I love to do is just to change the cabinet pulls, the handles. So that kind of really shows that the house is dated. Sometimes you have like the old little circle knobs that are 20, 30 years old. And it's very cheap. You can go on Amazon or Home Depot and just get modern pull handle pulls and switch those out. And it makes it look like you have a brand new kitchen with all new cabinets. So little things like that, changing light fixtures and bathrooms, changing lighting, things like that can make a huge difference and make it look like a completely new home. And people will think you spent a lot more money than you actually did. Oh, terrific insights from you, Jamie. And now what do you do in terms of marketing and using social media? Yeah, so social media has been very helpful to my business for sure. I like to use it in a way to kind of let my clients know what I'm doing on an everyday basis and remind the people that I know that I am a realtor. So instead of calling people and literally asking them, hey, do you have anyone that you know that's looking to buy or sell? It's kind of like a less intrusive way to put your content out there, show them what you're doing on an everyday basis and then constantly remind them that you're doing business and that you're doing real estate. So oftentimes I have people that I haven't connected with in many years and they're like, I've been following you in your real estate for several years and now I'm ready to buy or one of my close friends is ready to buy or sell and then they refer someone to me. So yeah, it's like one thing I like to say about social media is once you put the content out there, it's what I like to call like evergreen, it's there forever. So you can continue to utilize that and as you build your following, it'll continue to reward you for the effort you put into it. Now, Jamie, I wanna ask you about mindset because we've all experienced various adversities and challenges in our lives. And I wanna know, do you have a story or a example of situation where you dealt with the big adversity or a big challenge and how did you overcome it, whether it's personally or professionally? Yeah, well, I think professionally, I started off in real estate when I was 20 years old. It's been, I'm 31 now, but it's been 10, 11 years. I think when I first started off, one challenge that I faced was just my age. As I was meeting clients, they would tell me you're five years younger than my daughter, like how can you be a real estate agent, right? So I mean, I think mindset was everything in that situation because I quickly realized that everyone relates to a different kind of person and connects with people for different reasons. And if somebody is just not willing to accept me for my age or something like that, I'll do, obviously do my best to prove them wrong and show them that I am knowledgeable and skilled. But at the end of the day, I think it took a while for me to understand that, age is just a number and it's really about how I feel about myself and my mindset. So once I was kind of able to get over that, I think it was very helpful to me and didn't hold me back as much. I was just able to really utilize what I knew and just help my clients in the best way I can. And then slowly over the years, obviously I have a lot of experience now under my belt and it's slowly, that barrier has slowly gone away. Well, Jamie, now because you have such a superior culture of excellence and high standards, what do you do now to try to keep improving yourself? So I've been reading books, so I got your books here. So reading books is really great. And then just learning what's going on in the market for me in real estate is very important to me too. So every morning, I do like to spend a little bit of time just reading the news, reading what's out there, figuring out what's going on with the economy and just really understanding. I think the more you learn, the more you read, the more you talk the talk, the easier it is to actually talk about these topics. So you sound smarter when you're talking about it, you sound like you know what you're talking about. So I just think that there's always more to learn and even if you already know it, it's always good to constantly be reminded of these things. So growing my leadership skills, growing my overall knowledge of the market, all of that are things that I still do on a daily basis. Well, Jamie, you have such a huge upside. You've accomplished so much in your life already, but your upside is so huge. And it's been an absolute joy having you on the show today. I really wanna thank you for sharing your insights. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure and thank you so much for sharing your books with me. I mean, all of this incredible knowledge and wisdom that you gained throughout your years of coaching as you know, it's very inspirational and it's definitely changed the way as I read the book, changed the way I kind of think about certain things. So I'm excited to kind of utilize it more in my life in the future. Aha, thank you, Jamie. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Jamie and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.