Nathan Daniel (00:00):

Hey, what's going on. Everybody it's time for another show. So we have a very special guest today, all the way from New York city. Yes. Uh, Josh field is going to be joining us. And, and it's a very interesting story. And I'm excited to talk about this because, uh, not only being in New York city, we're gonna be talking about success through adversity, challenge, change, and all of the things today. So, uh, I'm not going to waste any more time. I'm going to cue up the music. and were going to get started

Nathan Daniel (00:45):

All right. Welcome to the show. Josh fields. How's it going?

Josh Fields (00:49):

Well clue I'm here. I'm great. And feeling good, man. Thanks for having me, Nathan. I really appreciate it.

Nathan Daniel (00:53):

Yeah, absolutely. Well, uh, I'm, I'm excited to have you here. Cause we had a little bit of a conversation, a mutual friend of ours actually introduced us. Shout out to Abie Gabor. So tell us a little about yourself. I, you know, you're, you're the managing director of principal broker with Spire group in New York city. So tell us a little about you and your past.

Josh Fields (01:20):

All right. Well, um, I've been in real estate for a little over 19 years. Got involved at a pretty crazy time that I'll never forget it was right after nine 11. So I got involved in a super, super slow market, slow real estate market. And, uh, so rebound very quickly and in 2001, and, um, I got started and rentals, uh, got a lot of access success stories. There did well transitioned over to sales, uh, managed an office that we had, uh, with, with Kerlan Realty. Um, we had 2008 happened live through another drastic change through the economy, through the market, had to revert from all the successes that I was having in sales. I had to go back to rentals in order to stay afloat and to be able to make a living. Um, so that came back a couple of years later and, uh, we still had success in the New York city market.

Josh Fields (02:18):

I mean, it's just been a fantastic place to be living and working. Uh, I moved out of the city after living in the city for 18 years. I moved up to Greenwich, Connecticut with my wife and daughter. My daughter just started middle school, which is a very interesting time right now to be starting a new school. It was really funny. We had the, the meeting with the, um, the teachers, the parent-teacher conference the other day. And at the end of the meeting, um, my daughter had come back into the house and we had just come off mute. So we were kind of thanking the teachers. My daughter walks in, she goes, Oh my God, that's what my teacher looks like without a mask on. And they thought it was hilarious because the kids don't know what the teachers look like these days. It's very, very odd time. But, um, so we, uh, we became Spire group January 1st of 2011. Uh, Bianca Yankov was the founder with Kevin Kurlan. They kind of joined forces and then Bianca became the sole proprietor of, uh, of the company back about, uh, three, four years ago. And, um, yeah,

Nathan Daniel (03:24):

So it, you know, and I want to get into Bianca story here in just a second, if you don't mind. Um, you know, and I know now you're the managing director and principal of Spire group, but we're going to, we're going to tell this story today. Um, so let's, let's just start there, right? I mean, it's, it's been a crazy year for you, right. And Spire group and everything that's going on. So I want to start with, um, a little bit of adversity. If you don't mind, can you tell Bianca story?

Josh Fields (03:51):

Well, Bianca was an amazing woman I say was because unfortunately we, she, we just lost, we lost her. She passed away back in April, uh, at 37 years old with two young boys and a husband who was, uh, very successful also in real estate, in New York city. Uh, she was a leader in the New York city, real estate community, Bianca Yankov, Y a N K O V. Uh, she, um, was recognized through a lot of her work and effort of what she had done with the company and, uh, what she had achieved as far as a woman in the New York city, real estate community. I mean, she was really recognized as a leader and a fierce woman who just took us to the next level and, um, losing her was, uh, was a real challenge. It was really difficult because she had promoted me to help manage the company in, uh, in January.

Josh Fields (04:46):

And, uh, she was fighting cancer. And, um, it was also, uh, soon after I got the promotion to managing director or trying to keep the company afloat and keep all our agents, uh, going, we ran right into the thick of COVID and, uh, we had a shutdown. Um, it was very difficult. Uh, there were a lot of things happening that I just couldn't really shield her from because I'm not the owner of the company. She was. So I think, you know, there were definitely a lot of stresses and difficult decisions that had to be made as far as, you know, shutting down the office and people fearing for, for their health and money issues, you know, checks coming in, you know, just a lot of things that she had to deal with while she was fighting for her life overseas. And, um, so, so, so that was difficult.

Josh Fields (05:36):

Uh, you know, she passed away about a month into COVID and, uh, you know, it was so hard making all those phone calls to all the agents, but trying to just keep everybody, uh, as positive as I could, because it was just really easy to go into a dark place, you know, with all these negative things, all this negativity around us, you put the TV on, you know, it's doom and gloom. The world is coming to an end, like get the hell out of Dodge, get away from this crazy city because being in a vertical city with, uh, you know, these giant apartment buildings and these elevators, and, you know, it was just not a good place for, for, you know, a good four months or so five months. And it's still difficult right now. It's still not where we were. I mean, granted, we're coming back and we're in a much better place currently, as far as COVID goes, then we were

Nathan Daniel (06:22):

So, so let me, let me pause you right there and thank you for telling Bianca story. I appreciate that. I think that, uh, starting the year off that way, and then everything happening with COVID. I mean, that's just, I mean, wow, that's a lot of adversity right off the bat and then COVID hits, I threw everybody for a loop, but on top of that, you're, you are in a vertical city and, um, kind of the heart of it, right. I mean, there was such a huge shutdown and locked lockdown and just hearing so many stories. So do you mind telling a little bit how it was actually during that COVID lockdown? I would call it the extreme phase, right? Cause that's what the news portrayed like being in a different part of the country. It was, it was pretty serious from our point of view. So do you mind sharing a little bit about that? Sure.

Josh Fields (07:12):

I mean, look, I, to be honest with you, I didn't really come in. Uh, like I told you, I moved up to Greenwich, Connecticut about seven years ago. I mean, for a short 30, 40 minute drive into the city train, ride car, whatever. And, uh, once we got closer to, uh, reopening the city, as far as phase two goes, and we were able to start to see people again. Um, I, I would come in a little bit before that, just to check on some properties that I had. And, um, it, it was crazy, you know, like, uh, I remember driving from 24th and Lexington to getting from one apartment. I had to another part of the city on the upper upper West side at a hun, uh, 98th and Amsterdam and going right up sixth Avenue, which normally right through the heart of time squared, slow, slow, slow traffic everywhere.

Josh Fields (08:04):

And I got up there and they 15 minutes, you know, normally that would be like a 45 minute drive with traffic. And it was nothing, there was no cars, there was no traffic, a lot of buildings were boarded up, you know, on top of COVID we had the riots that were going on for the black lives matter movement. And, um, that was, uh, put a lot of fear into a lot of people, not, not because of the movement, but it's because a lot of the, uh, the adversity that came along with that, a lot of the, uh, the violence that came along with the protesters, you know, and it wasn't, there were plenty of great protestors that were out there really speaking for an amazing movement. But unfortunately there were a lot of bad people out there that were just, you know, vandalized and buildings and try to break in and steal.

Josh Fields (08:48):

So a lot of these buildings, especially in the downtown lower part of Manhattan, you know, the village and Chelsea flat iron Murray Hill, and, you know, any of the areas where there were a lot of businesses, they had to get boarded up. So you drive through, you walk through and it's like, it's kind of like a ghost town. So it was really kind of scary to see that. And, and, and I really, I started to come back in on a semi-regular basis back towards the end of June when things started to reopen a little bit, and we went into phase two and we were finally able to see people face to face. And, uh, and I had a lot of success at that time. I did about 10 deals in about three weeks where I really made a good chunk of money just because I had a lot of people that had been trying to get out for a while. And, um, there was a lot of pent up demand and those few weeks, right after June 22nd, there was a lot of activity. And then things really slowed down after that.

Nathan Daniel (09:46):

Yeah. Well, I know, um, from talking to a couple of friends that were up there and stuff that are in real estate, um, that just showing it's like, you couldn't even enter a building, you couldn't do anything. So at that moment, like you were just talking about, I can only imagine the relief of people going, Hey, I can actually do something now. Like I can actually get that there close a deal. I can sell a property that I've been trying to sell for a long time. So

Josh Fields (10:10):

Yeah, people were just making money from unemployment. And, um, there was the unemployment insurance and the pandemic insurance. So, you know, that kind of kept people going for awhile, but it's not that much money. It's not what we're used to making. It's not what we need in order to survive and thrive living in a very expensive city, like New York city. So, um, you know, I really had to do a job on staying on top of all of our agents and keep keeping them out of going into that dark, scary place and, uh, just try to do what I could, you know, there were certain things that I did, um, as a team, we did something called a huddle and, uh, every Thursday we would have a call on zoom at 11:00 AM, just checking in with the whole crew, with the whole team and seeing where our agents were and how they were doing what they were experiencing.

Josh Fields (11:02):

What was their morale like? You know, how were they doing mentally? How were they able to challenge you handle the challenges that were coming at them? Um, right now, because, you know, we've got a lot of different kinds of people that are part of our team. And, um, I was just worried about everyone because we've got a really great crew and I'm going, what we had just gone through losing Bianka and then being right in the middle of all this. It was a lot for a lot of us and, and just, I, I needed to be there to, uh, be there for support for our team and, and kind of give them a hug from afar, you know? Um, so yeah, they're, they're really necessary. I mean, we did so much zoom. We are zooming away every day, but these, these Thursdays zooms that 11, these huddles were just really to sort of get to see familiar faces that we didn't see in the office anymore, but you get to see them on the screen and, and try to get a smile out of everybody. That was a, that was important. That was really important.

Nathan Daniel (12:06):

Well, that's cool that you showed up the way you did, especially during, uh, you know, with Bianca then COVID and everything else. I mean, it would have been easy for a lot of people to just kind of spiral down phase out, just be like, you know what, hands up I'm done. Uh, but you didn't, you actually stood up and you were there and you made sure you were taking care of your people. And I love that. Um, so the next thing, right? I mean, that's not, it we're not done yet. Um, all of a sudden, you know, we've gone through these, these first couple of things and right in the middle of all this, then something else happens talking to us. Yeah.

Josh Fields (12:39):

Yeah. So we, uh, you know, Bianca was sick and, uh, she knew that the company to be taken care of, um, you know, that this was her baby, this was her third child, even though it was her first child, because she started Spire before her kids were born. This was her third baby. And she wanted to make sure that we would, we would be taken care of even when she was gone. And, uh, so she had been talking with Adam , who is the, uh, CEO of Oxford property group for several years about trying to figure out ways to work together. And, um, they have a very similar business model to us, to Spire group, which is a 100% commission model, which is great. Um, a hundred percent commission model means agents pay $495 a month as their broker dues. And they get to keep 100% commission.

Josh Fields (13:29):

So there were a lot of natural synergies dealing with Oxford. We actually adopted once we merged and that's what happened was we merged with them. We adopted a second model that they had, which is a $99 a month model. And you get to keep 90% of your commission. So we were always kind of looking for that second option for the agents. And, um, and, and I guess the negotiation started to really heat up back in November, December when she realized that she was not doing so well. And after she had passed away, her husband DMO took over where she had left off and he worked hard with the attorneys to complete the merger. And, uh, so now we are in a new place. We had to shut down our old office at one Oh five Madison. So we're now working out of a beautiful new office that Oxford has.

Josh Fields (14:18):

It's a new office to them as well at five West 37th street, we're in the penthouse. I've got this amazing view here, overlooking the empire state building. And, um, I shared the office with Dina Tango, who is now the CFO of Oxford inspire group and Jewles Borbely who is the COO of, uh, Oxford property group. And, um, it it's really great. Um, I really liked the new role that I have here with both companies. Uh, um, we're, we're continuing to do these, these huddles every Thursday. Another thing that I'm working is, uh, agent outreach and education. So every Wednesday at 11 o'clock, I am interviewing different people from different industries that have some really great information and insight and knowledge that they'd like to share with our team of realtors. And that's been going really, really well. Well,

Nathan Daniel (15:11):

That's, that's, that's great to hear. And it's um, because as a part of this merger, you're obviously your, your company grew quite a bit, right? I mean, you added a few agents to the roster, is that right?

Josh Fields (15:24):

Yeah. Yeah. You know, we, we were about a hundred agents coming into this. We're about 800 strong now. So we're one of the top 10 firms now, as far as agents go in New York city. Yes.

Nathan Daniel (15:33):

So, so let's let, let's make a little transition, cause we've been talking a lot about adversity, but all of a sudden this merger happens and things are starting to change a little bit because you're starting to see something, um, throughout these huddles and everything else where agents are starting to kind of change and get a little creative.

Josh Fields (15:53):

Oh yeah. Yeah. So I find that the agents that really had the most success are in this time where the agents that were really trying to think outside the box that were trying to come up with some cool and creative ideas. I know about one agent who was doing a lot of, um, interviews through their social media, uh, with local business owners in Brooklyn and their neighborhood in Brooklyn, they would go up and down the streets. They would talk to people and find out what their story was, find out what types of challenges and adversity they had during COVID and try to just garner support through putting it out there, social media pages, and, um, you know, people like that, that were coming up with these interesting ideas and concepts, you know, just reaching out to your clients, just checking in like, Hey, you guys, okay, is there anything you need?

Josh Fields (16:40):

There's just something that I can do there for you just being genuine, you know, and talking to them from your heart, I think really went a long way. And it still does, you know, people that are genuine. Uh, you know, I think a lot of people can see through the BS that's out there. And there's a lot of, a lot of agents, unfortunately, that are full of it. But, you know, if you can be honest with yourself and honest with your clients and just, you know, be a good guy and or gal, and just kind of look out for their best interests, they're, they're gonna appreciate that. And that's going to really get you far and, um, just doing cool, interesting things like that would, would really have you coming out of this that much further ahead. And, uh, we're, we're going into a place right now where I really see business starting to pick up because we were at a slowdown for such a long period of time.

Josh Fields (17:27):

And as New York city keeps opening up further and further, more and more and more people keep coming back having to come back to work. You know, I think people were away with extended vacations. They were way out in the Hamptons. They were out at fire Island at the Jersey shore, wherever they could get away. Maybe they were down in Florida, maybe they were up in the Berkshires or up in the Catskills, wherever they could go. They went to get out of the city. So many people left New York city, especially Manhattan, but as businesses feel more comfortable starting to reopen. And I think this is going to continue as we go into the new year, I feel like there's going to be more of a steady trickle of people coming back and they're going to need our help. And that's why it's important just to stay in touch with everybody, do, do a newsletter, you know, just send out a monthly or weekly newsletter and, and make sure you got all your people on there and just check in with them and, and let them know that you're there for them.

Nathan Daniel (18:24):

Oh, absolutely. One, I think one from a broker standpoint showing up and helping them become, you know, I know we, whatever we call it, we call it market expert. We call it mayor of your town, whatever the term is, right. As a leader, like if you're helping them do that, especially if you're there, you're right in the middle of it and watching the trends that are happening and then sharing it with, with your agents and then in turn, they can turn around and do the same thing so that they can keep their people informed. Because yeah, I know earlier we were talking about this and people were just flocking out of town, like just trying to get away and just moving to the suburbs, but basically whole different States.

Josh Fields (19:04):

Yeah. Well, that's why those areas are blown up right now. You know, the suburbs of New York city are huge where I am in Greenwich, Connecticut, it's on fire, you know, Westchester and, you know, anywhere you go, parts of New Jersey, long Island, you're getting bidding Wars left and right. We're not seeing that in New York city. Not, not at all, not right now.

Nathan Daniel (19:22):

Yeah. Yeah. Well, um, well, very cool. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time today. Uh, and, and talking to us about all of this, um, I, I want to wrap up and just leave it with this and say like, if there was one thing that you could tell any real estate broker that's out there, what you have learned from the start of this year, till today, like what's the biggest lesson that you've learned?

Josh Fields (19:46):

Wow. Um, well, for me, uh, I think the most important thing is team. You know, it's not just you, but it's not. It's the people that are around you, the people that you work with, you know, even if you don't run a team, it's your support group, you know, your, your, it people, your, your front desk staff, the people who answer the telephones, anybody that's part of your organization, you know, they're all integral to success integral to moving ahead and getting out of this. And it's so important to just check in with everybody and make sure that everybody's in a good place as far as their head goes, because, you know, we've gone through a lot. It's been tough on me. And I know that I've had a lot of people reaching out to me throughout all of this. And, you know, I've had some other difficult challenges along the way.

Josh Fields (20:34):

We've had some people very close to us that have passed away, um, outside of just Bianca. So there there've been a lot, been a lot of challenges and it has been a pretty rough go at it. But I really, I can't think of, uh, anything else outside of the, the support that I've had from friends and family and, and then seeing how much love and support I'm getting. It's important reminds me that I need to give it as well. Um, so that's, it's really important just to be there and give as much love and support as you can, for all the people that are around you that help you with your everyday business, or even with your everyday life. That's not your business at all because your life is part of your business and you can't be successful in business if you're not successful in life.

Josh Fields (21:18):

Yeah. That's, that's absolutely right. And I love that lesson. Thank you for sharing that with us. And I'm sure, like, I mean, what I just heard out of that is, and I'm sure this has happened, but like, through all the adversity that you've gone through, focusing on that team and then pouring back into them, I'm sure as a group, you all have just done this, this right here. Y'all have merged together even closer. Like you're more of a family or anything else that probably you were before. And I don't. Yeah. So I, I, thanks. Yeah. I thank you for that. I feel that it's true.

Nathan Daniel (21:48):

Yeah. Well, um, everybody, we have been talking to Josh fields, the managing director and principal broker at the Spire group in New York city. Uh, Josh, thank you so much for being on the show today.

Josh Fields (21:58):

My Pleasure. Thank you for having me.