March 24, 2025 • 29 mins
Katherine Martín-Fisher converses with Margaret Thomas, known as Maggie, who shares her journey into the real estate world and her passion for the job. They discuss the significance of home presentation and how Maggie overcame personal adversity to succeed. Maggie recounts her transition from education to making a meaningful impact in real estate and offers advice for home sellers on reinventing themselves. The episode includes expressions of gratitude, Maggie's contact details, and Katherine's closing remarks. It wraps up with appreciation for listeners and a call to action, encouraging engagement with the podcast.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
I am Catherine Martin Fisher, and I helpbusiness owners who have lost their vision
because they're struggling with cash flow,sales, marketing, which also affects their
company culture, by showing them to implementproven systems that increase their revenue by
30% in ninety days.
And this allowing them to reignite the passionand that big dream that they started with.
(00:28):
So the reason that I started this podcast wasto celebrate businesses who have overcome
adversity and have come out on the other sideof it.
And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Good afternoon.
This is Catherine, your host with the BeyondBusiness podcast.
And I am so excited to introduce you toMargaret Thomas with us today and, you know,
(00:54):
AKA Maggie.
So we're just gonna go ahead and go with Maggietoday.
And I don't like what I just said.
That was dumb.
Good afternoon.
This is Catherine, your host with the BeyondBusiness Podcast.
I'm excited to introduce you to MargaretThomas, AKA Maggie today.
And she is a real estate agent at Southern,Sotheby's International, Realty and floor in
(01:23):
Florida.
No.
Sotheby's international.
You got
it.
Good afternoon.
This is Catherine, your host with the beyondbusiness podcast.
I'm excited to introduce you to MargaretThomas, AKA Maggie today.
And she is a realtor in one Sotheby'sInternational Realty in Florida.
And I'm so excited to have a conversation todayand just really just unfold this journey and,
(01:50):
and just how she serves the world and what shedoes and what makes her different than it just
anyone else who's in the real real estateindustry.
So Maggie, welcome to our show today.
I'm so excited to be with you.
Thank you so much for this great opportunity.
I really appreciate it.
So, you know, Maggie, just, you know, I lovefor our audience to know just a little bit
(02:12):
about you and a little bit about what led youto deciding to become a real estate agent in
your industry?
Well, basically I lost my husband five yearsago, to COVID, unfortunately.
And I had a very good friend who was also arealtor in Central Florida area.
(02:33):
And she said to me, what do you want to do withyour life?
And I said to her, I said, I don't know.
I was devastated with the loss of a forty fiveyear marriage with one man.
And, she said, I really think you would beamazing realtor.
You know, you have empathy.
You're great with people.
You have a good sense of humor humor.
You're a hard worker.
And, I thought about it and I said to her, doyou really think I could do that?
(02:57):
And she said, yes, Maggie, you can.
You you will be amazing.
And so here I am.
What what do you love most about what you do?
I love being able to help And and I love peoplein general.
So I develop great friendships.
(03:17):
But the most important thing is I want to helpthem, whether it is selling their home or
buying a home.
This is a very, this is one of the largestinvestments that they're gonna make.
And I treat them like they're my family.
Okay.
Maggie, what would you do to your family?
How would you treat them?
And, and that's how I treat everybody likefamily.
(03:40):
And so, yeah, it just mainly I love to help andnurture.
That's beautiful.
You know, it is so many times, you know,there's that saying that says, you know, I
don't care how much you know until I know howmuch you care.
So it sounds to me that you put the caring intoeverything that
(04:00):
you do.
Is that correct?
Yes.
I give some people give a %.
I give a 50 or even 200.
So yeah.
So that would set you apart from from
I would hope so because, you know, that'simportant.
You know, not it's not just about, you know,taking people here and there to show houses.
(04:22):
It's this these homes are are special homesbecause this is where these families are going
to develop beautiful memories and be with theirfamilies.
And so a home should feel like home and whatbetter position that I'm in to be able to find
them a place to call home.
And that's what I love about the industry andthe business is just meeting wonderful people
(04:45):
and being able to provide and and give themknowledge and and help them in any way I can.
What do
you say makes a difference when you are, whenyou're in the process of selling a home and
you're having to help guide your client as towhat the presentation of that home would look
like in order for you to, you know, to be ableto make it, you know, look so much better.
(05:10):
What are there are specific things that I feelyou have gifts in and being able to help
someone to see things that they are not able tosee.
So give me an example of something that you'vebeen able to do in order to to sell the home.
K.
Well, I didn't officially go to school fordesign, but I have a natural ability.
(05:31):
Like my friend who told me that I would becomea great realtor, I was her head stager and I
didn't have staging experience for luxury homesand regular type homes.
I had experience in the film side of it doingsets, movie sets, but making them look used and
believable.
But when it came to staging homes, it's atotally different vibe.
(05:55):
So I had to make them look beautiful.
And and a lot of these homes have beautifulfeatures and you want to enhance those
features.
Well, how do you do it?
Well, you, I guess it's experience, a lot ofexperience and I, because I am on the creative
side and because I've been doing it for solong, it becomes second nature to me.
It's natural.
(06:15):
So for instance, I had a woman who had abeautiful home and she had asked me, you know,
what would I do to stage your home?
How could I make things look different for her?
And she had this, as you, she had a beautifulpool.
So when you walked in the front door, that'swhat you're seeing directly is the pool.
Well, she had oversized bulky furniture, andshe had a couch right across a beautiful tall
(06:39):
window that was showing the pool, and she wasblocking it.
So I said, how about we just move the couch?
We move it.
We just rearrange your furniture.
We put the couch to the left of the wall sothat everything is open.
So when we walk in, we see the pool and we addsome little touches, like, you know,
additionals.
And and I was able to work with the furniturethat she had.
(07:02):
And but just by doing some slight little changelike that made a very big difference.
And actually, she sold her house.
I think it was in about two weeks she sold herhouse, because of that reason, just because the
pool was such a big feature.
It was gorgeous and it was being blocked.
So that's kinda one situation,
you know?
So that would be a good point to make when, youknow, when you have somebody who's trying to
(07:26):
sell their home, it's like how, you know, howyou have things arranged is pretty important
factor.
Right?
Exactly.
And even so, like sometimes you know, I
mean, listen, it's our home.
It's where we live.
But, you know, when you start the process ofwanting to sell your home, you have to take the
emotional side of way.
And I say that because when I come in,sometimes I'll say, okay, we have to take this
(07:52):
down, take that down.
Even personal photos.
I know it sounds probably strange, but we liketo, the reason why we like to take down a lot
of personal photos off walls and things likethat is because when we have somebody walk in,
we want them to visualize what their place isgoing to look like.
(08:15):
So we declutter.
We do a lot of decluttering.
Less is more in this particular case and just,you know, not cluttered.
So what the per when the person walks in, theywalk into an open space, a zen like space and
not cluttered with stuff.
So sometimes, you know, it's kind of like Ihave to say, you know, to my customers, okay,
(08:37):
we need to take this down, that down.
And sometimes, you know, they they'll say, oh,do I really have to take this down?
You know, it's kinda and I said, well, do youwanna sell your house?
And do do you want to get the biggest bang foryour money by, you know, because you can get
more money.
And it and it's a known fact that if you stagehomes, even decluttering, can make a big
difference in, in the money that you can, getfor selling your home.
(09:02):
So that's the big thing.
People don't realize that just simpledecluttering, even decluttering on its own is
something that a lot of times people don'tthink about.
I have so that's why I say sometimes there'sthat emotional part from the customer because
it's their home, but now they're gonna beselling it.
(09:22):
So that's the transition.
You know, I try and help them through thattransition.
I love that.
That helps to identify some of the things thekey things because we do think, you know, in
our home, we have our pictures up and stuff.
But if you wanna sell the home, you wanna youwant to be able to have them feel like I could
live here.
Right?
Is that that's that's the point
that we're making here.
(09:43):
Exactly.
And so I would love for you to just, you know,we all have adversity that we have to overcome
and then life might change us and take us intoa detour.
So you've had some detours that you've had to,you know, maneuver through.
And what would you say are some of the things,the life lessons that you've learned that have
(10:07):
allowed you to be to do make the decision tobecome a real estate agent?
Yeah.
Well, first of all, I come from a low incomehome.
My mom raised me without a father.
And on top of
that, she couldn't speak English.
She was Portuguese.
And so she couldn't, as I was growing up, shewasn't able to help me, with education because
(10:29):
she didn't speak the language.
And so learning came very difficult for me.
What comes easy to some people is a strugglefor me because I didn't have that strong
education behind me.
Not that my mother didn't care for me.
She loved me in so many ways, but it was justsomething you don't understand English.
It's hard to show you things.
(10:50):
So that was a a little bit of a setback for me.
So growing up, you know, was very difficult,you know, in school, but I was a fighter.
Actually, I was not in the greatest environmentliving environment either.
I was surrounded by a lot of things, druggies,just not good situations.
(11:10):
So my mom did the best she could.
So, but me actually to this very day, cause allmy friends, you know, were into the drug scene.
And for this very day, I, I think about like, Icould have been one of those people that it
could have gone that way, but I never did.
So obviously I, I was very strong in knowingthat, you know, this is not right and that I
(11:35):
got to better myself.
So I did.
I studied hard.
I actually in high school, I got one of thehighest awards and it was called outstanding
leadership and what it was, they all theteachers and all the students would have to put
a vote in who they felt was, positive, wasoutgoing, was helpful to people.
(12:01):
And I got that award.
And I still have that plaque right now to thisvery day.
And from time to time, I take it out and I lookat it and it reinforces the person who I was
and I am now.
So, yeah.
So I don't give up.
I'm a fighter and I won't let anybody tell me Ican't.
(12:22):
I will tell them I can.
Even if I can't, I will make sure I will learnand I will study, until I can.
And my first great accomplishment, I became, aneducator.
Got my degree in early childhood education.
And, not only working in a school, I ended upopening my own schools.
And so that's an accomplishment.
(12:43):
Not only did I become a teacher of many years,I also owned my own schools and ran them
myself.
So that was
a big accomplishment.
I love that you're sharing that.
But I love that you're sharing that and thereason why.
Yeah.
The reason why that originally, I'm fromoriginally, I'm from Toronto, Canada.
(13:05):
And I came here '94 with my two sons, thebabies at the time.
And, my husband, was in the entertainmentfield.
Very, very, let's just say very famous in histime.
And, we decided to give back to the communitythat we moved into.
They were wanting to to put a brand new localpark and the the government was gonna match the
(13:29):
funds.
So we did a lot of fundraiser events and one ofthem was doing a talent show.
So my husband and I organized a talent show.
And out of doing that talent show, we were ableto raise thousands of dollars and to give back
so that these children in our, in our areacould have a beautiful, you know, baseball
(13:49):
fields, football fields, a park that they couldgo to.
And I felt really, proud that I was able togive back to the community, but doing that, we
got parents from all over after the show thatwe did and said, why did you guys open up a
performing arts school?
And my husband and I, you know, are in theindustry.
We're in the industry and we thought, you knowwhat?
(14:12):
Yeah, let's do it.
And we did it in thirty three years later.
Yeah, we opened schools in Parkland, CoralSprings area, Boca, you know, we had schools in
Pembroke Pines, Okeechobee, and we were able tomake a big impact, to many, many students in
(14:35):
their lives.
A lot of them, you know, are in the industry.
They are either producers, directors, writers,singers, actors, but a lot of the majority of
them, you know, weren't in the industry, butbecause they develop that self confidence and
self esteem, they were able to exceed in theirbusinesses that they had.
(14:57):
So it's kind of cool.
Cause, after my husband's passing, a lot of thestudents got together hundreds of them and they
did a Memorial for my husband.
Cause at the time I wasn't able to have afuneral for my husband.
It was back in 2020 when COVID was really bad.
And the things that they wrote about my husbandand myself was just unbelievable.
(15:20):
I couldn't even keep a dry eye.
It was just tears after tears after tears, justto think that we made an impact in these,
students.
I'm getting all teary eyed now, just thinkingabout it, but, well, what I wanted
to mention is that it's not where you start,it's where you finish.
And so you've done an amazing job of, you know,being able to go from where you started to
(15:48):
where you are now.
But give us an example of some of thedifferences is that you made in certain lives.
Like you mentioned that, you know, all of theletters that were written.
Because you so many times we're going throughlife and we're kinda just doing those things
and we are making a difference, but you don'trealize the impact that you have on the lives
(16:09):
of others.
And when when we first started and youmentioned about nurturing and caring about your
clients so much and just, you know, that seemsto be your focus.
So what were some of the things then and, youknow, some examples maybe of someone that you
may have made a difference to while you were inthe education space?
Yeah.
(16:30):
Oh my goodness.
There's so many.
So so many.
We had students that have had psychologicalissues.
Their parents would bring them to us, you know,just to give them self esteem and confidence,
not necessarily to be in the industry.
Our school was a family.
It and it it was more a family than a business,but we became a family and that's really what
(16:50):
it was all about.
So there was one special moment that, I mean,there were several, but this one was
outstanding.
We had a mother that came into our school andher daughter had had a surgery on her vocal
cords and something happened where her soundsand her regular talking was really difficult.
(17:11):
The sounds didn't come out normally like howwe're talking.
And her mother said to me, you know, Maggie, Iknow she's not gonna be a professional singer
or on a stage or anything like that.
She just loves to sing.
And I wanted to bring her here to you just tojust to let her go through the motion.
And I said, okay, not not a problem.
You know?
And so I, she introduced me to her daughterand, you know, we signed her up in our program
(17:36):
and I had her privately because one on onebecause I know I needed to spend, you know,
extra time with her.
And, she loved singing.
And what I started to do is I did vocalexercises for her.
I gave her a CD that she could take home tostudy and practice.
And we worked on a song and, we kept working onthat song for quite a long time.
(18:01):
But as we were doing it and along withnurturing, sometimes she would feel down and I
said, don't worry, honey.
It's okay.
It's okay.
You're gonna you're gonna get there.
I said, you're doing great.
You're doing great.
And I guess just with that positive feedbackand I was genuine when I told her, you know, I
was genuine.
And, this is the one beautiful thing.
(18:22):
Every year we have a year end show.
And of course, we have hundreds of vocalistsand we don't have enough room on stage to have
each individual singer singing the show, or theshow would be very long because we also have
acting students and dance students.
And what have you.
So this young lady, everybody had an even heel.
In other words, everybody knew when theaudition was and everybody knew we were
(18:46):
practicing actually in in class for thispreparation for auditioning to be able to sing
a solo.
However, the majority of singers who didn't,you know, get a solo, we would put them in a
group number so they would still be performingon stage, but then we dissected and gave them
individual lines.
We mic them, you know, stage that eachindividual singer would have a couple of lines
(19:08):
to sing within that group number.
So anyways, it comes to, the day where thedirector comes in and he's auditioning my
vocalist.
So I'm there, give them all support, you know.
And anyways, this young lady that had thisissue with her her voice, her, her vocal
chords, long story short ended up being in ourshow as a solo act, not being in a, not even
(19:33):
being in a group number.
She was in that as well, but as a solo act onstage and her mother, we kept it a secret.
I didn't tell her mother.
And, she went up on the stage.
She presented herself beautiful.
She sang.
And after the show, her mother came up and shewas crying and she said, Maggie, I don't know
(19:55):
what you did to my daughter.
I never thought in a million years that shecould carry a tune.
And she did.
She, it was enough for her to be in the show.
And she's a perfect example.
And there are many, many more examples, butthat is one of them that kind of holds true and
dear to me to this very day.
Wow.
That actually is a beautiful story.
(20:17):
That is a story of the the power of belief andjust that that positive feedback that you are
constantly giving her and just, giving her thatshe can do it too no matter what.
So what I love that when you shared that, thatis another case of being in a place of
(20:37):
adversity and having to sweat and, you know,just having to overcome.
So I love the overcome stories.
And the reason I love that is because so manytimes there are others that are actually
dealing with adversity and they don't know howto overcome.
But if they can understand that others havebeen through it and they can too, so you've had
(20:59):
to reinvent yourself as as you've lost yourhusband and had to had to find a new path for
yourself.
And so now as a real estate agent, what wouldyou say is the because of the gifts that you
have in these areas that you're able to bringto the table, into your real estate business
(21:19):
now, what
would you say?
Why would someone want you to be their agent?
Why would why would they why would they chooseyou?
That's a very good question.
The may the thing is is that I'm real.
I'm genuine.
And I look at them as they're my family member,because again, this is a big investment that,
(21:40):
you know, buyers for their first time buying ahome, and sellers wanting to sell their home.
I, have a lot of experience and a lot of many,and I have a lot of many hats that I can bring
value to them, whether it be staging their homedecluttering, you know, I am knowledge based,
(22:00):
so I have a lot of the last minute informationin the industry.
With one Sotheby's brand, we're not only local,we're international, which is a beautiful
thing.
So we can provide, You know, more people to seetheir places or to buy their places.
We are a very beautiful brand and our, ourthing is really is we want to help our
(22:25):
customers as best as we can.
And in order to do that, we have to staycurrent in knowledge.
So we're constantly, you know, looking at themarkets and the trends to see what we can do on
our end to help our customers.
And, you know, I love this company for thatvery reason that we're all in it together.
And, the group is amazing.
You know, we help each other out too, you know,which is nice.
(22:48):
But it it's just the fact that, we can reachout to a lot of people and be able to sell
someone's home, not only locally, like I say,internationally all over the world.
But our thing is to give service, you know, togive service to our customers.
And, which sometimes That's
it for you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(23:09):
And so through that through all of thechallenges that you've been through and now
being able to be of service to people in yourindustry where you are, what would you say is
an a piece of advice that you could leavesomeone who is trying to sell their home?
And, you know, one of the key things thatpeople don't always think about besides the
(23:30):
decluttering and and staging, is there a anadvice that you would give your clients in
advance?
Yes, I would.
I would tell them number one, that they are inthe best hands being with a realtor.
We as a realtor, that's our whole, this is whywe're realtors is to make the transition very
(23:52):
smooth for a seller or for a buyer.
There's a lot that goes into it.
It's not just a pretty face or walking into aproperty markets.
That's very, very important.
(24:12):
So that's so that we're able to offer that toour clients, but just for them to let us take
over, let us do our job and let theirtransition be very smooth.
And that's why you hire a realtor for that forthat reason is that we are experienced and
knowledgeable in the field, and we wanna takeit off your shoulders because there is a lot of
(24:35):
stress to buying or to selling, you know, bothsides.
Well, Maggie, I just appreciate that you're,you're you're just so authentic.
And I love that you were able to share with ouraudience just some tips and just your knowledge
and the reason why they would wanna come toyou.
Please let our audience know how do they findyou.
(24:57):
If they have a home they wanna sell, well, howdo they find you?
Yes.
Am I allowed, to give them my phone number hereon the podcast or no?
Is it that I would say?
It's up to you.
Completely up to you.
Yeah.
I have no problem.
I'm in the South Florida area, of course, butnot to say that, you know, we have realtors all
over the world.
(25:18):
So say if, you know, a seller is looking to buyin a different country or a different state, we
have great referral programs that we can findgreat realtors that will help them.
Yeah.
I'm actually a realtor in the Boca Raton area,but I service Broward County as well as Palm
Beach County.
And I would love to help, you know, whetherit's I also do rentals, you know, if someone's
(25:41):
looking to rent or to buy or to sell.
I just wanna know I put the same effort intoeverything that I do, and I don't mind giving
you my phone number.
It is.
And, feel free to call me, even if it's for anidea or you're not sure about something, or
you're not happy about something in your, youknow, in the selling process, or you're not
sure about something, let me help you.
(26:03):
Let me answer those questions that you might,you know, have a question mark on.
And definitely if anything you want todefinitely use a realtor.
Now we're going through so many changes now inthese, in this.
There's a lot of new laws that have changedcurrently that now all, realtors have to abide
by.
(26:24):
You know, so there's so much going on, but wejust want you to know as realtors and I don't
know if you know, there is a difference betweenan agent and a realtor.
And the difference is, we were worth we, being,a realtor, not everybody can be.
It it is, joining the National Association ofRealtors where we get additional education,
(26:49):
current education.
We abide by the code of ethics every two years.
We have to be tested.
So there's a lot of things in becoming arealtor.
And like I say, it's a trade name, not youknow?
And that's kind of like the icing on the cake,if you should say.
So if you get a realtor, you should be in greathands because they've gone through additional
(27:09):
studies and additional training and additionaltraining in the markets and and so forth.
You know?
We're always kept current.
So that's a beautiful thing about our lovelyassociation that we
have.
So I love that.
So, Maggie
so nice talking to you today.
Thank you.
Nice talking to you for this great opportunity.
(27:29):
On our show.
And, you know, I I'm just so grateful for yourfor giving your time and for your advice.
And, and again, so I wanna thank our audiencefor being here with us today and for Maggie
Thomas being with us and discussing all aboutwhat she does in real estate.
And so again, this is Catherine, your host withthe Beyond Business Podcast.
(27:53):
Looking forward to another show.
Okay.
So Maggie, if our audience wanted to reach outto you and get in touch with you, how would
they do that?
Okay.
They would reach me at mthomasth0mas@10ne,Sotheby's, s o t h e b y s, and, .com .com.
(28:23):
Can we do that again?
I messed that up.
Okay.
So Maggie, if our audience wants to find you,do business with you, what is the best way that
they can do that?
Hey.
They can go on my website, which is m thomas.
Awesome.
Alright.
Did you hear that?
(28:44):
So and that's so that's and so just say thatfull.
Okay.
Mthomas@1sotheby'srealty.com.
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much.
I appreciate you offering that to our Well, ifyou made it to this point, then you made it to
(29:06):
the end, and you are my star.
And I just wanna thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.
I hope that you enjoy the conversation withtoday's guest.
And if you did, please leave us a review onApple Podcasts and Spotify, and share this
episode with others who may be interested inthis topic.
Also, please feel free to let us know whattopics you'd like to see covered in future
(29:29):
episodes.
Get in touch in the comments or in RocketGrowth social media platforms.
To have conversations with me, my booking linkis in the comments.
See you next week for all for a all newepisode.
I am Catherine Martin Fisher, and I helpbusiness owners who have lost their vision
because they're struggling with cash flow,sales, marketing, which also affects their
company culture, by showing them to implementproven systems that increase their revenue by
30% in ninety days.
And this allowing them to reignite the passionand that big dream that they started with.
(00:28):
So the reason that I started this podcast wasto celebrate businesses who have overcome
adversity and have come out on the other sideof it.
And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Good afternoon.
This is Catherine, your host with the BeyondBusiness podcast.
And I am so excited to introduce you toMargaret Thomas with us today and, you know,
(00:54):
AKA Maggie.
So we're just gonna go ahead and go with Maggietoday.
And I don't like what I just said.
That was dumb.
Good afternoon.
This is Catherine, your host with the BeyondBusiness Podcast.
I'm excited to introduce you to MargaretThomas, AKA Maggie today.
And she is a real estate agent at Southern,Sotheby's International, Realty and floor in
(01:23):
Florida.
No.
Sotheby's international.
You got
it.
Good afternoon.
This is Catherine, your host with the beyondbusiness podcast.
I'm excited to introduce you to MargaretThomas, AKA Maggie today.
And she is a realtor in one Sotheby'sInternational Realty in Florida.
And I'm so excited to have a conversation todayand just really just unfold this journey and,
(01:50):
and just how she serves the world and what shedoes and what makes her different than it just
anyone else who's in the real real estateindustry.
So Maggie, welcome to our show today.
I'm so excited to be with you.
Thank you so much for this great opportunity.
I really appreciate it.
So, you know, Maggie, just, you know, I lovefor our audience to know just a little bit
(02:12):
about you and a little bit about what led youto deciding to become a real estate agent in
your industry?
Well, basically I lost my husband five yearsago, to COVID, unfortunately.
And I had a very good friend who was also arealtor in Central Florida area.
(02:33):
And she said to me, what do you want to do withyour life?
And I said to her, I said, I don't know.
I was devastated with the loss of a forty fiveyear marriage with one man.
And, she said, I really think you would beamazing realtor.
You know, you have empathy.
You're great with people.
You have a good sense of humor humor.
You're a hard worker.
And, I thought about it and I said to her, doyou really think I could do that?
(02:57):
And she said, yes, Maggie, you can.
You you will be amazing.
And so here I am.
What what do you love most about what you do?
I love being able to help And and I love peoplein general.
So I develop great friendships.
(03:17):
But the most important thing is I want to helpthem, whether it is selling their home or
buying a home.
This is a very, this is one of the largestinvestments that they're gonna make.
And I treat them like they're my family.
Okay.
Maggie, what would you do to your family?
How would you treat them?
And, and that's how I treat everybody likefamily.
(03:40):
And so, yeah, it just mainly I love to help andnurture.
That's beautiful.
You know, it is so many times, you know,there's that saying that says, you know, I
don't care how much you know until I know howmuch you care.
So it sounds to me that you put the caring intoeverything that
(04:00):
you do.
Is that correct?
Yes.
I give some people give a %.
I give a 50 or even 200.
So yeah.
So that would set you apart from from
I would hope so because, you know, that'simportant.
You know, not it's not just about, you know,taking people here and there to show houses.
(04:22):
It's this these homes are are special homesbecause this is where these families are going
to develop beautiful memories and be with theirfamilies.
And so a home should feel like home and whatbetter position that I'm in to be able to find
them a place to call home.
And that's what I love about the industry andthe business is just meeting wonderful people
(04:45):
and being able to provide and and give themknowledge and and help them in any way I can.
What do
you say makes a difference when you are, whenyou're in the process of selling a home and
you're having to help guide your client as towhat the presentation of that home would look
like in order for you to, you know, to be ableto make it, you know, look so much better.
(05:10):
What are there are specific things that I feelyou have gifts in and being able to help
someone to see things that they are not able tosee.
So give me an example of something that you'vebeen able to do in order to to sell the home.
K.
Well, I didn't officially go to school fordesign, but I have a natural ability.
(05:31):
Like my friend who told me that I would becomea great realtor, I was her head stager and I
didn't have staging experience for luxury homesand regular type homes.
I had experience in the film side of it doingsets, movie sets, but making them look used and
believable.
But when it came to staging homes, it's atotally different vibe.
(05:55):
So I had to make them look beautiful.
And and a lot of these homes have beautifulfeatures and you want to enhance those
features.
Well, how do you do it?
Well, you, I guess it's experience, a lot ofexperience and I, because I am on the creative
side and because I've been doing it for solong, it becomes second nature to me.
It's natural.
(06:15):
So for instance, I had a woman who had abeautiful home and she had asked me, you know,
what would I do to stage your home?
How could I make things look different for her?
And she had this, as you, she had a beautifulpool.
So when you walked in the front door, that'swhat you're seeing directly is the pool.
Well, she had oversized bulky furniture, andshe had a couch right across a beautiful tall
(06:39):
window that was showing the pool, and she wasblocking it.
So I said, how about we just move the couch?
We move it.
We just rearrange your furniture.
We put the couch to the left of the wall sothat everything is open.
So when we walk in, we see the pool and we addsome little touches, like, you know,
additionals.
And and I was able to work with the furniturethat she had.
(07:02):
And but just by doing some slight little changelike that made a very big difference.
And actually, she sold her house.
I think it was in about two weeks she sold herhouse, because of that reason, just because the
pool was such a big feature.
It was gorgeous and it was being blocked.
So that's kinda one situation,
you know?
So that would be a good point to make when, youknow, when you have somebody who's trying to
(07:26):
sell their home, it's like how, you know, howyou have things arranged is pretty important
factor.
Right?
Exactly.
And even so, like sometimes you know, I
mean, listen, it's our home.
It's where we live.
But, you know, when you start the process ofwanting to sell your home, you have to take the
emotional side of way.
And I say that because when I come in,sometimes I'll say, okay, we have to take this
(07:52):
down, take that down.
Even personal photos.
I know it sounds probably strange, but we liketo, the reason why we like to take down a lot
of personal photos off walls and things likethat is because when we have somebody walk in,
we want them to visualize what their place isgoing to look like.
(08:15):
So we declutter.
We do a lot of decluttering.
Less is more in this particular case and just,you know, not cluttered.
So what the per when the person walks in, theywalk into an open space, a zen like space and
not cluttered with stuff.
So sometimes, you know, it's kind of like Ihave to say, you know, to my customers, okay,
(08:37):
we need to take this down, that down.
And sometimes, you know, they they'll say, oh,do I really have to take this down?
You know, it's kinda and I said, well, do youwanna sell your house?
And do do you want to get the biggest bang foryour money by, you know, because you can get
more money.
And it and it's a known fact that if you stagehomes, even decluttering, can make a big
difference in, in the money that you can, getfor selling your home.
(09:02):
So that's the big thing.
People don't realize that just simpledecluttering, even decluttering on its own is
something that a lot of times people don'tthink about.
I have so that's why I say sometimes there'sthat emotional part from the customer because
it's their home, but now they're gonna beselling it.
(09:22):
So that's the transition.
You know, I try and help them through thattransition.
I love that.
That helps to identify some of the things thekey things because we do think, you know, in
our home, we have our pictures up and stuff.
But if you wanna sell the home, you wanna youwant to be able to have them feel like I could
live here.
Right?
Is that that's that's the point
that we're making here.
(09:43):
Exactly.
And so I would love for you to just, you know,we all have adversity that we have to overcome
and then life might change us and take us intoa detour.
So you've had some detours that you've had to,you know, maneuver through.
And what would you say are some of the things,the life lessons that you've learned that have
(10:07):
allowed you to be to do make the decision tobecome a real estate agent?
Yeah.
Well, first of all, I come from a low incomehome.
My mom raised me without a father.
And on top of
that, she couldn't speak English.
She was Portuguese.
And so she couldn't, as I was growing up, shewasn't able to help me, with education because
(10:29):
she didn't speak the language.
And so learning came very difficult for me.
What comes easy to some people is a strugglefor me because I didn't have that strong
education behind me.
Not that my mother didn't care for me.
She loved me in so many ways, but it was justsomething you don't understand English.
It's hard to show you things.
(10:50):
So that was a a little bit of a setback for me.
So growing up, you know, was very difficult,you know, in school, but I was a fighter.
Actually, I was not in the greatest environmentliving environment either.
I was surrounded by a lot of things, druggies,just not good situations.
(11:10):
So my mom did the best she could.
So, but me actually to this very day, cause allmy friends, you know, were into the drug scene.
And for this very day, I, I think about like, Icould have been one of those people that it
could have gone that way, but I never did.
So obviously I, I was very strong in knowingthat, you know, this is not right and that I
(11:35):
got to better myself.
So I did.
I studied hard.
I actually in high school, I got one of thehighest awards and it was called outstanding
leadership and what it was, they all theteachers and all the students would have to put
a vote in who they felt was, positive, wasoutgoing, was helpful to people.
(12:01):
And I got that award.
And I still have that plaque right now to thisvery day.
And from time to time, I take it out and I lookat it and it reinforces the person who I was
and I am now.
So, yeah.
So I don't give up.
I'm a fighter and I won't let anybody tell me Ican't.
(12:22):
I will tell them I can.
Even if I can't, I will make sure I will learnand I will study, until I can.
And my first great accomplishment, I became, aneducator.
Got my degree in early childhood education.
And, not only working in a school, I ended upopening my own schools.
And so that's an accomplishment.
(12:43):
Not only did I become a teacher of many years,I also owned my own schools and ran them
myself.
So that was
a big accomplishment.
I love that you're sharing that.
But I love that you're sharing that and thereason why.
Yeah.
The reason why that originally, I'm fromoriginally, I'm from Toronto, Canada.
(13:05):
And I came here '94 with my two sons, thebabies at the time.
And, my husband, was in the entertainmentfield.
Very, very, let's just say very famous in histime.
And, we decided to give back to the communitythat we moved into.
They were wanting to to put a brand new localpark and the the government was gonna match the
(13:29):
funds.
So we did a lot of fundraiser events and one ofthem was doing a talent show.
So my husband and I organized a talent show.
And out of doing that talent show, we were ableto raise thousands of dollars and to give back
so that these children in our, in our areacould have a beautiful, you know, baseball
(13:49):
fields, football fields, a park that they couldgo to.
And I felt really, proud that I was able togive back to the community, but doing that, we
got parents from all over after the show thatwe did and said, why did you guys open up a
performing arts school?
And my husband and I, you know, are in theindustry.
We're in the industry and we thought, you knowwhat?
(14:12):
Yeah, let's do it.
And we did it in thirty three years later.
Yeah, we opened schools in Parkland, CoralSprings area, Boca, you know, we had schools in
Pembroke Pines, Okeechobee, and we were able tomake a big impact, to many, many students in
(14:35):
their lives.
A lot of them, you know, are in the industry.
They are either producers, directors, writers,singers, actors, but a lot of the majority of
them, you know, weren't in the industry, butbecause they develop that self confidence and
self esteem, they were able to exceed in theirbusinesses that they had.
(14:57):
So it's kind of cool.
Cause, after my husband's passing, a lot of thestudents got together hundreds of them and they
did a Memorial for my husband.
Cause at the time I wasn't able to have afuneral for my husband.
It was back in 2020 when COVID was really bad.
And the things that they wrote about my husbandand myself was just unbelievable.
(15:20):
I couldn't even keep a dry eye.
It was just tears after tears after tears, justto think that we made an impact in these,
students.
I'm getting all teary eyed now, just thinkingabout it, but, well, what I wanted
to mention is that it's not where you start,it's where you finish.
And so you've done an amazing job of, you know,being able to go from where you started to
(15:48):
where you are now.
But give us an example of some of thedifferences is that you made in certain lives.
Like you mentioned that, you know, all of theletters that were written.
Because you so many times we're going throughlife and we're kinda just doing those things
and we are making a difference, but you don'trealize the impact that you have on the lives
(16:09):
of others.
And when when we first started and youmentioned about nurturing and caring about your
clients so much and just, you know, that seemsto be your focus.
So what were some of the things then and, youknow, some examples maybe of someone that you
may have made a difference to while you were inthe education space?
Yeah.
(16:30):
Oh my goodness.
There's so many.
So so many.
We had students that have had psychologicalissues.
Their parents would bring them to us, you know,just to give them self esteem and confidence,
not necessarily to be in the industry.
Our school was a family.
It and it it was more a family than a business,but we became a family and that's really what
(16:50):
it was all about.
So there was one special moment that, I mean,there were several, but this one was
outstanding.
We had a mother that came into our school andher daughter had had a surgery on her vocal
cords and something happened where her soundsand her regular talking was really difficult.
(17:11):
The sounds didn't come out normally like howwe're talking.
And her mother said to me, you know, Maggie, Iknow she's not gonna be a professional singer
or on a stage or anything like that.
She just loves to sing.
And I wanted to bring her here to you just tojust to let her go through the motion.
And I said, okay, not not a problem.
You know?
And so I, she introduced me to her daughterand, you know, we signed her up in our program
(17:36):
and I had her privately because one on onebecause I know I needed to spend, you know,
extra time with her.
And, she loved singing.
And what I started to do is I did vocalexercises for her.
I gave her a CD that she could take home tostudy and practice.
And we worked on a song and, we kept working onthat song for quite a long time.
(18:01):
But as we were doing it and along withnurturing, sometimes she would feel down and I
said, don't worry, honey.
It's okay.
It's okay.
You're gonna you're gonna get there.
I said, you're doing great.
You're doing great.
And I guess just with that positive feedbackand I was genuine when I told her, you know, I
was genuine.
And, this is the one beautiful thing.
(18:22):
Every year we have a year end show.
And of course, we have hundreds of vocalistsand we don't have enough room on stage to have
each individual singer singing the show, or theshow would be very long because we also have
acting students and dance students.
And what have you.
So this young lady, everybody had an even heel.
In other words, everybody knew when theaudition was and everybody knew we were
(18:46):
practicing actually in in class for thispreparation for auditioning to be able to sing
a solo.
However, the majority of singers who didn't,you know, get a solo, we would put them in a
group number so they would still be performingon stage, but then we dissected and gave them
individual lines.
We mic them, you know, stage that eachindividual singer would have a couple of lines
(19:08):
to sing within that group number.
So anyways, it comes to, the day where thedirector comes in and he's auditioning my
vocalist.
So I'm there, give them all support, you know.
And anyways, this young lady that had thisissue with her her voice, her, her vocal
chords, long story short ended up being in ourshow as a solo act, not being in a, not even
(19:33):
being in a group number.
She was in that as well, but as a solo act onstage and her mother, we kept it a secret.
I didn't tell her mother.
And, she went up on the stage.
She presented herself beautiful.
She sang.
And after the show, her mother came up and shewas crying and she said, Maggie, I don't know
(19:55):
what you did to my daughter.
I never thought in a million years that shecould carry a tune.
And she did.
She, it was enough for her to be in the show.
And she's a perfect example.
And there are many, many more examples, butthat is one of them that kind of holds true and
dear to me to this very day.
Wow.
That actually is a beautiful story.
(20:17):
That is a story of the the power of belief andjust that that positive feedback that you are
constantly giving her and just, giving her thatshe can do it too no matter what.
So what I love that when you shared that, thatis another case of being in a place of
(20:37):
adversity and having to sweat and, you know,just having to overcome.
So I love the overcome stories.
And the reason I love that is because so manytimes there are others that are actually
dealing with adversity and they don't know howto overcome.
But if they can understand that others havebeen through it and they can too, so you've had
(20:59):
to reinvent yourself as as you've lost yourhusband and had to had to find a new path for
yourself.
And so now as a real estate agent, what wouldyou say is the because of the gifts that you
have in these areas that you're able to bringto the table, into your real estate business
(21:19):
now, what
would you say?
Why would someone want you to be their agent?
Why would why would they why would they chooseyou?
That's a very good question.
The may the thing is is that I'm real.
I'm genuine.
And I look at them as they're my family member,because again, this is a big investment that,
(21:40):
you know, buyers for their first time buying ahome, and sellers wanting to sell their home.
I, have a lot of experience and a lot of many,and I have a lot of many hats that I can bring
value to them, whether it be staging their homedecluttering, you know, I am knowledge based,
(22:00):
so I have a lot of the last minute informationin the industry.
With one Sotheby's brand, we're not only local,we're international, which is a beautiful
thing.
So we can provide, You know, more people to seetheir places or to buy their places.
We are a very beautiful brand and our, ourthing is really is we want to help our
(22:25):
customers as best as we can.
And in order to do that, we have to staycurrent in knowledge.
So we're constantly, you know, looking at themarkets and the trends to see what we can do on
our end to help our customers.
And, you know, I love this company for thatvery reason that we're all in it together.
And, the group is amazing.
You know, we help each other out too, you know,which is nice.
(22:48):
But it it's just the fact that, we can reachout to a lot of people and be able to sell
someone's home, not only locally, like I say,internationally all over the world.
But our thing is to give service, you know, togive service to our customers.
And, which sometimes That's
it for you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(23:09):
And so through that through all of thechallenges that you've been through and now
being able to be of service to people in yourindustry where you are, what would you say is
an a piece of advice that you could leavesomeone who is trying to sell their home?
And, you know, one of the key things thatpeople don't always think about besides the
(23:30):
decluttering and and staging, is there a anadvice that you would give your clients in
advance?
Yes, I would.
I would tell them number one, that they are inthe best hands being with a realtor.
We as a realtor, that's our whole, this is whywe're realtors is to make the transition very
(23:52):
smooth for a seller or for a buyer.
There's a lot that goes into it.
It's not just a pretty face or walking into aproperty markets.
That's very, very important.
(24:12):
So that's so that we're able to offer that toour clients, but just for them to let us take
over, let us do our job and let theirtransition be very smooth.
And that's why you hire a realtor for that forthat reason is that we are experienced and
knowledgeable in the field, and we wanna takeit off your shoulders because there is a lot of
(24:35):
stress to buying or to selling, you know, bothsides.
Well, Maggie, I just appreciate that you're,you're you're just so authentic.
And I love that you were able to share with ouraudience just some tips and just your knowledge
and the reason why they would wanna come toyou.
Please let our audience know how do they findyou.
(24:57):
If they have a home they wanna sell, well, howdo they find you?
Yes.
Am I allowed, to give them my phone number hereon the podcast or no?
Is it that I would say?
It's up to you.
Completely up to you.
Yeah.
I have no problem.
I'm in the South Florida area, of course, butnot to say that, you know, we have realtors all
over the world.
(25:18):
So say if, you know, a seller is looking to buyin a different country or a different state, we
have great referral programs that we can findgreat realtors that will help them.
Yeah.
I'm actually a realtor in the Boca Raton area,but I service Broward County as well as Palm
Beach County.
And I would love to help, you know, whetherit's I also do rentals, you know, if someone's
(25:41):
looking to rent or to buy or to sell.
I just wanna know I put the same effort intoeverything that I do, and I don't mind giving
you my phone number.
It is.
And, feel free to call me, even if it's for anidea or you're not sure about something, or
you're not happy about something in your, youknow, in the selling process, or you're not
sure about something, let me help you.
(26:03):
Let me answer those questions that you might,you know, have a question mark on.
And definitely if anything you want todefinitely use a realtor.
Now we're going through so many changes now inthese, in this.
There's a lot of new laws that have changedcurrently that now all, realtors have to abide
by.
(26:24):
You know, so there's so much going on, but wejust want you to know as realtors and I don't
know if you know, there is a difference betweenan agent and a realtor.
And the difference is, we were worth we, being,a realtor, not everybody can be.
It it is, joining the National Association ofRealtors where we get additional education,
(26:49):
current education.
We abide by the code of ethics every two years.
We have to be tested.
So there's a lot of things in becoming arealtor.
And like I say, it's a trade name, not youknow?
And that's kind of like the icing on the cake,if you should say.
So if you get a realtor, you should be in greathands because they've gone through additional
(27:09):
studies and additional training and additionaltraining in the markets and and so forth.
You know?
We're always kept current.
So that's a beautiful thing about our lovelyassociation that we
have.
So I love that.
So, Maggie
so nice talking to you today.
Thank you.
Nice talking to you for this great opportunity.
(27:29):
On our show.
And, you know, I I'm just so grateful for yourfor giving your time and for your advice.
And, and again, so I wanna thank our audiencefor being here with us today and for Maggie
Thomas being with us and discussing all aboutwhat she does in real estate.
And so again, this is Catherine, your host withthe Beyond Business Podcast.
(27:53):
Looking forward to another show.
Okay.
So Maggie, if our audience wanted to reach outto you and get in touch with you, how would
they do that?
Okay.
They would reach me at mthomasth0mas@10ne,Sotheby's, s o t h e b y s, and, .com .com.
(28:23):
Can we do that again?
I messed that up.
Okay.
So Maggie, if our audience wants to find you,do business with you, what is the best way that
they can do that?
Hey.
They can go on my website, which is m thomas.
Awesome.
Alright.
Did you hear that?
(28:44):
So and that's so that's and so just say thatfull.
Okay.
Mthomas@1sotheby'srealty.com.
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much.
I appreciate you offering that to our Well, ifyou made it to this point, then you made it to
(29:06):
the end, and you are my star.
And I just wanna thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.
I hope that you enjoy the conversation withtoday's guest.
And if you did, please leave us a review onApple Podcasts and Spotify, and share this
episode with others who may be interested inthis topic.
Also, please feel free to let us know whattopics you'd like to see covered in future
(29:29):
episodes.
Get in touch in the comments or in RocketGrowth social media platforms.
To have conversations with me, my booking linkis in the comments.
See you next week for all for a all newepisode.
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