Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Berdan.
Jack, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m a real estate entrepreneur & investor, and I’ve called Chicago home since 2005. I moved to Chicago for college and spent 4 years studying to be a minister. I inconveniently realized that I didn’t want to pursue a career as a minister during my senior year of college. I worked at a Chicago Harbor pumping gas for boats as my first job out of college. I like to joke that I started out in the oil and gas business. From there, I got a job at a restaurant in O’Hare airport. This job required me to be on the Blue Line every morning at 3:30 am to open the restaurant by 4:30 am. Spoiler alert: I only lasted 2 months. Right after quitting the restaurant, I stumbled into a job as a leasing agent for the largest apartment broker in the city at that time. I fell in love with the real estate business and within 18 months, I worked my way up to being the top producing agent in the company. From there I ended up getting a sales license and started selling condo’s, houses, and apartment buildings. In 2013, I acquired a managing brokers license and opened up my own real estate brokerage with a focus on residential sales. From the beginning, the mission was simple: “We believe our primary responsibility is educating our clients by providing the advice and representation we’d provide our own family.” By focusing on this mission, the business has grown substantially and I was fortunate enough to be recognized in the top 1% of the 13,000+ brokers in the Chicagoland area in 2016 & 2017 while selling over $40M in real estate over those two years.
In 2014, I co-founded One Companies LLC. The company’s primary business revolves around investments in Commercial Real Estate & Operational Businesses. Since inception, we’ve acquired several commercial real estate assets and businesses throughout the Midwest.
Between the two companies, I have around 40 employees and now spend my days interacting with the managers of the businesses while also focusing on high-level growth & strategy. From the beginning, my focus has been on finding people with high competency and integrity who believe in the vision and mission of the company. I try and give them a clear picture of where I want to go and then give them a lot of ownership in how we get there.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not even close. That said, the bumpy road has taught me the most important lesson I’ve learned to date. This is the lesson of understanding the relationship between expectations & reality. I think that most unhappiness in life comes from unmet expectations. The problem with this line of thinking is that it presupposes that we know what is best for us. Many things that I believed to be the worst possible thing in the moment have ended up being massive blessings in hindsight. As a result, this has helped me to become a lot more open-handed with how I set goals as well as live. Things go the opposite direction of how I want them to all the time. These days, I try and focus on accepting the circumstances as they are rather than stressing about things I cannot change. I look at how I can learn from the current situation and then take the next step forward. This mindset has allowed me to pivot at various points in time rather than being so fixated on my original idea/plan. Many of these pivots have been instrumental moments that eventually led to success.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Berdan Real Estate & One Companies LLC – what should we know?
Without a doubt, I am most proud of my people. They are the ones making the businesses operate well on a day-to-day basis. Henry Ford once said, “You can take my factories, burn up my buildings, but give me my people and I’ll build the business right back again.” I truly feel this way about the people I have working with me. I think business is far more about people than whatever it is you are selling. I hear over and over again how amazing the people are who work with me. As a business owner it’s something to be incredibly thankful for. They are a group of folks with incredibly high integrity, work ethic, and attention to detail. They understand that the work we do is more about serving people than anything else. When you create a culture that focuses on service as the driving force behind the work you do it will always cause you to stand out.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Integrity. Plain and simple. I’ve tried to create a culture that puts our clients & customers interests ahead of our own every time without exception.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1229 N. North Branch Ste. 312
Chicago, IL 60642 - Website: www.berdanrealestate.com
- Email: jack@berdanrealestate.com
Image Credit:
@michaelaquan
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