Paul Carlson on how his firm made a family succession plan work

This week on the RealTrending podcast, Tracey Velt sits down with Paul Carlson, president of Five Star Real Estate. Paul joins us to share insights on growing his brokerage, succession planning, and how his father eased the leadership transition.

Tracey and Paul dive into the lessons learned transitioning the company from father to son leadership, the importance of centralizing management during transition periods, building a unique brand experience for agents, and the strategies Five Star Real Estate has employed to expand into new markets while also maintaining their company culture

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Centralizing management and support has been a key part of their growth strategy.
• When transitioning, it’s important to be authentic instead of just trying to imitate whoever came before you.
• Rebranding was a significant step in their goal of modernizing the company.
• Five Star aims to create a culture where everyone can see themselves fitting in
• Succession planning requires identifying real passion and drive for the industry, not just family ties.

Here’s a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Tracey Velt: I’ve known Paul and his father, Greg who founded the company, for a long time now. I’ve seen the succession to your role as president is at Five Star. So tell me a little bit about how that transition was between father and son. I know our audience will be really interested to hear some of the lessons learned or challenges you had.

Paul Carson: I was a relatively successful realtor, and I also had a side business doing photography stuff. I was busy doing my own thing, but I saw my dad doing the best he could trying to run a company.

It was the bottom of the Great Recession, and we were just trying to keep the thing afloat. He really couldn’t afford to pay me, but I knew there were things he could do. So, he started bringing me into marketing meetings and I’d sit in front of their leadership team. Really the only way I could earn an actual income was if we could grow.

So in 2011, I began pushing to rebrand the company. That also required him buying his partner out. I started easing my way into this role. I was still selling real estate, kind of helping out on the side over here. Eventually, at some point he said to me, hey Paul, you won’t get off my back. You won’t stop bothering me. Why don’t you just be the president of this thing and try to do this?

The RealTrending podcast features the brightest minds in real estate. Every week, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.