Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Holly Meyer Lucas, President and Founder of Meyer Lucas Team, located in Jupiter, FL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I own a luxury real estate company and home marketing agency based in South Florida. Our clients are luxury home sellers, home buyers, and luxury real estate agents. We also work with real estate investors and developers. My personal niche clientele is professional athletes and their families.
Tell us about yourself
In 2015, I started my real estate company kind of by accident. My husband was a professional baseball player, and we were living in an area known for being the home of many professional athlete families - Jupiter, Florida. During one of the off-seasons, I started helping my friends (baseball wives) with their housing needs in the Jupiter and Palm Beach area since so many were relocating here, and one thing led to another, and all of a sudden, I realized there was a real niche for a real estate agent in Palm Beach County, who fully understood the life of professional athletes, particularly the wives who juggle being moms and the grind of maintaining multiple homes in season and out of season.
When I first started selling real estate, I quickly realized that real estate is a real sport. For me to provide amazing service to our clients, I needed a team to help me with the volume of inbound inquiries for my services. So I started my team after about six months and have grown Meyer Lucas to one of the top real estate teams in the country.
Part of owning a business, and being successful at it, is recognizing when you need help, but entrepreneurs tend to struggle with the hiring and training of said help as they grow. I was no exception here. It took me a long time to learn the art of managing and leading people - which are two very different things. I am very good at the latter. Not as good at the former, haha, which is why I have a wide leadership team in place to help me manage our business and train our agents.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Well, if we’re speaking literally, I sold a $28 million home in 2021 and am one of the youngest real estate professionals in the country to sell a home of that size, so that was a pretty big accomplishment. A layer deeper here (answer-wise, I mean) is probably - over the last eight years, I have been blessed with countless accolades and been awarded tremendous recognition throughout our industry, and I’m deeply proud of every single bit of praise that has come in my team’s direction, both big and small. Real estate is an extremely challenging business, and I’m grateful to every single person who contributed to our success, from my very first employees and our very first clients to every agent who has come through our doors and has learned from me, slayed for the team, and who is hungry for more. I really have the best team on the planet.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
I think getting out of what I call our “sophomore season” of business was a huge challenge and something I’m deeply proud of. I think any entrepreneur who might be reading this will probably be nodding their head when I say, it’s one thing to start a business, it’s another to grow it, and it’s another to still be running it after you’ve scaled up a few times. That “middle” season of business ownership, where you’re managing your first hires, adjusting business relationships with vendors, partners, suppliers, etc., and adjusting your practices to the type of leader you want to be, is messy. If you can survive those first couple of glow-ups and the challenges that come from those, you can survive anything.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Get comfy with delegating tasks as soon as humanly possible. The biggest hurdle there is overcoming your own ego, admitting what you don’t know, and finding slayers to do those tasks for you.
- Do the right thing. Honor your business agreements and honor your word. Do right by your clients, your employees, and your competitors
My business grew very fast rate and kind of out of the left field. I had an X on my back the second I started making a slash in our industry. I would never have made it if I hadn’t been a good person from day one. - Don’t be afraid to bail when it’s not working. My biggest advice is always: double down when it works, and bail when it doesn’t. You’ll be fine if you’re able to cut bait when a marketing effort, campaign, or employee isn’t working out.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.meyerlucas.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HollyMeyerLucas13
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Holly.meyer.lucas/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hollymlucas
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollygmeyer/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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