From Corporate to Community | Graham Howell on Agency, Mentoring & Self-Employment

In this week's episode of The Elite Agent Masterclass, Holly sits down with Graham Howell; estate agency veteran, mentor, and now self-employed partner agent at The Avenue Estate Agents. From corporate beginnings at Connells to regional training at Purplebricks and Yopa, Graham has lived and breathed agency for over 20 years. Now, he’s building a business rooted in local community, family values, and relationship-first agency.

They explore the real journey behind self-employment: the freedom, the pressure, the mental game, and the honest realities no one talks about on LinkedIn. Graham shares his experience of launching his self-employed business just weeks before the COVID-19 lockdown, why personal brand and process matter more than ever, and what most agents get wrong when they transition from employed to self-employed.

Topics covered include:
 – The difference between great agents and great business owners
 – Mentoring with meaning and the importance of lived experience
 – How self-employed agents can protect their energy and build relationships that last
 – Building a brand that reflects who you are, not who you think you should be
 – Why more training doesn’t always mean better training
 – What Graham learned from the tough moments and how they shaped his values
 – The truth about support, accountability and what makes a brokerage model work

Graham also reflects on working with the co-founders of The Avenue and the camaraderie and connection that define the network. With heartfelt stories, a touch of humour, and real insight, this episode is a must-watch for anyone in the estate agency space, especially those considering a leap into self-employment.

📍Watch now on YouTube or listen via Spotify & Apple Podcasts.
 📲 Subscribe to the podcast to never miss an episode.

Engage With Us
Have questions or topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes? Send us your thoughts and stay engaged with the Elite Agent Masterclass for more expert insights on transforming your career.

Connect with James on Socials:

Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn


Connect with Jack on Socials:

Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn


Connect with TEAM on Socials:

Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

Transcript

welcome back to another episode of the elite agent masterclass so today you are joining me with our lovely guest mr graham howell how are you graham hello how well very well thank you no there you go it works so graham for anyone who doesn't know you which i kind of find hard to believe in the days of social media and linkedin what's your background in the industry for the get for the audience background so again been in the industry since two thousand and three so only a few years ago and started in the corporate agency of the connell sequence group uh worked there for nearly twelve thirteen years and basically after about a year of being there i was running my own branch and then I was in Essex at that time and then did a firefighting over in Hammersmith in London where and Hartford in Hertfordshire. So quite full on bits and pieces. I switched to Hartford for a very, very short period of time and then came into training after doing three months at Purple Bricks and did a bit of regional training. for them for coming up to nearly two years I swapped over to the dark side to Yopa because I wanted to get a bit more out in the field with the agents which allowed me to do and then I suddenly had this light bulb moment is in the nicest possible way I'm doing this and helping and supporting and assisting others to kind of grow and build their businesses and kind of hopefully raise the standards that we deliver that at why don't I do it for myself so I kind of went into self-employed agency again. That was with filing country about two weeks. And then, of course, everything was shut down due to what was called COVID at the time. And literally, I was like, OMG, because, of course, I'd only been employed, self-employed for less than a month and I wasn't employed. So there was no help from the government. But literally came out of that on May the twenty sixth with a couple of instructions and started building that business within Coventry for Fine and Country. It was great experiences dealing with different sorts of properties. But I think the biggest pull and attraction to me was I wanted to be at my home base, you know, where my upper aim is, showcasing local life, local people, friends, ex-neighbours that we're still in contact with. More importantly, my son, Stan, who goes to a school in the Charnwood Borough. You've probably noticed it's the Charnwood Borough estate agent. And that's in corn. And the traction to me was the relationship I had over time with JHS, Sir James Humphrey Stone and Jack as well from our days have passed. And then I got to meet someone with about the same amount or abundance of energy like myself, yourself, Holly. And the journey has just been phenomenal. It's opened my eyes really to the way marketeering, if you want to be that, and a marketeer in social media, but the way that you connect with your community and your neighbours. So hopefully that's a little bit of a backdrop, but as I did pre-warn you, I can talk for Britain. Oh, no, don't worry. That's exactly why I was excited to do this podcast with you today, Graham, because I think for anyone listening at home, obviously you are now an agent and a partner agent in the Avenue Network. Yes, I am. But from the point of view of obviously the Elite Agent Masterclass, I really wanted to get you on the pod because I think there's so much to unpick and just hearing your experience and what you've been through in the industry really highlights that for me. Because I think the mentoring is an interesting angle in this industry. And I actually see in a post talking quite a lot about this the other day. And I knew that I wanted to bring it up with you because they were commenting on, oh, there's a lot of trainers in the industry who don't necessarily transact as agents. And I was kind of looking at the comments and I don't know about you. And there was this very fifty fifty split about whether that's appropriate or not. And I think for me, I don't know what I get your take on this. As long as the structure is there, anyone can train that out. But also anyone can be an agent flying under and do it. But it takes the motivation and the will. What's your perception of that? Do you think that you've had to have agency experience to be a trainer in the industry? From my personal experience, if you want to help people grow, you want to support them, you want to assist them, you need to understand the tools and the pitfalls and the nicest possible way being in the trenches and not in that lovely ivory castle. I'm sorry just to come back to the avenue and another great reason of that the founders like Jack and JHS as I call him James Humphrey Stone they've done it and got the t-shirt and more importantly Holly you've also done it and got the t-shirt and I've mentored people along journeys and I love you being my mentor in this situation Because you understand the process, you know the pitfalls, you can explain that and put across the way the process or that blueprint should be. My perspective of people who are trainers that haven't done it, yes, you can add value, but you don't probably understand it as much as someone that has. And your buy-in from your audience will be less because you haven't got the T-shirt. Does that make sense? Like the old Pepsi adverts. where is that buy-in where is that buying uh and i i do see that on social media as well but i do think it's very very important though when you're joining um a new tribe a new business on that side you do need mentoring and like i said that's i think it's one of the massive strengths um that yourself the avenue offers because you've gone through the that process you've built the you know the businesses but now you're kind of helping the new people that are coming on board, joining the avenue to actually follow that process and blueprint, but you've kind of lived and died by it. Yeah, a hundred percent. Because I think obviously the purpose of the brokerage is obviously separate, but the purpose of the Elite Agent Masterclass is just to raise those standards. Because I think what... what i personally really don't like about our industry is the smoke screens that get thrown up and you know you go on linkedin and you see everyone's results but no one ever talks about how no one ever shows you the actual strategy that's behind it all everyone just tells you about the completion day and how much income they've generated from it and i think now that you know with the advancement in like our industry being shown on tv with various programs that are out there it's quite an interesting industry so a lot more people are gravitating to it and self-employment is offering that access but it's also it's also to remember that we are handling their biggest asset and there is an appropriate way to do things and there's certain things that you just can never get away from in your opinion we've obviously self-employment growing in like the past six seven years what do you think is the main attraction for people to become self-employed agents in today's market I'll answer that. But just one caveat. Now, I just mentioned before that just because it ties in quite nicely. And I think, again, when you're doing this role, especially in self-employment, because you live and die by your own sort, or if you're in the more corporate world, you want to be able to go to bed at night and be able to sleep. And that's the one thing I think is the most powerful thing. And you know if you're doing it right, if you're able to do that. And I think more and more people are being attracted to that self-employed model. from the reasons of the freedom that it gives you. It allows, for example, me with my lad Stan to be able to take him to school to pick him up. But that's not taking away the attention, the love, the care that I will give my clients and customers. But it allows you to run unfortunately the way life is you know again my lad starts school at half past eight in the morning and again and he needs to be picked up you know sort of half three or ten past two on a Friday so things can can make that difficult if you've got those chains around you I think the other massive thing is again coming back to my original point you live or die by your own sword you're allowed to build your own business you're allowed to build it with the people But again, that want to work with you and you want to work with them and you're handling not just one of the biggest assets in the world, probably one of the most emotional strains that go on to every single person within that family. And sometimes it's not just the people that moving. You have a knock on effect to your son's daughters, the pets that are involved in the house and on to your mum and dad, because, of course, you're relaying all this power. and society, because unfortunately, the system that we've got, you know, you could be completing in fifty days, you could be completing in, you know, three hundred and sixty five days. That's the where the tension's built, unfortunately, because I think certain parts of it is still broken, but it is getting better. I believe from the way that there are more self-employed agents and it's becoming more about a customer client led journey. rather than just about KPIs or getting yourself caught out time and time again on these programs that are highlighting that you're not looking after the customer. You're actually doing something really underhanded there. Yeah, definitely. And I think there's one thing there that you touched on that I really want to go back to. And it was the word freedom, because your business obviously offers you that freedom and flexibility. But I think something that is misunderstood with that messaging, and I don't know if you agree or not, is that people can sometimes expect that the freedom means less work or less input. What does that freedom mean to you? So freedom. So for me, I know, again, I've got a good six to eight months of really, again, of, you know, I'm building a business again. I can't just expect to be sitting at home in my PJs, you know, watching Jeremy Kyle on the TV because nothing's going to happen. And again, coming back to one of the things I love about the Avenue is our kind of weekly get togethers. And I can reach out to you on a daily basis daily as well, which is awesome. But it's that accountability again. And what I mean by that is yesterday I was picking up my son, Stan, from school. We had a few schools to check out as well because he's going on to secondary education. And I was out dropping some of the Hay Neighbours leaflets and I'd done a nice round. I still had about an hour. But again, once you've been dropping for a couple of hours, your legs, especially when you get to my age, it can feel it a little bit. So I had a drink down and it was making that decision. Do I just sit here? Or do I just complete that last cul-de-sac that ties off that last part of that map for me? And the biggest drive on that is who am I picking up from school? Go on, get yourself out, get the job done. You've got to put time effort, but most importantly, have a process and a blueprint that you're following, but also give yourself a pat on the back because in the early days, it's about the small wins that give you those marginal gains. And I think, uh, A wise lady once said to me, you know, a hundred thousand can look a long distance away. But when you're looking at five hundred, a thousand, two thousand, completely different cat to fish. Yeah, definitely. And I appreciate the wise lady comment, Graham. Appreciate it. Well, it was you, Holly, so I had to give a little shout out on that. love talking to you because honestly you just you have the energy and i can only imagine what you're like with clients but your energy is just kind of infectious and you make everyone around you feel really good does that have a strong place in your business with how you operate with clients massively um again you know we're coming on to a journey that we're going along and it isn't going to be unfortunately two four six weeks it could be two it could be six months it could be a little bit longer if you're in the prime property market especially at the moment that journey is all different it's depending on your motivations but yeah it's a relationship the great thing again with the avenue i've allowed people to come into my life a little bit more you know living on a sixty nine foot narrow boat seeing that going out there meeting our first mate mimi the cat you know my lad stan admiral amy um It's important because, again, if you're going along that transaction, you want someone that you can trust, you can rely on and not someone that's a poker face player, someone that wears the heart on the sleeve and more importantly, understands the pitfalls, the ups and downs. Because like I said from my earlier comments, it's an extremely emotional journey. And for someone to come along that journey with you and understand that and hopefully give you guidance and advice, I think it's invaluable. hundred percent and it's quite a lot to put that side of your life out there and like really put that personal brand out there for everyone to see so going back to your mentoring days when you were training agents in those large corporate businesses because obviously purple bricks was kind of the first kind of model that was really opened the door for that flexible hybrid operation so to speak what was the biggest line for you when you were training those agents What I can probably say is one of my biggest takeaways today from doing that. And again, I was kind of that regional trainer, you know, when I was at PB, it wasn't just training people from England, it was Scotland where there are different rules and regulations, Wales and Northern Ireland. But you would go around it and sometimes it's, you know, objection handling, which, you know, again, having to deal with offers. But when you're doing that day in and day out, When I came away and, like I said, purple bricks and then you open them, built my own business at Fine and Country and got back into living, breathing and being in the living room, it's kind of like second nature. It builds... just naturally into your system how to take someone along the correct journey and look after them but again i think one of the other things apologies if i go slightly off tangent is looking at some of the people that i built those relationships with through that training especially at the purple brick days and seeing now how they've gone off from that it's still in self-employed models and made such a success but again just broken those handcuffs off and you can see them as who they are rather than having to kind of hide behind sort of curfews of a brand yeah definitely and i find that quite interesting myself because obviously i was at purple bricks for a time as well in the pandemic and i originally started working out in the head office i'd never had an introduction to property it was kind of just fell on my lap that i started working with his head office and my trainer at the time before i went into that role was kelly bailey yeah So Kelly Baddy's doing phenomenal work for anyone who doesn't recognize the name over at the Property Experts, go check her out on socials. But I just remember thinking, I want to be like you. How do I get like you? And it was like a three week program. And I just remember going in each day thinking, you know so much about this, that you know everything, you know everyone. That's kind of my aspiration to get there. And I'm kind of looking back now after like, six seven years and i'm like i feel like i'm getting there and it's like the pathway that you think that you're going to choose is probably never the one that you actually end up going down because obviously i was an agent and then i've moved back into the brokerage to help you guys build your businesses but i still think yeah i could still go do that you forever will put those shoes back on and back off whether it's valuing or the training side do you have a lot of contributions uh to the other agents and help support that, which is really great to see in the network. For anyone who's considering that transition from employed estate agency to self-employed and obviously then becoming a business owner, how easy or difficult do you think that transition is to become a business owner? Not everyone's a business owner, just putting it bluntly. And I think we all know that fact. You know, you can be a fantastic failure. You could be a great manager. It doesn't make you a business owner. There's a separate toolkit that you will need to go to. Yes, those bits that you bring in the other toolkits are fabulous. But it's again, it's it's like playing a computer game, for example. You need to level up again. there's a lot more that you're taking on board and understanding because again that business dies or fails or it lives and thrives by what you do daily and on a consistent basis um onto that side i i personally think um apologies are you gonna have to refresh my brain i little mimi had a little jump so that completely took me off topic no so we were just talking about obviously that transition from agency to business owners because i do agree not not all agents are good business owners and then not all business owners can make great estate agents I think it does fall either side so I think there's a lot of place in the market for duos and support in that in that element maybe you know Mr's got estate agents to be experienced but Mrs has run a business or likewise I think there's a lot of place for that now but I think yeah with the growth of self-employment I do think it's very important to keep on to that identity, which you do really strong. You're very much the same tagline. This is me. I'm not going to change that because that personal brand really comes across to your customers and who's consuming your content. But what would be your advice for those self-employed agents who are hesitant about showing their personal brand? At the end of the day... no one else is uh paying to make sure you can fill up your car no one else is making sure that santa claus father christmas saint nicholas whatever you may call him is coming down the chimney at christmas time for your children or your grandchildren whatever it might be or your fur babies for example because it's santa paul's as well no one's controlling that you have one life You only live once. Does that make sense? You live each day, you make what you make of that. And it's better to regret the things that you have done than to think, I wish I'd done that in ten or twenty years' time. But again, I'm going to throw another caveat out, if I may, on this one. It is very, very important if you are going into that transition into self-employment, in my personal thoughts, Great example of what you mentioned earlier. If you've got someone with experience and you're bringing someone else on board and you're going as a partnership, there's no issue. I would certainly think it's worth getting some foundations within the industry first before potentially jumping two feet inwards. I then bring on the further caveat. There are many examples of where you can go, but it's making sure what aligns to your personal values, what aligns to your morals, and more importantly, talk to some agents, at these environments, like the Avenue, for example, and get a flavour, because sometimes you might get to somewhere and you think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but what they've actually sold you, unfortunately, I'm sorry to use this analogy, is like it's been written on the back of a cigarette packet. Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think that's a big conversation that's now happening in the industry. It's about the level of support and it's about, you know, the kind of I don't know what the best way to word it is, but I feel quite responsible when we take on new agents, obviously, in the other business of the avenue, because I'm very aware that some agents are using their life savings, they're remortgaging, they're taking loans, they're taking business investment. And to take them unlikely in that scenario with potentially seeing where it's going to go wrong for them and what they need to work on and then not sharing with them that, that would give me sleepless nights in an employed role. Because we are messing with people's lives and their funds and also the look for the industry. I don't know if you have ever experienced this, but I imagine that you have obviously in your experience in the industry. Have you ever met an estate agent that you just know hates their job? I've got to say, do you think I've seen that? But just coming back to one of your points that you just mentioned, I've seen a fantastic agent that's come into a self-employed business, let's just say, in the last eight months. And she would have been a phenomenal agent. But again, what she needed, rather than being encouraged just to come in as a number and basically pay that license fee, I think what would have been better was say, look, we've got an academy or we've Go and build your foundations. Come back to us in the twelve, eighteen, twenty four months time. And we will welcome you with open arms because going out there. it can be quite scary when you don't have that tool set, you don't have that experience, but more importantly, and I'll bring it back to the avenue, where you don't have that mentoring and support going along that journey. And fortunately for myself, I've got quite a few life experiences to pull upon. The great thing with working with you is it allows me process, it allows me blueprint, but it also gives me accountability. And it also gives me, and hopefully for yourself, we get to have a bit of a laugh while working hard. Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think those processes are really big because that allows you to know what to do and what to do next and what should be happening at each moment. But I think when people fall out of love with this industry, it's a real shame because you connect with so many people and you infiltrate so many people's lives. Like I had a client message me the other day like, i hope everything's well just checking in to see how you was what are you up to and i was like i haven't seen or spoke to you in about five years now but you still remember me you still have my number saved to then potentially fall out of love because you're feeling like you're doing it wrong or you're not seeing the results of the financials is putting pressure on you i think that's a real shame and i love what you touched on there about like gaining that experience somewhere because we all know that there's only at the moment there's only a few spaces in the industry where you can really just work up in that experience but unfortunately most of the people who want to do that now the salaries in those positions are not aligned with lifestyle and the cost of living so it does present a bit of a barrier and that's exactly why we've built the Elite Agent Mastercast and we have these conversations on the podcasts and we have the content out on YouTube and We are launching something exciting next year. So stay tuned for that. There's my little plug. Stay tuned. We're obviously filming this in September of twenty five. But just a space to actually get the knowledge that you need and want and the support before making that leap in self-employment where there's not a paycheck coming in in the next four weeks. It's sometimes five to six months. Massively. And again, something I used to talk to people about. I know you had location, location with Phil and Kirsty, but there was the other one that he did a spin-off. Phil, which was the secret agent where he was having to find homes for people with kind of like connecting with the neighbourhood, canvassing and finding that specifics. It's sometimes just watching that and actually seeing what you're going to have to do it isn't just suddenly like i know some people think it's fast cars and sunset boulevard and it really isn't it's building relationships going back to a point that you mentioned as well one of the things i love as well when you've got clients one which i'm still in contact that moved down under to australia once or twice a year it's a little touching and it's those little moments That made me kind of really smile and get that light back in the eyes because you are, when you go through this journey, you've got to remember you're making footprints onto other people's lives. You've got to be doing it where you know, like I said, you can sleep at night with honour because you are going back to probably one of our first points, you're dealing in one of the biggest assets. one of the most emotional transaction and you can either do it in the right way or the wrong way. And when you're getting messages like yourself as well on that side, you know you've made the right footprints. hundred percent and and to me that was always the most like the biggest validation i could ever get out of the job was knowing that i really did my best at all moments because we can't control what happens we can't control who buys it we can't control those things about you know surveys and lending and chain collapses as much as we try to at every time every moment that it happens but just knowing that you had that positive impact so i really enjoyed our conversation today graham and i really appreciate your time so for anyone who's considering that transition or currently in the industry struggling where can they connect with you on social media if you want to connect with me you can go onto my link tree that's one way but i'm on linkedin instagram facebook personally and with the business as well you can contact me on whatsapp send me a text i would always be happy to discuss that i've always have done at the pros and pitfalls and i'd always give you um the good the bad and ugly from all of my experiences especially from my network of who i've worked with but who i'm also still in contact um from that side I really appreciate that, Graham. Well, thanks for joining us on another episode of the Elite Agent Masterclass. Click the link in bio if you want to hear more of our content. But we'll see you on next week's episode. Thank you, Holly. You're an absolute superstar. Thanks, Graham.