Broker Spotlight: Andrew Ellett, Engel & Völkers

Name: Andrew Ellett

Title: License partner for Engel & Völkers Jackson Hole, Star Valley & Sublette County; CEO and managing broker

Experience:  17 years as a real estate adviser, 10 years as managing broker, 9 years as a brokerage owner and 7 years as an Engel & Völkers franchise owner

Location:  Western Wyoming & Eastern Idaho (Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Teton Valley, Idaho; Star Valley, Wyoming; Sublette County, Wyoming)

Brokerage names: Engel & Völkers Jackson Hole (Main Location), Engel & Völkers Star Valley and Engel & Völkers Sublette

Sales volume:  

• Totals for sales volume: $210M (2021), $250M (2022), $192M (2023)
• Personal sales volume: $32M (as of November 2023)

Team size: Jackson Hole: 25 advisers; Star Valley: 13 advisers; Sublette: 6 advisers 

Awards: Inman Award for the Best Luxury Marketing Campaign of 2019

What do you wish more people knew about working in real estate?

To succeed in real estate, it needs to be your full-time job, not your hobby or side hustle. Every market has so many “dabblers” in real estate. Treat this profession like you would any other profession and put your time in whether it’s a good market or bad, whether it’s on-season or off-season, and whether you feel like it or not.

It’s amazing how many opportunities will come your way if you just show up. If you have a solid plan in place and execute daily, it’s hard not to be successful.

What’s your top tip for freshly licensed brokers?

Endeavor to save a year of living expenses with a goal to cover your monthly living expenses in six months. Set a budget, a marketing plan, and a networking plan and execute relentlessly day in and day out.

Name 3 people you admire

Winston Churchill: He never gave up, and he never lost hope. His power of communication and his resolve gave others hope and courage.

Teddy Roosevelt: He was a man of action and consequence who changed the world through determination and courage.

Garth Merrick: A beloved client and friend who recently passed away. He grew a business from humble beginnings, raised a wonderful family, and lived a life of faith and gratitude; he generously gave to others and impacted so many lives. I hope that I can leave that kind of legacy behind one day.

What makes a good leader?

As a leader, you must set the tone and be present, visible and available. This sets the pace, the expectation and the culture. If you’re on time, they will know the expectation is to be on time. If you dress and act professionally, they will know the expectation is to dress and act professionally. And if you follow through with what you say you will do, even when it’s hard, they will follow.

As a leader, you must practice humility. You need to be confident to be a good leader, but there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Arrogance hijacks vision and is corrosive to a team. Humility means saying you are sorry, meaning it, and promising to do better. Humility also means you don’t put your own success over the success of the team.

As a leader, you should set the goal, not the process. Leaders set the vision and define the goal but should not micromanage the process. Good leadership is harnessing the creativity, ingenuity, and giftings of others through both collaboration and delegation to define the process and build something great.

What’s one thing you wish every agent knew?

The importance of being resilient. There are so many ups and downs, sometimes just in one day. You have to learn to deal with rejection, conflict, difficult personalities, direct competition, emotional clients, and the loss of a hard-fought deal, and dust yourself off and begin again without a loss of enthusiasm. 

To be a successful real estate agent, business owner or leader, you have to operate with the biggest heart you can muster and the toughest skin you can imagine. You must learn resilience.

Know someone who should be featured in an upcoming Broker Spotlight? Nominations, please, to brokeredge@inman.com.

Email Christy Murdock