The Secret to Building Wealth in Real Estate: Find Your Niche | Rod Watson

Rod Watson (00:00)
I launched a— a sports and entertainment national real estate company with some other partners. And that partnership didn’t work out, unfortunately. And, you know, it was considered a major failure at that time of my career after coming off such a high-end launch in a company like that and nationally and you know, being in multiple markets— that was the vision, that was the goal, but it didn’t work out.

Meghan Escobar (01:51)
Hello everyone. Welcome back to Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host, Meghan Escobar, and today I have the pleasure and honor of sitting down with an incredible guest by the name of Rod Watson. And I’ve been looking forward to this conversation because you know what he’s bringing to the table is pretty incredible. He’s creating an overall experience for high-profile clients for servicing luxury living, if you will. And so I— I think our audience will walk away with some great insights from your journey and the way that you’ve approached your business and the way that you’ve built your business. So thank you again, Rod, for taking the time to be here with us today. Let’s dive in. First and foremost, for those of you who may not be familiar with what any of that even means, give us a thirty-thousand-foot view of what your main focus is these days and what markets you’re operating in.

Rod Watson (02:44)
Yeah, thanks. Thanks for the opportunity. So I’ll start with the markets we’re operating in. We’re based in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and we’re expanding into San Diego, California. And then soon we’re actually bringing on a new market leader agent in the Inland Empire. You know, our focus is really servicing our clients at the high level. Part of our niche focus is sports and entertainment, which is why we’re based in Beverly Hills, California— that’s Entertainment Mecca. And I’ve got over 20 years in the business. And so, you know, for me, working with high-net-worth professionals has been a passion of mine. It’s something when I initially got into business, I didn’t start there, but it was a goal to eventually get there. And now I’ve been operating this space for over a decade. And at the end of the day, it’s really about our clients. You know— you know, we’ve worked from the lower price points— from eighty— started out selling eighty-thousand-dollar houses and our highest sale year-to-date is 20 million. And in order to get there, it takes time, it takes relationship building. And so for me as a CEO of Distinct Concierge Real Estate, you know, my focus is helping move the needle as to help this company grow, bring on new agent partners while also servicing our clients at a high level.

Meghan Escobar (03:51)
Incredible stuff. What caught my attention the most is the way that you approach business. You mentioned quite a few times that being strategic is one of your assets, is one of your pluses. And the way that you build is— is being— what’s the word that I’m looking for?— decisive on who you work with and what deals that you bring on. You know, that’s not an easy thing, especially in— in this climate or in this industry. You know, most people are just wanna take a deal wherever they can grab one. Talk to us a little bit about why you, you know, make moves that way.

Rod Watson (04:29)
You know, I think for me, I— I thought about what I wanted when I got into the business. And of course your goals can change over time. But for me, I think I— I had— I understood being intentional and being locked in and focused on the things that you want to accomplish is, you know, more important than trying to just go out and capture and work with everyone— meaning having a niche market to focus on. If you look at most of your top producing agents, they’re focused on a niche. It might be a farm, it might be a specific farm group of people, or it might be a specific price point, but they have a specific niche that they’re locked in on. And that’s how they’ve been able to grow their brand and their business over time. So I studied a lot of the top agents in the business that were actually doing business at the level that I desired to get to. And just like in sports, you know, when I play basketball, I studied the best who played the game and I watched everything they did— from how they walked, how they chewed their gum, their mannerisms to, you know, how they handled adversity to the level of tenacity they brought to the floor. These are things that if you pay attention to, you can implement yourself. You don’t have to go out and reinvent the wheel. Now you can sprinkle a little bit your own personal, you know— you know, whatever, you know, on it, right? And— and but for me, you know, really at the end of the day, you know, just understanding that your time is an asset and how you spend it is up to you. You can always make more money, but you can’t get your time back. And if you lock in and focus on setting specific goals and being intentional about what it is you want and really dedicating yourself to that, you will eventually manifest those things. So, you know, I go back to answering your question, you know, at the end of the day, to me, I understood right out of the gate. And I think a lot of that was coming from a world of sports and competing at a high level, I brought that discipline and structure to the business. And so it was very clear to me, like, “These are the things that I want. This is the level I want to get to. And then I have to do these things daily, weekly, you know, monthly, and yearly to get to this, you know, level.”

Meghan Escobar (07:11)
Incredible. So what I’m hearing is like clarity. Get clear on what you want and how you— how you want your— how you desire your life to be and then take action on it.

Rod Watson (07:22)
Yeah, massive action over an extended period of time.

Meghan Escobar (07:23)
Massive action. I love that. Yeah, I love that. And you know, the way that you’ve approached your sports career in— in incorporating that skill set and applying it to, you know, the way that you operate in real estate I think is— is pretty incredible.

Rod Watson (07:39)
Yeah, I mean it’s been an asset for me. You know, if you look, most of your top business professionals, entrepreneurs, I would say at least sixty, seventy percent of them have some form of sports, you know, background. You know, whether it’s from high school, college, some professionally. And it’s something to be said about the discipline and structure that comes from sports that can carry over to anything you’re doing in life. I don’t care what it is. You can be sweeping floors, you know. You can be working at the local gym. You know, that discipline and structure helps you to perform at a higher level than what most people do, ’cause a lot of people lack discipline. A lot of people lack being consistent and showing up, even for themselves. You know, you can find that a lot of people throw in the towel when things get tough or they get challenging. In sports, you’re always going to be challenged. Things aren’t always going to go your way. You know, you’re going to have new surprises. You’re going to be told you’re not that great by your coaches when you’re not performing at the highest level or at the level that’s expected. So for me, yeah, man, sports has been everything and it’s allowed me to be able to develop myself personally to who I am and where I am in life.

Meghan Escobar (08:41)
That’s— that’s amazing. Speaking of challenges, you know, every operator, entrepreneur, a business person that I know has a moment where things did get real. You know, maybe that was a challenge they went through where a deal went sideways, so they, you know, how to— how to just pivot really fast. Do you mind sharing, Rod, one of those moments for you?

Rod Watson (08:59)
Yeah, you know, I— I— you know, a few years ago, you know, I launched a— a sports and entertainment national real estate company with some other partners. And that partnership didn’t work out, unfortunately. And, you know, it was considered a major failure at that time of my career after coming off such a high-end launch in a company like that and nationally and, you know, being in multiple markets— that was the vision, that was the goal, but it didn’t work out. I took responsibility for my part and I, you know, I learned from those— from that specific experience and I said, “You know what? You got to pivot. This is opportunity to pivot.” And we rebranded, and here we are today, thriving and growing. And you know, sometimes things don’t always go as planned and they don’t work out in your favor for whatever the reason is. And even if you are the reason for that, you have to take responsibility for it and you have to challenge yourself to stand up, get back up. It’s like getting knocked down, or, you know, I’m from the country, I rode horses, rodeo. You get bucked off, you gotta look the horse in the eye and get right back in the saddle, and that’s— that’s the mentality and approach I have. Nothing’s gonna stop me. You know, at the end of the day, even when I fail, there’s learning lessons that can be taken away from that. So in that moment, you know, my wife and I, we sat and we talked about what needed to be done and we made the commitment to pivot and we said, “You know what? We just put our heads down and we got a year or two of no distractions and just locking in, great things will happen,” and here we are.

Meghan Escobar (10:13)
That’s incredible. So would you say that potentially, you know, that door that closed was an opportunity for you guys to be where you are today? Absolutely.

Rod Watson (10:23)
Absolutely. Yeah. You know, at that time it didn’t seem like it, but one thousand percent, you know, it— it— it opened the door for us to create this company that was just family-focused and I love it, you know, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, you know, but it took that experience to create this opportunity.

Meghan Escobar (11:15)
Exactly. And you know, that’s the kind of stuff that most people just don’t talk about enough. Right. The failures that ended up turning into opportunities, because you’re right, you know, in the moment it’s— it just feels so depleting. It feels like, “Man, I failed.” And it— most folks would probably, like you said, throw in the flag, right? Or— or just give up. And honestly, it’s truly what separates folks, Rod, from those who are just, yeah, dabble or create a transaction versus those who are in the game long term and are in to win. So— so let me— let me ask you this: where are you— what are you most focused on solving next for Distinct Concierge Real Estate? Like, what’s the next real goal for you guys?

Rod Watson (11:59)
Yeah, that’s a good question. You know, for us, this is the problem-solving business, and as we have learned over the last 20 years, there’s always going to be new challenges. There’s new devils at every level. So for us, it’s expansion, you know— expanding into new markets. As I shared a bit ago, we’re expanding into the San Diego market, we’re expanding into the Inland Empire market, we’re already in LA. And for now that’s our focus is, you know, expanding into those two markets. And then as we have success in those markets, we take that blueprint and we look for where the next market we can expand beyond. We’ve got our eyes on a few other, you know, markets. And in the meantime, like I said, we’ll be locked in and focused right here in the home front and you know, supporting our agents that are coming on board to— to be a part of this ecosystem and our operating system and just building, right? You know, it’s just building and— and— and supporting our clients as well. You know, we see an immense opportunity of working with sellers in this market that have had challenges selling their homes, or people that are still wondering if this is the right time and can they sell their property, because we’re heavily focused on the listing side— we see a lot of opportunity there. So we’ve really been dialing in our marketing and speak directly to those people. And I stated before, I launched our season two of our podcast— it’s called The All In Podcast. So if you guys listen to podcasts or watch podcasts, be sure to look me up, Rod Watson, The All In Podcast on Spotify, on YouTube, and on Instagram and LinkedIn, and give us a like, follow, and subscribe. But yeah, you know, the podcast is another tool to help me expand as on from a business— business development, you know, strategy and stay connected to the network that I’ve been fortunate to build over the 20— last 20 plus years. And yeah, that’s— that’s the focus right now.

Meghan Escobar (13:39)
That’s sounds incredible. So sounds like that next move is really going to be able to help you guys com— compound things to reach your goal, going from 11 agents to getting that— that 20 under the— under your way, or, you know, potentially create some chaos, depending on how it’s played.

Rod Watson (13:56)
It’s always something in this business, so you gotta be prepared for that.

Meghan Escobar (13:59)
Yeah, absolutely. So I know a lot of our listeners, they’re either, you know, very early on in the stage of their journey, whether or not they’re, you know, looking to get into real estate, becoming an agent, a builder, an investor, whatever the case may be, or they’re someone who’s been in the game for quite some time and looking to level up. Yeah. So, and I think that they might benefit from hearing this, like when it comes to building relationships… you mentioned playing golf and having, you know, a certain level of peer groups around you. When it comes to growing your network, what has made the biggest difference for you?

Rod Watson (14:32)
Just being my authentic self, you know, and owning that and being comfortable with who I am and my gift, and leaning into that. And I think when it comes to connecting with people, I always try to share the— the— the— the thing you don’t wanna do is try to be something that you’re not, or try to be in circles that really aren’t who you are, right, thinking that, “If I do these things, that’s gonna lead me to this or to that.” And that’s okay. I— you know, I— I totally understand the thought press— the thought process behind it, but I think if you leave with being your authentic self and you do the things that you’re passionate about, and, you know, if you want to build relationships, be genuine about it, find— find ways to connect with people— something as simple as, you know, “That’s a nice, you know, necklace you have on,” or “I love your earrings,” you know, or, “Hey, I’m— I’m a Nike guy, I’m a Jordan guy. Man, those 11s, them, you know…” I compliment. I’m at the gym, I see guys wearing certain sneakers. I’m like, “Hey, you know, where you get those?” You know, it creates an opportunity to connect with people. But when you do make connections, you know, you have to be genuine, you have to follow up. You know, you know, for me, like I said, I’m a golf guy— I don’t play basketball like I used to, so golf is like my second, you know, pastime sport that I can get out there, be in the sun, and have fun. And I invite new people out to come and play. And sometimes I play with the same group of guys and they invite someone new, so we’re always making new connections that way. But man, I— again, just— just being your authentic self. And you know, we talked about this earlier, be— be very clear about what it is you want and then focus on putting yourself in those rooms with those people through warm introductions or just authentic connections.

Meghan Escobar (16:44)
Yeah. Solid piece of advice, and it’s something you just can’t fake, right? Like you said, don’t— don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. Yeah. Relationships are everything in this space. And if you— you can’t be your authentic self, then you’re in the wrong room. Yeah. All right. Well, before we wrap, Rod, if somebody wanted to reach you— I know you already mentioned your podcast— but wanting to connect with you, learn more about what it is that you’re doing, what would be the best way for them to connect with you? Is that through social? Is that through email or?

Rod Watson (17:15)
Yeah, thanks for asking that question. Yeah, you can, you know, people want to connect with me… I’m on Instagram @rodwatson23, which is my first and last name, R-O-D-W-A-T-S-O-N-23. On LinkedIn, it’s just Rod Watson. And those are really two primary platforms that I’m on. Of course, you know, we have our YouTube channel, The All In Podcast with Rod Watson. If you— if you’re someone that spends time on— on YouTube, you can connect with me there. But usually those two— put— those three platforms is where I, you know, bounce back and forth and you can connect with me there.

Meghan Escobar (17:48)
Perfect. All right. Well, listen, I appreciate your time, your story, and more importantly, your perspective on the way that you approach business and how you value your clients first and foremost. I think we need, you know, more people in this space who are doing things the right way and are passionate about what they’re doing and not just looking to create a transaction with somebody. So, you know, I really again thank you for being here. I— I believe our guests are— our our viewers will find immense value in everything that you’ve shared here today.

Rod Watson (18:21)
Yeah, well I hope so, too. And I appreciate you having me on.

Meghan Escobar (18:24)
Absolutely. And for those of you that are tuning in, if you did get any value here, please make sure to subscribe, to like. We’ve got more conversations coming in with owners and operators, just like Rod here, so he’s building real businesses with real people in real time, and that’s what we’re looking to create. So we’ll see you on the next episode.