Experiences Make Us Stronger
We live here because we love here; the ups, the downs, the rain, and the sun. We don’t give up when things get hard– we rise to the challenge.
Life isn’t always easy. Sometimes, in order to succeed, we need to be resilient.
In the past eight weeks, we have been reminded just how lucky we are to live in a place like Vancouver; surrounded by passionate, driven, and community-minded individuals.
We wanted to take a moment and share our gratitude for our city, our industry, and our extended Oakwynites who have shown up and delivered during the COVID-19 crisis.
Live Where You Love
Along with the beautiful beaches, towering mountain ranges, and the deep forests that keep us moving, there is rain, silence, and grey-clouded calm. Those of us who call this city home understand that it comes with its own challenges. We live here because we want to; because we know this is where our hearts are most at ease.
Vancouver is beautiful. Our city is clean, clear, and blue. We can snowboard, hike, and swim all in the same day (really, it’s not just a rumour). We welcome newcomers, new customs, and new ideas. We consistently rank as one of the best cities in the world for quality of living. Vancouver is a place that you fall in love with.
This isn’t an easy time. But if we wanted easy, we wouldn’t be here. Live where you love means that you make it work, no matter the circumstance. We’ve made it through uncertainty before. This is just another bump in the road.
Find Your Silver Lining
Remember in January when it rained for thirty days straight? Sometimes things just don’t go the way we want them to. Does that mean we should give up? Throw in the towel? Hide under our beds and wait until it’s over? That doesn’t sound like our city.
When life gives you a crisis, you need to find your silver lining. Yes, we can’t work or connect with our clients the way that we are used to. But, we have found new ways of connecting, through Zoom, by telephone, and even cheering from our balconies at 7PM. We have had the chance to re-connect with our families, our pets, and ourselves in a way that we wouldn’t be able to while in the hustle. We have seen incredible efforts by governments, community members, and frontline workers to keep our society functioning and our people healthy. With the extra time at home, we have been able to relax in nature, find balance, and expand our knowledge of our craft in innovative ways. There is always an upside!
We're All In This Together
The truth is, we don’t know what is going to happen next. But, this crisis has created a global community, the likes of which we have never seen before. For the first time, we are connected to humans across the globe in a single shared experience.
Worrying won’t get us anywhere. The market will bounce back, the streets will open up once again, and soon enough we will all be back together enjoying the sunshine, our city, and elevating our careers in the way that only Vancouverites can.
This is the year of The Experience. So, let’s use this shared experience as a starting point for growth and compassion. If we work together, we can get through anything.
Thank you for experiencing this year with us. We can’t wait to see where we go from here.
Episode 10: Building Teams
In our tenth episode, our hosts discuss Real Estate Teams; the benefits, challenges, and the lessons they’ve learned over the years on building a successful team.
Episode 8: War Stories
This episode starts with a fun discussion on “Favourite Spots in Vancouver” & Humble Beginnings. The hosts go on to discuss this week’s topic of “War Stories”
Our hosts open up about some of the big mistakes they’ve made over their careers and the hard lessons learned from those hard experiences.
Episode 7: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
This episode opens with group reflection, the three ask each other the question, “What were you like as a child?”.
This transitions into this episode’s topic, which is a book discussion on one of Oakwyn’s favourite books, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. Michael & Morgan describe what the 7 habits are & how they apply them to their life & practice during COVID-19.
Episode 6: Building a Prospecting Calendar
Michael and Morgan discuss how you can use your down-time to stay productive and put together a game plan for routinely reaching out to the various categories of potential clients.
#OakwynAtHome
In this time of unprecendented change, people across the world are learning to connect remotely. For Oakwyn, the last few weeks have reinforced the power of community. Now more than ever, it’s important that we support each other (from a safe distance). From online fitness classes, to exciting webinars, and home delivery services that keep you healthy, we’ve compiled a list of the best this city has to offer while we all #StayHome.
Webinars and Education
With all of this extra time at home, why not learn a new skill or develop one you already have. Here are a few great ways to keep your mind fit at home:
- Listen to podcasts, like our Oakwyn Podcast hosted by Morgan Browne and Michael Uy.
- Take on a digital project! Organize your dropbox, email, or re-vamp your website. Also, Adobe is currently FREE from now until May 31st.
- Expand your knowledge on property law, development projects, family zoning, and duplex laws.
- Seth Godin is doing daily webinars on all things motivation, working from home, building skills, and more.
- 4 book recommendations: Good to Great, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Principles: Life and Work, Millionaire Real Estate Agent.
- Schedule Zoom meetings with your colleagues and see what you can both learn from one another. Community will keep us strong!
- Dean Graziosi, a world renowned success coach, is hosting a weekly Mindset Monday webinar on his Instagram page.
- Small Business BC is hosting regular virtual meetups and webinars to help entrepreneurs manage these uncertain times. You can watch their new and archived webinars here.
- The Real Estate Institue of BC is also hosting regular webinars at various dates and times. Their next session is scheduled for April 30th!
Health and Fitness
Navigating this crisis is all about innovation! Luckily, some of our favourite studios have moved their classes online. Keep your motivation up with these awesome at-home workouts.
- Daniela Dib of Vancouver’s Soul Cycle is doing HIIT classes every day at noon via her Instagram.
- Barry’s Bootcamp is hosting regular Instagram Live workouts. You don’t need any equipment, just your body!
- Lions MMA Vancouver has also taken their classes online and are posting daily training plans on their Instagram page.
- Oxygen Yoga and Fitness is offering daily classes on and Instagram Live.
- Get the Nike Training app! Their Master Trainers upload regular videos that will get you sweating. Nike is currently offering all members FREE access to these classes, so don’t miss out!
- YYOGA is hosting paid and unpaid virtual yoga and meditation classes every day!
- Hustle is hosting free virtual classes on-demand and live through their website. Time to hustle up!
- Formation Studio is offering free dance-based classes via Instagram Live, as well as digital workouts through their website.
Delivery Services
Etiquette is important! Help keep your community safe by using cards instead of cash, ask the driver to leave your delivery outside of your door, and wash your hands before and after you pick up your groceries from the doorstep.
- Dogwood Brewing is blowing out their current supply stock so that they can repurpose their brewery to make hand sanitizer to aid the global crisis. You can order their product through Uber Eats, Skip the Dishes, and Foodora. Oakwynites are eligible to receive 3 mixed flats of Organic beer (that’s 72 cans of beer) at 50% off! Email andre@dogwoodbrew.com to get on the list.
- Body Energy Club is doing home deliveries of vitamins and supplements in Vancouver and Burnaby, plus live workouts via Instagram Live.
- SPUD, Save-On Foods, and Instacart are all delivering groceries during this time (see websites for availability).
- Joseph Richards Group is offering delivery and pickup, promising all of the proceeds to their staff who have been laid off during this time.
- Fresh St Market is offering personal shopping, pickup services, and delivery to locals during COVID-19. Please see their website for availability.
- The Real Canadian Superstore is also offering grocery delivery during this time. Please order well in advance as wait times may be longer than usual due to the high volume of requests.
Keeping Busy
Life isn’t all about work! Make sure you take some time to do things you enjoy during this time. Relax, take it easy.
- Find a new series to watch on your favourite streaming platform.
- Download the House Party app to connect and play games with friends and family.
- At home with your kids? This blog will teach you “easy, fun, and interesting ideas for adults and children to explore together.”
- Scholastic is offering “Learning Journeys” for kids from preschool to grade nine. Your kids can do these activities alone or with the whole family.
- NASA is offering virtual space station tours along with other fun, family-friendly activities that you can do with your kids at home.
- Using this time for learning? Check out the Business in Vancouver podcast for regular news updates and education.
- The Busy Toddler website offers a diverse range of activities that you can use to entertain your toddler while you practice social distancing.
Curated Playlists to Keep You Moving
Nothing brings us together quite like music. We’ve created these great playlists for you to relax and work to.
Some Good News
- Join Oakwynite of the Year Celine Bacani, owner of Lee’s Donuts, in supporting the morale of Metro Vancouver’s frontline workers! Starting April 1st, Lee’s Donuts will be accepting minimum $5 contributions which will go towards bringing donuts (and joy!) to frontline workers throughout the city. To donate click here.
- Every day at 7pm Vancouverites can be heard cheering from their balconies in support of medical workers. The cheer has become a city-wide show of support for our front-line workers.
- Your fellow Oakwynite Shauna and her husband Rick Ocean are using their Body Energy Club location in Gastown to help keep our First Responders healthy & nourished! If you’d like to buy a smoothie to a First Responder (Fire Dept, Paramedic, Nurses, Doctors, VPD) for $3.00, please contribute by going on the Body Energy Club Canada mobile app.
- Oakwynite Vivian Yu has started a GoFundMe page to source quality personal protective equipment for front-line workers and health professionals. All funds raise go directly to the cause so please donate if you can!
- Vessi Footwear‘s choose what you pay initiative is using its proceeds to donate facemasks and footwear for health care workers. Find out more about how you can contribute (and get some cool sneakers) here.
- Animal shelters across Canada have seen increased adoption rates as humans seek companionship during isolation. We may be socially distanced, but our furry friends are feeling the love!
#OakwynAtHome
Over the last month we asked our agents to come together and show us their #OakwynAtHome lives. We are proud to work alongside such strong parents, business owners, entrepreneurs, and comunity-minded individuals who have stayed dedicated during these difficult times.
Our Oakwyn family continues to amaze us with their resilience and motivation. Thank you for being such great role models!
We're all in this together. Stay safe, stay humble.
We’ll be updating this blog with more information in the coming weeks. If you would like to contribute, please send links to alehmanchoi@oakwyn.com.
Episode 5: Oakwyn At Home: Reflecting and Planning
Episode 4: Oakwyn University & Seller Systems
Now is a time to pursue growth & learning! On our fourth episode, Michael & Morgan explain Oakwyn University; how it works, the content & the philosophy behind it. The two also follow up last week’s conversation on Buyer’s Systems by discussing Seller Systems. Stay home & learn while they offer tips & tricks to optimize your efficiencies for listing a property.
Episode 3: Buyer Systems
In our third episode of the Oakwyn Podcast, Michael and Morgan discuss Buyer Systems & the story of how they met. Sit back and listen to them discuss their Buyer Systems and the 3 steps of working with a buyer; the initial meeting, the search, and the closing of the purchase.
Episode 2: Getting to Know Michael Uy & Goal Setting
In this episode, get to know Oakwyn’s co-founder and CEO; how he started in the biz and his main motivators throughout his career.
Oakwyn Realty also discusses goal setting techniques that they use in their careers & personal lives.
Leaders Are Readers
Oakwyn is an agency that is known for its success. Our agents perform at high-levels across the Lower Mainland and we’re always happy to see them shine. As we prepare for another year of record-breaking sales, it’s important that we take time to appreciate the hard work that went into 2019.
Every year, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver awards the area’s top-performing agents with Medallion Member and President’s Club titles. As always, Oakwyn agents stood out in our industry.
Making Medallion
Medallion agents represent the top 10% of agents, based on MLS deals. 1 out of 5 Oakwyn agents is a Medallion Member. This year, we have 76 agents that made Medallion, and 7 agents who made President’s Club (top 1%).
On top of that, Oakwyn Realty was voted the #1 office in gross dollar volume of sales and our Yaletown office was voted #1 in the downtown area. What a year we’ve had!
We Celebrate Success By Giving Back
We always like to congratulate our Medallion Members with a group photoshoot. This year, we decided to use this media moment to highlight a cause that we care deeply about: Literacy in BC.
We teamed up with our agents and Decoda Literacy Solutions to raise awareness about literacy in our area. We asked each agent to bring a book to the photoshoot that had impacted their life or career in a positive way. Those books were then donated to our Oakwyn community libraries both at our HQ office and the downtown location. Each library is fit with a donation box where all of the proceeds will go to Decoda.
Oakwyn believes in accessible knowlege for all and we aim to inspire our communities to be passionate about learning. Promoting literacy in BC is one way that we can uphold these values and continue to nurture our deep roots.
Why Is Literacy Important?
Literacy is important for health. Studies show that those who have stronger literacy skills are healthier because they can find, understand, and implement health strategies. Being literate can also help you manage your finances, undestand your legal rights, and find and hold employment. These are all necessary skills that all people have the right to and that’s why Oakwyn is dedicated to helping improve literacy in our province and beyond.
According to Decoda:
- More than 700,000 British Columbians have significant challenges with literacy. (16% of British Columbians were at Level 1 literacy or below in 2012.)
- 45% of British Columbians aged 16 to 65 may have difficulty understanding newspapers, following instruction manuals, reading health information and other daily living tasks.
- 52% of British Columbians aged 16 to 65 may have difficulty calculating interest on a car loan, using information on a graph, calculating medicine dosage and other daily living tasks.
Options for supporting Decoda’s work can be found here.
The Medallion Shoot
To stay on our literary theme, we held this year’s Medallion photoshoot on the steps of the Vancouver Public Library.
Our agents came prepared with their favourite books and with the help of the AntiSocial Solutions team, we were able to capture some really great moments.
We are proud to be held up by the strength of our diverse agents. Year after year, you all impress us with your dedication, knowledge, and perserverance. Seeing this successful crew give back to the community reminds us to keep pushing for progress in every way we can.
Staying Focused With Kit Matkaluk
“The Medallion Club to me is a sense of direction and reassurance that we are heading in the right direction. It’s the start of a journey to becoming a President’s Club member.
[The book I brought] I use a lot, especially when I coach. Mindset is a way of looking at failure as an opportunity and a way to retrain your brain to not think you are a failure if you don’t succeed. It’s about framing these experiences as an opportunity to ask questions and thrive. Setbacks are temporary and far too many mindsets are focused on the yes, or winning without learning from losing.”
Check out Kit’s book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” here.
Tips from Jessica Chen
“Don’t give up and keep trying new things. Look for a flow that connects you to your goals. It may not be in a book or coaching system and that’s okay, but set your sights on what feels right and allow your true self to shine as often as you can.”
Check out Jessica’s book, “Getting to Yes: How To Negotiate Agreement Without Giving In” here.
Episode 1: Welcome to the Inaugural Episode of the Oakwyn Podcast
We are excited to announce the first episode of the Oakwyn Podcast, hosted by Michael Uy and Morgan Browne, is officially LIVE!
Join us to discuss everything Oakwyn, Vancouver real estate, and get the inside scoop on what’s happening with us.