Life is a collection of lived experiences. Often, it is the smallest details that make the biggest impact. Think of your most treasured memory. You might remember the weather, the sounds, the day of the week. You will certainly remember the people that you shared that moment with and the way they made you feel.

For our 2020 theme of the year, Oakwyn chose to focus on The Experience— not just of our agents, but of our clients, our communities, and our world.

Creating lasting impressions with our clients is what makes Oakwyn stand out from other agencies. As a growing company of over 400 entrepreneurs, it is important to us to choose a theme of the year that will unite our internal and external values.

We want Oakwyn to be a company that is remembered. The Experience is about being present and creating personal moments for those around us. Be live, be active. As Morgan Browne said:

“The Experience is something that is multisensory, something that is alive. It is all of the little things that make our agents stand out. Real estate isn’t just about transactions, it’s about creating long-lasting memories that people will hold dear. #ExperienceOakwyn is about creating a really incredible standard for our businesses and our culture.”

This year’s Sales Kickoff was held at the exquisite JW Marriot Parq in beautiful Vancouver, BC. Agents from all over the lower mainland gathered to begin their year of #ExperienceOakwyn alongside their colleagues, friends, and mentors.

2019 was a huge year for Oakwyn. Apart from our ever-expanding group of realtors, we had one of our best sales years yet– even in the midst of a down-market.

Dozens of Oakwyn agents recieved awards for their hard work and dedication in 2019. We spoke with some of the winners to see how they thrived against the odds and what tips they have for upcoming agents.

What contributed to 2019 being a successful first year of real estate for you?

It began with setting ambitious goals that would keep my eye on the prize and ensure I was always heading in a clear direction. Next, I learned to overcome my resistance toward asking for help. I consider myself a pretty independent person, so asking questions was definitely outside of my comfort zone. But through this process, I adopted new ideas and was able to explore different options that expanded my opportunities. Naturally, the fear of failure when trying out new things came along with it, but I would try to see things that didn’t work out as lessons on how I can become a better agent. Lastly, staying up to date with the market and informed on its trends created a foundation of trust for my clients. I had to stay consistent in my practices even when it felt like it wasn’t doing anything, because when I look back, my discipline was key to my steady growth.

What does being connected to the Oakwyn community mean to you and your business?

The Oakwyn community meant everything to my business its first year. I made a commitment early on to really lean into the experience in these hallways. Oakwyn’s head real estate nerd, MIchael Uy, told me in our first meeting that there is an implied  expectation of less experienced agents to ask questions and a similar expectation for more experienced agents to answer them. That kind of thing is said in passing often, but the Oakwyn Community exceeded expectations. We’ve got the most hilarious, smart, dedicated, extra, passionate & ridiculously upstanding group of agents, many of which will be my friends for life.

How do you plan to implement Oakwyn’s Experience theme in your work? Why do you think this is important?

I found it important to remember when considering the experience of your clients that while we do this regularly and certain things are routine, it is not likely the case for them.  We may have many clients, but they likely only have one realtor.  The best way to implement Oakwyns theme of experience in my work is to constantly ensure I am considering the experience itself from my clients perspective and not my own. Use this to inform how to best curate their experience to feel confident, informed and prepared to succeed.

What does it mean to be an Oakwynite?

Being an Oakwynite means championing a brand that exemplifies professionalism, expertise, and sales and marketing that stands alone among other real estate brokerages

Oakwyn provides such a wonderful space for agents at any stage in their career to poise themselves for growth. Being connected to the Oakwyn community means that I will always have something to strive towards and I’ll never have to look far for inspiration.

What advice do you have for agents who are hoping to make it onto the awards stage next year?

Stay focused:  take care of yourself, take care of your work, and always take care of your clients.

We send our heartfelt congratulations to this year’s award-winners. Your hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed!

Here is an exciting video we put together introducing our annual theme. Thank you to the team at AntiSocial Solutions for putting this piece together. Let’s make 2020 our best experience yet!

Deep Roots in our City & Community

We love where we live and the people we serve do, too. The West Coast of Canada, especially Greater Vancouver, is one of the most beautiful places to live, work, and grow. Here, we have a responsibility to our community, to put people first, and to lift each other up.

By creating a collaborative atmosphere and supporting the education of our team, we want to enable Oakwynites to give back to the communities around them.

Live Where You Love

The West Coast of Canada is often recognized for its deep connection to the natural terrain. We celebrate this connection not only with the places we live, but with the way we live, too. Biking, surfing, skiing, boating, hiking, and all the other outdoor activities we love to do in Vancouver are ingrained in the way that we live. Here, the outdoors is as much a part of our home as the indoors.

Oakwyn Initiatives

Oakwyn has pioneered events designed to strengthen our communities and their own deep roots. Events like the Women of Oakwyn (WOO) are so important to take a step back and examine how we have gotten to where we are today. Designed to celebrate the women who work hard and stay humble, the main event is a feature panel of strong, influential women. WOO recognizes that the success of Oakwyn is largely in part to the people and agents who give so much of themselves to their careers and their community.

At Oakwyn, we also support community initiatives like the Covenant House Sleep Out, the Kindness Challenge, and Jeans Day. When we see an opportunity where we think we can make a difference, we take it. Real estate isn’t just a job to us, it’s a way of building communities and enacting lasting change for the better.

Deep Roots with our Agents & Clients

The deep roots we develop aren’t just in our community, they’re characteristics of our business practices, too. We believe that the secret to real estate is the human connection — it’s much more than simply a transaction. We want to help people find their homes, not just their houses.

Real estate is more than a product or service-based industry. It is about connecting people with their community, building each other up to be the best they can be, it’s about finding a home and creating lasting relationships along the way.

At Oakwyn, in many ways, our deep roots define and shape us. Our agents have roots firmly planted in their communities and their client relationships, roots that are fostered and maintained through a genuine human connection. And, Oakwynites take every opportunity possible to strengthen their own roots by building a strong foundation of expertise and knowledge that will support them wherever life takes them. Because that’s the Oakwyn way.

The Kindness Challenge began as a way to give back to our community. One of Oakwyn’s core values is to ‘Put People First’, so in 2018 we decided to challenge our agents to make this value a reality. They took it upon themselves to participate in acts of goodwill and charity, spreading kindness throughout our city. The challenge not only resulted in charitable acts but also served to build stronger connections throughout Greater Vancouver — because when you put people first, great things happen.

How The Kindness Challenge Works:

The Kindness Challenge runs for one month, from November 15th to December 15th. Oakwyn Agents will commit acts of kindness for specific businesses or individuals, posting and promoting them on their social media.

To participate in the Oakwyn Kindness Challenge, agents are asked to go out into their community and perform an act of goodwill. They then tag @oakwyn and #OakwynKindness in their post and challenge another group of Oakwynites. This way, the challenge snowballs, with more and more Oakwyn agents spreading kindness. You can also see the stories compiled on Oakwyn’s highlight reel.

Oakwyn’s 2018 Kindness Challenge

The first year Oakwyn conducted the Kindness Challenge, it was a huge success. Agents across Vancouver came together, performing charitable acts that benefited their communities.

Over 22 charities were donated to, including the Canadian Cancer Society, Kids Care, YWCA Canada, the BC Children’s Hospital and food banks across the city. There were other, random acts of inspired kindness interspersed throughout the challenge too, like Michael Uy filling expired parking meters outside of Vancouver General Hospital and street care packages for people in need. The results were truly incredible.

To get an inside look at why people participated and what they got out of it, we sat down with participants of the 2018 Kindness Challenge. We spoke with Maissa Hasan, Mary Porohowski, Jordan Scarpino, and Kristin Wellbrock to get their thoughts on the event:

Maissa Hasan, Oakwyn Internal

The 2018 Kindness Challenge resonated with Maissa Hasan, who is part of Oakwyn’s Internal Administrative team, due to experiences in her youth. “Having grown up in both poverty-stricken and wealthy countries, it was always instilled in me to not take my privileges for granted and to give back to those who are challenged to attain the basic necessities to live,” Maissa stated. Maissa donated to the Downtown East Side Women’s Shelter for her Kindness Challenge.

At Oakwyn, our core values often define our business practices. We created these values to make ourselves and our community the best it — and we — can be. “It’s crucial that corporate-level companies unite together to actively participate in philanthropic activities and events as it’s truly a humbling experience that can be shared together,” Maissa states. “One of the reasons I love working at Oakwyn is that our core values, number one being ‘Put People First’, [which] revolves around helping people and to ‘Stay Humble’.”

Maissa goes on to tell us how her experience volunteering at our Covenant House Sleep Out prepared her for the challenge. “Participating in the Kindness Challenge felt like a breeze right after spending a cold, winter night outside in the pouring rain for Covenant House’s Sleep Out, yet rewarding nonetheless,” Maissa stated. “I always find it refreshing to take time out of my day for an act of kindness, no matter how big or small, to know I can make someone else’s life a little bit better.”

Mary Porohowski, Oakwyn Agent

For Mary Porohowski, giving back has long been a part of her life. For the 2018 Kindness Challenge, Mary and her team “provided new and hardly used furniture and accessories for a family with two young kids who were waiting to get into Social Housing and have their own space.” Mary also stated, “we arranged for movers, set up everything and provided household basics for this family who got a great start for the holidays. We hope that this little kindness made a big difference in this family’s life as much as the feeling we had when we were able to help them!”

“From an early age, I learned from my family the importance of knowing and helping the people in our neighbourhood,” Mary tells us. Mary now lives in Downtown Vancouver, “as I jog and walk throughout my neighbourhood, I cannot help but see the homelessness and difficulties that people suffer from. I have gotten to know many of these people by name and have heard some of their stories. I have learned that many of these people have worked hard and led decent lives. Unfortunately, a change in their lives occurred and in many cases, they didn’t have any support, which eventually led them to life on the streets.”

Mary continues the charitable work that’s long been a part of her life. “I volunteer at the Union Gospel Mission and have seen firsthand how people’s outlooks and lives change by the act of giving, the offer of support and charity,” Mary states. “I believe that the act of giving is a hand and a step towards hope and recovery for many.”

Oakwyn believes that a company, on a corporate level, should encourage its community to be involved in charities and acts of goodwill. “We are all blessed to have each other as support in our careers, to be able to earn our successes and receive the rewards of our work,” Mary weighs in. “To be grateful and to share our rewards is what gives meaning to our work and lives. As a company, we can make a bigger impact by donating not just money, but also by donating food, clothes, gifts and many more thoughtful items.”

And, Mary understands that almost always, the act of giving is valuable for both the benefactor and recipient. “Giving is obviously helpful to those receiving but it is also a morale booster and reinforces a culture of charity,” Mary states. “When a company cares for their community, it brings us together, it forms stronger relationships and it creates synergistic energy on a large scale that can help more people and fight for greater causes such as poverty reduction and improving overall health and wellness.”

The most rewarding thing from 2018’s Kindness Challenge, Mary states, “was not only receiving the gratitude from the ones you are helping but also knowing that you can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”

Jordan Scarpino, Oakwyn Agent

“There are so many people facing difficult challenges and obstacles in life, by giving back, my hope is to make a positive impact in their lives and help lessen the burden,” stated Jordan Scarpino when asked about his contributions to the community. He volunteers with Baby Go Round, a non-profit organization year-round and was actively involved in the 2018 Kindness Challenge. Last year, Jordan and his family sponsored a family in need during the holidays. They filled a Christmas hamper with presents, gift cards, and food to last them through the holiday season — not to mention all the fixings for Christmas dinner.

On the importance of fostering an atmosphere of kindness and goodwill from a corporate level, Jordan believes “it’s important to encourage team members to be champions for a cause, create positive change and give back whether it is with their time, skills or financially.”

Kristin Wellbrock & Madison Corday, Lee + Pete Real Estate Group, Oakwyn Realty

Kristin and Madison participated in the 2018 Kindness Challenge for the annual Lee + Pete Christmas party, organizing a prize-filled raffle. “All proceeds of the raffle tickets go to [the Canucks for Kids Foundation] and our clients love it,” Kristin tells us. “They spend significantly more money on these tickets than they would if it was just flowing back into our pockets to pay off the prizes.” Kristin goes on to say that during the holiday season, “we all feel like giving a bit more love to those less fortunate. It’s the season of giving, and with that, we too, like to give back to the community. I think if you’re able to create a better life for others, then yours will enhance, too.”

Beyond the goodness of charity, giving back can be good for a company’s environment, too. “I think it creates something further than just talking about the day-to-day all day,” Kristin states. “It makes everyone feel good being involved in giving back to the community and caring beyond the scope of work we are usually involved in.”

As well as the Christmas party raffle proceeds being donated to the Canucks for Kids Foundation, Kristin and Madison “participated in a fellow realtor’s Secret Santa challenge, which supported single moms and their children during the holiday season.” Kristin states, “We got one family assigned to us, received their wish list and bought them gifts to put under their tree. [The Kindness Challenge] was important to us. We’ve all been fortunate enough to have a joy and gift-filled Christmas since we can remember and so we were really excited about making sure that another family can experience the same and have more than one gift under the tree.”

Oakwyn’s 2019 Kindness Challenge

Keep your Instagram tuned to Oakwyn as the agents spread kindness throughout Vancouver this year.

The secret to the Real Estate industry is Human Connection — it’s what drives us as agents and as an agency to help other people find their homes and reach their goals. After launching the theme in January at the Oakwyn annual sales kickoff event, we have been celebrating it in all things we do, from building content to integrating it into our corporate culture.

Our Core Values & The Human Connection

Oakwyn’s core values inherently celebrate the human connection. We believe in putting people before profits in all things we do. We wanted to rethink real estate and create a collaborative and supportive environment where our agents can thrive. Oakwyn came to be out of a desire for innovation, for community, for collaboration. Oakwyn is what it is today because of the people who work here.

“One of [Oakwyn’s] core philosophies is to ‘put people first’ and that’s always been the core of my business, too. My business is relationships, not transactions. The transaction is a result of the relationships that I have.” – Erik Carlson, Oakwyn Agent

The Human Connection, Filmed

The idea behind this video was to highlight Oakwyn’s annual theme, The Human Connection. In a world that is so inundated with technology and social media, this theme and the video created are intended to remind ourselves to truly make an effort to build human connections with those around us. Clients, co-workers, others in the industry, family, friends — it only takes one second to connect.

“We live in a world where we’re constantly bombarded by information. You never know how many opportunities you’ve missed simply because you were looking down at your phone. Live in the moment, appreciate those around you and be open to making new connections and creating new opportunities. It could take you places you may never have dreamed.” – Oakwyn

For a more in-depth look at the man behind the camera on this project head to Michael Uy’s podcast. Nima Zadrafi, the filmmaker behind The Human Connection video, sat down with Michael Uy to discuss the film, the human connection, and his beginnings.

Tales of Connection

Oakwyn’s Tales of Connection also highlighted the 2019 theme. Agents like Ashley Smith and Chris Fredrickson sat down to discuss exactly what human connection meant to them.

“I don’t necessarily have a mantra I live by but at my core, it’s about being authentic… When I got into Real Estate, what I realized, especially in Vancouver, is that you can blend that creative aspect with that business aspect and not have limits. And there’s a lot of purpose and value when you get to know people, you get that fulfilment from helping them meet their goals.” – Ashley Smith, Oakwyn Agent

When you put people before profits, incredible things happen.

For this year’s party, we decided a Texas Cookout with good ol’ backyard barbeque vibes was in order.

The annual summer party is a chance for the Oakwyn agents to take off their ties, kick off their heels, and have some fun. The theme gives everyone a chance to dress up and be playful. This year did not disappoint; a sea of cowboy hats and wranglers came down to break cornbread, dunk their colleagues, and relax.

As part of our ongoing corporate social responsibility, we chose the BC Children’s Hospital to be the recipient of this year’s charity initiative.
For this year’s party, we decided a Texas Cookout with good ol’ backyard barbeque vibes was in order.

The annual summer party is a chance for the Oakwyn agents to take off their ties, kick off their heels, and have some fun. The theme gives everyone a chance to dress up and be playful. This year did not disappoint; a sea of cowboy hats and wranglers came down to break cornbread, dunk their colleagues, and relax.

As part of our ongoing corporate social responsibility, we chose the BC Children’s Hospital to be the recipient of this year’s charity initiative.

Oakwyn Dunks for a Good Cause

Arguably, one of the best parts of this Texas Cookout summer party was the dunk tank. We conducted an in-office poll to see who the Oakwynites would most like to see dunked in the tank, then ranked who went first by most amount of votes. People were able to pay $5 to try their hand at hitting the target with a ball, collapsing the doomed agent’s seat and plunging them into cold water.

First up was Morgan Browne, one of Oakwyn’s beloved partners. Robin Bardon, Adam Graham, Michael Uy, Voy Wong, Jeff Appelbe, Jay McCinnes, Jenny Wun, Richard Tamplin and other agents all braved the dunk tank, too. Despite the day being a bit cold, everyone who participated (fully clothed, we might add) was in great spirits and raised over $2,000.00.

On-theme Photo Wall

Our marketing agency partners AntiSocial Media Solutions created a themed photo wall, Project Manager Christine Michelle played a big part in managing the booth. “The photo wall was really fun,” said Christine Michelle. “I went in with a U-haul in the morning of. We set up a barnyard wall with a barrel, chairs, a whiskey bottle and cowboy hats so people who didn’t come dressed up could come and get their photo taken with a cowboy hat on.”

Community Bonds

We were happy to extend invitations to our friends, family and members of the community. Keeping in with Oakwyn’s family-first vibes, the event was very family and dog-friendly. Agents had a chance to have a drink, network and get to know each other’s families.

There was face painting done by Oakwyn partner Arlene Chiang and gourmet popsicles for the kids and an open bar for the adults. The food vendors were also committed to the Texas Cookout theme, providing pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw and cornbread.

It was a fantastic opportunity to strengthen the bonds between our team members and the local community.

Besides providing residential real estate services in Vancouver, Erik is involved with LGBTQ2+ groups like Qmunity, Out in Schools, Out On Screen, and Loud. He’s also a loving husband and father to two adorable children.

We sat down with Erik after a photoshoot for Oakwyn’s Pride Celebration to discuss putting people first, taking a stance, and the beauty of safe spaces.

Colleen Christison: “What attracted you to the Oakwyn agency?”

Erik Carlson: “I was in an office before when there was a bit of an exodus, several people left and went to Oakwyn. And after they left they said ‘you really have to come over here and experience this.’ It took me about 6 months to make the transition because I was fine where I was. I didn’t necessarily know what differently I was looking for and I had interviewed so many agencies before that I just expected it to just be another option.

So, I finally went and talked to [Oakwyn] and they told me their philosophies… I was wondering, can this be real? Do they really ‘walk-the-walk’? That’s partly why I waited, to see if they did it. After several months, I realized they really do.”

CC: “What were some of those things that set them apart? What makes them ‘walk-the-walk’?

EC: “One of [Oakwyn’s] core philosophies is to ‘put people first’ and that’s always been the core of my business, too. My business is relationships, not transactions. The transaction is a result of the relationships that I have.

With Oakwyn, they encouraged that [philosophy] with how you, as an agent, run your business but it’s also how they run their business as a brokerage with agents. It’s so flipped on the head of how agencies are and that’s why I had doubts at first. Normally, you’re part of a group and you’re supposed to be proud of that group but your name is down to the side. I’m not egotistical in the way that I want my name up-front, what I cared about is that they really looked at me and how I want to run my business. They encouraged and supported that and then said, you’re with Oakwyn. The ‘Oakwyn’ name instead is off to the side.

It’s the philosophy of ‘high tides raise all ships’.“

EC: “And then there was the culture. They have people who are involved and active and happy.
[Oakwyn] is actively engaged, they have high standards with a good educational component. They definitely know what they’re doing but they also give [their agents] the autonomy to say ‘hey, let’s try that’ or ‘here’s our experience with that path. If you also want to try and see if you have better luck, go for it but here’s what we think.’

It’s also the collaborative nature — our industry is so based on connection yet privacy and guarding the ‘silver bullet’ that makes you as an agent so successful. I just don’t think that there is a silver bullet… It just comes down to connecting with people and being a good person and a good agent and [Oakwyn] supports that.”

CC: “In light of Oakwyn’s Pride Celebration, what do you think of their involvement in the LGBTQ2+ community?”

EC: “Formally, this is the first event that Oakwyn has put on with marketing and promotion dedicated to the LGBTQ2+ community. It’s funny — I feel like there is something really beautiful when it’s a non-issue, which is the goal that gay rights have been chasing for so long.

Getting involved with Oakwyn… It’s never been a question or an issue or even a blip in a conversation. I have felt, with the leadership in the company, that there has never been anything but a sense of acceptance, that it’s a family. We’re all the same within [Oakwyn], it doesn’t matter what your demographic is, whatever letter you are, whether it’s part of the LGBTQ2+ or anything else.

I was happy they’re doing [the Pride Celebration], I think it’s important to actually make a statement, that this is your stance as a company.”

CC: “Do you have anything to add before we wrap up?”

EC: “I love gaybourhoods and gay bars, I think it’s so important to have dedicated, safe, celebratory spaces where you can forget everything else and any potential worry… It’s a place where you can have pride and acceptance. It would be wonderful if we didn’t need those places truly but it’s proven over and over again that as far as we’ve come, it’s still a facade.

When I wrote my website, we really tried to get the point across that I’m gay and that’s the community I want to help and service. To some people, it’s still important to have that person where you know that you don’t have to swallow a little bit hard or pause when you say ‘We just need a one-bedroom’ as two men or two women.”

So often corporations stay neutral in their stances. But, as Erik pointed out, it’s still important to have those safe spaces, spaces like gaybourhoods and gay bars, that have publicly stated they are LGBTQ2+ friendly.

With the Pride Celebration, people know they can go to Oakwyn and experience nothing but acceptance, no matter ‘what letter you are’.