Building Relationships One Real Estate Deal at a Time

Intro  0:06

Matt, welcome to the Growth + Exit podcast where owners of privately held middle market companies talk about founding, scaling and exiting their businesses successfully. Learn how to maximize and monetize your business on your own terms. Let’s get started.

Heather Bennett  0:30

Hello, I’m Heather Bennett, your host for the Growth + Exit podcast featuring business owners talking about founding, scaling and potentially exiting their businesses successfully. Past guests on the Growth + Exit podcast include Matt Vuckov, co founder and CEO of TalentCraft, Kelly Schrad, founder and chairman of DataVizion and the general manager and operator of Opperman and Sons. Whitney Opperman, this episode is brought to you by Newport LLC, a team of seasoned C-suite executives. We help CEOs grow companies de risk them exit their businesses successfully. Recently, Newport was awarded the prestigious Inc. Magazine 2025 power Partner Award. This is a award given to a list of elite B2B companies from across the globe. We are incredibly proud. See the entire list at Inc.com/power-partner-awards. To learn more about Newport, visit us at our website, Newportllc.com, or, of course, find us on LinkedIn before introducing today’s guest, I would like to thank Eileen Hirsch of Shepherd, Mullen, Matt Petersen and Holland and Knight and Michael Showedroth, Alex Brown, Raymond James, for introducing me. I should say reintroducing me, because we actually met a few years ago at a luncheon to my guest at the business owners Success Summit, which was few weeks ago. You can find each of them on LinkedIn, and please check the show notes for more information. Today’s guest is Bill Himmelstein, founder and CEO of Tenant Advisory Group with over 25 years experience in commercial real estate and more than 1 billion that’s billion in transactions. Bill has built a reputation as one of Chicago’s most influential tenant representatives. He’s not only a deal maker, but also a connector, known for his philosophy of givers gain, and I’ve seen this in action so it is real and his passion for helping business owners thrive, I am thrilled to have him share his story and insights with us today. Bill, welcome to the show.

Bill Himmelstein  2:44

Well, thank you so much for having me. Heather, I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Awesome.

Heather Bennett  2:49

So let’s get right into it. Tell me how you started TAG.

Bill Himmelstein  2:53

So I knew from a young age that I did want to have my own business. I just didn’t know what that business would be doing when I was younger, when I got into commercial real estate, after I graduated college in 2000 for me, it was about just learning this industry, learning the business, and making sure that I could provide an exceptional client experience. And once I knew I was ready to do that. There was no need for these other firms that I had worked for. And so I remember it very clearly, too. Heather, it was July 4, weekend of 2008 financial markets are crumbling around us, and I’m playing golf with my father, and he also, you know, he was an entrepreneur. He taught me a lot of what I what I know today. And I was just saying, I don’t know, I’ve got deals that are in the works. I don’t know if now’s the right time. And he said, Bill, it’s never going to be the right time. Just do it. And that’s kind of when I resolved to get things started. And a funny story about that. I remember when I told my mom that I was going to start this business, and she knew what was going on in the markets and in the economy, and you know, she was always my biggest supporter up to that point. And she says to me, Billy, starting that business is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done. And you know, as a child, I had done some dumb things. So, you know, I understood where she was coming from. She thought it was too big of a risk. But sort of like the Japanese, and I don’t know this word for it, but they have a word that is basically in challenge, there is opportunity, right? In tough times, that’s an opportunity. And that’s exactly what I felt like is, I thought this was an opportunity to start my business. And I remember a few years later, things have been going pretty well, and my mom said to me, you know, Billy, starting that business was the smartest thing you ever did. I said, thanks for coming around and get on the bandwagon. We got room for you. So, yeah, it was. Was, you know, just some encouragement for my father. And I always knew I wanted to have my own business. But mainly it was, it was, I guess, the impetus was, was mostly around how I didn’t really share the same values as some of the bigger firms. And by that, their only value is make as much money as you can and step on anybody’s throat. You have to to get it. And as you mentioned in that beautiful intro, you said, you know, my intent is not to get a bigger slice of the pie. My intent is to make a bigger pie, so we all get a bigger slice. And that’s very misaligned with these bigger firms they want to take from others so they can make more. And that’s not what I’m about. That’s not who I am, that’s not in my blood. It’s not my DNA. I want to support those around me and uplift all of us together so we can all do better together.

Heather Bennett  5:52

I love that. It’s very blue ocean strategy of you. It’s, you know, it’s, it’s so important to to have that Think big. I was listening to an audio big book this morning while working out playing big by Tara Moore, and the section we were on was called, was the leap, and talking about how you have to do it before you think you’re ready. And you know, the fact that you were getting mixed messages from your supporters is probably a good thing. That probably meant it was at the right time, which is exciting.

Bill Himmelstein  6:24

Well, it’s an interesting point Heather, because, you know, I feel like in experience is sometimes a benefit, right? What you don’t know all the challenges and and pitfalls and roadblocks that lie ahead, if we all knew that, there’d be a lot less people starting businesses. So ignorance is bliss in the sense that I didn’t have the experience of running a business before I decided to jump in and do it. I’m so glad I did. You know, here I am, 17 years later, and it’s worked out just fine, but kind of having that, you know, a little wet behind the ears and and some of that just, I guess, unaware of what lied ahead in my journey. Maybe that would have changed things, but I’m glad I did it. And we’ve certainly overcome a lot of challenges and a lot of things that were probably problems or challenges that were created. That were created by me and my inexperience and lack of knowledge, that thankfully, I was able to get through those hurdles and come out the other end, stronger, smarter, faster, better, so maybe not faster. I think now in my older age, I’m probably a lot slower, but we’re certainly better, stronger, smarter, better business owner.

Heather Bennett  7:43

Okay, so let’s go back to those early days, because I’m always interested in hearing like what happened the first few years, because they aren’t like you said you didn’t know what you didn’t know. So either you had a really brilliant advisor, you’re holding your hand and getting you through, or you did learning through doing and what, what happened during those years? What are some lessons or some bumps in the road that you had to get around?

Bill Himmelstein  8:06

Yeah, I got two big lessons I’d love to share from the early years. Number one is, I remember the very first deal I closed, a Tenant Advisory Group, and the landlord at the time, was a known mafia family. They’re a mob family, and I closed this deal. It was going to be maybe 12, $14,000 commission, not a lot of money, but at the time, it meant a huge amount to my business. I needed that commission check, and the landlord said to me that the mob family says, Yeah, we see here you’re doing business as Tenant Advisory Group. You know this, you’re Bill Himmelstein, registered broker with Illinois, but you’re doing business as Tenant Advisory Group, and they’re not registered with the state of Illinois, like the or they’re not registered to to be a broker, or whatever it was, they said, so with that, we’re not paying you a commission. So I asked around, and everyone said, Well, Bill, you could get your $14,000 but you’d lose your knee caps. Or, you know, yeah, you could fight it, but it’s not going to be worth it going after this family like they’re going to come after you and your family, and it’s going to be a big problem for you. So the 12,000 $14,000 lesson that I learned was have your paperwork in order, you know, just make sure the details are covered. I didn’t even know that I had to register my LLC with the state of Illinois, and you know, ironically, it was probably a $75 fee, and you just submit a one piece of paper that says, Bill Himmelstein, a broker in Illinois, is doing business as Tenant Advisory Group the LLC and. And so that was a great lesson, just to make sure that your, you know, your details are covered. You know, the second lesson I learned was a few years into running this business, and like, I think many entrepreneurs that are just getting started, I thought that I could do everything myself, you know, the accounting, the marketing, the deal work, the every single aspect of the business. I thought I could, I could do myself. And unfortunately, that was the biggest thing holding back my business, was me thinking I was good at all the different aspects of the business, when, in fact, I was not good at most of the aspects of the business, yet extremely good at very few areas of the business. And so the best thing that I did was get out of my own way. Was essentially let others who are great at that specific role, do their thing. Let them be great at what they do, and let me support them with the proper tools and processes so they can be exceptional what they do. And I’ll tell you, Heather, once I got out of my own way, which was approximately year three of the business, it was sort of like getting shot out of a rocket. We just started growing really fast. We started delivering better work product. I personally was working way less because I because I was trying to do everything I would be spending every waking hour just constantly working. And that’s not a good lifestyle. That’s not a way to go. In my opinion, some people are built differently, and they want to work from the moment they wake up to the moment they fall asleep. God bless them, you know, to each his own. But, and this was before children, but I did have a wife, and I wanted to spend time with my wife, and I was just working way too hard and, frankly, not very effectively, because I wasn’t great at very many things. So what I learned to do was bring in the right people, put them in the right seats, doing what they’re best at, which then frees me up to do the things that I enjoy most and that I’m best at, and so ever since I got out of my own way, we’ve it’s really been a much more enjoyable and successful ride.

Heather Bennett  12:32

Yeah, that’s such a common experience. Early on, when you’re building your business, you kind of because you’re so invested in it, because it is, your opportunity. You have to throw everything into it, but being able to get to that next step, which is the delegation so important, one of our earlier episodes was with Allison Cummins, and she talks about using the six types of working genius. And exactly what you were talking about is deciding, what are you good at and who do you need on your team to cover those other things? So I think it’s really I’m impressed that you got to that at year three, normally a few more years.

Bill Himmelstein  13:10

So so good I was, you know, going into this business, my mantra was, failure is not an option. I will not let this business fail. My My wife is counting on me. My future children are counting on me. You know, my family, I want to bring respect to the name, and I just, I think I was a little misguided in believing that I could do all the things that needed to be done. Again, we touched on this very early in the podcast about, you know, when you’re young and dumb and don’t really know what it actually takes to run a business and be successful. But thankfully, I had a lot of good mentors and people that I could bounce ideas off of and and listen to their feedback, which was honest and and direct, you know, and that really helped me, help get me on the right path of trusting, putting my trust in others, and giving them the resources, tools and processes that they need to be successful at what they’re doing.

Heather Bennett  14:18

So tell me about one of those mentors, like how one of them helped you maybe get through, like, a turning point, yeah.

Bill Himmelstein  14:25

I mean, first of all, I always want to give a shout out to my father, because he’s been such an incredible example for me, not just in business, but also in investing in how to be a present and engaged father and a wonderful, caring and supportive husband. I mean, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be born to the parents that I was, but outside of my family who I think you know your parents are supposed to support you and encourage you and tell you they’re proud of you. There was a gentleman. There is a gentleman named. Maury Alsteen, who I have affectionately nicknamed the godfather of networking, and just his willingness to share with me the way that he would connect with others and how he would promote this givers gain philosophy and the Pay It Forward approach. You know, just my conversations with Maury at the beginning were invaluable. And I remember the way that it sort of metamorphosized and showed its face. Was in the first event that I hosted as a business owner. I remember telling my wife, you know, I said, Diana, I think I want to bring a group of business owners to Joe’s steak and seafood for some heavy appetizers and drinks and just a very casual mix and mingle, meet each other and you know, and to the untrained eye, it was my wife was skeptical. Well, why are we going to spend a few $1,000 so other people can meet each other. Why? Why would we do that? And I said, you know, I just, and this is from my conversation with Maury about the value of supporting those around you and paying it forward and and supporting the growth of other people’s businesses. I also learned this through B and I business networking, International, a networking group. But, you know, she said, Billy, I trust you. If you want to do this, let’s, let’s try it. Let’s see what happens. And the very next day, one of those guests who, unbeknownst to me, I did not know they had a lease expiring, but they did, and they said, Bill, we’d like to hire you. You know, it was such a great experience at chose we met some incredible people. We love your approach of trying to support those around you and uplift those in your community. We have a lease that we need help with. And lo and behold, it was, it was around a $50,000 Commission, which was very sizable at the time. And I remember ever since then, Diana always says to me, what? When are we doing the next event? You know, because she sees the value in paying it forward. It may not happen today or tomorrow, but that’s how you build strong relationships, is by bringing value to those in your network, trying to support the growth of their business. So hopefully they’ll, in turn support the growth of your business. And so since then, I’ve been a very prolific event hoster, I will say, since then, all my events now are sponsored by others, so now there’s no cost for me to host these, which is super helpful and enjoyable, but but the the goal remains the same. And this is learned from folks like Maurice is bring together incredible people and incredible things will happen. You know, this is something that my mom taught me growing up. You are who you surround yourself with. If you hang out with a bunch of criminals, people are going to believe that you are a criminal as well. If you surround yourself with incredible stewards of the community, people that are giving back, that are uplifting others. People are going to associate you with those people. Now I like to think I am one of those people, but it’s really been a wonderful journey, just in terms of the the people that I’ve been able to connect with and bring value to and support the growth of their businesses, and then in turn, what they have done on my behalf to support the growth of my business and the success of my career. So it’s really been an extremely humbling journey. And keep in mind, I learned none of this from the big firms I worked at prior to starting my own company, they don’t care about uplifting those around you. They care about uplifting yourself and the company you know, the real estate firm that you’re working for, and so Maury really helped me just kind of see the forest amongst the trees and how you can support that forest and do things that are going to support your community, which ultimately do end up coming back to to help, helping yourself.

Heather Bennett  19:10

Awesome. So speaking about the industry, what? What do you see happening in the future? I mean, right now, we’re in a very interesting point here. I know you talked about starting your business at 2008 which was also very interesting point in the business world, the real estate world. What? What do you see happening going forward in the real estate industry?

Bill Himmelstein  19:33

Yeah, here’s what I see happening. And it’s going to be a little bit contrary to, you know, we think of AI as taking over everything, and everything is going to be run by bots and automation. And the thing about commercial real estate is that it’s highly personal. These are a company’s one of their largest expenses. Is on their space, whether it’s office, industrial, warehouse, medical, whether they’re buying, renting, it’s a large expense and a commitment for these businesses, and I just am a firm believer that the personal relationship is actually going to take on greater significance in the future now technology and AI, I think they’re going to support some of the back office functions. I think AI is going to help make things a bit more efficient. But at the end of the day, you know, the thing that makes commercial real estate very different from residential real estate is that when you purchase a home that purchase price is public information. Anyone can find out what you paid for that house when you sign a lease or purchase a commercial property that is not public information, meaning the bots that are scrubbing the web, they can’t find that information they can have. They can find information in articles and kind of piece things together and potentially provide a rough estimate for, say, cost of construction, what lease rate should be, how much free rent you should be getting, how much time improvement dollars you should be getting, what a fair escalation should be, what a security deposit should be, that information is not public. It’s right here, right? It’s in my database. And so I think, going forward, I firmly believe, and you can mark my words on this growth and exit podcast with Heather Bennett, I believe that the big firms are going to lean very heavily into AI and try and automate too much, and it’s going to get even further impersonal for these bigger firms. And guess who? They’re going to lose market share to guys like myself who are out there building relationships, building trust, bringing value to their clients. Now, is that as scalable as AI? No, it’s not, but is, it’s sticky and it creates longevity. And that’s what I believe is going to happen, is that the commercial real estate is going to lean heavily into AI, they’re going to go too far, and a lot of their clients are going to go I want to work with the person who knows me and my business, and I want to work with the person who’s been negotiating these deals for decades and has a pristine reputation for being honest and putting their clients Best Interest first. And so I think that the old school way of doing things, which is the relationship that’s going to win, that’s going to ultimately win the day. And I think the big commercial real estate firms are going to lean too heavily into AI, thinking that’s what the customer wants, thinking that’s what’s the best thing for the business, and I disagree. Now, like I said, I’m not closed off to AI. We are using it currently in our business to enhance our client experience, but I think that, and that’s I think that’s a very contrarian opinion too, that old school personal, one on one, interaction, relationships are going to win the day. That’s what I’m that’s what I believe.

Heather Bennett  23:27

I agree completely. We my firm definitely focuses on client first. And I have you know, even before I joined, that’s always been the way to go. It’s how you make the best decisions. It’s how you help your client understand that you’re with them the entire time. So let’s talk about the vision for your company now. So Tenant Advisory Group, what do you see happening? Where do you see it going?

Bill Himmelstein  23:52

Great question. So you know, day one I started off. My goal was to provide an exceptional experience for every one of our clients, and what you’ll notice if you look at Google reviews, for example, we have now 120 526 reviews, all five stars, all detail written out of what we did for that client, and none, by the way, show the same Last name as myself or any of my executive team, which is different from many of my competitors. You’ll notice behind me there’s a wall of not just children’s art but awards, right? These are other people saying how great of a job we’re doing for our clients. So with that being said, Heather, my goal remains to provide an exceptional client experience for every client that comes in the door. And the biggest thing that I think is going to change for my business right now, I have three terrific brokers under the Tenant Advisory Group brand. They’re wonderful. They share the similar values. Because they know that at the end of the day, our success is predicated upon the success of our clients, and how great about how well we do for them, and how if we put their best interests first, it’s like putting our own best interest first in the long run, because that’s how you get repeat business, that’s how you get referrals, that’s how you organically grow. My issue right now, Heather Tenny advisory groups issue. I am also keeping six other brokers, not at 10 advisory group busy, meaning we have the wonderful problem of having all this work coming in, and we don’t have enough brokers in house to service it. Now, that being said, I’m still finding terrific brokers for the specific needs of these clients to make sure that they have an exceptional client experience, even if it’s not a Tenant Advisory Group broker. My goal over the next several years is to take these six other brokers that I’m feeding tremendous amount of opportunities. In fact, one of them has three sale lease backs that we’re working on together. One of the brokers has almost 10 different clients of mine that he’s working with, and so on and so forth. I want to bring these brokers under the Tenant Advisory Group brand, so I can keep these transactions in house under our brand, and continue to earn those referrals, earn those Google reviews and earn the hardware of other people saying, wow. Tenant Advisory Group is really good at what they do, and we want people to know that, because every broker is going to tell you they’re the best broker. I think what’s really valuable is when other people are saying 10 advisory group is great at what they do and should be given an opportunity.

Heather Bennett  26:53

Yeah, that’s a unique scaling problem or not problem. Opportunity, 100% opportunity. But it’s finding that great talent and making sure that they are the right fit, and then being able to support them in their professional development, so that they they can really represent, you know, what they do, and the organization well. So it’s it’s excited for you, it’s good to find good people. So that’s exciting. So what are you working on next? Any big, exciting projects? Yeah, you know,

Bill Himmelstein  27:30

I’ll tell you. One that I’m really proud of is a sale lease back we’re doing for a manufacturing business just outside of Milwaukee. We’ve been working on this transaction for a while. The reason why they were referred to us from their banker is that their financials were not looking very good, and the bank was not willing to give them any more money. But the I had given a presentation to that bank fairly recently before they gave me the referral about the sale lease back transactions, and

Heather Bennett  28:02

how did you could you do like, a layman’s term on what a sale lease? Yeah, absolutely. Audience.

Bill Himmelstein  28:07

See what it means is the owner of the business also owns the building that they occupy. And typically, the way that it will work is that there’s a lot of equity that’s built up in this business, but it’s capture in the building. Sorry, there’s equity in the building that’s captured. It’s locked into this building. And so what they do is they find an investor that’s comfortable enough with the business and the real estate, so that investor will buy the building from the seller and then lease it back to that business. So it’s a from the from my client’s perspective, it’s a sale of their building and then a lease back of that same building from the investor that buys it. They are relatively complicated transactions. They’re hard to put together, but what I have found is that with transparency, with an open book process where you’re saying, look, the investor wants to make this return, and to do that, they can pay this amount of money and charge a corresponding rental rate, or they can charge a higher amount and charge a higher rental rate, or a lower amount with a lower rental rate. And so it’s just we lead more of an open book process, rather than I go to the investor, work out the deal, come back to my client, go, here’s the terms. Do you want them or not? I want to understand what is my client trying to achieve? What are they going to do with this money, and what sort of rent can they afford after they sell the property and lease it back from the investor. And so we’re getting ready to finish an assignment with this manufacturing business based outside of Milwaukee, where we’re going to drastically shore up their balance sheet. They’re going to be able to take pay off a bunch of debt. And take a bunch of money to fuel growth and so and that’s the same reason why private equity firms might want to use us for for sale lease backs, is they’re going to they buy a business that comes with owned real estate. But this private equity firm knows that their main return on their investment is going to come from the business and growing that versus the real estate. So immediately they’ll come to me, they will have me sell that building, lease it back, but they take those proceeds and either pay down debt or fuel growth. And so I’m just really excited for this business to get on more solid ground. They’re going to be able to buy some new equipment that’s going to drastically increase their efficiency and their margins. And meanwhile, the investor is very excited about syndicating this deal to their investment group. You know, it’s going to be a win, win scenario for both the seller and the buyer. And I just, I really love it when, when things like that come together and can benefit every, everybody to the party,

Heather Bennett  31:07

yeah, and it’s really a creative, a different creative approach to getting capital, especially when you’re in that scaling process. And I like the idea of it does benefit all, all involved. If the books are open and you’re being, you’re being good about revealing what’s, what’s the true transaction. That’s just such, it’s such another it’s, it’s always good to have extra ways to get that capital for growing. So tell me about some businesses that you admire, some businesses that you find inspiring.

Bill Himmelstein  31:39

Yeah, that’s a great question. I mean, there’s, there’s really two that come to mind just right off the top of my head. One is primera engineers. It’s led by CEO and founder, Aaron Inman and this amazing CFO MELISSA CLARK. You know, the two of them, one of the things I love about this business is that it’s like an equal opportunity. They’re, you know, they’re very diverse in their employee base. They’re giving out, you know, these, these merit based opportunities, not opportunities based upon, you know, other factors. It’s just, if you’re qualified and you’re good, we want you. And they’ve had tremendous growth, tremendous success, but they’re doing it the right way. They’re treating their clients and their team members with respect. They’re just doing things the right way, and I’m so excited to see them grow and be successful. The other business I would love to highlight right now is stern pinball, and you know their CFO Nick Parfit is a friend of mine. I met him through Titan 100 which is a program that acknowledges the 100 top CEOs in a marketplace. What I respect about Nick Parfit and stern Pinball is that even though they have a long cycle to develop these pinball machines and then build them and distribute and sell them, you know, I love that they they have every step of the process. You know, they’re not just buying pre made pinball machines and reselling them, but they’re, you know, they’re, they’re buying rights to IP, you know, they work with Star Wars and and different bands and all sorts of different intellectual property out there. But then they’ve got really intelligent creative people that are designing these games. And then they’ve got really intelligent technical people, like engineers, that are making all of it work together. And then they’ve got great sales people that are getting these out to the market. And then they got people like Nick, you know, CFOs. Some CFOs are being counters, and they’re saying, well, here’s what happened in the past. This is what here’s the numbers that we’ve achieved. Nick is a guy that looks to the future, he plans, he projects, and then he tries to steer the ship to get to those projections. And then the last thing I want to add about how amazing this stern Pinball is. I was getting a tour from Nick of their warehouse recently. It was the busiest, yet cleanest, most organized thing I had seen, they just if you look at it to the naked eye, it kind of could be a little chaotic. It is that couldn’t be further from the truth, everything is organized from the moment the parts come in, to where they go, to who’s doing what, to what happens next to where they’re stored, to then getting them out the back door to their customers. It was just such a buttoned up organization with lots and lots of different types of talent on their team, and I was just incredibly impressed with what they’re doing over there at stern pinball.

Heather Bennett  35:01

Wow, that is awesome. What an interesting business. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating. Okay, so a question about most of the successful business owners that I talked to have certain rituals or habits that they do to keep themselves sharp and ready to go, because it is, it is hard work growing a business and leading and encouraging your your team to do do great work. So how do you stay sharp? How do you stay energized?

Bill Himmelstein  35:35

Great question. And for me and my wife, for that matter, it’s about exercising first thing in the morning. You know, we wake up a little before six every day. We want to be able to exercise before we help our kids get ready for school and get out the door. But it’s that exercise, getting your heart rate up, getting a little bit of a lift in to try and help with strength. That’s what energizes me for the rest of the day is just getting a sweat, going, getting and exercising, and I’m not doing any crazy things. In fact, a lot of it now in my older age, I like to joke I’m only 48 but I feel like I’m a little older sometimes, but a lot of it’s kind of rehab exercises or core strength. It’s not like I used to do these big vanity exercises where I’m trying to lift a heavy weight as I possibly can. It’s really more about getting the body in the right shape to maybe sit in a chair all day or be walking around with my clients on a tour all day, whatever it is, or chasing my kids around all day. But everything starts with that morning exercise. The first thing the morning is get in that exercise, get the heart rate up. It just seems to relax me, yet also energize me. It de stresses me. It makes me feel good, and that’s something that every day I will, hopefully, for the rest of my life, I’ll be able to exercise first thing

Heather Bennett  37:07

in the morning. Yeah, same, absolutely. It’s great way to start the day and get going. So I have one last question, but before I ask it, I want to point people. And honestly, I though I we could talk for another two hours. I have a feeling easily, I want to point people to your website at tagcommercialbroker.com, or, of course, reach Bill on LinkedIn. So the final question, what is a hard lesson you learn while starting and growing your business that you would like to share with other CEOs or entrepreneurs as they start heading down that journey?

Bill Himmelstein  37:44

Yeah, absolutely, you know, and a lot of them we kind of touched on, you know, have your details in order, you know, have your paperwork figured out, get out of your own way by putting the right people in the right seats. But I think the biggest thing, really, and again, we’ve touched on this is, while it’s very contradictory, focus on how you can have an impact on others, how you can support those around you, you know, find the people that you believe can can be very helpful in the growth of your business, and do what You can to support those people you know, whether it’s finding good mentors, whether it’s finding potential clients, whether it’s finding team members. I mean, it’s about doing what you can to support those around you, upload those around you. And again, it’s not about getting a bigger piece of the pie. It’s about making a bigger pie for everyone to enjoy. And that would be my advice to entrepreneurs, is don’t worry so much internally about what’s happening, but do what you can to help others. It will come back to you, and that’s those relationships are sustainable and recurring and will continue to grow. They’ll build off of each other.

Heather Bennett  39:02

Okay, part two, because something you just said, maybe think about a good piece of advice that I would love for you to share with your audience. How do you find a good mentor?

Bill Himmelstein  39:16

Yeah, that’s a great question. I wish I had just a simple answer, but I think it takes effort. I mean, number one, you have to find someone that cares, right? I mean, I remember the first job I had, corporate America, big real estate firm. My mentor used that term very lightly. He could care less. He could have cared less about me, and it was obvious. And so my next for my next job, I wanted to find a person who is going to be a great mentor. It’s someone who has the time, has the bandwidth to teach you and spend time talking to you, someone that you think care. Hears about you and wants you to be successful, obviously, someone who’s got great experience and knowledge, but someone that you admire and look up to and want to emulate, right? I mean, this might be a terrible example, but you know, President Trump very successful. He’s made it to the presidency of the United States. I don’t want to be anything like him. You know, I have no interest in sharing similar values as him, and so that is not someone I would look to to say, Teach me your ways. I respect what he’s been able to accomplish. I don’t respect the way he’s done it and the way he’s gotten there. So find someone that you respect, that you admire, that you want to emulate, and ask you’re not going to get them to just say, Hey, are you looking for a mentor? You got to you got to ask, Hey, would you be interested in mentoring me? And that’s a flattering question. Most people are going to be honored, you know. And and then once, if they agree, you have to push the agenda. You have to push for time. Because, in theory, these people that you’re going to want to mentor you, they’re going to be successful. They’re going to be busy. You’re going to have to push to get onto their calendar. But do it. It is worthwhile and and just absorbing that knowledge that those people have, it will be invaluable for your future growth. Excellent.

Heather Bennett  41:28

Thank you though. Great answer. I’ve been talking with Bill Himmelstein, founder and CEO of the Tenant Advisory Group. Bill, thank you so much for sharing your advice, your stories, your experience. So glad we we could, we could record this today. Thanks.

Bill Himmelstein 41:44

Thank you for the opportunity. Heather, I really enjoyed it.

Outro 41:53

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