Member Spotlight: Meet Caroline Gosselin
It has been quite a journey getting into the real estate industry, but, in all honesty, that process was haphazard. People are drawn to this field for a variety of reasons and from differing backgrounds. It has always been intriguing to interact with my peers and ask about their path, because you will never hear the same story twice.
I made my way to the east coast of the US after having completed a master's degree in international affairs in Paris, France where I had lived for 4 years. We had just moved to New York City because my husband was starting an MBA program at Columbia University. I started a job as a program manager with a small non-profit organization that was affiliated with the United Nations. Working in the international affairs / public relations realm in NYC was an amazing experience. I had the opportunity to travel the country for several years, working closely with UN Ambassadors, organizing U.S. Congressional Delegations around important topics like human trafficking, war refugees and climate issues.
But when we decided to start a family, everything changed. We moved from Manhattan to the suburbs in New Jersey. I had my son, I was home with him for about six months, and then I decided that being a stay-at-home mom wasn’t in the cards for me. I started looking at options and talking to my family and the idea of going into sales, particularly real estate sales, came up. And the minute it did, my ears perked up. The next day I Googled “real estate licensing class,” the following week I was in the class, and one month later I was licensed and hanging my shingle.
I had moved to New Jersey knowing no one and having zero family in the area, but I was determined. I started building my sphere of influence in New Jersey, I joined the local Chamber, the Rotary Club, headed my neighborhood block-party committee, and joined a women's empowerment group. The entrepreneurial spirit in me had been awakened.
My first year in real estate, I was working as a solo agent at a luxury boutique firm. Within a year, that firm was bought out by Coldwell Banker. I stayed with Coldwell Banker for five years. Toward the end of my time there, I had hired my first employee - an administrative assistant. Around that time was when, in the real estate world, the notion of teams was starting to form. It was a new trend, and I quickly knew that this was where the industry was headed. It just made so much sense to me - why should we all be working in our own little silos when we could come together, collaborate and leverage each other’s strengths? I didn’t want to be a solo agent doing everything on my own. I wanted to do the things I was good at and build a team around what I was lacking. I remember the saying, jack of all trades, but master of none - that is how I viewed solo agents doing everything on their own.
Team building was the direction I went in, and I’ve never looked back. I decided to leave Coldwell Banker and make the move to Sotheby's International Realty, where I spent nearly a decade. My 15 years experience at traditional brokerages boils down to a few observations: The average Realtor has an over-reliance on being spoon fed. They don’t take their destiny into their own hands. A huge percentage are there to do it part-time. For those that are doing it full-time, their entrepreneurialism isn’t fostered or encouraged - on the contrary. They are content going about their business with blinders on and not being open to a different way (I know, I was one of them!). Their creativity is clamped down with branding guidelines. More importantly, Realtors who work at traditional brokerages have no stake in the company (even those who have spent their entire careers there - they walk away with nothing). None of the Big 5 brands offer ownership or stock to their agents.
Well, the tide is turning now. Just this past year, in January of 2022, I made the bold decision to move our team to EXP Realty - a global firm which I believe is proving itself to be the leader and setting the standard for what the future of real estate will be. The best part is, we, the agents, are shareholders in this new endeavor and have a stake in the outcome. That is a huge paradigm shift.
I watched EXP come on the scene 10 years ago. I had my eye on it. Many of my colleagues in the business were making the move. It caused me to look a little deeper into it. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It’s a whole new model of real estate. It’s not even thinking “out of the box” - Glenn Sanford, our founder and CEO, created a whole new box. And this new model is resonating with agents in a massive way because we are growing fast and have over 90K agents across the globe.
Transitioning our team to EXP and aligning ourselves with some of the amazing people who have become my business coaches, my mentors, collaborators, and business partners, has been so uplifting. I’ve been truly inspired by the advent of this company and what it’s doing to change the lives of people in my world. When people become “owners”, they just think differently. I have barely been here a year and I’m blown away by the collaboration and the sharing of ideas. Our business is taking a whole new shape. Being in a collaborative environment is so important.
We attract top agents who value freedom, collaboration and community. Being growth-minded is the common thread with agents making the move. EXP Realty is becoming a global community (and force to be reckoned with!) designed, powered, and owned by agents and we are transforming the real estate experience for agents and consumers.
So as you can see, while my team has changed and morphed over the years, we are growing and we will remain a force in the real estate sector here in New Jersey - we just happen to be using the EXP platform to propel us forward and we’ve never been on more solid ground.
About Caroline…
Caroline Gosselin is the Founder, CEO and Team Leader at Experience NJ Team at EXP Realty. Caroline’s passion for people, marketing, and service has translated into one of the fastest-growing real estate teams in the state of New Jersey!
She is a driven leader who has grown her business from a one-woman operation to a high-performing team of real estate professionals who have closed close to $300 million in sales to date. Caroline is a strong communicator, a skilled advisor, a decisive problem-solver, and a successful negotiator. Her unique focus and dedication has created a network of happy clients throughout New Jersey.
Caroline focuses on serving the highly desirable New York City commuter towns along the Mid-Town Direct train line corridor in New Jersey, including West Orange, South Orange, Maplewood, Millburn, Short Hills, Summit, Chatham, Madison, Morristown, Bernardsville, New Jersey. She understands the unique needs of young families and urban dwellers that move to these quaint suburban towns from New York City, Brooklyn, Hoboken and elsewhere, because she was one of them. She has an intimate knowledge of what really matters to home sellers and buyers – quality schools, day care, commuting options, shopping, parks, neighborhoods, politics, taxes, cultural attractions, local stagers, designers and tradespeople, even restaurant recommendations.
Caroline knows that real estate marketing today occurs largely online. She is a cutting-edge marketer who utilizes the latest digital, social, mobile, and email channels to consistently out-reach and out-perform other realtors and achieve maximum exposure for the properties she represents. Through her affiliation with EXP Realty, she also leverages exclusive media partnerships with many influential publications. Caroline is a top producer and has consistently placed in the top 1% of all real estate professionals in New Jersey every year for the past decade.
Caroline believes that to be an effective realtor in the community, she must be a part of the community. She is an active volunteer and a passionate supporter of women entrepreneurs. Caroline co-founded and led the local chapter of the national women’s business group called Believe. Inspire. Grow. (BIG). In 2011, she was selected as one of State’s Top 25 New Jersey Leading Women Entrepreneurs, as featured in NJ Monthly Magazine in 2019. Caroline received her BA from the University of Texas at Austin, and her MA from the American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy in Paris. She has been quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Newark Star Ledger. She speaks fluent French and conversational Spanish.
Who you work with matters. If you are looking for a realtor in New Jersey, partner with Caroline Gosselin of the Experience NJ Team.
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