Like A Bos — Beyond The Sale

When Great Brokerages Align | Bosley Real Estate x TrilliumWest

• Bosley Real Estate LTD., Brokerage • Season 1 • Episode 7

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This episode explores the partnership between Bosley Real Estate and Trillium West, marking the expansion and bridging the market areas. 

Listeners will hear the story behind the collaboration, why it was such a natural fit, how it builds on shared values and strengths, and what it means for agents, clients, and the communities they serve. 

Together, they’ll discuss the why, the what, and the what’s next. A vision anchored in culture, leadership, and purpose-driven growth.

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Christan Bosley:

You know that feeling when something just clicks? Well, that's what happened here. We're shaking things up in the Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Market Areas. We are about to raise the bar. Stay tuned as we welcome Trillium West to the Bosley family. For nearly a century, Bosley has been helping to shape the landscape of Canadian real estate. This podcast is an extension of that legacy, our way of staying connected to what matters most to you. Join us as we sit down with leading voices from across the industry and beyond to explore the ideas, trends, and stories that move real estate forward. Whether you're an agent, investor, homeowner, or just curious about the market, there's something here for you. Today's episode is an exciting one because this marks a brand new chapter for Bosley Real Estate. We have officially expanded into the Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph region. Last month, Trillium West was officially welcome to the Bosley family. From the very first conversation, it felt right. It was clear that our brokerages shared the same DNA, a deep respect for professionalism, integrity, community, and the belief that when you put people first, both clients and agents, great things follow. So thank you so much for joining us today, Curt. This is Curt Knight, Broker at Trillium West, leading our new KW and Guelph offices, along with Erin Knight, your partner in crime, who's been the heart of this transition from day one. So, Curt, welcome to Like a Bos. And officially a huge welcome to Bosley Real Estate.

Curt Knight:

Thank you. We're excited to be here.

Christan Bosley:

It's gonna be amazing. What really stood out to me about Trillium West was your reputation, how it's trusted, connected, grounded in service. The more we talked, the more parallels really came to light. It was very hard to ignore. And it's not just about geography or growth for Bosley, it was about the synergy, the shared values, the mutual respect. I think our fate kind of came to be a couple years ago. I was really privileged to be introduced to you through your previous business partner, um, who I met through leading real estate companies of the world. So important to note that Trillium West was also an independent brokerage in our network of leading real estate companies of the world. And uh I know personally that the first time I met you, I was like, oh my God, our values are absolutely in alignment. So I'm really happy that we're sitting here together.

Curt Knight:

Yeah, I'm excited to be here. And it's been great getting to know you over the last several months and and learning more about Bosley and how Bosley operates. And um, we're real excited about the the path forward and how things are gonna look.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah. So I think it's safe to say that we've kind of like had lightning speed between the announcement in September to now. How are you feeling?

Curt Knight:

Quick engagement, quick marriage, yeah, yeah.

Christan Bosley:

Right. Really, really long dating period though.

Curt Knight:

Yeah, yeah.

Christan Bosley:

And then, you know, when we when we tied the knot, it's been real fast forward, lightning speed forward. So how are you feeling about it right now?

Curt Knight:

Uh, it feels like Christmas Day.

Christan Bosley:

Yay! That's exciting.

Curt Knight:

Yeah, it's just one of those, you know, you've as a kid, you're always waiting for that to come. And uh, we've just been working at this for so long and just excited and excited, but not being able to tell people. And now we're at finally at a point where we can uh let people know what we've been working on and kind of share with our people, with our clients and everybody um our vision for for how things look and and where we're gonna go with um our two brands together.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah, I'm looking forward to talking a little bit more about that today. So when I think back to our earlier conversations, the things that really stood out to me was, you know, our your story, your shared values, how you got to where you were today, how you grew the brand as we as we know it. And uh so for those who know me, they know that I love a good story at all times. So for the listeners who maybe don't know you, uh can you share a little bit about how it all began, how you got to where you were today, and um how you grew the brokerage?

Curt Knight:

Sure. Uh so my wife and I were in sales prior to opening the brokerage. Um, we did that for about 10 years. Uh, got to a point where we had two young boys and life was getting a little hectic and crazy. And we were trying to figure out a path that uh would free us up to have our weekends and evenings back. And at the time we thought that this was the best path. Now, being a broker owner, I know that that was the wrong decision uh because we worked just as hard, if not more, on evenings and weekends. But at the time we thought that was the best path forward. And so we opened our own uh boutique brokerage in around 2016 and had some success. Never had aspirations of growing a big large team or a big large brokerage, but just having some like-minded people that um shared how to do business and who could help and support one another. Um and eventually we got to a point where we're like, okay, well, what's what's the next step after this? Um in Guelph, uh, a brokerage opened up called Trillium West, and uh my business partner at that time had opened that brokerage. I kind of watched him grow a little bit and have some success in Guelph as we were growing our brokerage night realty in Kitchener Waterloo. One day out of the blue, I just reached out to him and he said, You don't know me, I don't know you, but as one independent brokerage owner to another, I'd love to get together and have coffee, shoot the shit, see where things kind of go. Uh, he picked up the phone, called me within 10 minutes of that email, and said, It's funny you reached out to me. I've been watching what you're doing in Kitchener Waterloo as well, and we should really meet. So drove over to Guelph, met with him. Uh, a coffee turned into about a three-hour conversation. At the end of that conversation, it was like, did we be just become best friends like uh uh step brothers? And I think we've since now had that similar experience as we've gotten to know each other, you and I. Um, and yeah, we decided to merge our two brokerages together and to to grow Trillium West in not just being a Guelph location, but in being a more regional brokerage, and that's kind of how Trillium West, um, as we know it, kind of came to be with myself included in the in in the brand.

Christan Bosley:

So Right. And so today you have how many agents?

Curt Knight:

Uh we're just over a hundred agents.

Christan Bosley:

And you service the entire region?

Curt Knight:

Yep. Waterloo region and Wellington County is kind of our main focus.

Christan Bosley:

Okay. And how long have you been members of Leading RE? Do you know?

Curt Knight:

Uh, I believe we became leading RE members around 2017, 2017, 2016. Yeah.

Christan Bosley:

Okay. And do you find that valuable?

Curt Knight:

Hugely valuable for sure. Hugely. Yes.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, um, it sounds very similar to our story, right? Like Bosley has done a lot of expansion in the last five years. But uh, as I have said to you many times before, I would like to say that it was strategic, but really it just came down to the people, right? It's like if if we like each other, if we're gonna work well together and we're gonna bring positives to the table for one another, then why wouldn't we do it? Yep. Amazing. So um, you know, on on the line of partnerships, because that really is what this is, right? Uh to me, I have talked a lot in our previous podcasts about the importance of culture. As you know, we value culture very strongly. It's the foundation of lasting relationships, it's why people join us, it's why people leave. So, what do you think it was about our cultures, that of both companies, that made it such a natural fit?

Curt Knight:

It's a fairly loaded question. I think there's there's a lot. Like obviously, the the emphasis on professionalism and training is a huge part of your brokerage as well as ours. Um, I think we've all seen um the caliber of some realtors out there. And I think a big aspiration of mine as well as yours is to elevate the status of realtors and making sure that we're seen as the true professionals that we are. Um, and that's only done through leadership. It's a top-down, top-down mentality. So having good training, um, making sure that our realtors are ethical and working out there with integrity is a huge part of that culture component. Um, even from my past experience working at other brokerages, I think there's a lot of lone wolf mentality out there. Um, you show up to a brokerage, you're on your own, very competitive environment. I think uh both of our brokerages try to foster a more collaborative environment where we're we're not fighting uh in amongst people within the office. We're fighting the fight against those other brokerages out there, and everybody within our walls is our friend, our colleague, and we're there to help and support one another.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, and I think there's a lot of synergy between the cultures in that in that regard, definitely. And it's easy to talk about the systems, branding, the reach of both both brands, but underneath, I think you and I share it's the people the real sentiment of of the people and the trust that we have in our people and that they have in us in turn, right? So when it comes to trust, was there a moment in this process as we were kind of dating, if you will, uh, where you thought, okay, this is this is real, this is aligned, uh, and I can see a future here. What was that moment for you?

Curt Knight:

I think there was probably two or diff two or three different times that that happened. The one, I think when we first had an initial conversation, I think uh you and I had more of an off-the-record call with one another uh after an initial meeting, and we were really able just to be blunt with one another and kind of lay it all out there. And I'm like, okay, this is somebody I can work with, and I think you had a similar experience. Um I think just the way the whole merger has been handled has really told me uh a lot about trust with you. Like you've you've taken some of the feedback that we've given in terms of how our people will react and what's gonna work with them and what won't. And I think a lot of other companies would come in and say it's new day, our flags in the ground, and you're gonna follow our rules and follow everything. And you've been very malleable, I would say, with with how this transition has gone, which tells me you care a lot about the people and you care about the impact this is gonna have on their businesses and their lives.

Christan Bosley:

So Yeah.

Curt Knight:

Yeah.

Christan Bosley:

Um, well, thank you for recognizing that. Yeah, I never want to come in and just plant a flag. I don't think that that develops trust or respect or collaboration or anything that is included in our culture, right? So from your perspective, I mean, I think that we both had moments along the way of, you know, yes, we can trust each other, yes, we can build something together. There were certainly, and there are certainly differences between our brokerages and how we operate and the systems that we use and the technology that we use. And so there is quite a strong learning curve there. Yep. But beyond all of that, um the why for you. What was behind the why of why Bosley?

Curt Knight:

I think for us to even just to contemplate going in a in a different direction, we I got to a point where we just felt a little bit stuck. Um and it didn't feel like our brokerage was innovating in the way that we wanted. We didn't have some of the processes and the systems that I would have liked to provide to our realtors. And so um, you know, when we first started chatting about everything that you guys have in place with your um your management team and and um you know, the marketing team you've got going and the uh accounting team you've got behind, just the teams of people that you have to help support. Um, I think that was a huge, huge asset for us and what where we were maybe lacking a little bit. I think um we've done the marketing side of things very well and the branding, but um, some of that structure that we really could use, and I think our people were asking for.

Christan Bosley:

So, Curt, I mean, obviously we knew that there was a lot of good cultural alignment, a lot of good core value alignment. Um, but it I think it's safe to say that the systems we use, the processes that we implement, the technology that we use is different. So there is going to be a learning curve, I think, on both sides. Can you tell me what you think your agents are going to get from this partnership?

Curt Knight:

Yeah, obviously, I think you hit on a lot of them right there. Is is the the expanded marketing team is gonna be huge for our agents to help promote their listings, the um the management team, having multiple people that are there in in specialized roles that are there and available to help support our realtors is gonna be great. Um, you know, just having a a finance team that can do all the accounting and the and the back office stuff is is just something that uh I think our people could use we were doing it, but not doing it to the to the caliber that I think Bosley does. So we're we're excited to have that come into the fold and and um I think it's gonna be huge. Yeah, the resources. Yes.

Christan Bosley:

Okay, great.

Curt Knight:

From your perspective, uh, what do you think agents from both brokerages will gain through this partnership? And are there similarities or differences?

Christan Bosley:

Yeah, I thought you would never ask. Um, listen, I've been so privileged to spend uh I would say a fair amount of time with your agents over the last month. Um I've worked really hard on the names, so I feel like I'm it is impressive how getting there. Okay. And um, I think we have a really significant amount of buy-in from your people, which makes me really happy. But to me, you know, whenever we have experienced agents joining Bosley and you have a group of very experienced agents, it comes down to two things, right? It comes down to leadership, culture, and ultimately a good combination of both of those things should be able to really effectively help all of our agents improve their business. Right. Right. And that's what every agent wants. How can I have more direction? How can I have more guidance? How can I have different training? And so for me, when I think about your agents, yes, they're gonna get the benefit of the added structural support, which will help them create efficiencies in their business, certainly. I also think that they have access to a much greater leadership team to help with the layers of your team, right? And so the different types of training that we're starting to look at, the different types of business audits and business planning opportunities. And, you know, I don't like to talk about Toronto brokerage versus exterior brokerages because to me, we're all one big family. But I do think that there's interesting things that each group can learn from those different markets.

Curt Knight:

Yep.

Christan Bosley:

Right. And I think that the more you know, the more opportunity you have to grow as a professional.

Curt Knight:

Yep.

Christan Bosley:

So for me, I think there's a lot of added value for your people. For our people, anytime that they can come across somebody new who is a full-time professional who isn't doing things the way they do things, it's a bonus. There's such a big learning and collaboration opportunity. There's huge geographic reach for our people now. We've been in the region for some time, particularly in Cambridge with Marty Fraser, uh, who has joined your team, which is very exciting.

Curt Knight:

Marty's awesome.

Christan Bosley:

He's the best, right? Um, but you know what? He fits in with your culture so perfectly because all of your people are amazing. So I think there's a lot to be gained on both sides. For me personally, from a brokerage perspective, um, you know, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, right? Like we've been around for 97 years. We're very traditional. I'm fourth generation in my family. A lot of the thought patterns follow follow through. So for me to be able to partner with someone like you who's bringing completely different ideas to the table, outside the box thinking, um, outside, outside the box, different ways of just doing things that we've always done in a way because it worked, but maybe it's not the best way.

Curt Knight:

Yep.

Christan Bosley:

Right. So being able to introduce that.

Curt Knight:

We're even finding that on our side the more we've delved into you know how you guys do things. Like we all get stuck in our ways, right? And there's been some things where I'm like, well, geez, that's obvious. As we've watched how you guys do certain processes. So I think the the blending of the two together is just going to create so many new ideas, so many more efficiencies. And to your point, the training, like, you know, we all have our own way of doing things. I was in sales, you were in sales, and we all think that our way is the best. But I think it's great to have multiple different mentors and multiple different people to learn from. And now our realtors can come in and go, oh, I really like the way Christan does that. I like the way Curt does this and pull from different people to create their own way of doing things because we don't want a bunch of robots going out there and doing and saying all the same things. It's it's you know, create your own persona and the way you are going to handle each different situation. So yeah.

Christan Bosley:

And I think, you know, to kind of play on that a bit further, anytime somebody comes and interviews with me as a new agent, I'm sure you're the same and they're thinking about do I go out on my own? Do I join a team? Um, one of the things I say to every new agent contemplating that is the benefit of joining Bosley is that we operate as a big team. Yep. And you have so many different voices to learn from, right? Whereas when you go learn on a team from a team lead, you might have more consistent mentorship, you might have more lead distribution. There are benefits to that, certainly, but you only have one voice. Yep. Right. And so I feel that even just at the leadership table, since your team has joined us, right? It's really nice to have that differing opinion to play off one another.

Curt Knight:

Nice to have people that are going through the same struggles as well and having other people to talk. You know, and I that's something I've noticed at the leadership table, is just like, oh, I thought I was the only one dealing with that. And it's like hearing other people, and then we can actually brainstorm and solve problems together. It's it's so powerful.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah. So yeah, and I think that filters down. And then the other shared value, which we haven't touched on, but is very important to me, is our belief in organized real estate. Right. So your company was always very much the same. You usually had somebody at some level in organized real estate locally. Yep. Um, and so my expectation is that that will continue throughout all the boards throughout the region, right? Which is again a huge benefit to our people because they learn exactly what's going on in their marketplace, in their industry before it kind of filters out publicly.

Curt Knight:

You got it. Yep. Professional standards, there's great ways to learn what not to do. Great teachable moments there for sure.

Christan Bosley:

Exactly. Well, listen, I know that one of the things that we talk a lot about is innovation in real estate. It certainly is kind of a buzzword in our industry. Um, it's a, I would say, threshold that I straddle carefully because I'm a huge believer in the traditional human aspect of the business, but you also have to be able to use technology tools at your fingertips. So, how do we preserve that shared kind of human connection while continuing to grow and evolve? Do you have any thoughts on that?

Curt Knight:

We talk about this a lot with our realtors. Um technology is great and I think it can help with efficiency, but I never want a computer or AI or something like that to communicate to our clients on their behalf. I think it's great for keeping our people organized. It's great for reminders like CRMs and things like that. But the second that you start allowing that to communicate with your client instead of you, I think you're missing out on a huge opportunity. So it's that blending of the old school relationship-based business and tech and bringing the two together. Um, I worry just too many people are just trying to automate everything. And it's like, well, just have a computer send a birthday card or something like that. And people get that or they get an email. They they know when they're on a spam list or an email list, and it just doesn't feel authentic. It doesn't feel real. And I think, especially in a world that we're in right now, everybody wants to still feel special and they still want to feel like there's that actual somebody actually thought about me. That's why handwritten cards are so much better than receiving an email because somebody took the effort to write a card, put a stamp on it, mail it. That shows that you care a heck of a lot more than send this automated email on their birthday. Day, right? So I think you and I are fairly aligned on that. And there's a nice blending of tech, but then also old school. Right?

Christan Bosley:

Yeah. And I think, you know, we've talked about it. I'm of the belief that any technology we implement here should be solely to benefit the realtors and allowing them to either create efficiencies in their business or grow their businesses, right? It is not uh a tool to replace human interaction.

Curt Knight:

Yep.

Christan Bosley:

Which is kind of why DocuSign bothers me a little bit. You know, like DocuSign is the greatest tool on the planet. It's so easy to sign things, but but I can't tell you how many offers in my sales career, and I'm sure you're the same, that I won because I was at the table with a deposit with my clients.

Curt Knight:

Yep.

Christan Bosley:

Right. So really straddling that is very important.

Curt Knight:

Not to mention it gives you a great opportunity to sit down and demonstrate your knowledge by explaining everything that's been put into an offer, right? And written into it. So missed opportunities there for people that aren't doing that.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah, huge. So um I was just about to go on a tangent about people that weren't doing it, and then I stopped myself. Did you see it? The filter. It just really came across. I'm so proud of myself.

Curt Knight:

There you go.

Christan Bosley:

Okay, so let's pivot and talk about the client for a minute. Sure. Okay. Um, it's really exciting now to represent such a wide variety of consumer. We're very privileged at Wosley. I mean, we have Toronto, Collingwood, Niagara now, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph. Um, do you think that there's any benefit for the consumer in having that kind of wide array of market knowledge? And what new advantages do you think they'll see as a result of that?

Curt Knight:

Well, absolutely. Like a if I I've been following our market for quite some time. And if I look back at the stats, like through COVID, we had probably Cambridge was the worst. We probably had 55% of our buyer traffic coming through from the GTA. Um, and in Guelph, that you know, that number maybe dropped to 35 or 40. But even still, a lot of our buyers for the the Waterloo uh Wellington region are coming out of the GTA. People are cashing in here, they're going out to those areas and and buying bigger homes for less money. So uh for us to now have those connections into the GTA with with Bosley and and being able to see what's happening in your market ahead of it coming to our market, we all know that we tend to kind of follow the GTA. I think that's a it's a huge asset for us for sure. Um, not to mention there's other things happening, you know, with Collingwood, or for example, lots, you know, through COVID, everybody was moving up there at that point. So to have that uh, you know, local reach but provincial and then also the international reach with leading RE is is just awesome. I think it's great.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah. So I'm sitting here listening to you talk, thinking about the two times that I have been up talking to your agents where I can visibly see the room go like this, right? And the first time, um we're just gonna call that a market?

Curt Knight:

Okay, yeah.

Christan Bosley:

The first time was about the condo market, right? And it's you know, a big discussion about what's happening in the condo market. And you can tell that the immediate reaction is, why are we talking about this? Right. But to your point, it was, well, hold on, conos are starting to move, but they're not starting to move at a price where they can buy a freehold in Toronto. So what does this mean for you? And here's how we can start tracking it. And I think, you know, I could see as I was breaking down the justification for it that people's shoulders started to kind of relax a little bit. Yeah. But also having serviced areas outside of Toronto, my perception, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that the shoulders go up because during COVID, you had so many Toronto GTA agents who didn't know their market coming in, infiltrating their market, doing deals, not understanding due diligence, not understanding the relationships of the local realtors. So there's there's a bit of that kind of fear of, oh my God, now are all these Toronto agents going to come and work here, right? So is that a fair perspective?

Curt Knight:

Yeah, like I think you have to remember through COVID that that's why maybe they get their backs up about the GTA and the Toronto realtors, because through COVID, Toronto wasn't sending us their best. When when they came out, it was these are these are realtors that were just chasing deals and not actually professionals. Like a true professional knows their neighborhood, knows their service area, stays within it, and then refers out to somebody that is you know more competent when they're outside of their area of expertise. But unfortunately, there was lots of realtors that they were just chasing a paycheck. They were running out to Waterloo, they don't know a thing about it. In most cases, we were kind of licking our chops a lot when somebody came in because it was crazy how many of them didn't even have access to our data. And they'd be like, Can you send me some sales? And I'd be like, Absolutely, we can send you some sales, right? So uh we'll do your job for you, but we're gonna maybe slant it a little higher for our for our sellers, right? Because that's who we're representing. So um I think that maybe poisons the well a little bit for um the GTA, and that's maybe where you're getting that reaction. But I think as people come to see that Bosley realtors are the true professionals, I can't say we ran into one Bosley realtor that came out to our area and started servicing through that craziness because they're all professionals and they know their product, they know their area, and when they're not comfortable, they refer it out. And that's the same thing we teach with TW. So stay within your lane.

Christan Bosley:

And just so you know, it's not just your people, right? Like when when I go out to Niagara, it's the same reaction, right? And it's it's funny to watch because it's like, guys, we we have to overcome this perception. We have a company policy, right? Unless you know the market area, you're not trading in it. So for me, from a broker's perspective, I'm excited to have all of these people who can actually service areas that we're not familiar with. Because to your point, there's a lot of Toronto movement out of the city. So it is interesting to see how the trends translate in all the market areas. To me, that's one of the most exciting parts about having your team with us. Yeah. Yeah.

Curt Knight:

Are there any other advantages you see with the us coming together?

Christan Bosley:

I mean, I think we've touched on a lot of them, but really for me, it comes down to the collaboration and the ability to just you have a very good handful of really solid more than a handful. You have a really good group of solid full-time professionals who are very competitive. When I know that uh one of the things that I love about Trillium is that they don't do awards. It would be so nice to not do awards. Um, but as a traditional company, that doesn't appear to be an option here. But when I look at how your people are performing in a region where your purchase price is significantly lower than the GTA, you know, there's a lot of units being sold. There's a lot of learning that can be shared across all of those platforms. And the demographics tend to be very different too. So, how to appeal to the different clients, how to appeal to the different demographics, what technology they're using to be able to conduct that much business because they're very competitive award category-wise in a region that is, you know, the average price is significantly lower.

Curt Knight:

Yep.

Christan Bosley:

So to me, I think that's a huge benefit for our people.

Curt Knight:

I agree.

Christan Bosley:

So, Curt, I think it's fair to say that our merger has created a lot of change for both of our people. Yep. And I think we both know from a leadership perspective that change creates an added level of uncertainty, which of course our people have been struggling with for about five years now. And in order for us as leaders to calm the waters, there is a required level of change management to be able to bring that layer of security, right? So um, through this process and through, you know, the events of the last five years with COVID and the markets and inflation and all that kind of fun stuff. From a leadership perspective, what is it that you strive to do to kind of help with that change management?

Curt Knight:

I think as we've seen, everybody deals with change differently. Uh, there's there's people that will accept change head on and jump right in. That's probably a small percentage of the population. Um, I think people need time to digest things. I think I learned that personally, and even the way we rolled everything out. I think I, you know, hindsight's 2020, and we could have probably handled that better. There should have been news given, give them time to understand and digest, and then they're going to be more receptive to that change, right? So um, yeah, I it's really just being patient with people and and I think understanding that sometimes, you know, if as they're going through a transition and they're going through a change, they may react in a certain way. That's not necessarily how they are, it's just they're reacting to that change. So I think being patient with people, being understanding, uh, giving them as much information as possible and helping them to understand the direction that we're headed and and why we've made this decision, I think is is a key component of that. And we're really starting to see that even with our people now as they've started to adjust to the change and we're getting full buy-in from uh many, many of our people that they're they're really excited about. It just takes time for them to process that and everybody processes change in a different way and a different speed, I think.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah. Um, I think that's great. I tend to lead with almost too much transparency because I feel like everybody should know what I know. And so I think we've seen that on both sides as we move through that change management. But I will say that um in my experience with some of your agents, the ones who had the largest reactions came with the most questions and were given all of the full full scope of the answers. And uh it's been really beneficial for both of us, right? It's been really nice to have have that buy-in and and many of them are your top agents, so that's filtered through the culture, which we're really, really lucky.

Curt Knight:

Exactly.

Christan Bosley:

Yep. As we look ahead, what is the boldest goal or hope that you have for the next chapter? And please don't tell me it's that you're gonna go play golf.

Curt Knight:

I don't know if I want to play golf with you. I've heard you're quite good. So that that's one day.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah, one day we'll get it.

Curt Knight:

At some point we'll do that. Uh what is my long-term goal for this?

Christan Bosley:

Is that the boldest goal or hope for the next chapter?

Curt Knight:

Well, obviously, I hope that Bosley can start to dominate Waterloo and and Wellington the same way that it does in the GTA.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah.

Curt Knight:

Uh that's that's the goal. And and I think it's gonna take some time to to come in, but I think we've got a great start with um with the realtors that we have and and you know the people that are carrying your brand, I think are the right people, and I think it's gonna be uh it's gonna be awesome. It's gonna take some time, but we're gonna do it.

Christan Bosley:

We're very much aligned in that. Yeah total market domination. Yes.

Curt Knight:

Dr. Evil.

Christan Bosley:

Total market domination in all the market areas we serve.

Curt Knight:

There you go.

Christan Bosley:

Amazing. Okay. So I have a couple of questions.

Curt Knight:

I might have been made aware of some of these questions. We'll see how this goes.

Christan Bosley:

That's cheating. You're not supposed to know the questions. Okay. Can I ask them? Yes. Okay. Um, what is one lesson you wish you knew earlier in your career?

Curt Knight:

One lesson uh I uh I think probably. Well, there's kind of two here. It's you don't have to be the smartest in the room. You just have to be the one that's working the hardest. And perfection. I used to be a bit of a perfectionist where I wanted to make sure things were done just perfect, but 90% is gonna be perfection every single time. So just push forward, get it done. And I think you're gonna get a lot further ahead than you will if you're just trying to make everything perfect. Action, need to take action versus waiting around. There's too many realtors that just they have to get their marketing piece right, and it's like, that's not the point. Here, just get it done. 90% is good, just get something out there.

Christan Bosley:

So okay. Um, hey, I'm really grateful that you said that because if you were still a perfectionist, we would be really struggling right now. Yep. We're both progress over perfection people, which is funny because I think I also too used to be a perfectionist. So it's something you have to let go of in leadership.

Curt Knight:

We've developed coping mechanisms, maybe golf, right? Maybe that's a golf. We realize you can't be perfection in golf, so you just have to keep maintaining and getting better each day, right?

Christan Bosley:

Listen, to me, golf is like the only place where you can actually think outside of the office. You're just like hitting a ball in a field, but you're right, you can never be perfect at golf. Yep. Except for one day. One day it'll happen. One day I was perfect at golf. Oh, it did. Oh. And I it's never come back to me, and I don't know why I still play.

Curt Knight:

Now you're chasing that feeling forever. You got it. Yep.

Christan Bosley:

You know?

Curt Knight:

Yeah.

Christan Bosley:

Um, okay, so besides golf, what brings you joy?

Curt Knight:

Uh, what brings me joy? He probably spending time with my family at our cottage. Going out on the boat, hanging out, cruising around the lake. That that's what brings me joy, spending time up there.

Christan Bosley:

Nice.

Curt Knight:

Watch my boys grow and get into new sports, and yeah, it's awesome.

Christan Bosley:

This is another thing we have in common. We both have two boys.

Curt Knight:

Yep. Craziness.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah, it's it's a wild ride.

Curt Knight:

Yes.

Christan Bosley:

And they're about the same age.

Curt Knight:

Yes. Yeah.

Christan Bosley:

Okay. Well, that's a whole other podcast. Um, what book is on your current reading list?

Curt Knight:

I am not a big reader of books. I'm more of a podcast person. Um, a lot of times when we're driving to the cottage, we've got three hours, and Aaron and the kids usually fall asleep, and I've got three hours to myself. So I put on a podcast. Um, I've been really into Acquired recently, which is all about entrepreneurs and how they got their start. And um, you know, it just kind of tells you all the different growing pains of of building a business.

Christan Bosley:

Is this a podcast? Yeah. It's called Acquired. It's called Acquired. Okay, I'm gonna look it up.

Curt Knight:

Yeah. So I uh I'm not a I don't know, I'm just I never find I have time to sit and read a book. So the only time that like I'm just it's going to arenas, going to work, going to there's just so many things on. Like for me to even when I'm on vacation, I'm not somebody who sits still.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah.

Curt Knight:

These people that go and read an entire novel while they're down south or something, I'm like, I'd be out in the pool, I'm doing sports, I'm doing activities, I just can't do it. But being in the car forces me to sit still, and that's where I can actually listen to an audiobook or a podcast or something like that. So acquired is is something that I'm into right now.

Christan Bosley:

So what about you?

Curt Knight:

Can I can I turn these around on you?

Christan Bosley:

Sure. Um, I read a lot. We have a book club here because I read a lot. Um but I would say my podcast favorite now is Jay Shaddie on purpose. Okay. Um, and I did listen to one this morning that really kind of was it was the Mel Robbins podcast. But she had a specialist on there talking about um health and food and the food we eat. And do you know the stat was like they shared some stat that like 60% of North Americans die because of the food we ingest? Like it was ridiculous. And I woke up and then I went downstairs and looked at what my kids were eating, and I was like, no, we need fruit, fresh food. It was terrifying. So I mean, I like I like podcasts, but also they get me sometimes they take me down a deep rabbit hole.

Curt Knight:

I've gone down that. I think I watched uh Forks Over Knives. Have you seen that? And then I came home, or it was a documentary, I think Aaron was gone, and I watched it the and Aaron came home and I'm like, we need to stop eating meat. Yeah. And we we did it for like two or three weeks, and I was like, okay, I can't do this. Like we we went to a couple barbecues and brought our own like vegetarian uh stuff. It was, yeah. I can go down some rounds.

Christan Bosley:

Sometimes like information overload is a real thing. Yep. Yeah.

Curt Knight:

Yeah.

Christan Bosley:

But I would say professionally, my favorite book always is Simon Seneck. Um, The Value of Why, which I would like to introduce to your people at some point in the near future. It's one of my faves. And then next on my list is Psychology of Money, which is supposed to be very good. And of course, because I want to read it, it will be the next book club book.

Curt Knight:

Okay. Love it.

Christan Bosley:

Okay. Um, okay, last question. If you were to give a TED talk, what would it be on?

Curt Knight:

If I were to give a TED talk, what would it be on? I don't even know how to answer this. This is what I struggled with. Um TED talks are often techie, right? I don't know if it can be on anything.

Christan Bosley:

How to keep things together.

Curt Knight:

Yeah. There you go.

Christan Bosley:

In the face of turmoil.

Curt Knight:

I feel like I could probably uh do a talk on that after the last few years. And it just feels like we've been through a gauntlet in the real estate industry with Tressa and COVID, and like, you know, I guess, you know, keeping things staying positive when you're facing adversity, you'd probably be something like that. Cause I felt like over the last little while there's been a fair bit of adversity thrown at the industry, at myself, at everything. And it's uh yeah, trying to stay positive to overcome that would probably be something that how to function in a world where you have no control. Yeah, and you've I agree. And you've you've had some similar adversity. Welcome to real estate.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah, yes, amazing. Okay, well, listen, thank you so much for joining us today. I am beyond excited for the next chapter. I think we are going to work beautifully together. I can't wait for our teams to really come together. We are doing it in stages, to be fair, so it will take some time to get there, but I'm looking forward to that moment when we're all on the same page and everybody's working towards the same goal and excited. Yep. Excited about that goal, right? Yeah.

Curt Knight:

So probably all starts with the Christmas party. There you go.

Christan Bosley:

Right. You can't say no to a good party. There you go. Right?

Curt Knight:

Yeah.

Christan Bosley:

So we're super proud to have you and your entire team as part of the Bosley family.

Curt Knight:

We're excited to be here.

Christan Bosley:

Yeah, amazing. Well, listen, that's it for today's episode of Like a Bos. Thanks so much for listening. See you next time. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who might find it valuable. We've got more conversations coming your way with incredible guests across design, finance, wellness, tech, and more. All through the lens of real estate. A special thank you to our set design sponsors, StayTrap.

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Christan Bosley

Host
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Curt knight

Guest