The Interview
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38 MINUTES
JOHN MCGRATH
With Rob Langton
FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - MCGRATH ESTATE AGENTS
From a halted football career to real estate royalty: John McGrath talks beginnings and business
Managing Director of Ready Media Group, Rob Langton, recently sat down to talk with CEO and Executive Director of McGrath, John McGrath. As the leader of one of Australia’s foremost real estate agencies, he had plenty to discuss during this 38-minute interview as we delve into the evolution of McGrath Estate Agents. We’ve parsed through the extensive conversation to bring you some of the highlights. HIS SPORTS ASPIRATIONS WERE PUT ON HOLD BY A COLLAPSED LUNG “As I got into my thirteen, fourteen, fifteen years age groups, you could start to tell who was going to actually excel at sports, and I was one of those guys. You could also tell who was not going to excel in the classroom; I was one of those guys too.” McGrath grew up an avid sports fan and competitor, with an ambition to play rugby professionally for the Sydney Roosters and then Australia. His plans were cut short by medical concerns before he could get properly started. “As it turned out, I ended up having a collapsed lung as a late teen, so my sporting career literally finished overnight.” “I had an operation. At the end of the operation, I asked the doctor how long before I could train again. He told me that I could probably walk in a couple of weeks and jog a few weeks after that... He said that I couldn’t play football again. I couldn’t do anything that could risk impact on my lungs.” This forced McGrath to take stock of his options, and re- evaluate where he could make a career for himself. At the time, he was selling cars, but he didn’t want to make that his entire life.
“I couldn’t play football, and I got a bad HSC mark because I didn’t really try that hard in the classroom. I was stuck with, “What do I do next?” So, I went to a careers advisory centre... I ended up settling on real estate.” Given his successes in the world of real estate, McGrath looks back on that moment and views it as an integral turning point that changed his life for the better, even if he struggled to see the bigger picture at the time. As fortune would have it, he was forced to take another career path. IT TOOK MCGRATH SIX MONTHS TO SELL HIS FIRST PROPERTY After working as a property manager for a number of years, a young McGrath decided that shifting agencies was necessary to fulfill his goal of becoming the best sales agent he could possibly be. But whilst he picked up momentum quickly as a property manager, it took a little longer to get going in the sales world. “I thought because I had great momentum in property management, I’d just do the same and I’d immediately build great momentum in sales. But it took me six months to sell my first property.” The slow progression felt counterintuitive to someone who was so used to being able to strong-arm his way into rapid career advancement. “After the first three months I was starting to lose confidence. I was starting to think that maybe I am too young, which my previous boss had said.” But his dedication and perseverance eventually paid off; after months of struggling, McGrath was able to secure his first sale. The significant was not lost on the young agent, as is evident by the fact that McGrath remembers the exact address of the property in question.
6 –October / November 2022
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