Texas REALTORS® Chairman Jef Conn believes in your unlimited potential. He wants you to seek out a mentor or leadership program to learn from longtime practitioners. He wants you to join a committee—any committee—and gain as much knowledge as you can. Most importantly, he wants you to expand your idea of what’s possible.

Why? Because he knows that there’s room for success for everybody. “You may not be one of those agents doing $100 million in sales a year, but you could get there,” he says. “It’s all a learning process. There are limitless opportunities for you to be successful.”

Conn believes in his own potential, too. If he wants it and works hard enough toward it, he believes he can achieve it. That’s not unearned confidence, he clarifies. It stems from his type-A personality and abundance mindset.

That attitude has been the secret to his success. Conn won the William C. Jennings Award for commercial transaction of the year in 2016. He was a Texas REALTOR® to Watch in 2017, the same year he served as president of the Lubbock Association of REALTORS®. The Lubbock association named him REALTOR® of the Year in 2018.

Now, at age 37, Conn is the youngest chairman in Texas REALTORS® history. And don’t get him wrong: the leadership roles and recognition are great. But the awards, the accolades, and the accomplishments are not what drives him.

“I’m motivated to find out how far I can go,” he says. “I don’t put limitations on how much I should sell, or how big I can grow the business, or how much we can innovate. And I feel that way about the people around me, too. I always encourage them.”

Commercial Real Estate—a Perfect Fit

Conn started his real estate career on May 15, 2007. He was intrigued by real estate conversations with his friend, who was working as an assistant to a commercial broker. He liked what he heard and got his real estate license.

Commercial real estate—specifically office and industrial—was a good fit for him. Conn’s a numbers guy, so commercial’s returns on investment and dollars per square foot appealed to him. Plus, the commercial sector typically sticks to regular business hours.

He went to work for Coldwell Banker Commercial in Lubbock. Dwight Thomason, the firm’s broker who specialized in industrial, took him under his wing. The first property Conn ever sold was a red metal barn in Plainview. “Dwight asked me if I wanted to handle it,” he remembers. “We had these interactions with the client, and I had no idea what I was doing. I am so grateful he was there every step of the way. I had to say, ‘Let me get back to you,’ a lot. It was a great learning experience.”

Those early years taught Conn the importance of nurturing personal relationships. “It’s about checking in when they don’t need something,” he says. “It’s about being a sounding board even when there’s no transaction going on. It allows me to become my clients’ go-to person in the real estate world.”

Repeat business is an essential component of Conn’s business strategy. That long-term lease or initial property use may not stay the same forever, he reasons. Several years down the line, when those clients have real estate needs, they will remember him.

“I talk with my clients a lot. I try to have three meetings a day. When there’s a gap, I might stop by a former client’s unannounced and chat. I may say, ‘Show me the warehouse. What are you seeing out there in the market?’ During COVID, the issue was the supply chains. Now it’s whether you have enough employees. I ask, ‘What are the pain points?’”

The people are Conn’s favorite part of commercial real estate. He loves working with salt-of-the-earth folks, the kind of people who wear their name on their shirt. “Industrial is not the sexy type of real estate,” Conn jokes. “It’s dirty. It’s hot. You’re opening overhead doors. Sometimes you’re walking past hazardous materials. When I got into it, there weren’t many people doing that work. But I stuck there. In industrial—as well as office—the people you meet are just so nice. Plus, I get to see how the widgets are made for the oil and gas economies as well as agriculture. That’s so interesting.”

Sixteen years later, Conn remains with Coldwell Banker Commercial. “I’m proud of the consistency,” he says. “I didn’t jump around. We have a great team we built here and we have respect for each other.”

He is constantly learning and growing in his profession. Conn got his Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation in 2010. He then earned the Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® (SIOR) designation in 2018; that really opened doors for him.

“I’ll get calls saying, ‘We see you have this designation.’ I’ve worked with Tesla and Amazon. These companies have national brokers. I’ll get very prominent clients, but also a milk factory that you’d only know if you were in the industry. The designation really builds your reputation. In my market, there may be 25 CCIMs, but only three or four SIORs. The list gets a lot smaller.”

More Than Enough to Go Around

Conn is a big believer in lifting others up. In his chairman installation speech, he told members to speak up when they see something positive in their workplace, association, and industry.

“I believe there’s more than enough to go around for everybody,” he says. “I’m about abundance and not scarcity. Gratitude, not negativity. Lifting people up is more fun. I want to promote volunteering and leadership as an uplifting and beneficial experience. I want to hear people say that their year in leadership was the best, not that they’re glad it’s done and they don’t want to do that again.”

Just because he’s convinced of his potential doesn’t mean he never doubts his abilities. “I feel like I’m constantly in this cycle of I made it and I’m a total imposter, you know? I have the confidence and I’ve done the classwork. I know what I’m supposed to know. Every deal adds to my knowledge and skill levels. I alternate between being humbled and blessed, and thinking, Just wait until what happens at the next meeting.”

He had heard some REALTORS® say you couldn’t be successful in association leadership and business at the same time; the business would suffer. When he got into leadership, though, he took it as a personal challenge to prove that idea wrong. “It is possible to close a deal and then show up to the board meeting,” he asserts. “The two are not mutually exclusive.”

Conn graduated from NAR’s Leadership Academy in 2019. “I stay involved and made lasting relationships with my fellow graduates,” he says. “I speak with them every day. They’re not only great friends, but if I need to talk through something, I can reach out.”

Volunteering Benefits Business

Conn first got involved in volunteering for the REALTOR® association by serving on the commercial committee of his local association. He started making connections in his market.

After a while, Conn attended state meetings and signed up for committees. “I really enjoyed the process,” he says. “I was surrounded by very talented people. The staff were so helpful and guided us. I kept enjoying the relationships and continued to serve and just kept coming back.”

Conn has also been active with the Young Professionals Network. “The group is inclusive, friendly, and fun, and it’s a great entrance into what service is at the local, state, and national levels,” he says. “That was the best thing for me. I was with some very successful agents, and they helped challenge me.” It also taught him how to serve as a volunteer leader while honing his craft and taking care of his business.

Conn went on to serve on the YPN Advisory Board at the national level. Getting involved with NAR was a whole other level for Conn. “There are hundreds of different ways you can serve,” he says.

Volunteering also taught him a lot about running his real estate business. “I’ve learned more about marketing and building relationships,” he says. “When I go to meetings, it’s like a family reunion. You shouldn’t just see these people a few times a year. You need to call and make the connections. Follow their social media. Everyone knows something you don’t. Everyone is smarter than you in something. What are they doing differently? Volunteering has improved my business.”

While serving with NAR, he worked on communications, including NAR’s “That’s Who We R” campaign, and that taught him about the consumer side of marketing. Conn enjoyed his experiences learning about NAR’s finances while on the NAR Finance Committee. He currently serves on the Real Property Operations Committee, which handles the association’s commercial properties.

Looking Ahead with Optimism

Conn’s first priority for 2024? “Don’t screw it up,” he says, laughing.

He isn’t worried. Conn is excited to work with the talented 2024 Leadership Team: Chairman-Elect Christy Gessler, Secretary/Treasurer Jennifer Wauhob, Immediate Past Chairman Marcus Phipps, and President/CEO Travis Kessler. “We are a team,” he says. “The members are our entire focus. It’s a great environment, and the members will be well-served.”

This year will have its share of challenges. Late last year, Texas REALTORS® was named in two lawsuits, QJ Team et al v Texas Association of Realtors et al and Martin et al v Texas Association of Realtors et al. Conn sees an opportunity to be a great communicator for the association, ensuring the association communicates and explains what is going on to members.

He hopes communication will go both ways. Conn feels it’s important to have a commercial point of view at the table. “There’s fewer of us commercial members and we’re not always involved in leadership,” he explains. “We kind of keep to ourselves. When there is someone in leadership, commercial practitioners may feel comfortable enough to call if they have a question. They know I’ll understand.”

Conn hopes to bring his positivity and enthusiasm to everything he does this year. “So often we encourage people to say something when something’s wrong,” he notes. “But then we don’t share the positive thoughts. We don’t take that extra step. I remember that when I received a compliment on my work—especially when I was just starting out—it made me feel like a million bucks. We’re all busy and stressed. If we take the time to share a kind word and gratitude, it opens doors and builds relationships.”

Conn is ready to work for you and this industry. But he wants your help. “We all can do bigger and better things,” he says. “We all can be better together. I see the best in people. I’m always looking for the good things.”