Signs that Tylan Tough was meant to be a PropertyGuys.com franchisee were everywhere.
“It was when my neighbor mentioned using them in Kitchener to sell their home that I started noticing the PropertyGuys.com signs,” Tough says. “At first, I thought it was just another traditional real-estate agency.”
That’s until halfway through completing her real estate course, the 24-year-old discovered PropertyGuys.com connected buyers and sellers directly. Coming from a small town in British Columbia, Tough thought the idea of giving homeowner’s across Canada the reigns to sell on their own was revolutionary!
So that day, she powered up her computer, headed to the franchise website, and clicked on a button that read ‘do you have questions about a franchise?’ In a matter of minutes, “I received a response from Home Office in Moncton,” says Tough. Two weeks later, she was boarding a flight to the East Coast, on route for training to become a PropertyGuys.com franchisee.
For the aspiring real-estate agent, joining the nation’s largest private sales network was almost too good to be true.
Which is why she had some doubts at first. Was she ready to undergo the company’s training so soon? Was she prepared enough to start a new business venture with no prior experience?
“But there were all these signs pointing me in the right direction,” Tough recalls. Such as when she met the team. “The passion I felt from the company was amazing,” says Tough. And when she was setting up her home office in North Bay, “All my computer desks, printers and furniture fit within an inch.”
And perhaps the biggest sign of all, flashing in huge, neon letters, was the career itself. Being a PropertyGuys.com franchisee ticked off all the right boxes. Tough never had to, and still doesn’t have to, make any trade-offs.
That’s quite unlike her previous positions. When she was a draftsperson, for example, she got to work at a computer, but had to sacrifice a flexible work schedule. Or when she was a waitress, she got to work on her feet and engage with customers, but there were no opportunities to sit at a desk and work on a computer too.
With PropertyGuys.com, Tough gets the best of both worlds and more. “I get the desk work and I get to answer people’s questions, which I enjoy,” says Tough. “Then there are days that I don’t have to sit at my desk at all, and get to go out and be the face of the company. To top it off, I get to prove to people that they can sell their home on their own.”
Building Character
In broad strokes, PropertyGuys.com has given Tylan a career that is flexible, relatable and rewarding.
It’s also given her some fundamental character-building experiences.
Since starting last year, Tough has grown tenacious and (as her last name implies) tough too with various customer encounters strengthening those key qualities.“My fiancé can’t understand how I can call people over and over even after I hear ‘no’ so many times.”
But Tough never lets anything derail her from her goal. Not when she gets overlooked by people for her age or for not taking the conventional real-estate route. Rather she sticks to what she’s set out to do: educate buyers and sellers, giving them the right information needed to make the most informed decision possible.
Sometimes that means people hang up on her. Other times, it’s an opportunity to take the weight off a home owner’s shoulders.
Which in turn has shaped her into who she is today – a franchisee that gives people the benefit of the doubt, reaches out first and makes connections with almost anybody.
She’s got thicker skin too. Wading through her fair share of skepticism for being too young, it’s those abilities she draws upon the most to help her clients successfully sell their homes, time and time again.
Building Community
Long before Tough built a formidable career, she grew up in a home with not much in the way of money. While those days are far behind her, giving back remains at the centerpiece of both her career and life.
Outside of PropertyGuys.com, Tough volunteers for Meals on Wheels to feed seniors and people with disabilities in her community, twice a week.
But as a business owner, she makes it a point to contribute to the community every day: “When I go into a house and there is someone who is really stuck financially, my biggest reward is saying to that person ‘that’s ok, I can help.'”
Whether that means offering them a free listing or some words of encouragement, Tough knows she wouldn’t be in a position to do this if she wasn’t her own boss. “When a homeowner calls me and is so thrilled that they’ve gotten an offer on their home without using an agent, it is amazing! It reaffirms that I’m in the right space and it brings me to tears most days just knowing that I’ve had such a positive impact on someone’s life.”
Run your fingers down the list of all the reasons to be a PropertyGuys.com franchisee and for Tough this one would be circled in red ink: a role that makes it easy to add to the lives of the people in her community. If she needed any more signs that her decision to click on the ‘franchise with PropertyGuys.com’ button was the right one that would surely be it.
By Trisha Utomi