An Interview with Barry Grooms: 2020 President of Florida REALTORS®

An Interview with Barry Grooms: 2020 President of Florida REALTORS®

For the first time in 74 years, a member of our area’s REALTOR® Association will serve as President of Florida REALTORS®. When Barry Grooms, Co-Owner of SaraBay Suncoast Realty, Inc., walks into a room, his passion for the industry is evident. His knowledge and charisma are the backbone to his humble success. We sat down with Grooms to hear his story and learn his goal to support the REALTOR® Nation in 2020.

RASM: HOW DID YOU GET STARTED? DID YOU EVER THINK YOU’D BE PRESIDENT OF FLORIDA REALTORS®?

Barry: My journey began very early in the business. After selling a successful business, I found myself too young to retire. With several friends in the real esate industry, I decided to get my license and started working with Bob Rotondo. On my second day in his office, he encouraged me to come to a meeting at the Manatee Association of REALTORS® (MAR). There were about 60 people in the room, many of whom I identified as very successful icons in the industry. And I realized that these people were now my peers.

After the meeting, Bob marched me into the Association Executive’s office and stated: “I want Barry to serve on the Grievance Committee, because otherwise he’s going to end up in front of it one day.”

And that was it! I became a committee member that day and I realized that all those successful industry icons I just met were also the people filling up committee meeting rooms. That’s when I understood that I have a debt of gratitude and time to give back. I have been given much in my previous career, and likewise in my real estate career, and I felt very obligated to give back. From that day forward, I served and chaired on every committee at MAR (and later, RASM).

At a Florida REALTORS® convention, as a new FR Director, I was listening to Chuck Bonfiglio give a speech which stuck with me to this day. Chuck said, “This is the beginning of history. History is being made today. Whatever you do today will not be good enough for tomorrow. Today’s home run will not win tomorrow’s baseball game.”

After that, I started to serve on FR committees. I looked for opportunities that would benefit my business and what seemed like the most fun. And then I was asked to serve on committees that were outside of my immediate comfort zone.

I never started this journey thinking that I would be president of Florida REALTORS®. I always wondered if this position was driven by ego. It absolutely isn’t. With the help of my peers, my skill set, and my business being in the place that it is, I realized this was my time to take on the role. This was my time to give back. This was never part of my strategic plan or a desire to rule the world one day. I believe in faith, and that God sets a plan for us, and I believe that this is part of His plan for me.

Courtesy of Florida REALTORS®

RASM: YOU’RE A STRONG SUPPORTER OF THE REALTOR® PARTY. WHEN DID IT CLICK FOR YOU THAT THIS WAS IMPORTANT?

Barry: Early in my career we had a sign ordinance issue arise. I had just bought several expensive signs for Anna Maria Island that followed my company’s rules. As a young Realtor®, I was especially proud to have my name on these signs. One week later, Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key signed an ordinance that literally made my signs illegal. I thought, “How can they do this?”

When I asked the question ‘why?’, I didn’t get any answers until I asked the local Manatee Association Executive at the time, MaryKay Brickey. We found out that we were not alone in this issue, it was happening across the state of Florida. At the time, the Board’s action was able to reverse the ordinance before it passed.

I thought, ‘How does this work? Is it through our dues?’ No, it’s not. I found out that it’s through the PAC. And at that point, I became a $99 investor. No rogue legislation, laws or people would come after me and harm my business.

So now as the owner of my company, my investment provides a safe environment for me to operate my business the way we want to, and my agents know that they can protect private property rights for their customers.

Ever since that moment, I’ve been a strong supporter of RPAC, and I am now a Golden R Major Investor in the President’s Circle. And this year, I will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. We are the policy makers, not the government.

RASM: TELL US ABOUT YOUR 2020 VISION AS PRESIDENT.

Barry: The leadership team has a vision, and that is to solidify what President Christine Hansen and Eric Sain already started. My job is to be a leader who is successful at making others successful. We are focused on growth, not goals. We shouldn’t have our own goals, we should be focused on fulfilling the goals set forth in the Strategic Plan and work within those confines.

At Florida REALTORS®, we believe we are ONE Realtor® Nation, with everyone having a role in it. No matter what your background, ethnicity, business, discipline or beliefs, we can be better, faster and stronger at everything we do. And we need to check ourselves and be accountable to each other, so we remain focused at being better, faster and stronger.

RASM: HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF REALTOR® ASSOCIATIONS AT THE NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL?

Barry: Like consumer-based groups across the country, we need to be more customer centric and service driven. Large associations will need to be more nimble and our challenges today will be the same challenges we face in the future. The Realtor® will still be at the center of the transaction. But, I don’t find the glamorous and competitive tools that give us an edge over our competition to be the most important. I believe that relationships will be the most important thing, along with customer service and professionalism. Professionalism will be the crux of what makes or breaks us as an association.

We won’t need to be concerned with things like Zillow and other technologies that take the Realtor® out of the picture. Rich, deep relationships are what matter. We need be focused on customer service and relationships, and not the sales pitches. What we do and say will be public knowledge more than ever before. What will people say about you?

If we’re not delivering professionalism at the association level, then we’re missing the boat. We need to focus on the member experience, not just the member product. We need to reach everyone with the best customer service so that for the majority, our association stands out as the ONLY association.

RASM: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU WANT ALL MEMBERS TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY?

Barry: This is not a business of selling homes or making a bunch of money. This is a human business and we need to take it seriously. Don’t get caught up in the hype. We are working with real people with real needs. We aren’t just the ambassadors of our community; we are the architects. We are the economic development. We are the policy makers. We are shaping our communities every day whether we realize it or not. Our industry is much bigger than what people perceive to be.

What we do matters, every day, and we can never lose sight of that.