Before starting his real estate career seven years ago, Wayne McDonald had been in sales for over 25 years, predominantly in the food industry. Having been self-employed for over 20 of those years, he likes his independence. What attracted Wayne to real estate is his enjoyment of working with people and his long-time interest in visiting open houses and observing how Realtors® work with potential clients. He thought that he could do it himself. While initially working the business part-time, he was so impressed with another agent’s engaging, sincere and honest approach that it convinced Wayne to pursue the business full-time. He has a lot of experience working with people, especially in gaining their trust. Wayne always holds himself to a high standard of professionalism. For Wayne, client relationships are about building trust, which he knows to be about reading people and being cognizant of their body language and facial expressions. His advice to those getting into the business is: 1. you’re on your own no matter what, 2.You have to build your business, as not all clients materialize from thin air. From his experience family and friends aren’t the best sources of clients and he has more success with complete strangers. Contrary to the belief of some that clients like to deal with those their own age, Wayne’s clients tend to be younger than himself; 25-45 years of age. He suspects this could be due to a combination of being viewed as knowledgeable, a father figure, and pointing out the pros and cons of homes and his relationship building skills. His clients, for the most part, turn into personal long-term relationships. For example, after Wayne’s last closing his young clients invited Wayne and his wife for dinner to celebrate their new home purchase!