KGCI: Real Estate on Air - How One Bold Move Transformed Everything for Clarke Broome

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

Hello, everybody. It's Marguerite Cruscollo, and it is time for real estate real world. And I'm super honored to have my next guest here today on our show because when I first got into real estate, like literally the first week I got into real estate, I think, I met his mom. And his mom who was quite an enigma in the real estate industry, everybody knew her. She was quite an amazing woman and such a role model at a time when, truthfully, not as many women were doing what she was doing and what she accomplished. So today we have a special guest, Clark Broome, a leading figure in real estate, consistently ranked top three in sales volume and number one in GCI in Sacramento and Placer County. He's a co-founder of a successful real estate

firm. He secured Northern California rights to a renowned franchise with a knack for innovation. Clark pioneered e-commerce ventures, leading a global organization of thousands, teaming up with industry leaders. He's collectively sold hundreds of homes annually and surpasses 4,000 homes sold. As a CEO and board member, he's highly regarded in business circles, contributing to both local and international communities. Despite his professional success, he cherishes his family above all else, residing in Northern California with his beautiful wife of 46 years, Diana, their three daughters and grandchildren. Clark's journey exemplifies visionary leadership and excellence in both professional and in personal realms. Welcome, welcome to our show.

Thank you very much. It's a real pleasure to be here, Marguerite. And I think you actually shared at a reception at your house a couple of years ago about my mom, which I thought was absolutely phenomenal, that you were at prudential real estate, I believe at the time. And she was there and helped and mentored you. And that was just really special. And that your husband, Joey, was actually one of my older brothers, best friends in high school. So I know. All interconnected. And what I remember most about your mom is, I don't know how tall she was.

Was she maybe five feet one or something? Yeah, it was very tall. And she was always dressed to the nine. Like literally, I don't think when I've ever met somebody who every time you saw her, she was dressed perfectly from top to bottom, hair done, makeup done, jewelry, always on point. Everything, shoes matched, like something that we don't see a whole lot of anymore these days. No, she was quite the fashion. She worked actually way prior to the real estate industry.

She actually worked for Neiman Marcus in Paris fashions and so forth. We've traveled to Paris. And then she also held a beauty contests, you know, where, and I was actually as a toddler, one of the contestants on the beauty contest, model as a toddler. So that's something way back in my past. And then in her 20s, she actually started the very first boutique in Beverly Hills. So a lot of background and fashion and just go-getter lady. I think I get a lot of my drive and determination, certainly from her.

Oh, yeah, she was a hustler, no doubt. I remember talking to her one day in the hallway and asking her about something. And she goes, you'll figure it out. You're a smart young lady. That sounds like that. Yeah. And I just remember she was always so kind and so well respected. I think reputation is so important in this industry.

and she always had an extraordinary reputation. Yeah, she always gave too. She was very philanthropic. She was president of Suroptimus. She was first lady board president, I believe, with Placer County Association of Realtors, was very heavily involved in all sorts of committees. In the local city she worked in was Rockland.

She was part of the Jubilee, a committee that always put on the Jubilee, just everything. She loved to entertain. She loved people. And just an amazing example. So interestingly enough, because she was in real estate, is that how you got into real estate? Tell us about your background.

Yeah, yes and no. At the time, she was really tearing it up in real estate. And as you mentioned, it was a man's world back then. So she had to deal with a lot of, because she outproduced pretty much everybody. And she had to deal with all that back in that day. And she just really paved the way for a lot of women. And at the time, I was fairly young. and it was 19 living at home, and I resisted real estate. I saw how many hours she was putting in,

and she was always there at the important time. She was just an amazing mom. But I don't know if you know her little bit of her background, but my father was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver when I was 12 years old, and that was in the late 60s. And my mom had just started real estate, I think a year or so before that. And so she raised all six children, all six of us. On real estate income, she never remarried. And during that time, I resisted it. And then I got married, had a child. And I realized what I was doing at the time. I had a good hourly income. And but I looked at people who were there five or ten years longer and decided that wasn't for me. And at the time, real estate was doing really well. It was in the late 70s. And it was like 77,

I think is when I got my license. And so I just went ahead, went to Anthony's School of Relelet. estate back then, got my license, and jumped 100% into it, starved for the first year. Fortunately, my mom took us out to dinner a lot. I think she wanted to see the grandchild. And so we didn't actually starve, but it was tight. And but after that, I started doubling my income every year. And about five years into the process, and I discovered that there's only one of me. And I could only work so many hours. And it wasn't very good on my family, working 12, for cameras a day, as many of us do in the real estate industry, pretty much 24-7 and residential real estate. And I decided to take the next step. And the next step was to own a company. That was a

logical step back then. So I went ahead and me and a few other partners, got the Northern California rights to a popular franchise back then. And we jumped 100% into it. And the challenge was, is now 50% of my time was spent managing, which does not produce income. Sure, we can help the agents and everything, I discovered I was making less than it was in my own production. And of course, this was many years ago. We didn't have teams. We didn't have the technology that we do today and so forth. And so that was pretty eye-opener. We kept that office going for a few years and realized why they called it broker, because we were getting broker. And so I went back to the company that I originally started with and was able to work with my mom there.

It's interesting because so many people follow that same path. I did the same thing, right? I worked for about a year of Prudential and then I thought I knew all that in a bag of chips, right? So I thought, oh, the next thing to do is to go open your own brokerage. And you think that's the logical thing. You think that your broker is making a ton of money. And then you start to realize pretty quickly in that if you are committing all of your time to managing, that's taking away from production.

And what I quickly figured out is that I was the biggest producer at my company. And so if you took my production out of the equation, it was not making financial sense. It really never did. But you can't convince anybody of that in the moment because people's egos are so big. And I had a big one. Yeah. And it's interesting now because with the world changing so much since you and I have been in this business, that it's really fascinating to me that people still get so caught up in that and they still

really feel committed that they can build a better mouse trap. Yeah. And how has that really impacted some of the decisions you've made? I discovered that at least the business model back in that day, when I was working full-time real estate, owned the real estate company, there was really no freedom to it. The thing with offices back then, if you, because we were planning to open up a second office and I figured out the numbers and you really have to go to 10 offices to really generate any kind of profit. And then the liability and then the capital outlay, obviously the

agent liability and so forth, it just didn't make any sense. And actually at the time I diversified into a business that a friend of mine shared with me who actually had the number one office in Roseville at the time, sat down with me and shared a way that I could develop some passive income. And while working full-time real estate, I work part-time on a second business and started developing some pretty decent passive income and got to a point where I didn't have to be on the real estate treadmill as much anymore. And it's interesting to me because, again, these cycles recur in real estate where people think that it makes sense to do this and the sense to do that. And the most difficult day I think of my career, but in hindsight, the best day ever was the day we shut down a brokerage.

At the time, it was horrible, right? Like it was 22 years building a brokerage and we were devastated to close it down. But in hindsight, it was the best decision ever. And I only wish we had done it sooner. But you can't convince people when they're in the middle of it. We shut our company down in January of 2015, and we've now been with EXP eight years, which has been the best decision. Yeah. Yeah.

And then what I saw, too, is that so we shut down the brokerage, and we had a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in that, as you did. And it was a difficult time, but I knew it was a right decision to make for my family and my future. And so we developed that passive income. We lived a really nice lifestyle. I'll still do. And then I was exposed to EXP, which is interesting because of my background in networking and my background in building organizations around the world because we built a business in all 50 states and 31 countries and territories in another business. I saw that the experience I gained doing that and the ability that had the freedom of time, money, and location in that process,

I looked at the real estate business. My heart's always been in a real estate business. I always kept my license, always did transactions on a yearly basis, mainly for family and friends and my own purchases. And I saw that what I learned in past was a perfect marriage to this particular business model, because it does give somebody like yourself. You've experienced it. I'm not quite where you are in the journey, but I'm working towards it. And the ability to where my heart is, And what I experienced in decades of building ongoing income and on growing income and having that freedom, I saw the opportunity with this business model to really offer that to agents, something that they've never had the opportunity before.

They may have been shared it, but when they really look at the bottom line and do a deep dive in it, it is pretty remarkable. And, of course, I've known Brent Gove ever since he was 19. and he's a guy I sat down with a few years ago at breakfast and looked at what he was doing and what he has taken his experience from our business years ago and put it into the organization he's built with the XP just blew my mind and I was so happy for him because he's such a good guy and he's the most generous person I know and will help you any other time and that opened my eyes up and I just think with my experience and everything that it's just a

marriage. The business experience of the past, along with this particular business model, which is truly innovative. And just amazing what we're able to do. Who has it that said it? Is it Warren Buffersome that residual income is the eighth wonder of the world? I don't remember you said that quote. Jay Paul Getty used to say, he said that I'd much rather have a 1% of 100 person's efforts than 100% of my own. And he was talking about communication. He was talking about, which of course, franchise has been around forever. And that's what they tried to do with franchising is offering selling franchising, offer people with business ownership, but then take a piece off the top and create that residual income.

And of course, there's fortunes of them made doing that. The beauty about what we do is that now we can do that. We can do the same thing that they did before under the umbrella of this business model and be able to really create an asset. And, you know, be able to create a business that truly gives you a freedom of time, location, and money. And I remember a long time here. It says success is being able to do what you want, when you want, with whom you want, any time you want, without the constraints of time and money.

That is the American dream. And we lived that for years and continue to do that. And now we can offer it. I think realtors are the hardest working people I've ever met. And they really care about their people. They really care about their clients. They care about the other agents. And this is just a wonderful opportunity for them.

So what do you think is the biggest reason that keeps, that holds agents back? It's some just either they can't see it or they're caught in their head or their ego. Like what, what do you think that is that keeps people from taking the time to look at this model, like genuinely out of curiosity? I think a lot of times it has to do with ego and that they're already producing. Maybe they're comfortable with where they're at. And maybe they don't change is difficult. I don't care how good change is.

It's difficult for people. And in sharing this opportunity with a lot of people, you're really looking for people who are looking for you. They see the opportunity. I just had a wonderful conversation with somebody at the office today. Very successful individual. And he was so ready to see it. And he looked at it and said, this is genius. It was just one of those appointments that made me one out of 30.

the appointment you have are like that. And it just reminded me that we're really not in a business of convincing people. We're really in a business of finding people that see the vision, to see this business, and see what it can do for them. And I believe this business will benefit everybody, any agent, but it may not be for every agent. And I think it is personally. They have to come to a point in time where they're open to it. So I'm sure you've heard this millions of times, especially with the previous industry you were in, is that it's a pyramid scheme. And how do you answer that? I love it.

Simply, I make a joke out of it sometimes. I say, if you want a pyramid, go to Egypt. And because it's really not that. If you look at any corporate structure, it is a pyramid structure. And the beauty about this business is that rather than feeding everything at the top, it's an inverse pyramid. We all like referral fees in real estate. Now you're getting a referral fee for real.

referring an agent. And so I look at it that way. Not only that, but pyramidalts that are illegal. They're, you know, pyramid schemes is what they're referring to. My goodness, we're traded on NASDAQ. You have to be perfectly clean to be on NASDAQ. So first thing I ask them, I just say, what makes you think it's a pyramid? What's your definition of a pyramid? I just ask them questions. And I think logically they come to the conclusion. Oh, yeah. They're just repeating what somebody else repeated to them probably. And, yeah, but once they really see it and see the tiered compensation, Keller Williams has been around forever. They've used a tiered compensation program. Many businesses do. If you look at a corporate structure, what's the chances of you being the

CEO of that company? You're always going to be feeding the top. In this, it's a reverse pyramid. We get fed first. And so it's pretty unique that way. It's interesting because I've heard a lot of stuff about EXP, but I've not heard the phrase tiered compensation plan. Yeah. And so I find that interesting. And so many agents have no problem collecting a referral fee, but for some reason, they'd feel that this is not just a referral fee. That's interesting. I think they may feel that way until they get it. And you get the referral fee changes their attitude. But it's really genius because it comes down to if you're going to contribute to building a company, you should get compensated for it. And so it's really compensation.

for contribution is really what it is. And so when you go out there and now you have a little bit of motivation to really share this wonderful opportunity with people and help them bring them in and you benefit from that. But they will always benefit more than you do. Because if you look at the tiered compensation program and I'm not going to go to the details of it, that agent is going to benefit more than you do. And the whole idea is if you help enough people get what they want, you get what you want. So it's really sowing into people.

It's because we don't become successful. until we help somebody else become successful. In fact, we actually spend a lot of money helping people and down the road in hopes of generating income from that at some point in time. The wonderful thing I've seen with this organization is a collaboration, people willing to help each other, even though they may not be in direct line for compensation for that. And that's the most amazing thing because the bottom line is we're all owners.

We all have stock in the company. We all own 70% I think that the figure is 70% of this company is owned by agents and staff at the company. What are the company like that exists like that? You know, it's interesting to me because when Joe and I saw it back eight years ago, I literally was 10 minutes in and I'm like, this makes sense. Yeah. I didn't even need to finish watching the whole presentation. I was like, this is ridiculous.

Like this completely makes sense. And what I've enjoyed even more lately, interestingly enough is because a whole bunch of us moved into an office in Roosevelt. And Clark actually right next door to me. Yeah. Yeah. We got the best neighbor. We got the best neighbor. We got we got great neighbors. And I've so enjoyed, I think we've had these last four years since COVID where people have been so secluded. And being in that office, it just lights me up. It like lights my soul up. And even I haven't been feeling good, but I've been dragging my hiding in there. And today I was sitting in my office working on a couple of things. And Steve

popped in. I'm going to have to get him on my podcast too because I love it. Oh, he's amazing. Yeah, I've done him. He was about 18. Yeah. He's quite an incredible human being. And he popped in to say hi something. And he goes, hey, by the way, I want to let you know. I spoke to somebody. I had lunch with them. And they're thinking about making a move to EXP, but she told me she'd been talking to you. And he goes, so you need to call her and talk to her. her. What other company would people be? Because he has no motivation or reason to refer her to me. And I was so touched. And then being in that office is just great to be around people like you and Steve and Jennifer and Gary and people that are really making a difference in the world. It's

inspiring to me. And I feel so grateful every day when I go in there. Yeah, I do too. The collaboration. I I think we're designed as people to be in association and fellowship with each other. And I think we can inspire each other. We help each other. I heard this a long time ago, I said the road to success is bumpy. But when we have each other, it smooths out. And I think that's really the truth. And I have the same experience.

I've had on different three-way calls and everything, people that aren't even associated with our particular organization, pouring their time into people that we're sharing it with. And that's amazing. And that's the way we should all operate. My mom always operated that way. And I was she was around because she would be a rock star in this because she was truly a connector with people. She loved people. She loved helping people. And that's really, I think, what we attract in this business. What we attract with this business model is people like that. It really genuinely is. And this is a EXP love fest at a moment. But it genuinely is a collaboration where people

are so willing to share. It's an abundance mindset that there's more than enough for everybody, right? Like, just because I get something that you don't get doesn't mean you're not going to get something better down the road and vice versa, right? Like, it's such an abundance mindset. People are so willing to share, there's more than enough for everybody. And I just don't know that every company sees things that way. I think that it all has to do with the culture. One of the things that impress me. I went to my very first event, which happened to be EXPCon. Actually, the first one was a surprise birthday party for Glenn Stamford. That's where I saw you and Joey. That was so great down at Neva. That was a fantastic day. What was amazing is that over 10 people there I knew personally.

And so I thought, I think God's telling me something. It was like one of those moments. And I just said, wow, these are the group of people I want to be around. And I've been in that culture in my other businesses and still am. And it's just being around people that truly are givers, they're truly care about other people and would literally give you a shirt off their back. And so I think it all has to do with the culture that this was developed by. I think it starts with Glenn Samford all the way. And of course, Brent and Kathy are just wonderful. And everybody that were associated with, I have that same mindset and help people. And yeah, I don't know why that doesn't exist other places. I think there's not, the culture is not there.

I think in some organizations, we tried to create that in our small little real estate company that we owned. But the challenge was people weren't generating ongoing income from the process. And I don't know. It's not that's what we're motivated. The agents my office didn't own it. I owned it. And I think when we're all owners together, that rising tide raises all ships, it changes the culture. It changes the mindset.

Because the better we do, the better the company does, the better we all. do. So those are ingredients that are involved in that. And in my other business, the same ingredients because it's all helping each other, help each other. And I've been in speaking around the world. Last time we spoke, I think was in Bangkok, Thailand, and the wonderful people there, because we're all owners in the business. We're all owners and the people there and just have synergy and people willing to help each other and just great environment. So what's the next for you? What are you most excited about that's coming up for you? What's excited about is building our business here.

And I think that I've had my real estate license for all these years. And I'm not as heavy in production. I'm really, I want to work on my business rather than in my business. I've been an entrepreneur all my life. And I have personal goals. And I think we're just beginning. I literally think as this model catches on and it is catching on, I can see the whole business model going to a million agents in 10 years.

And so I want my fair share of that. And I know you do too, Marguerite. And I know you already got a huge head start. And I just want to be around the people that build large organization-desk business because they're truly exceptional people. They're people you want to be around. Yeah, 100%. So last question before we wrap up.

What advice would you give your younger you? Younger you is that I would seek out the most successful person that I know. and sit down with them coffee and ask them to help me. And I actually had that happen. My mentor is a very good friend of mine, Jim Floor, and we're still close today. Jim and Margie in their 80s. And he reached down,

and I was really at no particular level in that business at the time, but he saw something in me and poured himself into me. And I'm the person I'm at today because of his advice and his friendship, along with many others, I just want to single him out because he's been truly my mentor all these years. And we still get together on an off on a regular basis. So my advice would be is get around the right people. Proximity is a key thing.

If you're the most successful person in the room, you're in the wrong room. In the wrong room. And I tell you, as successful as we've been, there's so many people more successful that we're able to get around. And that inspires me. During a pandemic, probably for a lot of us, I was sleeping in. I was getting a little complacent and all this kind of stuff. And then this came into my life.

And it just got my juice. Now I'm getting up at 4.35 every morning. You know what I mean? So, yeah, but it just gives me energy. My age, that energy is very important. So I think just that getting around that association, what's the old saying is that your income, your life, your marriage, your personal life, everything is going to be the average of the five people you hang around with.

I hear that all the time. And I'm always reminded really just. genuinely how true that is, especially when I get the opportunity to hang around some of these people. And I always walk away feeling inspired and excited and motivated to do something different or give back somehow or make an impact. Every single time that happens, that's how I feel. Yeah. And the other advice I would be, because it's all has to do with association, is I'd be a big student, be a student of this business, be a student of success. I get up two hours earlier before any appointments every morning and kind of do the miracle morning. And I've done that for many years. And it's just

getting your head right, getting the right input in your mind. And before I go to bed every night, I write down the six most important things by priority that I need to get done the next day. And then read and I, and myself, I pray, and I get ready. And your subconscious goes over that all night long. If you're watching news and all this stuff going on that's bad out there, you're not going to sleep very well probably. And you're going to wake up with anxiety. And so just be a student. I listen to at least a couple audios a day and podcasts. A lot of them are videos, but I'm in my car, so I'm just listening to them. We got a lot of resources for that. I read every single day. I don't miss any events. I'm at every single event because I know

what that does for me. It impacts me. And if I can impact people while I'm there with who we are, that's just a double win. Well, Clark, this has been an amazing conversation. And I feel so blessed to get to have you as my next door neighbor in the office and be able to have conversations with you on a regular basis about this. It's been a game changer for me being in the office and getting up and getting out and getting around people. And I've really been trying to encourage. And any of the local people in our area to get in there. Come on in, hang out. Just bring your laptop and sit on the couches and get some work then. You never know who you're going to run into, who you're going to be able to spend time with. And the same thing, wherever you are, like get up and get out.

Force yourself to get dressed, put your makeup on, brush your hair if you need to do, whatever, shower. But get out into the world because we are human beings that do need that energy. And so I'm super grateful for you being here today and we get to be neighbors. And I look forward to spend a lot more time with you in the future. Yeah. You and Joey are amazing people. And we feel honored to be a part of this. Thank you for inviting me on this podcast.

And I just so enjoy being around you. And yeah, so we've got great futures ahead. I think the future is what we've ever done in the past, I think is pale in comparison to what we're going to do in the future. And I truly believe that it's in my heart. And I know it is yours. And we're part of amazing movement and changing the face of real estate. What does Jean Frederick say? Making real estate fun again.

And I'm having fun. It's a blast. I'm having a blast. Well, thank you again, Clark. And thank you everybody for joining us today again on Real Estate World, where we get to talk to all the cool people. And we're here to answer any questions or help support you in any way possible. If you have questions or would like to reach either one of us, we'll make sure our information is available in the show notes.

Otherwise, go out and make it an amazing day and impact the world in only the way that you can.