The Cost of Staying Comfortable

For one Sarnia REALTOR^®, the decision to change brokerages started with a single question: was staying where she was helping her build the business she actually wanted?

Four years into her real estate career, Madelyn Best had already built a solid foundation. She knew the Sarnia-Lambton market, had an established client base and had become known for the kind of community involvement that matters deeply to her. She serves on local boards and committees, supports local businesses and has always believed her work as a REALTOR^® should extend beyond a single transaction.

But despite the hours she was putting in, her business had started to feel inconsistent.

“I thought I was doing the work. I was overworking myself, but I wasn’t getting the outcome I was hoping for,” Madelyn recalls.

That realization forced Madelyn to look more closely at what she wanted the next stage of her career to look like. She wasn’t looking to start over, and changing brokerages wasn’t something she took lightly. She had spent years building relationships, developing routines and growing her business, so the idea of changing course felt daunting.

Still, she had begun asking herself a harder question: was staying somewhere familiar actually helping her get where she wanted to go?

What changed things was seeing another kind of brokerage environment up close. Through a local committee, Madelyn had developed a friendship with an agent at Coldwell Banker Southwest Realty, and over time she started hearing more about the brokerage’s events, collaboration and community involvement. Those things stood out because they reflected how she already wanted to work.

“I wanted to be with a brokerage that aligned with my personal values and my business values,” she explains.

There was some hesitation. Madelyn saw a group of successful agents around her and admitted that was intimidating at first. But instead of seeing that success as a reason not to make the move, she eventually started to see it as part of the reason to do it.

“If I wanted to be where I wanted to be, and where these other people were, I needed to treat my business like I was already successful,” she says.

A Better Way to Work

Once she made the move, one of the biggest differences was how much less she felt she had to figure out on her own.

Coldwell Banker Southwest Realty had a structured onboarding process, administrative support, marketing resources and people available to help when questions came up. For someone who had become used to handling so many par

ts of the business herself, that support was noticeable almost immediately.

She points to practical things like an in-house photographer, brokerage-led events, marketing materials and administrative support. But what stood out most was having a team that could take care of many of the details behind the 

scenes, giving her more time to focus on clients, relationships and growing her business.

That support changed the way she thought about what a brokerage could contribute. It wasn’t simply about having access to more resources. It was about having people around her who could help make the business run more smoothly.

At the same time, she began looking more critically at how she was running her business.

Through accountability programs and annual business planning, Madelyn began taking a more structured approach to her business, paying closer attention to where her leads were coming from, how she was spending her time and which activities were creating the strongest results.

One of the things she has valued most is being able to learn from other agents and see those strategies in action. At a brokerage event, Madelyn pointed out an agent she admired and described her as a superstar. The response stuck with her: many of the things that agent was doing successfully were the same practices Madelyn was now being taught to build into her own business.

“That kicked my butt,” Madelyn adds. “I realized I hadn’t been taught the things that successful people were doing.”

For Madelyn, that moment wasn’t discouraging. It was motivating. It gave her a clearer picture of what consistency, planning and accountability could look like in practice, and helped her start approaching her business with more intention.

That prompted a shift. Madelyn began forecasting more, budgeting more carefully, leaning further into her database and looking more closely at the return on the activities filling her calendar.

That support also extends beyond her local brokerage. As part of the broader Coldwell Banker Canada network, Madelyn has access to national brand resources, marketing tools and connections with agents in across Canada, giving her another layer of support as she continues to grow.

What Changed After the Move

Today, Madelyn describes her business very differently. It’s more organized, more intentional and growing, and she says she has earned more than at any previous point in her real estate career. She also feels more confident in how she serves clients and more deliberate about where she wants to take her business next.

Madelyn is quick to point out that the results still come from doing the work. What has changed is the environment around that work. With stronger planning, accountability, resources and support in place, she feels better equipped to focus her time where it matters most.

“I’m constantly learning, which makes me better able to serve my clients,” she says. “And I have more resources, so I’m able to serve more people.”

For Madelyn, that has been one of the biggest benefits of the move. The right brokerage doesn’t replace the effort it takes to build a successful real estate business, but it can make that effort more focused, more supported and, ultimately, more effective.

There’s also been a part of the move she didn’t fully expect.

She found a stronger sense of community within the business itself.

Madelyn talks about agents sharing ideas, presentations and resources, about being able to walk into someone’s office with a question and about developing genuine friendships with people she may not otherwise have met. She has connected with agents in other markets and found a level of resource-sharing she values.

That sense of connection has also extended beyond her brokerage. Madelyn says Coldwell Banker Canada’s head office has felt accessible and engaged, and she points to meeting members of the leadership team at local events and knowing there are people at the national level she can reach out to for support and guidance.

For her, that connection helps make a national and global network feel much more personal.

“I genuinely feel like I’m at home,” Madelyn expressed. “I feel like I belong.”

Knowing When It’s Time

These days, Madelyn finds herself having the same conversation with other established REALTORS^® who are thinking about changing bro

kerages but are nervous about disrupting what they’ve already built.

Her advice isn’t to change for the sake of changing. It’s to look hard at whether the environment you’re in is still helping you build the business you want.

“Don’t stay because it’s comfortable and you’re afraid to start over,” she advises. “Ask yourself whether the environment you’re in is going to help you get where you want to go.”

For Madelyn, 

making a change meant getting uncomfortable for a while. It also meant surrounding herself with people, systems and support that pushed her to rethink how she was working and where she wanted to take her business next.

Looking back, she’s glad she made the move. Her only regret is waiting as long as she did.

To learn more about joining the Coldwell Banker Canada network, visit https://coldwellbanker.ca/careers