“Initially, I was lured into real estate because of the money I thought I could make,” says John Barnak III, designated managing broker at Real Brokerage. “Once I closed my first deal and realized how impactful what we do is for other people, my passion shifted to wanting to change people's lives.”

But John, who grew up in Aurora, Illinois, first dreamed of building bridges. So he pursued an associate’s degree in construction management while working as a technician in industrial manufacturing. John was one semester away from finishing his degree when his best friend's mom, a top-producing REALTORⓇ, asked him if he had ever thought about going into real estate. 

“She said that she thought I would be good at it because I work hard, learn quickly, and am good with people,” John says. “I wasn't sure about commission work, but she assured me that if I got my license, she would help me get started.”

Seeing the greater earning potential in real estate, John considered this abrupt change in his career path a simple economic decision. He dropped out of school and earned his license within three months. He worked part-time at the beginning, still pulling ten to twelve hours a day at the factory, but he was not seeing the results that he wanted. So after a few months, he decided to quit his factory job and focus solely on his new career. 

“I said to myself, ‘If I’m not good at real estate or don’t like it, I can always find another job. But if I am good at it, then it could be an opportunity to create the life I want for myself,’” he recalls. “So I jumped in full-time with barely any experience and some reservations.”

In the beginning, John found success hard to come by. He was in his mid-twenties, and he was struggling with real estate, piling up debt, and running out of options. At the time, he found it easier to blame others for his struggles than face his challenges head-on. Life came to his rescue when a friend recommended the personal development courses that would transform John’s outlook.

“The courses changed my life. Well, the reality is I changed my life, but it took that environment and the leadership there to help me do it,” John explains. “In short, I realized that when I take responsibility for my life, then I get to have a say in the way it goes. Seems simple, but for a long time I was not being responsible, and it showed everywhere.”

With this new approach, John started to see things click into place and improve—a trend that has continued to this day. He credits those first tough years with helping him to appreciate the successes of today.

Now, more than ten years into his career, John remains true to his passion for changing people’s lives. So for many years now John has expanded his impact by helping independent brokerages and teams.

“I’ve found that most agents live sale-to-sale: they either don’t have a business, or they don’t know how to grow their business,” says John. “Most can hardly make a significant impact on themselves, let alone on others. So over the last seven years, nearly 100 percent of my focus and attention has been on helping to improve agents' lives, careers, and businesses, and on bettering our industry.”

“As a single agent, [I saw that] I could impact maybe a few hundred people over my career,” he adds. “I believed that if I shifted my focus to making better agents, it could have an exponential impact.”

To this end, John’s firm offers unique strategies and resources to their agents and teams. Real Brokerage, which according to Business Wire is the fastest-growing publicly traded brokerage, is attracting some of the best talent. The mission is to make their agents' lives better by providing them with better opportunities. 

“It’s important to find the right people and mentors to help you achieve your goals,” says John. “If you can go on the journey with others, that makes it all way more fun and worthwhile.”

When not collaborating with clients and other REALTORSⓇ, John pursues his passion for baseball by attending Cubs games with his fiancée, Katie; their nine-month-old daughter, Evelyn; and other family. John played throughout childhood and into adulthood, even winning some state titles and placing in global tournaments for recreational softball. 

Looking forward, John is as excited as ever to influence and inspire others to succeed in the career that came to him out of left field. 

“I love making a difference and seeing others around me win,” states John. “Real estate has become an amazing catalyst for me to help people.”