Service with a smile ... uh, er – Steill. Sure, it is a play on words (made you grin just a little, right?), but really it is the only way to capture the heartbeat and worldview of Justin Steill. Even a casual conversation with him reveals his commitment to making things happen for others, and along the way, great things happen – even selling houses.

Steill graduated from Purdue with a degree in supervision management. With no construction experience, Justin called Estridge Homes and brought a resume that basically said, “hard worker and willing to learn.” He was hired and became an assistant project manager. In a short time, Justin had his own community to finish developing. Upon reading the book, Rich Dad: Poor Dad, Steill developed a vision to expand his efforts. He sold his home and purchased a 10-unit building in Broad Ripple to renovate. Later, he began flipping houses as well along with the building of a rental portfolio. During the downturn of the economy, the business of flipping kept him going, but unlike the Property Brothers, Justin did not have the resources to take the business to the next level.

Justin was fortunate enough to join the Matt McLaughlin group – fully licensed and fully ready to absorb the mentoring that Matt would give. After a couple of years, he joined ERA (Mike Deck) and started working on building his own team. Today, his group – Sarah Moore, Katelyn Cohoat, Ky Irwin and Stacey Willis is uniting in a special effort to make Homes with Steill a high impact company. Last year, Justin produced $24 million, but it all starts with serving others.

Steill captures his philosophy by noting that it is important to help others first, and then when the time is right, they will remember you when trying to buy or sell a home. He mentions that there are many agents out there, so it is important to build a solid brand. People love to connect to the right people, so Justin and his team seek to build strong relationships based upon full and timely communication. “It is easy to chase the next and greatest thing in this industry,” quotes Justin, “but it is much more important to learn how to shut down and spend time with family.”

Justin and his wife, Lindsey, (the rock and glue of the family) recently celebrated 16 years of marriage. They have two boys, Cohen (age 11) and Leyton (age 9). Cohen loves to golf, swim and play basketball while Leyton enjoys tennis, swimming and any animal. The family loves to travel and take adventure trips. Whether it is cliff jumping in Missouri or Zip-Lining in Jamaica, the Steills are “all-in” to spend time together and explore creative memories. Often you can see the family on a par-3 course or enjoying the other families at their church. Recently, they scaled an active volcano in Guatemala where they roasted marshmallows at the top (not your average family activity)!

Guatemala has an even greater lure for Steill that he discovered on a vision trip. He now returns to sponsor children in attending school. Two previous campaigns raised 25K and 60K, and now Justin and others are working on a fundraiser called Imagine 1000 that seeks to purchase land and build a school building for 1000 families who need better education. Steill became inspired by the children when he noticed their insatiable desire to impact other people even though their resources were minimal.

Justin loves real estate work for similar reasons. It provides him with the opportunity to meet different kinds of people from various backgrounds and to help them make good decisions and to reach their goals. Many of his clients have become close friends. Amidst all the excitement, he notes that there are challenges too. In real estate, there is always something to do (anyone else feel that too?). His wife jokes that he has a condition of FOMO (fear of missing out), so he answers his phone a lot and is always focused upon work. His family is working with him on this, and the prognosis is looking great. Justin also notes that he learned early on to not try to figure out everything on his own and to not do everything his way. That teachable quality has changed the way that he does business.

Justin has sage advice for newer producers. He encourages them to find a team and someone to mentor them. He applauds those mentioned earlier for pouring into his life to mold him into the agent he is today. He also encourages them to learn the art of networking and to ask the question every day, “How many people did I talk with today about real estate?” To the seasoned producers, Justin encourages them to read new books and to stay on the cutting edge of technology.

It is not shocking that Justin Steill defines success as seeing other people succeed. He notes that he finds great fulfillment at the end of the day in knowing that he always strives to do the right thing. He really does not find problems in real estate – only challenges that bring great rewards when solved. He finds true joy in working with other professionals. For Steill, life starts with service, and from there, great things happen. The next time you are roasting a marshmallow on a volcano, think about serving others with Steill.