BEHIND THE BRAND: MEET THE OWNERS OF H|G

Welcome to H|G Insider, your place for exclusive access to our brand, the voices behind it, and, of course, the tips and tricks that can make real estate work for you. In our first edition, we’re giving you special insight into the hearts of the women who own and operate The Heritage Group, Erica Bankston and Justina Johnson, as they answer your most asked questions in this candid interview.

The new headquarters of H|G is full of industrial elements that coalesce with soft-textured decor into something that feels totally modern and warm. The reception area is capped on one end by Erica’s office and by a meeting space on the other. Rooms throughout the office, in a stroke of design genius, feature floor to ceiling windowpane glass accented by custom, black steel. The conference room boasts an extra large table with steel chairs opposite the exposed brick wall and a view of the buzzing Heritage Community. This space served as the backdrop for our interview, and as both owners settled in across from me, they were all at once confident, stylish, and entirely welcoming.

Hailey: So, I think a great place to start is with a bit of formal introduction. Tell me a little about your backgrounds.

Erica: I grew up in a family of builders. My grandfather was a builder, my dad is a builder as well and actually built his first house at 15. Sweeping out houses was my very first job so I’ve been around building real estate my whole life. When I got married to my husband, Cody, we started an office supply business, so I became an entrepreneur in my early twenties. Starting H|G was a natural fit because it combines my love of business with my love of building real estate. I love it!

Justina: I have been in real estate for a little under ten years and had my broker’s license for about 8 years. I managed a brokerage in Fort Smith with several agents, and then made the decision to step into starting H|G with Erica. That was a little over a year ago and so far we’re building an incredible team!

H: The real estate company is starting to make sense with both of your histories and career backgrounds. What do you think makes your partnership work?

E: I really feel like we are a true partnership in that we do it all together. And that’s hard to find, you really don’t see it that often. We make decisions and manage together. We empower and encourage each other to do things that we haven’t felt comfortable doing in the past, and we know that we’ll figure it out together.

J: We are definitely very like-minded when it comes to the way we want things done and what we see as inspiration. The two of us tend to find similar things captivating and interesting, which makes joint decision making so much smoother.

H: Outside of your joint management and ownership, what roles do each of you fill within H|G?

J: I handle the real estate side, being the principal broker. I oversee all of the agents, brokers, real estate transactions, contracts, and really anything that falls into that category of oversight.

E: For me, marketing is my thing. I started a fitness company with my sister years back, and I found a love for marketing then. Ever since, the marketing mindset has been something I bring to the table in every conversation. How can you continue to grow, evolve, and up level your business/brand? In H|G, I fill that role of marketing, whether it be the company, the clients, the agents, or the houses themselves. Real estate is really all about marketing these days, and you need to know marketing to stay ahead.

J: And it’s very hard, in an industry that is so marketing-driven, to do it all. That’s why, if you’re smart, you’ll join a team who has people in place to help you get the job done. You need to bean amazing agent and real estate professional while having great social media presence and engagement. So, it pays to be on a team.

H: What was the motivation in starting a brokerage? Generally, businesses are born out of a recognition and solution of a problem. What problems does H|G provide solutions for?

J: We absolutely saw a gap between where real estate is going, as far as marketing and social media is concerned, and the preparedness of individual agents. It’s a lot to be doing both sides really well and like I said before, you really need a team. We also wanted to create a place where agents could know that they were just as important to us as clients, that we see them as equal value holders. And so much of what we do in equipping our agents with the tools they need is to show them the value we see in them, so that they can then pass that concierge experience onto their clients. We’ve created a space where we can truly do both: take really good care of our agents and provide our clients with top-notch service.

E: I like that. And I get a lot of credit for handling marketing and having a vision for our marketing direction, but the very first time we sat down to talk about starting H|G, Justina toldme that real estate was evolving and becoming an industry driven by marketing. That opened my eyes to even more of a need than I already knew, so that’s definitely something we focus on alongside that concierge experience. We want everyone involved in the real estate transaction to leave feeling like they can’t wait to do business with H|G again.

H: So, beyond profits or income, what is ultimately the heart of H|G?

E: At the end of the day, we wanted to create a company that values people over everything. That includes our families, our agents, and our clients. And we wanted to change the industry away from this very cutthroat environment to one of collaboration. A place where we could all work together as a team, where agents would enjoy coming to work. As a client, I think you want to feel like an entire team is going to work for you, regardless of who you hire as your agent. So, that was our thought process starting out, how we improve on what’s already being done. We also couldn’t forget our personal backgrounds being women, moms, and business owners who have gained the knowledge we needed over the years to do this and make it awesome. This idea of collaboration isn’t just an idea for us, it’s what we strive to do everyday at H|G, empowering people and working as a team.

J: Absolutely. We just want to fulfill this role of helpmate and teammate to our agents and clients. We’ll walk beside you and make sure you have what you need to succeed. For ouragents, we provide the tools, the training, the accountability, and the celebration when you reach that goal. And we do the same for our clients. No matter what situation you find yourself in,we’re going to do everything we can to help you realize your ultimate goal, be it financial or otherwise.

H: Knowing both of you and your approach to building up people and their dreams, I think it would be amazing to have the perspective of you as entrepreneurs. A valuable moment of transparency—if you will—to answer one question really honestly: what was the biggest challenge you faced in starting or deciding to start H|G?

J: I would say fear. Fear of doing something we’d never done, fear of failing, fear of letting our families down, fear of getting priorities mixed up. Easily, fear.

E: Even in my marriage, Cody is the cautious one, I am not, so Justina and I are a little different when it comes to our way of thinking in that regard. When I decided to start H|G, I thought who is the best broker I know that can market and works hard for their clients, and Justina was that person. Once I knew she was on board, I had no worries at all about the partnership or the business. I guess the biggest challenge for me was trusting God that everything He was calling me to in this season would be just as fulfilling as the previous season. We first laid out how things were going to be and I told her I would only be able to be in the office two days a week, but it quickly became something we both enjoyed so much that it blossomed into this full-on partnership.

J: And let me just say, if you’re going to go after something, you want a partner like Erica who just goes for it. Someone that when God says do it, they don’t wait or hesitate, but just say if He said do it, we’re doing it. It’s the best way.

H: Okay, stepping back from the third degree now, when you are hiring at H|G, whether it’s agents or support staff, what are you looking for in a new team member?

J: Heart is our top priority, for sure. We want to make sure they catch our vision and prioritize people and relationships. So far we have been blessed with just the best, best people. The best staff, the best agents. It’s awesome.

E: When we started talking about adding people to our team because it was initially just Justina and I, we began praying for God to send the right people. And actually, we never actively looked for anyone, but contacts started coming our way. God just started sending people who were like-minded and had our vision, had our heart, and it was a huge faith boost for us. After that, we just said, “Okay, God, we’re going to let You do this.” Suddenly, it wasn’t about us having to do it on our own, it was God doing it for us and building our faith through that process. and you worry, as a woman, about over-spiritualizing anything because it can be perceived a certain way, but it just absolutely was God providing who we needed before we even knew who to look or ask for.

H: In that lane, let’s talk to agents specifically for a minute. If I’m an agent, what can I expect if I make the move to H|G? What advantages do you bring to the table? Social media strategy is obviously a big part of what H|G offers, could you share a little of the reasoning behind that as a value focus?

J: I would say that one of the main values you get coming to the table with H|G is that you are joining a team. We’re seeing you as an agent, beyond just the numbers or money you need to take home for your family, and into your goals for your career. Our agent concierge team helps with everything from social media content to file maintenance to closing gifts. We have people in place to help you become a next-level agent with healthy, sustainable patterns. Beyond that, we do provide a place of encouragement. It’s not the kind of place where you walk in and hide your files because you are worried someone will go after your client. When you as an agent win at H|G, we all win. There’s a partnership and team spirit between agents, and that’s very valuable. We truly have a family here.

E: Early on, Justina and I decided we didn’t want this to be a brokerage that anyone could get lost in. We wanted to see people as individuals, we wanted to make sure that we know each other. As we grow, we are putting things in place to keep agents from ever becoming just a number. We want to be a company that makes people feel seen, and though it sounds cliché, we want it to feel like family. On the marketing side, we keep ourselves ahead of the trends so that when you come on the team, we have actionables ready for you. So much of real estate happens online now, that’s just the reality of it, and while our agents work hard, we are working hard to maintain relevance.

J: And we give our agents an opportunity to brand themselves as an individual. We are not putting out a cookie cutter model, we want our agents to be themselves. If you trust us and take our guidance, even if social media or marketing isn’t your forte, you will see results.

E: Our first agent that came on the team, doubled his book of business in his first year with us. So the proof is in the results.

H: And if you could pitch H|G to agents in one sentence, what would you say?

Let us help you fall in love with real estate again.

H: Let’s pivot for a moment to some client-focused questions and start at the most basic level. If I’m in the real estate market, why do I even need an agent?

J: To protect your interests. I have had so many people tell me horror stories about contracts and finding out, after signing, that things were not as straightforward as they seemed. An agent looks out for your best interest and ensures that you are protected from anything unfair. Ultimately, your goal is to get what your property is worth or pay what a property is worth, and an agent will help you do that.

E: I would also add that while it’s easier now to list your house and get some traffic online, it’s a big undertaking to sell your house or buy a house totally on your own. There is a huge amount of work and research required in order to take care that you’re getting a fair market value for your property or paying what a property is worth. There’s so much that an agent brings to the table, far beyond removing the headache of becoming a real estate professional until your house sells, and for their knowledge, training, and connections, they are absolutely worth the cost to bring them on.

H: So, you’ve convinced me that I need an agent. Now, I’m not just in the market for a house, but an agent as well. Give me your one sentence client pitch for Team H|G.

J: Your goals become our goals.

E: H|G gives you the full concierge experience, regardless of your budget or the size of your property.

H: Alright, we’ll move away from these on-the-nose questions and focus on the big picture for a second. We’ve recently launched our website rebrand, and this interview is the first edition of a new initiative called H|G Insider. Tell me, what is H|G Insider?

J: The heart behind H|G Insider is the same as our heart for the agents themselves. We want to give our agents an outlet where people can get to know them and help them develop those relationships with people.

E: And it goes back to providing a concierge experience. We definitely want to give our agents every opportunity, every platform to show their personality, their niche, and their strengths. as an agent, it’s so important that you develop yourself and learn to articulate the knowledge and value you bring to the table. H|G Insider creates a window into who our agents and collaborators are so that you can get to know us, even before the transaction.

H: Who is H|G Insider for? What topics and information will be featured?

J: It’s for everyone and by that we mean, there is something of value or interest for everyone. Real estate expertise and advice, market breakdowns, absolutely, but we’re also bringing in knowledge about taking care of the home you have, how to run a business, right on to organization and branding tips.

E: Yes to all of that. Our agents will be featured, sharing knowledge of the market and home buying/selling but we are also bringing in collaborators that we work with from various disciplines to share valuable information. We just want to create an environment of sharing, be that knowledge, resources, or advice. H|G Insider creates the space for that.

H: Okay, we’re nearly finished with the inquisition, but I’d like to give you some space for a moment to tell me the most important thing for people to know about H|G?

That we value people over everything. Whether you are an agent or a client or just someone interested in what we do, relationships are our priority.

H: Just one final question. I think we were all ready to see the clock strike midnight on December 31st. On the whole, 2020 was a difficult year for most and 2021 holds the promise ofpositive things to come. What are you guys most looking forward to this year?

E: I think continuing to build community, within our company, at Heritage, and across the River Valley. For me, it’s a lot about people, I have really missed people and being in community over the last year. And, you know, our first year as a brokerage was amazing, so I’m excited for even more traction and seeing where it all goes next.

J: I would definitely echo that. I want to cultivate current relationships and build new relationships. We’re seeing so much growth from our agents and staff that it makes it really easy to get excited for the continuation of that alongside new things and expansion of our dream.