Tony has been in the real estate industry for over two decades, with great insight into Vancouver Island’s market and communities. He joined rennie in late 2023 as the company’s Vice President of Consumer Services, Canada, to propel the growth of our Canadian brokerage both in presence and in business. We had a chance to sit down with Tony, to learn why he attributes his growth mindset and unflappable work ethic - not innate talent - to his aspirational career trajectory from a licensed assistant to VP of Consumer Services. For Tony, it’s all in the power of decision.
on an innate drive to succeed
I have always been fascinated with human performance. As a kid, I was continuously keen to be better at everything I did—both in academics and sports. I owe a great deal of my drive to my parents, both immigrants from the Philippines, who always had to work harder for everything we had. That work ethic rubbed off on me.
As an athlete, I was driven to win awards like Most Valuable Player or Athlete of the Year, but instead, the awards I took home were Inspirational Athlete of the Year or Sportsman of the Year. Not exactly the titles an aspiring high achiever desired.
on mastering a mindset
With time, I came to realize maybe I wasn't the most talented, that perhaps my mediocre talent level wasn’t going to propel me to the place I wanted to be. I learned to focus on the only thing I could control: my mindset and discipline. It was this shift which led me to the world of road cycling where I found early success in the lower ranks. When I’d later reached the "elite" level, again, I found myself surrounded by athletes more talented than me. To have any chance of outperforming my competition, I had to work harder and be more disciplined in every aspect of my life: a strict diet, meditating daily, working with a sports psychologist, on top of being on my bike 30+ hours per week.
on an unexpected career pivot to real estate
My cycling career ended prematurely with a bad crash, and I was forced to decide between rehabilitation or a career pivot. I never had plans to be a realtor, but I had saved up some money cycling. I spoke with the only person I knew in real estate, the owner of a small brokerage, and told him I wanted to buy a piece of real estate. The next thing I knew, he offered me a job as a licensed assistant, and six weeks later, I got my real estate license and jumped right in.
on learning to run
Within five days of receiving my license, I was left with five commercial listings to manage (by the owner of that small brokerage, who turned out to be terminally ill). It was trial by fire and I had to figure it out on the spot. Fortunately, I didn’t sink, I swam. I had the ability to figure this out. It might be complicated and it might be difficult, but everything can be learned.
All the people we aspire to, they too had to crawl and walk before they flew. I learned to run, but it wasn’t because of any inherent talent, I learned how to do it. I learned because I didn’t have a choice.
on pushing past self-limiting beliefs
This is what happens to humans: we push, we regress, we build, then we plateau. When I reached 30 deals a year, I was on a plateau. What allowed me to push past it was being challenged by my former business partner. He said, “If you want to be an owner of the Condo Group, you’re going to have to outsell me.” He was Victoria’s top realtor and I accepted his challenge. The year was 2009, a challenging market – not the worst, but not the best. To get started, I had to consider what it was going to take for me to pull this off, and commit myself to the result. He had a record of 12 sales in a month, so I set a personal goal of 13.
on achieving 30 deals in 30 days
Within an hour of setting my goal, I bumped into another realtor who told me he’d just had his best month ever with 19 deals. This was mind-blowing, I didn’t know that amount was even possible. But since finalizing real estate deals isn’t comparable to physical feats of strength like the high jump, I knew it was all psychological.
I read so many books on real estate, completed so many courses with coaches, and decided I was going to do everything to reach my goal: knock on doors, cold call, reach out to For Sale by Owners’ (FSBO), talk to mortgage brokers, ask for referrals. And I went out and did it, completing a whopping 30 deals in 30 days. It was a testament to my conviction and taking action. I didn’t think about it, I just did it. It was how I became a top 1% producer.
on the power of discipline
Some top producers say they’re going to call ten people a day, five days a week – that’s a total of 50 people a week. But most people skip a day and tell themselves they’ll double up the next day. What differentiates top producers is making these key actions non-negotiable as though their goals and lives depend on them. That’s discipline. And when it comes to my team, I’d take discipline over talent any day of the week.
on how gratitude transformed his business
The reality is most days we don’t feel like it. There’s always a reason not to do something. We’re really good at convincing ourselves that those reasons are enough to stop us. It’s making the key things that drive your business to grow happen, things like touching base with past clients. One thing I did was, create a list of everybody I knew—every time I thought of that list and a person on it, I would make a gratitude call to appreciate that person for being in my life with zero intent for getting business. It was a genuine call, nothing business-related; it was always coming from the right place. This transformed my business.
on the renniefication of Tony Zarsadias
It’s one thing for me to have success, but I take greater pride in helping people achieve success and this is why I joined rennie. As a realtor, you want to be paired with the best brokerage possible. At rennie, I am focused on supporting advisors to be their best selves. A lot of people limit themselves because they don’t have that self-belief. To reach incredible goals, you need to get out of your own way, and you need support to do that.
Thank you for sharing your insights, Tony. Learn more about our full-service brokerage and how rennie can help build your career through our supportive and collaborative environment, and the opportunity to align yourself with rennie’s reputation for real estate excellence.
