Do you know your “WHY?”​. What motivates you to push through the difficult times?

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A question that has been at the forefront of my mind for the past 42 years!

I left school at the age of 15 with little education. At the age of 16, I started my first job as an apprentice shipwright. I then turned my attention to playing the drums which took me all across Europe at the age of 17. My next challenge saw me working as a labourer for British Enkalon in Antrim.

At the age of 30, unhappy in my current role and not feeling challenged I came across a small print ad in the Belfast Telegraph for a post in financial services.

I spent many successful years working with Liberty Life, Irish Life & Allied Dunbar/Zurich, building my reputation and bolstering my client base or “my little black book” as I use to call it. I didn’t always get a “yes” from all my clients’, but I could always count on great support from my wife and kids who were always behind me, they encouraged me to do well and lifted me when times got tough.

Every day before setting off to meet with a client or attend scheduled appointments I would ask myself the question “WHY?”. In my wallet, I had a picture of my wife and kids that I looked at every day and that was my answer, that was my “WHY”!

After 52 years, I felt it was time to retire from Zurich. We decided to move to Spain where I owned a property and tried to enjoy our life abroad.

However, after a few years, I became bored. I suppose I missed the routine and hustle & bustle of working in financial services. I then started a property company called ‘Locations4U’ which I ran for 7 years selling over 200+ properties. I knew this wasn’t what I wanted to be doing and after a conversation with my daughter, I knew I wanted to share my knowledge and experience with others, she advised me to start a franchise and teach other people how to sell property safely abroad.

My company BeckettHanlon Worldwide Property Franchise was started in 2012 which I am now a proud founder and active CEO. We now have over 20+ vetted developers, over 140 developments and 15+ partners on board which is growing every year.

We had just opened our brand new office on the Lisburn Road in late January, which, unfortunately, has been impacted like many other businesses by Covid-19 and the lockdown.

The last few months have been very difficult for us, we have had to adapt and try to operate a new way of thinking. With flight restrictions abroad and quarantine measure in place, things will continue to be difficult over the next while. However, we know we can push through this together with our passionate partners, employees and collaborators, we are also very confident when the time is right we can help our current and new clients’ buy their “dream lifestyle property abroad”.

So back to my “WHY, at the age of 72, I want to make a difference. I want to leave a legacy and pass on my experience and knowledge to our company partners so that BeckettHanlon can continue to grow and “sell property safely abroad”.

“Just remember, nothing is impossible!”

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