Ayoub Rabah, regional vice president of the Midwest for Coldwell Bank Realty, was named one of RISMedia’s 2024 Real Estate Newsmakers earlier this year. His commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles—including founding Coldwell Banker’s DEI council and organizing “Agents of Change” events—earned him a spot in the Trailblazer category.
Devin Meenan: How does it feel to be named an RISMedia newsmaker for the first time this year?
Ayoub Rabah: Well first of all, thanks for giving me this opportunity. It’s obviously an honor just to be part of such a group, especially when I look at my colleagues and the peers that are also on the list—it’s really humbling. I’m extremely proud of the fact that I was in the Trailblazer category. It really emphasizes where my passion lies, being able to create a path for our agents and our team to succeed regardless of everything going on. And there’s been a lot going on in the industry in the past couple of years, so I’m humbled and I’m delighted.
DM: Can you walk me through what being a Trailblazer means to you, and how you try to live your understanding of this word?
AR: Our industry has undergone a tremendous amount of change, and just like everything else in life, you can remain stagnant or you can choose how you react to the environment around you. I am passionate about driving the direction that we go, and I feel that we’re always leading the way, not just for our own agents, but for the industry. So that’s really what makes me proud of the recognition.
DM: You have had so much success climbing the ladder at Coldwell Banker. Tell me, what are your strategies for being a successful leader?
AR: At the end of the day, it’s all about having the right team. You have to have the ability to win the hearts and minds of your leaders and your agents while guiding them. I always look at my responsibilities as heavy and I feel that my job is to coach, mentor and inspire our leaders and agents to continue to move forward. Our agents are amazing entrepreneurs and it’s not easy being an entrepreneur in an industry where there’s a lot of changes.
You need to focus on the things you can control. You want to serve as that consistent constant reminder of your purpose and your goals, and focus on the path to success. I don’t believe we fail, I believe we learn. If you do something and it doesn’t work, use that as a learning opportunity.
DM: As Midwest regional vice president, your agent network is almost 7,000 agents. How do you manage a team of that size?
AR: Again, it goes back to having the right team. I am honored and blessed to have such supportive people that I work with. We like to make sure that we’re connecting with a certain percentage of our agents on a daily basis. If I know I’m going to reach out to 10% of my agents on a daily basis, then within two weeks I’ll have connected with all our agents every two weeks. So long as you’ve got the right people who are executing on the strategy, you can continue to make those connections.
DM: You’re a big advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. Can you share what makes you committed to DEI and share how your advocacy has played out in practice?
AR: I grew up in a community where people didn’t look like me, so I understand those trials. When I take a look at the American dream of owning a home and the piece that is in building generational wealth, I firmly believe that real estate plays a greater role in that than any other. So we are incredibly intentional about making sure that we’re recruiting and growing our agent base and our employee base. It’s really representative of all the communities that we serve.
When you take a look at the country and you take a look at homeownership, I believe it’s extremely important, especially in building generational wealth, to build up our communities. There’s a reason why there’s fair housing laws in place, although those are the regulatory guardrails that try to help drive this. As a company, we have a social and moral responsibility to continue to build these communities and build generational wealth. That’s why we host events like Agents of Change, where we bring our agents from diverse communities to come and talk to their colleagues. This program is not just for our agents—we invite agents from throughout the industry to come and speak about the importance of diversity and inclusion in housing. But, we still have a long way to go, especially in this industry.
DM: What are the next steps in the short term to help DEI in real estate for the future?
AR: You heard me talk earlier about consistency, right? I believe, like anything, consistency matters and there is no one thing that you can do to change things. I think you set on a path and you continue to consistently go down that path and chip away at it. And again, we are just a piece in this entire puzzle, but we’re going to continue to do our part and stay consistent. We are committed to homeownership, we’re committed to our DEI strategy, and the way you do that is to simply keep pushing forward on your strategy.
DM: For other professionals out there, no matter the industry, what do you think it takes to be a Trailblazer?
AR: I think it takes courage, really digging deep, being true to yourself and being passionate about what it is that you’re trying to accomplish. You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. You have to be comfortable with not letting the critics sway your consistent pathway, because that is very easy. People don’t like change, especially if you’re driving it. And if you’re the person who’s driving change, it can be very easy to just recoil in the face of adversity. That’s the easy path. So my guidance would be, you have to be tough, you have to be courageous, you have to be passionate. I mean, you do have to be flexible, but you have to be comfortable with adversity and the fact that not everybody’s going to see your point of view and may want to derail your efforts. Keep charging forward and stay true to yourself.
