Jimmy Baron s Story of Building a New Career as a Realtor
Jimmy Baron’s Story of Building a New Career as a Realtor
The Comeback: Switching tracks into real estate, Baron now earns what he did as a radio host —and the hours are way better. I went back on the air, but it was different. The business was changing. It wasn't much fun anymore. In the ‘90s you could say whatever you wanted. Now a program manager would sit there with a stopwatch, and if I talked longer than 90 seconds, he'd call my hotline. People started listening to music on the internet. Radio was dying. And then two days before my 50th birthday, I got fired. You know, “We've decided to go in a different direction.” It was a punch in the stomach. After 21 years on the radio, I was unemployed, divorced and didn't have a clue about what I would do next. My mom said, “Why don't you get your real estate license?” I said, “Mom, don't ever say that to me again. Seriously. That's a terrible idea.” I didn't want a real job, and I certainly didn't want to sell anything. But then a friend told me about an online real estate course, and I thought, OK, I'll take it just to get my mom off my case. Guess what? I thought the class was kind of interesting, and guess what else? A Realtor doesn't need to wake up at 4 a.m., like I did when I worked on the radio. A Realtor doesn't need to watch the Tony Awards and talk about it the next morning. I also started hearing about the money you could make. I thought, I'll probably hate it, but at least I'll be able to hate it and still go to my son's baseball games and take a nice vacation. I didn't hate it. I actually thought it was cool. Real estate is about solving problems for people. It's helping people improve their lives. Say you just had a kid and you need a bigger house. Or the nest is emptying and you need to downsize in style. I can help. There are very few times when people are unhappy at the closing table. We have around 550 people in our real estate office, and I was the number 1 individual agent last year. I've never been happier than I am now. For sure, being on radio was the most fun I ever had. But I wouldn't want to be doing that in my late 50s. I'm in a wonderful relationship. I get to do amazing things with my son and go to all his hockey games. My ex-wife and I get along great. I still get to be the class clown and talk and be inquisitive. And one other thing I know more than ever—when your mom gives you advice, you should listen up.
90s Radio Host Tops the Charts in Second Act as a Realtor
Jimmy Baron took a chance and found a new passion in luxury real estate
Andrew Hetherington Jimmy Baron, 58 At school, I was always the class clown. I love to talk and am a very inquisitive person. It turns out there's a job for that: morning radio. I rose quickly at a time when radio was huge. At 99X in Atlanta, we were among a handful of stations pioneering alternative rock bands like Nirvana, R.E.M. and Pearl Jam. I got to meet everybody from Elton John to the Dalai Lama. It was a golden moment. But flavors change, and the ratings faltered, and the powers that be eventually decided to go a younger route. They wanted us to play Britney Spears! I had no interest in playing Britney Spears. When my contract was up, I left the station and tried different things for a few years. I started a little video business. A friend and I developed a game show for TV. Nothing really got off the ground. Jimmy Barron The Fall: After rocking the airwaves in the 1990s as one of Atlanta's top morning DJs, Baron's career veered the way of the compact disc. He was unemployed by age 50.The Comeback: Switching tracks into real estate, Baron now earns what he did as a radio host —and the hours are way better. I went back on the air, but it was different. The business was changing. It wasn't much fun anymore. In the ‘90s you could say whatever you wanted. Now a program manager would sit there with a stopwatch, and if I talked longer than 90 seconds, he'd call my hotline. People started listening to music on the internet. Radio was dying. And then two days before my 50th birthday, I got fired. You know, “We've decided to go in a different direction.” It was a punch in the stomach. After 21 years on the radio, I was unemployed, divorced and didn't have a clue about what I would do next. My mom said, “Why don't you get your real estate license?” I said, “Mom, don't ever say that to me again. Seriously. That's a terrible idea.” I didn't want a real job, and I certainly didn't want to sell anything. But then a friend told me about an online real estate course, and I thought, OK, I'll take it just to get my mom off my case. Guess what? I thought the class was kind of interesting, and guess what else? A Realtor doesn't need to wake up at 4 a.m., like I did when I worked on the radio. A Realtor doesn't need to watch the Tony Awards and talk about it the next morning. I also started hearing about the money you could make. I thought, I'll probably hate it, but at least I'll be able to hate it and still go to my son's baseball games and take a nice vacation. I didn't hate it. I actually thought it was cool. Real estate is about solving problems for people. It's helping people improve their lives. Say you just had a kid and you need a bigger house. Or the nest is emptying and you need to downsize in style. I can help. There are very few times when people are unhappy at the closing table. We have around 550 people in our real estate office, and I was the number 1 individual agent last year. I've never been happier than I am now. For sure, being on radio was the most fun I ever had. But I wouldn't want to be doing that in my late 50s. I'm in a wonderful relationship. I get to do amazing things with my son and go to all his hockey games. My ex-wife and I get along great. I still get to be the class clown and talk and be inquisitive. And one other thing I know more than ever—when your mom gives you advice, you should listen up.