Paul Odom
- Broker
- Merrick Real Estate
School Information
School: ISU
College Major: Business
Years at College Works: 2014 to 2017
Career Information
Working For: Merrick Real Estate
Title: Broker
Industry: Real estate
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
Facilitate customers through the home-buying process.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
College Works Painting gave me the confidence to make myself great.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
Going into sales, my College Works Painting experience prepared me immensely with not only the technical skills of making sales, but the confidence and familiarity to really build a relationship with customers.
What do you want to tell your clients about what it meant to work with them and how it has helped you get to where you are today?
Linda, an older lady whose job only took 1 day to produce, was very very fond of me. She said that she would be my first investor if I ever started a business, and I did actually use her as a reference (she took a phone call and said praise worthy things about me) 3 years after I painted her house.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
The world owes you nothing. The only one responsible for your success is you.
How have the friendships and networks you built during CW affected you?
Pretty much all of my best friends to this day I met through college works. When you find people who think like you and go through the same struggles you do, it is easy to bond with them. I have made friends at some of the nation wide events that I could stay with if I were to travel to various cities throughout the country, which is pretty cool.
If you had to come up with a one line slogan for CW, what would it be?
It is possible to be successful without doing College Works Painting, but why risk it?
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
Trust the system. It has been proven to work. Your DM’s only job is to make you successful, so listen to them and take as much of their advice as possible.
Many college students struggle to choose between an internship specific to their target industry or doing CW. What advice would you give them on this subject if they wanted to enter your career field?
College Works Painting offers experience in pretty much aspects of business, so it is great for finding out what you really like vs what you do not like. Many people I know have changed their major or career path after College Works Painting.
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
Everyone has a story to tell and some advice to give that you did not know before. Try to learn something new from everyone you talk to. It could help you in the future, and it will help build a relationship with that person.
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
At one of our retreats we played a game called mafia where we’d sit around and accuse each other of being in the “mafia” and you had to use your sales skills to convince the group that you weren’t mafia and someone else was. We played this all night until about 6am.
Last words of wisdom?
If you are thinking about doing College Works Painting just take a leap of faith and do it. Worst case scenario is you hate it. At least you’ve figured out what you don’t want to go into, and that’s a big part of what college is for. Even if you do not end up doing college works, do something challenging that will set you apart from the rest of your peers.