Our guest is author, realtor and successful business woman Jean Burgdorff. Jean is author of the book, "It's Not The Money - How I Built a $2 Billion Real Estate Business Based on the Golden Rule." Jean will explain how living and running her business according to the Golden Rule has made her successful and her life fulfilled.

"Jean Burgdorff's approach to business is unique and has resulted in a truly fulfilling, successful and abundant life that has positively impacted the lives of millions. Grounded in the Golden Rule - "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" or as I like to translate it "do unto others as they would like to be done unto!" - Jean built an incredible corporate culture and real estate business based on core values of honesty, fairness, integrity, respect for the individual. Money was the "reward" for a job well done, not the primary motivator. What a role model for how to achieve true success! You will be inspired by the story she shares in this book.
--Dr. Barbara Keller, former Professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University

This is one of those books that enfolds you in a giant bear hug, where, in this case, you find yourself in the company of Jean's family, co-workers, fellow spiritual seekers, and friends worldwide. Part personal memoir, part real-estate primer, part spiritual guide (all neatly blended), the book gleams with quotes from famous and not-so-famous writers, and draws on the wisdom of the Bible, which has underpinned Jean's extraordinarily courageous and successful career. No one puts success in a better light than Jean herself when she writes that it comes from "a willingness to turn to a higher Source in a childlike way"-which she has consistently demonstrated throughout her life!
--Kim Shippey, international journalist and former BBC news anchor

This book includes some select thoughts on success, and, of course, the world offers thousands of recipes for it. Many prescriptions are very goal oriented, and maybe that works for some people. But not for me--I never set out with real estate as a career goal, nor with a monetary target of building a company toward $2 billion in sales, beginning in my rec-room.

Maybe you can see patterns in my experience in the pages you've read. You might ask: "Jean's life has been abundant--but how about luck?" My answer is in the truism: Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. And my main preparation has been (and is) the Golden Rule. That's the pattern.

I think the Golden Rule demands trust, and trust is very difficult to define, but you always know when you have it. My trust has always been in God--Love, Truth, Principle-that's something I really know.

In my life in real estate, I have trusted God for everything. Absolutely everything. And when I speak of trust in God, I mean trust in truth, and honesty, and integrity; trust in love through compassion and unselfishness; trust in the divine Mind as the source of all intelligence.

Others have put forth useful corollaries to the Golden Rule better than I could have, so I hope you have enjoyed what I collected, alongside the experiences which show the pattern. And I'm not done yet!

If I had to put it on the back-of-my-business card, here's what's been useful to me as Life Laws:

Going the extra mile,
Never giving up,
Always grateful and expressing it, and above all,
The Golden Rule.

It's a little hard to write a book about a successful life and be humble. But I feel success comes from a willingness to turn to a higher source in a childlike way. I hope some of my experiences at least illustrate that these precepts work, and can for anybody.

Jean and Doug Burgdorff started Burgdorff Realtors® in 1958 in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and it grew to over 30 offices and $2 billion in sales as well as becoming the #1 ERA franchise in the world. Jean continued to build the business after Doug's passing in the 1970s and sold it twice, once in 1986 and again in 1996 after re-purchase in 1991. In addition Jean co-purchased and continues as vice-president of another multi-office ERA Showcase Properties franchise in Florida. In this biography, she also explains the how and why of recruiting and retaining real estate salespeople who become loyal over the long term.