As fate would have it, yesterday's Compass International Holdings launch happened almost exactly 12 years to the date Robert Reffkin and Leonard Steinberg met at the Cookshop in West Chelsea for the first time to discuss the prospect of Leonard joining Robert in his mission to build the brokerage of the future. What raised Leonard's eyebrow was the joint purpose they saw besides building a brokerage, the ability to elevate all real estate agents everywhere to become respected, trusted real estate advisors and true professionals. A movement, not just a company. Yesterday, that dream came to fruition.

In 1998, Volkswagen Group bought Bentley. Bentley had lost its independent profile for decades and was largely producing rebadged versions of Rolls-Royce models. Today it's flourishing. In 1998, Volkswagen Group also bought Lamborghini, another struggling brand. Today, this brand that competes with Bugatti and Porsche (also under the Volkswagen umbrella) is soaring. Operating a single business in today's world is prohibitively expensive. Volkswagen's massive research and development, shared scalable platform technology, leveraged economies of scale for purchasing, and engineering expertise, allowed these luxury brands to develop advanced, high-quality cars affordably, innovate, and gain significant sales/marketing power without bearing all operating and development costs alone.  Similar results have fueled the brands of Kering and LVMH too.  Collective strength has unlimited potential to drive both sales and competition and most importantly, it improves quality and choice for the consumer.

Mark your calendars. January 9th, 2026, officially marks the date the real estate profession now has the ability to forge ahead with a much better future for all.