From a 16-year career in law enforcement to building multiple successful businesses, Shane Arnott’s journey into real estate is anything but conventional. In just eight months, he has leveraged his entrepreneurial spirit and people-first approach to make a meaningful impact with his clients and beyond. In this interview, Shane shares how his unique background led him to real estate, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and why he believes success this field is all about relationships, empathy, and a relentless commitment to growth.
Q: Hey Shane! I’m excited to hear about your journey in real estate so far. Introduce yourself and tell us how long you've been in the real estate industry?
A: Hi, my name is Shane Arnott and August will be actually my eighth month in real estate. I'm brokered with the EXP Realty, and it's been going really well. I've been enjoying myself and continuing to make some pretty incredible relationships, not just locally but even hyper-locally. It's been a fun ride so far.
Q: What has been the biggest pleasant surprise for you about the real estate industry?
A: I think what I've enjoyed most is expanding my network in my area. I've owned several businesses and have been an entrepreneur for 20 years now. Real estate has been a natural segue into expanding that sphere.
Q: Do you feel like you need to be an entrepreneur in order to be a real estate agent?
A: I don't feel like you have to be an entrepreneur to be a real estate agent. I do feel, though, that pursuing some very basic business foundations will set you up for success.
Q: What did you do prior to becoming a real estate agent?
A: Prior to becoming a real estate agent, I was in law enforcement in the Savannah, Georgia area, where I served for 16 years. During the latter part of that career, I started a side business that grew and grew and grew. That success led me to the creation of four other businesses, the most recent being my real estate business in Washington state.
Q: How do you think being a law enforcement officer prepared you for real estate?
A: It's very interesting and something I've developed a passion for over the years. Nothing really happens in business without two things: relationships and sales. My training in law enforcement—interviews, interrogations, behavioral science, and psychology—has helped me sit down with clients, whether they’re buyers or sellers, and ask the right questions to uncover the true story about where they're at, what their journey is, what they're trying to accomplish.
By understanding that journey, and their pain points, I can position myself as a problem solver. If I can show them that I genuinely care by really getting to the heart of the matter, why they're there, nine times out of ten, the amount of trust and rapport that you can build is way better than staying surface level. Some agents ask basic questions like, “Are you selling your house?” but it's about diving just a little bit deeper to the “why” behind their decisions. That’s where my background has really allowed me to have better relationships, and also communicate more and get to the heart of people's stories.
Q: Many police officers describe getting burnt out on the job. Is that something you can speak to, and how is real estate a good landing place for others going through that?
A: I can speak to the burnout. I went through that myself. Here's the reality.
In law enforcement, a lot of your time is spent seeing the worst in people. A lot of times what we see in law enforcement is really good people having bad judgment calls, or making bad decisions at one point in their life. But there's a lot of beauty that can be the catalyst for positive change.
When you’re actually able to sit down with that person, you keep it on a humane level to where they can feel safe opening up to you because they feel like somebody's actually listening.
It's similar with real estate. We are walking hand in hand with people who are making some of the biggest financial decisions in their lives. If you can bring that same empathy, you're going to win every time. I can bring all the skills to bear, all the resources, can market them, I can do all the things. But what matters is their story and their journey and what they're going through.
Q: Fascinating, thank you for sharing that. I’m curious, when were you ready to make your career change into real estate, and why The CE Shop?
A: It’s a funny story. In the beginning I studied through another platform but let my time expire because my business was going so well. When I came back, I wanted something fresh and challenging, so I tried The CE Shop. The ease of use was there. The self-paced, the flexible learning, all that really resonated with me.
Q: If you were to choose the one thing that you loved the most about The CE Shop, what would it be?
A: The platform itself, just how clean and intuitive and engaging it actually is. But I honestly enjoyed the interaction that was developed by The CE Shop Facebook group. There was a lot of positive interaction, a lot of resources that were shared there that really helped me.
I also really enjoyed the Exam Prep Edge. It had the dashboard in there that lets you know what areas you were excelling at in your studies. So I didn't waste time studying the areas where I was already excelling. It allowed me to pinpoint those weaknesses that I had and I could really hone in on.
Q: That's awesome to hear that you had such a positive experience. Would you recommend The CE Shop to other agents?
A: I would completely recommend The CE shop to other agents simply because I feel the platform itself is very engaging. It helps you stay focused on where you need to be. And then I also believe just the ancillary support that The CE shop has really developed and brought to bear has really been integral for me.
Q: Looking ahead to the future, what are your top goals for your real estate business?
A: I'm not looking to, you know, sell the most houses or anything like that. I have my sights set on building a team. I'm a coach and a teacher at heart, so helping others, building others up, and giving them the tools and experience and wisdom that I've developed over the years and helping them achieve their own goals will help me achieve mine.
Q: What advice would you give to any new agents starting their real estate career?
A: Build a strong foundation of systems and processes. Understand your business metrics, KPIs, and data — it will save yourself years of winging it. And on a personal level, the name of the game in real estate, aside from relationships, is differentiation. If you sound like every other real estate agent, then what's going to differentiate you from the next person that they talk to? Disrupt patterns and be noticed for all the right reasons.
Q: That's fantastic, thanks for sharing that. Is there anything else that you want to talk about that we haven't touched on yet?
A: Make sure that you remain a student. Remove ego from every decision that you make. Seek mentorship. And surround yourself with people that are far smarter than you. You will learn so much.
I think it was Bruce Lee who once said that with his fighting style, he took the best parts of so many different things. And I think that's very true in business. You can learn so much from your mentors. You can learn so much from, you know, places like The CE Shop. Take what works for you. Make it your own and differentiate yourself from the pack.
Q: Is there anything you feel like we missed that you want to express?
A: Real estate is not about you just selling people something. Real estate is about relationships, and it's about providing results and solving problems. So invest in learning how to talk to people, how you communicate with people, how you position your value, and how to solve their problems. Because they're always gonna come back to somebody who can solve their problems.
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