Issue 71 - Gordan Todorovic of Remax Preffered Realty

During the first six months of 2010 over 80,000 new immigrants came to Canada. Our national population now exceeds 34 million citizens. It has been more than 140 years since our country was first founded and still there are no shortages of people from around the world hoping to call Canada home. They come here for freedom and opportunity. They come seeking safety and peace. They come in search of new beginnings and as Goran Todorovic says, "we came to live the Canadian dream!"

Over 34 years ago, Goran was a happy little boy living in Serbia. Then one day his parents announced that the family was going to Canada. "I was eight years old," he recalls. "My parents told us we were moving for a better life but at the time I thought we were just going on another trip - I was happy in Serbia - I never imagined we would not return."

They did not return but settled in Windsor in 1976. Their first home was on Edward Street in Riverside and for Goran his new life in a new land started sorely. Unable to speak English coupled with being an immigrant he said he endured much teasing and name-calling that first year in grade school. But he survived the taunting - it made him more determined - and he learned English very quickly, in fact, in no time at all it seemed not only had Goran become proficient in English, he had acquired one of those priceless endowments of life: "the gift for gab!"

And not just nonsensical gibberish but a true ability to express himself effectively through verbal communications.

"All through school I was a talker," he admits with a wry smile. "But I was also good at arguing a point of view, I was good in debates."

However, Goran did not yet realize that being well spoken with a highly charismatic manner would carry him toward his own Canadian dream. By his final year at Herman Secondary he remembers, "I didn't know what I was going to do after high school."

But he had options, and there was even one he had not considered himself. "My grade 13 teacher said I could sell anything and suggested that I go into real estate, it was something I had never thought about, but he put that bug in my head."

He also pondered a few other courses to follow including a career in business. "In grade 12 I did my co-op at PennySaver. I really liked business and I did well...actually I became the East Side Distribution Manager, ...and I was still in grade twelve!"

But working at PennySaver, and later, working as a TPT for Chrysler, Goran longed for a challenge and even turned down the opportunity for an apprenticeship at a machine shop. No, he needed to find something that better utilized his natural talents, so he started to listen to that bug in his head.

"I enrolled at St. Clair College in the Real Estate course and in November of 1988 I became a licensed real estate agent."

His career began with Canada Trust and he sold his first home his first week on the job. "It was a place on Factoria Street, I think it sold for 82,500.00 dollars." he said, adding with pride, "I relisted that very same house, a number of years later the people were calling for our services once again."

By the end of the first quarter of 1989, there were no doubts that Goran was a born Realtor. In just four months he had become the company's top salesperson.

For the next several years he continued his momentum and success at several local companies, but he was growing anxious to further expand his career. He became a Registered Broker in 1995 and soon thereafter moved over to Remax Preferred Realty where once again he was quick to establish himself as a top producer.

Of all the requirements one needs to be successful in the ever demanding and extremely competitive world of real estate, Goran says that dedication is as important as any other. "Sometimes I'm working as early as 6:30 in the morning and as late as 12:30 at night. Weekends, holidays - the phone is always ringing - and when the clients call I am available, whatever the time, day or night!"

Perhaps, in a word, 'dedication' describes Goran's overall approach to life.To his family, his business, staff and customers,
he is supremely allegiant!

Still, he finds the time to give back to the community. From his association with the Red Cross Golf Tournament and as past president of the Serbian Centre and Windsor Essex County Real Estate Board to his involvement in The Heart & Stroke; as a montessori school board member and supporter of multi-culturalism, Goran is a charitable member of our community.

Today, with his own full service real estate team and staff, and along with his wife Danielle who is also Client Care Manager, that is, until she takes time off this October to give birth to the couple's second child, "Team Goran" continues to be a force in the real estate market as the number one sales producer at Remax Preferred Realty in 2010 thus far.

Even during the recent economic downturn, Goran said that his business was booming. "We have had great success during this recession," he beams, adding, "and that certainly has a lot to do with our commitment to our customers."

It takes just a moment to see that Goran Todorovic has followed his true calling. He is a consummate salesperson, a savvy businessman and as Canadian as you or I. He is dedicated to his profession as he is to life itself but insists that above all else, "family is the most important thing. I learned work ethic and determination from my parents. They worked very hard and sacrificed so much for the sake of my sister and myself, and yet they still found time to spend with family."

And like his father before him, Goran dreams that his children will also be inspired to make the best of the opportunities in their own lives. It is unlikely they will ever need to face the fears of immigration like their father, but certainly they will see how he has demonstrated that hard work, integrity, determination and dedication are truly the cornerstones of success. And they will know from their father's example that indeed Canada is a land of possibilities, a place to be proud to call home, a place where everyone has the freedom to pursue their own Canadian dream. TDM

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