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The Short Term Show with Hans Struzyna
In this interview, Avery speaks with Hans Struzyna, an Olympic rower turned successful real estate agent in the Bay Area. Hans discusses how his rowing career shaped his mindset and contributed to his success in real estate. He shares insights on the importance of applying athletic lessons to professional life, particularly hard work, teamwork, and dedication.
Avery: Hey Hans, thanks for coming on.
Hans: Yeah, thanks for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Avery: Yeah, thank you so much for taking the time. The first thing I want to talk about is Olympic rowing. Tell me about that. How did you get into rowing? I know I grew up in Starkville, Mississippi, so there wasn’t even volleyball where I grew up, but how’d you end up an Olympic rower?
Hans: Yeah, I grew up in a different part of the country—Seattle, Washington, specifically. In Seattle, there’s water everywhere, so rowing becomes visible in a way that it’s not in other areas. You obviously need water, and my family found out you could take private rowing lessons. We thought that would be fun to do, so we signed up as a family—just the four of us—to learn how to row. It’s kind of a visible known sport in Seattle, and I found that I enjoyed it. That started a 12-plus year rowing career, which ended at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
Avery: That is really, really impressive, especially as an athlete myself. You are a very successful real estate agent in the Bay Area, which we’ll get to in a minute, but I want to see if your mindset aligns with mine. Do you attribute a lot of your success in your career outside of athletics to growing up in sports and being a high-level athlete?
Hans: Yeah, and you know, it’s interesting because, as we’re recording this, the Olympic Games in Tokyo are happening. I’ve got my Olympic shirt on today in honor of that. It’s something that, in retrospect, is obvious—all of the hard work, teamwork, and dedication. It’s something that’s a lot harder for people to apply. I have a lot of teammates who do very well athletically, but then they don’t do as well professionally, or they flounder for a while. That’s something I was keenly aware of when I stepped out of my athletic career. What made me successful at rowing also made me successful in real estate. I really had to apply all of those lessons, which we can get into, but ultimately they were critical in my success—especially early success. I’ve only been selling real estate for just under five years, and I’ve been doing investing for a little less than that.
