Building Brokers and Markets: A Conversation with Keegan Mulcahy

Q: You’ve had notable success attracting senior agents to the office. What do you think resonates most with experienced brokers, and how do you position the Matthews platform to support their next chapter?

A: Every agent is different, driven by their own unique set of motivations. However, we’ve noticed that most agents who join Matthews™ are drawn by the same three core value propositions:

• Support Platform: Our internal resources, including sales operations, proprietary technology, and marketing divisions, are designed to streamline agent workflows, enabling our brokers to focus on building their business and driving revenue growth.
• Direct Partnership Growth: Matthews™ dedication to hiring, recruiting, and training the next generation of brokers has built a proven track record of retention and development, equipping top talent with the tools and support to scale their brokerage in ways they haven’t been able to before.
• Culture: Agents are drawn to the collaborative, growth-driven culture at Matthews™, recognizing the value it brings to their business and their partners alike.

Q: Early in your career, when you were specializing in STNL retail, you were able to establish yourself as a leader in the sector. What helped you develop that skill set so quickly?

A: I received tremendous training and support from both the firm and my mentor. Understanding the importance of specialization early on, I immersed myself in product type specific knowledge such as sales comps, on-market comps, construction costs, reading tenant 10-Ks, setting Google alerts for target tenants, and memorizing franchisees’ information. This practice has remained a lasting asset throughout my career, enabling me to provide clients with informed insights and communicate from a well-versed perspective.

Furthermore, when you’re putting in 80 to 90 hours a week, calling thousands of owners, underwriting deals, and presenting proposals, your learning curve accelerates quickly. You begin to build on your own momentum, and as you start transacting at higher volumes, it starts to click. You learn how to leverage one deal into the next and begin to see the growth compound in a positive way.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career?

A: The most challenging time in my career was when COVID-19 hit, which coincidentally happened to be the same week I was driving from LA to Nashville to help open the Nashville office. My pipeline was heavily weighted with STNL casual dining deals (non-drive-thru restaurants), and every escrow died within those first two weeks of COVID. I am proud of how I scrapped my way through that year, ultimately surpassing my production volume in the previous year and substantially growing the Nashville office.

Q: Many brokers spend their early days just building a pipeline, but you hit the ground running, earning the Pacesetter Award in your first year at Matthews™. What advice would you give to a new broker trying to find their footing in today’s volatile market?

A: Keep your world small, block out the noise, and hit your daily commitments no matter what. Create commitments and break them down annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily. This helps alleviate the anxiety associated with the long sales timelines of brokerage and keeps your energy focused on daily production. One day, you’ll look up and those days will have turned into a few years, and you will be very grateful for the work you put in.

Q: Today, as an executive Market Leader and a three-time Chairman’s Award recipient prior to becoming a Market Leader, what made you want to become a mentor?

A: Prior to stepping into my role as Market Leader, I was mentoring multiple agents, forming strategic partnerships that helped take my brokerage to new heights. More importantly, I realized I was naturally drawn to mentoring as I found it to be deeply fulfilling.

Real estate is a people business–you become extremely close with those working alongside you. Having the privilege to watch an agent progress from their first day of training to becoming a million-dollar producer and knowing you played even a small role in that success is one of the most rewarding aspects of the career.

Q: Guiding young brokers gives you a full-circle perspective on the progression of a broker’s career, as if you are watching the beginnings of your own journey unfold. How has that influenced the way you help brokers approach deals or navigate the business today?

A: As a mentor, I draw on my experiences as an agent and incorporate them into my coaching. I believe the success I’ve built gives my agents something to buy into and believe in. I share both my successes and failures, often reminding them that I’m passing along very expensive lessons I’ve learned throughout my career, lessons they can benefit from and avoid repeating.

Q: What trends in San Diego are you looking for heading into the second half of the year?

A: The San Diego market remains highly competitive, and I anticipate transaction volume will continue to increase into the end of the year. In a perfect world, we’d see rates drop, a stabilization in global trade as tariff deadlines expire, and Sellers begin to adopt more realistic pricing expectations.

Together, these factors could drive a meaningful uptick in transaction volume. We’re already seeing some optimism, with the passing of the Big Beautiful Bill and the first round of rate cuts, which should help stimulate activity. We also need to see an increase in multifamily transaction volume, as the sector fuels much of the 1031 exchange market into other asset classes.

Q: If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice, what would you say and why?

A: Trust your gut. Never quit.