We had the good fortune of connecting with Rue Bax and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rue , how has your pespective on work-life balance evolved over time?
With three kids, work-life balance has always been something I constantly think about. In my twenties and thirties, I truly was 100% work-focused. Now, that we have a family and I’m in my forties, I do everything I can to make sure that I make every sports game, dance recital, school event that I can. I really don’t let any work events interfere. The best thing for our family is our online calendar. My wife is amazing about getting out in front of every event and getting it on the calendar. This allows me to work around these moments and not let work meetings interfere. Sure, there are times when there is no way to move things around, but this actually happens rarely. I also work hard to make meetings with clients places that I would go anyway – such as restaurants, getting coffee, or playing golf. This allows me more time to spend with my family in the evenings and weekends.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Our business was created rather organically. My partners and I were working at an organization that didn’t have the tools we needed to be successful, so we decided to create them for ourselves. It’s been fun to see over the last 7 years the company evolve from 5 people in a room to over 50. The culture we have created is really what stands out. Great people and great synergies. This is unique to the commercial real estate brokerage world. it is rare to see brokers working side by side with other brokers on multiple transactions where in some cases the brokers have never worked on a transaction together. We truly leverage each others strengths. Owning a business is never easy and we are currently in the middle of another shock wave to our economy due to Covid-19. The benefit (to a certain extent) is that we all went through the last shock waves in 2008-2010. This will certainly be different, but we can apply many of the lessons that we learned from experience. One of the number one lessons I learned was to stay close to your clients. Find out what they need and how you can help. Overall, we hope that we can come out the other side of this pandemic a better company.

Any great local spots you’d like to shoutout?
I would definitely take them to Salty Senorita in Old Town. I am one of the original 4 investors in Salty when we opened in 2003. The restaurant has evolved tremendously, but nothing compares to sitting on their patio at Friday Happy Hour and having a margarita. Then heading to a Giants spring training game. Another stand out experience in Scottsdale. I would take them to hike in McDowell Mountain to Tom’s Thumb. Nothing better than the scenery overlooking the Valley. I am an avid golfer – so we would have to play some of the standout golf courses in the Valley. Too many great tracks to count – but I am partial to Pinnacle Peak and Grayhawk. Another great place to hang out in is Cave Creek and the myriad of great restaurants and bars that line the main drag. Local Johnny’s is one of favorite coffee spots – I meet up with close friends there periodically.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When I was going to school at the University of Arizona, I decided to apply for an internship (what ended up being a job for 3 years) with the then Rugby coach and play by play commentator for all U of A Sports, Dave Sitton. He was the hardest working person I have ever met and probably will ever meet. His day was crammed from the moment he woke up until late at night. He was not only a great tv broadcaster but an amazing entrepreneur. He had numerous businesses from starting an energy drink (before Red Bull), promoting concerts (Bette Mitler, Tucson Pops, etc), to putting on NBA exhibition games and U of A ex-star Exhibition games with former stars such as Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, and Trevor Hoffman. His wall in his office was filled from corner to corner of photos with him and famous athletes. His mentorship to me was invaluable. He taught me what hard work and tenacity meant. He was great at building relationships and his list of people who knew him as a close friend was very, very long. His legacy and impact are still very wide-ranging since he passed away in 2013. The rugby field at the University was named after him. Just one example of what I and so many others, thought of him.

Website: www.ruebax.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruebax/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AZmultifamily

Image Credits
Corgan Photography