How One Agent Overcame Food Addiction and Found the Key to Client Connection

For so long, for so many years, the words whispered inside Daryl Bauer’s head, telling him lies disguised as truths.

You can’t lose the weight.

You won’t find a better job.

You can’t take risks.

Don’t even try.

The words sank into him, became him. So Daryl played it safe. He stayed in the same town where he grew up in Faribault, MN. Found a job as a machinist just like his dad. Got married. Had two kids. Woke up every morning, went to work, punched a clock.

It was fine. He was fine.

Until, one day, he decided he wasn’t.

Daryl’s life today

The offices of Edina Realty in Faribault hum with activity on a recent spring afternoon. Phones ring, buyers ask to see homes, sellers call to list theirs.

Daryl starts a conversation, stops to answer his cell, replies to an email, picks up the conversation where he left off and gets ready to head out for a showing, exuding calm amidst the chaos.

Daryl is a Premier Agent and, by all accounts, he’s at the top of his game.

He entered real estate five years ago and ranks in the top seven percent of agents at his brokerage. Last year he exceeded $15 million in sales. He loves his clients and the thrill of helping them find their path to the perfect home. They regularly leave him five-star reviews and mention his passion, expertise and tireless work ethic.

Yet Daryl almost didn’t live to see his own success.

The struggle

For nearly his whole adult life, Daryl battled an addiction to food.

Depressed in his job as a machinist and later as a manager of a steel company, Daryl turned to pastries, pasta and processed food. Anything to fill the void that hungered for more than the life he’d chosen.

“Food was my drug of choice,” he said.

As his weight swelled to nearly 500 pounds, Daryl fast-tracked toward death, knowing in the back of his mind that overeating would eventually kill him.

“I was desperate for a purpose,” he said. “I dreamed of helping people and being self-employed, but it was almost like I was afraid to say it out loud.”

On an autumn night in 2012, he finally did.

Lighting a spark

Earlier that year, Daryl had joined a new church where he met a pastor who asked him to come to a men’s weekend retreat in the Minnesota woods.

Called the “Heart Revolution,” 25 men gathered around a campfire in late fall to talk about life’s big questions.

What are you destined for? What are your hopes and dreams? What is the higher power calling you to do?

Are you doing it?

One by one, each man stood at the campfire and told his story. Daryl, at 6 feet, 3 inches, 465 pounds, rose from his spot.

In that moment everything he’d held tight to his chest came pouring out.

“I told them I was tired of the monotony of day-to-day life, I needed to make a change and I didn’t know if speaking it out loud would make the change, but I was willing to give it a shot.

“I said I wasn’t healthy mentally, physically, financially and spiritually. I felt like a failure. I wanted to chase down this dream of being self-employed and I didn’t want to settle. I wanted to give this next thing my all.”

As he wept in front of the men, he felt something unfamiliar.

He felt light.

A third chance

Inside Daryl’s office, framed certificates decorate his wall. Among them hangs a Chairman’s Circle Award for 2018, the highest honor at his brokerage for outstanding sales performance and customer service.

Daryl’s Zillow reviews reflect his dedication to his clients.

“This is my 5th home transaction and Daryl was by far the best agent I have worked with,” said one seller.

“I felt like we were dealing with a friend right from the beginning,” wrote a buyer.

Daryl is the first to admit that when he got his real estate license in 2013 at the age of 41, he had no game plan, no well-defined strategy on how to win the hearts and minds of clients.

He had spent his life making machine parts and managing a steel company. He knew a lot about housing construction. But what did he know about marketing?

Not much. But he was getting a third shot at a career and he decided to do something radical.

He decided to be himself – warm, funny, and for the first time, vulnerable and open-hearted.

Daryl thought about how to connect emotionally with clients. He knew what it was like to feel lost and uncertain, which is how a lot of buyers and sellers feel when they approach an agent.

Some people couldn’t make a decision; others made bad ones. He saw his former self reflected in their struggles and set out to sell himself as their guide.

Creating trust was key.

“People want real people,” Daryl said. “So I kept it real.”

Building a brand

In 2013, he recognized the impact of social media and how few agents at the time were taking advantage of it in the suburban Minnesota market.

He jumped onto Zillow, Trulia, Facebook, Snapchat and Pinterest. He created Facebook live videos with 90-second market updates mixed in with off-the-cuff content that showcased his personality.

“During the first snowfall of the year, I’d literally have the phone in my hand and record myself laying in front of my house making a snow angel.”

People loved it.

More than half of his leads started funneling through social media. He also took the traditional gumshoe route and knocked on doors to talk to sellers of FSBO houses, which he still does today.

“I’d ask them how it’s going, give them some personal advice on how to sell their own house and tell them if they needed help with anything to give me a call. No pressure.

“Two to three days later, I pick up the phone and it’s that seller saying ‘I’m sick of trying to do this on my own. Can you help me out?’”

A sense of mission coursed through him. He was good at this. And more than that – he loved it.

“Do I do this because it makes me feel good? Is that selfish? Do I want to be wanted or needed? Maybe. I do know something changed in me when I could help others. That’s my reward.”

Shedding the weight

In 2014, Daryl underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost more than 200 pounds.

He found the surgery to be a lightning rod for developing new habits. He still works on being disciplined around food – that struggle will be with him for life – but he’s healthier.

After the men’s retreat in 2012, Daryl forged a strong friendship with the pastor, who has become almost like a brother to him, he said.

Their relationship helped Daryl never give up on real estate. When he hits setbacks he gets back out there, meets potential clients and sits with them, listening to what they want.

Helping people buy and sell homes feeds Daryl’s soul in a way food never could.

“I get paid to do this. Are you kidding me? I don’t think I could ever retire. It doesn’t seem like work.”