Building an Internship Program That Works: Tiffany Ham on Teaching the Next Generation
Leadership · From Student of the Game
Building an Internship Program That Works: Tiffany Ham on Teaching the Next Generation
Before she sold homes, Tiffany Ham taught. She earned a master's degree in teaching, taught family and consumer science in high school, and later taught at the college level after Ball State recruited her to help build its program. One of her favorite classes was cadet teaching, which placed students who thought they wanted to teach alongside a teacher in the district.
Some of those students came back and said teaching was not for them, and Tiffany loved that, too. They learned it before spending the time and money on a degree. Others, including her own daughter, went into teaching with a head start.
Today Tiffany is a real estate agent with the Noll Team, and Brad Noll has handed her the team's internship program. In this episode of Student of the Game, they talk about what makes an internship work for the student and for the business.
From the Classroom to Real Estate
While working at Ball State, Tiffany found herself near the real estate program and kept asking questions. Eventually she told her husband she thought she was supposed to do this a long time ago. His answer was two words: do it. She made the move in 2018.
The transition was easier than expected. Brad says his team's expertise is the process of buying and selling a home, and Tiffany says she is still educating people, especially first-time buyers. One of her former students recently closed on a house with her.
Brad remembers Tiffany coming to him asking for accountability and coaching. He knew right away she was a rockstar, the kind of person people feel like they have known for years. He also credits her standout year to a shift in focus. It is not about selling more homes, he says. It is about serving more people.
“I want them when they think back on the Noll Team, it's a pleasant memory for them. Like I learned so much from that.”
Tiffany Ham
Why Interns Are Worth the Effort
Tiffany knows many business owners worry an intern will mean babysitting. She sees it the opposite way. "We need them," she says. "We need them now more than ever." The team's current intern, Michael, a Fort Wayne native studying at the University of South Florida, put together a list of ways agents can use AI in their business. When Tiffany gave him feedback on his first projects, he welcomed it.
Brad compares the goal to a teaching hospital. He wants the Noll Team to be a teaching real estate company, because one of its core values is grow constantly, and the best way to learn is to teach. He is also honest that interns take time. If you are waiting until you are less busy to start, he says, you will never have time for an intern. His team carved out the time and thought hard about what they needed and how they could help in return.
A Performance Rubric Sets Clear Expectations
Tiffany built the intern a performance rubric, a tool she used for years as a teacher. Brad had to ask what that was. Tiffany explains that a rubric breaks a project into smaller pieces and spells out exactly what earns an A, a B, or a C, so students know what is expected.
The business application is obvious. Imagine if every employee knew exactly what it took to earn a bonus. Business owners, they agree, could learn a lot from teachers.
The rubric covers more than tasks. It includes connecting with people in the office, dressing and carrying yourself professionally, and representing the company well on social media. Tiffany admits that as someone who likes to close the door and get her work done, the connection piece is one she has had to learn too.
Real Projects, Not Coffees and Copies
Brad says many people picture internships as fetching coffee and making copies, which he calls a disservice to everyone. He did not go to business school. He says he learned teamwork, leadership, and hard work in the locker room. So the Noll Team internship covers far more than real estate. Here is some of what interns can work on:
- Agent scorecards and a team dashboard that show who is ahead or behind on goals and connections.
- Analyzing compensation and the cost per transaction.
- Updating annual reports and automating the 12-month client follow-up.
- Organizing past inspection data to flag common issues by the age of a home.
- Reviewing client surveys to show what the team does well and where it can improve.
- Birthday cards, home anniversary cards, and other pieces of relationship marketing.
Every intern also presents to the team. Michael's slides on the client surveys made for one of Tiffany's favorite team meetings. Brad compares it to The Karate Kid: painting the fence and washing the cars seem small until you realize what they were teaching all along.
Soft Skills and Finding Your Fit
Tiffany lists the soft skills interns build: punctuality, professional dress, business manners, and communication. As a high school teacher, she once had to teach students how to write an email that did not sound angry. Brad adds a line from his coaches that he applies to marriage, parenting, and work alike: conflict arises when expectations are not met, usually because of a lack of communication.
An internship can also show you what you do not want. Tiffany spent summers helping her father, a lawyer, and realized law was not for her personality. Yet she still uses those skills with contracts every day. Brad points to Trevor Day, who started as an intern through Purdue Fort Wayne, shadowed Brad for a day, and is now one of the team's top salespeople.
Tiffany also shares a story from her first job out of high school at a department store that pushed sales numbers hard. A shopper came out in a terrible outfit and asked her opinion. Tiffany told her the truth. The woman said she always tested salespeople that way, and if they lied, she walked out. She ended up making the biggest purchase Tiffany had seen at the store. From then on, Tiffany looked at sales as helping people.
What Makes a Great Internship Program?
For Tiffany, it is a relationship that runs both ways. "An internship isn't one-sided. This is a two-sided thing," she says. She wants the team to keep offering students new opportunities and to stay open to learning from them. Brad hopes the team can become the Chick-fil-A of real estate, the kind of place parents want their kids to work.
Not every personality fits, Tiffany says, and that is fine. She looks for grit and a desire to learn. If the Noll Team is not the right place, they will help connect a student to a better fit. Brad invites students, parents, teachers, and administrators to reach out, along with business owners who want to build their own program.
Asked what has been fundamental to her year, Tiffany credits a change in mindset. She once told a discouraged buyer he deserved a house just as much as anyone, and realized she needed to hear it herself. She closes by sending her flowers to her mom, who taught her about service, and to her husband, her four kids, and her grandkids, her biggest cheerleaders.
▶ Listen to the full episode
Internship: Preparing the Next Generation with Tiffany Ham, on Student of the Game.
Work with the Noll Team
Ready to make your move?
Since 2003, Noll Team Real Estate has been helping people in the Fort Wayne area find the freedom to live the lifestyle they want. Tell us where you are headed and we will build the plan around your life.