Voices of Tomorrow: If You're Good Enough, You're Old Enough with Flyn Crowley

What does the future of the property industry look like through the eyes of someone who's only just getting started? Welcome to Voices of Tomorrow, a new series within The Viking Chats where I sit down with young people aged 25 and under who are building careers in property. The idea is simple: rather than having another conversation about what the next generation thinks, why not actually ask them? For our very first episode, I'm joined by Flyn Crowley, a 22-year-old Business Development Manager at The Guild of Property Professionals, whose journey into the industry has been anything but conventional. Born in Galway and raised in Brighton, Flyn never particularly imagined himself working in property. After spending 18 months working for his cousin's removals business, he decided he wanted something different. Inspired partly by estate agents he'd been following on Instagram, he headed to London with a handful of printed CVs and started knocking on agency doors across Kensington, Chelsea and Knightsbridge. Only one business got back to him: The Guild. Three years later, he's progressed from making cold calls to sitting opposite experienced agency owners and directors, helping them understand how Guild membership could support their businesses. Not bad for someone who was barely out of his teens when he arrived in London. But this isn't simply a conversation about Flyn's career. What I particularly enjoyed was how willing he was to question some of the things our industry has accepted as normal for decades. Why are UK estate agency fees so low compared with other markets? Flyn has spent enough time talking to independent agents to recognise how much work goes into delivering a good service, yet we're still an industry where discounting fees is almost second nature. We explore why agents can become obsessed with winning instructions rather than completing sales, why being the busiest agency in town doesn't necessarily make you the most successful, and why knowing the value of your service sometimes means being comfortable walking away from a potential client. There's also a fascinating discussion about how AI could reshape the industry over the next five to ten years. Flyn sees enormous opportunities to improve productivity, particularly around administration, communication and sales activity, but he's equally convinced that technology won't replace the human relationships at the heart of good agency. I couldn't agree more, although I suspect the changes ahead will force us to think much harder about where people genuinely add value. And then we get to something that really matters to this new series: what's it actually like being young in the property industry? Flyn admits that he doesn't always volunteer his age when meeting experienced agency directors. At 22, he knows some people might question his credibility before he's even had the opportunity to demonstrate what he can do. His mentor, Ian McKenzie, gave him a piece of advice that has stuck with him: “If you're good enough, you're old enough.” It's a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with, but it also raises some uncomfortable questions about how our industry recruits, develops and rewards younger talent. With so many young people struggling to find meaningful employment, are we doing enough to welcome the next generation? Are we offering genuine career opportunities, or simply expecting people to work their way through poorly paid entry-level roles and prove themselves before we take them seriously? And if property really is a people business, shouldn't we be investing considerably more in the people who will be running it ten or twenty years from now? As usual, the conversation wanders into a few unexpected places, including the psychology of negotiation, estate agency profitability, the problems with UK property transactions, charging what you're worth and why a good attitude can be considerably more valuable than years of experience. Flyn was also making his podcast debut, and I think he did a fantastic job. In this episode, we explore: How Flyn found his way into property at 19, and why social media played a surprising part. The realities of moving to London and building a career from scratch. Why UK estate agents struggle to command higher fees. The difference between winning instructions and running a profitable agency. How AI could transform the everyday work of estate agents. Why confidence, communication and negotiation remain essential skills. The challenges of being taken seriously as a young professional. What experienced industry leaders can learn from the next generation. About Voices of Tomorrow This is the first in a new series of Viking Chats conversations with people aged 25 and under who are working in, or trying to break into, the property industry. I want to hear what excites them, what frustrates them, what they think we could do better and how they see the future unfolding. No corporate scripts, no predetermined answers, just honest conversations with the people who will help shape our industry's next chapter. If you're 25 or under and would like to join me for a future episode, get in touch. We record in person at our offices in Shoreditch, London, and I'd love to hear from you. Guest: Flyn Crowley | The Guild of Property Professionals Host: Kristjan Byfield | Co-founder, The Depositary and Base Property Specialists Podcast: The Viking Chats | Voices of Tomorrow #1 Send us Fan Mail