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If you have followed along with my real estate journey, you may have noticed a small tradition I like to carry out whenever a client reaches the finish line: I celebrate with a personally made pizza.
At first glance, it might seem like a fun way to mark a closing. And it is. But for me, it means more than that.
The closing pizza is a way to honour my roots, show appreciation for my clients, and recognize the people who helped shape the person and professional I am today.
Where It All Started
My parents immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in the early 1990s with the hope of building a better life for their family. Like many immigrant families, they came with determination and a willingness to work incredibly hard for the opportunities ahead of them.
Eventually, they started a pizza business that many people in our community came to know and love as J3 Pizza.
For me and my siblings, the shop was more than just a family business. It was a place where we grew up, helped out, learned, watched, listened, and understood what it meant to serve a community.
I spent a lot of time there growing up. Whether I was helping around the shop, watching my parents interact with customers, or seeing the amount of work that went into every day, I learned lessons that have stayed with me ever since.
Lessons From the Pizza Shop
Working in and around the family business taught me more than I realized at the time.
I saw how hard my parents worked. I saw the long hours, the consistency, the pressure, and the pride they took in serving people well. I saw how much they cared about their customers.
That had a major impact on me, and those lessons have carried directly into my real estate business.
Buying or selling a home is a major milestone in someone’s life. It is emotional, personal, and often one of the biggest decisions a person or family will make. I never want my clients to feel like just another transaction. I want them to feel supported, respected, and genuinely cared for throughout the process.
That mindset started long before real estate. It started in the pizza shop.
Why I Celebrate Closings This Way
When a client buys or sells a home, there is a lot to celebrate.
There is the excitement of a new beginning, the relief of a successful sale, the hard work that went into getting there, and the trust that was placed in me along the way.
Making a pizza to celebrate that moment is my way of making the experience personal.
It is a small gesture, but it carries a lot of meaning for me. It is a way to bring a piece of my story into my real estate business and to celebrate my clients in a way that feels authentic.
It also gives me the chance to honour my parents and the sacrifices they made. Their hard work created opportunities for me and my siblings, and a lot of what I do today is built on the foundation they created.
Every closing pizza is a reminder of that.
More Than a Tradition
To me, the closing pizza represents gratitude.
Gratitude for my parents.
Gratitude for my community.
Gratitude for the clients who trust me with such an important chapter of their lives.
It represents where I come from and the values I try to bring into every client relationship: hard work, care, consistency, and genuine appreciation.
Real estate will always be about more than properties. It is about people, families, stories, transitions, and milestones.
So when I personally make a pizza to celebrate a closing, it is not just about the pizza itself.
It is a tradition I am proud of, and one I hope to continue for years to come.