LOS ANGELES—The brokerage industry doesn't see Bill Lee, the founder and principal of Lee & Associates, too often. The veteran broker is now retired and happily runs a beachside bed and breakfast in the Central Coast. When the brokers from his namesake firm convene for the annual Lee & Associates Broker Summit, however, Lee can't stay away. The conference, held earlier this month at the Wynn Encore in Las Vegas, was a meeting of like minds, and a time for Lee to see the robust national platform that his firm has become.

GlobeSt.com sat down with Lee and Lee & Associates CEO Jeff Rinkov and EVP Joe Vargas for an exclusive interview to discuss the firm's evolution and Lee's original vision for the company, which remain compatible even today. “After we set the [second office] up as a separately incorporated entity, and I got to see how the two offices blended together and supported each other, I knew that we had something that was going to be a national company someday,” says Lee in the interview about the founding of the firm in 1979.

Today, the firm stays true to Lee's original vision of shared ownership, but has taken the concept to new heights. Rinkov and Vargas have led the expansion, which most recently includes a new office in Seattle, with more on the way. But as Rinkov notes, the benefits that give the Lee model its value has its flip side: “We're out in the market, and we've very selective about who we partner with.”

In the interview, the leadership gives an inside look at the next steps of the expansion, how the firm's culture has evolved, how it handles recruiting and why entrepreneurship remains the firm's defining characteristic. Press play to hear more about Lee & Associates.