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How a Santiago Canyon College alum earned a loyal following in real estate

April 21, 2026

Every time Alana Gates turned around, there was John Russo’s smiling, inquisitive face. If he wasn’t in one of her real estate classes at Santiago Community College — and he was in six of them during his relentless march to associate degrees in political science, psychology and real estate — he was doing extra credit at an off-campus function. Unnecessary extra credit, as Gates was quick to point out, because Russo aced his six-pack of real estate courses.

And while Gates, the faculty chair and professor of real estate at SCC, got plenty of the Russo Experience, complete with detailed, probing questions and insightful responses to her lectures, she didn’t get the Full Russo.

For that, you had to be a city of Orange citizen between 2018 and 2022, where you saw the gregarious Russo making the rounds as a mayoral or city council candidate. That “quite a journey,” as Russo called it, led directly to his current journey — as a rising star in Orange County real estate. The 27-year-old Orange native parlayed his outgoing nature, instinctual savviness and SCC education into a promising career as a real estate agent.

“I had seen the same leadership and at the time, they were there longer than I had been alive. I gave it a shot and had some real great ideas,” he said. “That was quite a journey. I learned how the world really operates, how relationships are important, how people’s opinions and interests matter, how to shape a city in the future, and I learned about development.

“For me, realizing what relationships and networking does for a person’s life in general was the value of this. It paid for itself tenfold.”

You could call it a natural progression because the two Russos are not exclusive. The budding politician barely out of his teens directly led to the future real estate agent. His grandfather, a retired real estate agent, provided the initial impetus. The deal-sealer came while Russo was on the campaign trail, knocking on doors. One of his volunteers was Laura Thomas, a real estate agent who became Russo’s real estate sherpa. She taught him the essential lesson that there are plenty of parallels between politics and real estate. The life skills, problem-solving, negotiating and psychology that go into the political arts play rather well in real estate.

Russo understood immediately. He started taking real estate classes at SCC, showing up in Gates’ classes like he had season tickets. Gates, in turn, pushed Russo with her upbeat personality, knowledge and advice. She picked up where Thomas left off: providing the details and guidance, showing him the options and teaching him there’s more to real estate sales than, well, sales.

“Right from day one, he has had the passion and interest that you don’t see in everyone,” Gates said. “He has quite the drive and he has the passion for community service as well, which is very important in real estate. A lot of people think real estate is a sales industry. It’s not. It’s a service industry. Our roles in real estate are almost like matchmakers. We are matching clients to their perfect home. The homes sell themselves. We don’t sell the homes because you can’t sell a home to someone who doesn’t want one.

“When someone like John has that passion and understands they’re providing a service, they’re able to work with clients and their ability to work with clients and ability to really help clients increases tenfold over someone who thinks they’re going into a sales industry.”

After finishing his degree at SCC in 2023 and passing his state tests, Russo worked for Century 21, before finding himself at Caliber Reality, a more natural fit for younger agents who have yet to establish themselves. Even before he established himself as one of the agency’s most promising agents — he handled 15 transactions in 2025 — Russo became a role model of his own. Younger agents asked to shadow him. Gates and other professors asked him to speak to their classes. Portola Middle School in Orange invited him to its career day.

“It’s humbling for me. It’s almost a bit of imposter syndrome where I want to tell them to go ask the 30-year real estate agent,” he said. “It’s a very humbling position for me to be in, and I’m very grateful and happy to do it, to give people no-nonsense explanations and answer questions.”

It’s Russo’s understanding that all three degrees he earned at SCC apply. They manifest their purpose in ways unseen and unknown. Until they are. Russo learned early on the definition of “service industry.”

“There’s a joke in real estate. You wear many hats, and the reality hat is the last one you wear,” he said. “I had a client one time, a therapist, who throughout the transaction process would call me because she needed someone to talk to. It wouldn’t be on the transaction; it would be about what she was feeling and what she needed to get off her chest. This job is creating relationships and creating friendships and that was something I learned early on.

“… It’s going above and beyond. It’s not just about the transaction.”

Orange County Register

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How a Santiago Canyon College alum earned a loyal following in real estate

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