A New Year a New Approach

It has been a while since I last posted on my blog and WOW how so many things have changed for me professionally and personally! Being in this business for 8 years there are so many things that I have been able to witness and be a part of and learn everyday. I got my license after a neighbor encouraged me to check out a career in real estate one lazy summer day when we were chatting at the pool. I knew about Real Estate, my mom had sold Real Estate for Century 21 when i was a kid and I remembered the gold jackets...she left there and did a stint as an appraiser both privately and for the city before me entering in high school when she got her license again and started selling for a boutique firm in Wichita. So i had some familiarity with the idea of selling real estate but thought that  there had to be a lot of math in that and that was definitely not my fortay! At that point in my life I had just given birth to my youngest Halle she was just a mere 3 months old when this conversation occured and by the time I was licensed she was 4 whole months old. Career wise I was working from home running a home daycare where I had the priveledge of spending time with some amazing kiddos and helping parents with their childcare while still being afforded the luxury of being home with my babies. You see the jump was pretty fast but like everthing when I make up my mind to do something there is no stopping me :). Fast forward to the present..I've been in the business for 8 years now, raising 3 beautiful daughters 16, 10 and 8 and working full time as a single mom with the support of my many friends and family. I have been so blessed to be able to have this career that I love so much and all the rewarding relationships and experiences I have gained from it I could never explain. In the past 7 years I have established myself as a leader in my industry and my community volunteering on several boards and contributing how I can on numerous causes. I have been able to sit at the table with some of our greatest community leaders, meet with Senators in the DC and travel to more places in the past 3 years than I ever thought would be possible. I have made clients from across the country that have become dear friends and like family and been able to share these experiences with my kids. I set a goal in 2012  that i would be President of the Lawrence Board of Realtors in the next 5 years and I reached that in 2015, I serve on several Kansas Association of Realtor committees where i learn things from working on an organizational budgets for the state to what legislation is coming down the pipeline that will affect home owners and how we can protect them from unfair taxation and practices. I've met Realtor friends from Seattle, to Florida to New York to DC and all places in between and have a web of contacts that I can virtually help any of my friends move to another state and place them with an excellent Realtor to help. All of these things I have been able to do while growing my business and increasing my transaction totals year after year, expanding my business model to include property management and now looking to expand in a whole new way... (not sharing that yet but coming soon) So many blessings I've experienced in these short 8 years and everyday I am thankful to get to talk to people about their house needs and help people who are looking to sell for multiple reasons do that in as seamless of a way as possible...

This year in 2016 I'm taking a New Approach not only am I raising the stakes on my professional goals and aiming to sell 50 homes in 2016 , I'm challenging myself as a person to do more for my community. To provide more education on the housing market, to be a resource for people looking to connect from needing a handyman to wanting a recommendation on a good local catering company to use for an event. I have been so fortunate to build some great relationships and I want to make and build more... I truly believe that as REALTORS we are ambassadors to our community and the best way for me to do better at that is to get out and about and learn from everyone I meet. It's a little late for New Year's Resolutions but I don't do really well with those so let's just say these will be my best practices for 2016..

Hope to get out and see you soon :)