About Cathy...
I grew up in what most people would call a typical American family. My father was a truck driver and my stay-at-home mother raised me and my younger brother. We lived in the small town of Monrovia just east of Pasadena and home of the Tournament of Roses Parade. My early childhood was filled with all the joy you would expect from a happy family. My parents put effort into giving us
a storybook childhood, we spent time camping every summer, family motorsports into Dumont during the winter. We were living what most would call the American dream. My father worked for the same company driving the truck and then later was promoted to management and provided well for our family. In the mid-1980s everything changed for us, after 3 decades of dedicated service the company my father worked for sold his division. At the time it was called “corporate downsizing” but to my father it was simply devastating. He was 50 years old and as his daughter I watched him fall into a deep depression. I remember this being one of those times where I realized my parents were not infallible but vulnerable like all of us are. This had a deep effect on me and would shape my future. After an excruciating two years without work my father went back to driving a truck which he did until he was 67 years old. At the time I knew my family was struggling I found out later that they almost lost our home and even their cars. This was one of the most difficult times of my life. It is amazing how the events of our youth work to shape who we are and how we act in our future. After watching the struggle that my parents had gone through and the effect it had on us as children I was determined never to put my financial future in someone else's hands. Determined to succeed and be the creator of my destiny I was determined to create my opportunity. A family friend had told me that my sincere want to help others and my persistence and determination would make me a good real estate agent. After thinking about this becoming my career, my future I realized that it really did provide for me what I was looking for. Rather than just jump into the market I decided to get all the help, training, and mentorship I could. I successfully earned my real estate license in 1993. For the first three years I gained experience by working for brokers as their assistant, this raise my knowledge of contracts and the real estate process to an expert level few agents ever achieve. I then transitioned to working full-time as an agent and was quickly recognized as a Freddie Mac Certified Buyers agent. I then transitioned to RE/MAX Masters in Covina, California, I found success in working with expired listings. It was a joy for me to become an expired listing expert because I was finding success and helping homeowners where others had tried and failed. In 2001, Ted and I moved to Menifee, California where I joined Coldwell Banker Associated Brokers Realty. As I was growing my business I had very little time for anything but my clients. Thankfully, I did have some time and in that small space I met Ted Ryan. I quickly realized that Ted was everything I wanted in a partner and we were married in 1995. Three years later we decided to start a family and after finding difficulty in getting pregnant our son was born in 2000. Having a child shifted my perspective of what my parents must have gone through when I was younger. My son is everything to me and I would do anything for him. The energy of being a new mom took my business to the next level and for the next few years we watched it grow as our family moved forward. In 2004 I became ill and was unable to work very much, the real estate business was booming at the time and I was on the sidelines using our reserves and Ted was running our sign business which allowed us to make ends meet and be okay. Thankfully I was able to fully recover and get back to work at the end of 2005. I jumped back in head first and got my business up and running. I was experiencing the success and accomplishment I am used to! It is now well documented history, the real estate market crashed harder than it ever has and I was in the middle of it. My business literally stopped for over six months. I found myself in a terrifying, yet strangely familiar situation. My personal history was repeating itself only now I was the parent. Ted and I were doing everything we could to keep our home from foreclosure in our cars from being repossessed. I was terrified. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I set up my whole life to be in charge of my financial future and my destiny. And here I found myself in a place I never thought I would be. With both of our businesses failing, we sold our home and Ted found a job to keep us going while we figured out what to do. In a strange to twist of fate I started working with homeowners who are in the same position we had been. I was able to look them in the eye and tell them I knew exactly how they were feeling and it was true. This was an incredibly empowering experience for me, having escaped foreclosure it was a blessing every time I could sit down with a homeowner who was afraid, needed information, and was looking for help. I move forward one day at a time focusing on helping each person I came in contact with to find solutions and move their lives forward. I had a mission to save families from going through what we went through. We had no one to turn to at the time and I was, and to this day am, determined that no one I know will ever be alone in this situation. This passion that has developed over the last six years has not only helped our business helping homeowners who are having financial challenges, but helping anyone with real estate with a determination to see things through. In 2012 Ted and I made the decision that he would get his real estate license and join me as we formed a larger team. This has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. I now work every day with the love of my life helping people around us successfully navigate one of the most important financial decisions they will ever make in their lives, buying or selling a home. It is still amazing to me how much has come out of the challenges we have faced. I, like you have been through much of my life and each day I feel blessed to have learned lessons that help me help others get what they want in life. My passion is helping people and being a real estate agent lets me do this every day. I know that our experiences will help me better serve you and your family. As my real estate business grows and develops I hope that you will be a part of my story. With Gratitude,
Cathy Ryan
