08/17/2021
Have I ever told ya’ll the story of how I became a realtor? Yesterday’s tropical storm brought back a flood of memories.
I got my license 5 days before hurricane Michael. The reason I enrolled in the class to begin with was completely counter to any and all logical timing I could come up with. The strong push that propelled me along now felt a little foolish. Looking around at my broken city, there was no real estate left to sell! And all I could do at that point was try to figure out ways to help.
But then my phone started ringing. Friends calling to ask for advice. “What should we do? Is it worth rebuilding? Do I sell it damaged? Should I move? Should I stay? What do I do?” And suddenly I had never heard God’s voice louder than I did then. “THIS IS HOW YOU HELP.”
I picked up Facebook, and the first thing I saw was a News Herald article about two young brokers who had just started up a new boutique brokerage shortly before, and were trying to help match people with rentals, even though it was no profit for them.
I sent them a FB message, and was in their office the next day. I had sworn I wasnt leaving there with a job. I had promised myself I would look around and find the best fit. But sitting there with those guys talking about my beliefs and why I was there…just felt right. I signed on that day, and never looked back.
They told me years later that when I showed up was the point when they felt like their crazy idea to start a brokerage was actually taking off. I was the first agent they didn’t know personally, but I showed up and trusted my career to them. They have no idea how much that meant to me. But I’m completely convinced that we were all put in each other’s lives for a reason.
Business isn’t always about making as much money as you can. Sometimes it’s about doing what’s right, helping people with the knowledge and skills that you have, being valuable to your community, and if you keep that in focus, success is the by-product.