10/26/2026
Six years ago today, I was laid off.
A 15 minute Zoom with a VP who couldn’t pick me out of a lineup and some HR guy.
I thought I was prepared.
You never are. Walking away is one thing. Being told it’s your time is another.
Eleven years, gone. Email shut off. Drop your laptop in a drive-through line in a parking garage. Just like that.
The thing is, I knew I needed to leave. I loved the work, but dysfunctional leadership had made it toxic and it was wrecking my mental health. Add a small child who was...a lot...for her childcare provider AND 2020.
I was unhappy.
I was just too scared (+ too comfortable) to leave on my own terms. So the universe did it for me.
That SAME DAY I called Lindsey Culver : “Hey, so I know I’ve been thinking about real estate part time...guess it’s full time now.”
I was terrified. I’d met the people, interviewed the brokers, taken the classes. But holy hell, so many sleepless nights wondering what if it doesn’t work?! (Fun fact: when you work for yourself, that feeling never fully goes away. You just use it to keep moving.) I gave myself two years.
I also did some therapy (yay talk therapy!) because getting laid off HURT and my imposter syndrome took over like WHOA. My therapist, a big Brené fan, got me to focus on the people in the arena with me. That’s what got me here. My squad. My cheerleaders. You know who you are, and I’m eternally grateful.
Six years in, I’ve surprised myself. No two days are the same. No two transactions are EVER the same. I know way more about city planning and sewer lines than I ever expected and I feel like I've found my calling in a career I love.
And this work fills me up in ways corporate never could. I get to hold hands through the biggest purchase of someone’s life. I get to call clients and say out of 7 offers, the seller picked YOU. I get to hand keys to first time buyers who are the first in their family to own a home.
Six years ago today, I sat in a parking garage, waiting in line to hand over the keys to a life I’d outgrown.
Now I hand people keys for a living.
Turns out the door that closed on me wasn’t the end of the story. It was the front door. 🏡