Well, I have been bugged so often to start a blog of what the heck I am up to. ( This is not a real estate blog) THANK GOD!!! I am going to try not to refer to my life in my real estate world. It gets creepy sometimes with my clients having a little more knowledge about me. So I have tried to keep them off Facebook and I have resisted doing a blog until now. But we will if it is harder to find me here. I will trust God to watch over me and my family at this point. You might be thinking good luck with that…. I know, wishful thinking. Also, please bare with me on this blog thing. I am not sure what the correct blog etiquette is. I will keep the tradition of just shooting from my hip and figuring it out along the way…. Ha!
Why the road less traveled?
Ever since I was at ORU and even today in my office I have a framed poem on my wall. It is one of the greatest poems I have ever come across. The poem is called The Road Less Traveled by Robert Frost. When I read this poem while I was a student I really related to it. I am getting this long but really short story of my life out of the way so everyone can say “oh I get it now” . A short story of the last 10 years of my life. I moved to the east coast in ’92 and in ’94 met my husband on a blind date. Yup, that’s what it was. A college friend introduced us and we married in March of the next year. We will be married 15 years. I really wanted to go to law school in the area and decided to have children instead. That was a great decision on our part. I have 2 sons and they are amazing God loving kids. In 2001, I told my husband I wanted to get into real estate part time. I loved being a stay at home mom but I felt that urge to move in a different direction. I still think this is one of the hardest jobs I have ever had. My first year in real estate I won Rookie of the year award for my company and for the area board awards as well. It was a huge shock to me to be so successful on the jump. Two years later, I moved companies and began running a team that ended up being a huge team. When I left that company 3 years ago, I had 20 agents on my team. The rumor in the industry at the time was I was leaving the company to buy my own KW franchise. I was fired on a Saturday afternoon at 1pm in Feb ’06. This was my true test of the road less traveled…….With in 24 hours of that phone call I pretty much lost my whole team with exception of a few agents trying to find their way they eventually all left the company and did not follow me to my new opportunity to start a new national franchise. I remember that day so well. I think it was more painful than giving birth to my two sons. It was a shock to the other huge local brokers and agents in the area when I was approved with in 3 months of being fired to start the first successful KW franchise in my area. In ’08 I opened my second successful KW franchise in VA B. Town Center. I had a pretty good size bullseye on my head for the first 6-8 months. That was an interesting time in my family’s life. Today, there are 4 offices with 250 agents and KW is the fastest growing franchise in the city. It warms my heart to think when God gives you a dream or a desire it’s great to see it come to pass in such a huge way. Sometimes it is still hard for me to wrap my brain around what God has done for me and my family. I am still a full time Realtor with two assistance. I have sold almost 500 homes and 120 million in sales to date. Okay, now that this is out of the way…………
I remember the first day I stepped foot onto the ORU campus. I remember the tugging of God on my life. I knew I was suppose be there. When I decided to go into real estate, I had the same tugging by God. I knew I have been lead by God to do the things he has called me to do. I haven’t always done it the right way but I have always found my way.Thank God for His grace and forgiveness on a daily basis. Yes, along with everything else I am doing I have felt the tugging yet one more time. My new company( Why Be Average?) has been birthed out of what I believe God’s leading me to go in a different direction with what he has taught me with my achievements and my failures. I am also using a part of this company to be able to speak to women in leadership to encourage and to inspire them not to be average but to be Extraordinary. I was in leadership at (RA) ORU and I think this has been my burning passion for the women in leadership at ORU. Dean Sylvester has no idea what opportunity she gave me when she allowed me to speak at a RA meeting a month ago. God really dealt with me on what is to come. That was pretty cool and an amazing time I spent there. More on that later… One of my leadership mentors at ORU was Betty Chesbro. She is a legend at the University. My other mentor and I am not sure he knows how much he has shaped who I am in the last few years since I met him. Dr. Tim Elmore has an amazing ability to communicate leadership in such an profound way. The first time I saw him speak on leadership I was hooked on his ministry. His organization is called Growing Leaders. ( I love Holly too). It has been a blessing to be in my position to sow seeds on great soil. I was blessed along with a group of Alumni to hear Oral Roberts speak in Oct. What an amazing time that was to hear the heart of Oral. A few quotes from him that I really want to share was. “make no small plans here” and ” make sure and sow your seed in good soil” ” clean hands and a pure heart” So, I would say this is my journey. It’s amazing when God puts that burning desire in your heart and your spirit. You can do amazing things with your time when you are on Gods time. So, how’s that for a hand full of info…….. Sorry! Until next time…
Romans 12:8 (New Living Translation)
8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
