A Little Story

I want to tell you a little story.

Once there was a skinny girl in college.

She was going to school to be a paralegal. She loved the thought of working in a law office. Legal research and writing was her absolute favorite class. Reading about cases and writing contracts and memoranda? Love, Loved it! Her least favorite class? Real estate law. Ugh. So boring. Anyway, while she was in school, she married the most wonderful man…

…and got pregnant. She decided not to go straight to work after graduating so she could stay home with her bouncing baby boy.

Not long after, when she was pregnant with her second baby, she met a friend, Hannah.

They forged a strong friendship immediately. One that lasted through several moves in several states, on the part of Hannah, and a total of 8 babies (counting the one she already had.)

While in one of those other states, Hannah decided to get her real estate license. And let me tell you, this chick could do real estate. She quickly became a top producer in her company. Her brokers and clients alike saw her value. Not long after, another move (thankfully) brought her and her family back to good ol’ Alabama, only miles from her friend! Upon her return to Alabama, Hannah decided to open her own real estate brokerage. Her friend was so proud of her, and couldn’t wait to see her succeed.

Remember that least favorite college class? Mmhmm.

Throw all that out the window. Because guess who was next to get her real estate license? You guessed it…

To her surprise, she actually enjoyed it! It gave her a sense of purpose outside of being a wife and mother. It let her use what she had learned in her paralegal classes. And it let her be able to work with and spend more time with her best friend.

Fast forward a few years, and she decided to get her broker license. This would let her be able to work training and mentoring new agents, and also give Hannah a back up broker just in case it was ever needed, as she was starting to expand her company and open new branches in surrounding towns. Imagine our broker-in-training’s surprise when she gets a text from Hannah saying, “I need you to finish your broker class ASAP.” “Just in case” had arrived. Due to some unexpected circumstances, Hannah needed to do some shuffling and rearranging in her offices, and needed back-up-broker.

To go from someone who did not care anything for real estate at all to being one of the brokers of a multi-branch company has been wild. And honestly, being broker is never something I would have sought out. I love helping the agents, and getting to be there for them. But I will be the first to tell you, I am not good at making decisions of any kind, or at facing conflict, both of which brokers have to do plenty of. I can also tell you, though, that I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone and done a lot of growing in the past few months. Apparently, Hannah recognized this as well, because at our annual awards night this past Friday, she awarded me with the 2021 Hannah Matlock Leadership Award.

Do I see myself as being broker forever? Actually, I don’t. I am perfectly content with being a back-end girl, training, working on files, staying in the shadows making stuff happen. However, I am glad I have had this opportunity to step up and help out, to learn and grow, to be more involved. Whether I stay in this position for another month or another decade, I will take these experiences with me and use them in the real estate world and in my own world. And be forever grateful I get to work with, learn from, and give support to my very best friend.