Mother MAY I?
I remember coming home from school and putting the key in the door to let myself in. Mom hadn’t been back from work yet, but once she did, she was confronting a pile of stacked up clothes to be altered for the local department store. All day long she was at the manufactory sewing hems on suit pants. She worked long, painful hours and there wasn’t a lot of times for stories or playtime with her. Her impeccable work ethic had a lot to do with her Panamanian-Chinese upbringing and I grew up with her advising that I save ever penny, “You never know what’s going to happen, so be prepared.” Those words have echoed in my head for a lifetime.
Since I'm a broker and flip houses my world can feel upside down some days. I've learned to hire people and trust they will do as good as a job as I would. Take me time without guilt and I'm still learning to say no when needed. Honestly, I love challenges and instant gratification in everything I do. So real estate hits all the Hotspots. Plus, who doesn’t like the financial freedom from the investment side. I'm teaching my kids generational wealth and breaking generational curses. - Joan Small, RVA Group Realty
I never had children unfortunately, I do however have a step-daughter who doesn’t understand the stretch of a dollar or what it is to struggle to eat every day. What I do have the luxury of is giving her my time. I’m able to pick her up when I need to, to hang out and play with her when she wants and take her along to open houses. She is seriously the best PR rep I could ask for. Being in Real Estate allows a lot of women to have full careers, make ends meet, and have time to be there for their kids. I couldn’t imagine giving my kids the fair treatment and time they deserved while working in advertising or being a paralegal. I cannot tell you how many times I had to stay after hours to meet some ridiculous deadline, and if I decided otherwise I may have not have had the career I strived for. The American Dream—work hard, move up the ladder. Let’s be frank here, that tends to be a bunch of horse poop.
“At first it was super challenging to be a mother and a realtor. After being a full time mother and yoga teacher, adjustments had to be made for the whole family. Like many working moms I felt some guilt about juggling my time and it was hard for me to prioritize. Over time we have all adjusted and I have learned to switch gears and be present with my family when I’m with my family and be present with my clients when I’m with my clients. Yoga helps a lot! It has definitely provided our family with some extra opportunities that we are grateful for and I really do enjoy finding people homes in a city that I love. “ - Kelly Trask, One South Realty
I have loved my new career in real estate because it gives me personal freedom. It is a job where I’m accountable and I am my own boss, but most of all, it is a job I am able to make my own time. There are some downsides to that as well as I’m sure every realtor mom can relate to. I’m only a part-time mom and I’m sure my experience is different than my full-time mama duty colleagues. Weekends can be difficult with showings and open houses. Also, you have to consider your clients’ needs. If they want to see a house in two hours, you have to be able to accommodate those schedules, and sometimes plans are broken at home. I think we all struggle with saying no sometimes in addition to putting boundaries in place. There is the reward though, to be able to take a vacation for a week and literally be present or to be able to take a day and focus your attention on your children rather than being tied to a desk is a great feeling that not a lot of people have the privilege of experiencing.
It gave me opportunity to accommodate my schedule and arrange it around my husbands so that always one of us would stay home with the kids while they took online classes. As time went by and market got crazier it got a little bit more complicate it because even though I can still accommodate my schedule it seems like I’m never home, no weekend, anytime any day, I can’t really make plans ahead of time because I have to be there for my clients. - Daniela Queen, RVA Group Realty
Kids are hard. They just are. We as agents work from our home offices a lot of the time and sometimes it’s hard if you have little ones scurrying about while you are trying to write a contract. I have some realtor friends who are incredibly strict with setting boundaries for their businesses because they don’t want any interference into their home life. If you are making a lot of sales it’s easy to have that priority, but i you are an agent starting out or not as busy, it can be very difficult telling your client you can’t meet them at 6pm because you are having dinner with your family, in your head, you don’t want to lose them.
The challenges of mommydom and being an agent are, to me, far less than other careers. You do have the ability to maneuver schedules and be effective/productive remotely. The key is to organize and prioritize, find a schedule that works for you so you can spend time being a mom and a great agent. We’re women, we can usually get our lipstick on while on a conference call, flipping pancakes and packing little Johnny’s lunch, all while wearing heels. And this is why we make fantastic agents. Kids also make great helpers in our business, they love to pass out flyers, drop off popbys, and they come up with the best suggestions for rooms.
So, to all my Mama Bear Agents, you’re doing a great job and remember that the rewards of this career will allow that Disney vacay or that European trip you’ve always wanted to take them on. Now you can go back to your superheroine’ing.