Most of you probably know me as the new girl here at The Paxton Group. New is not really a title I’ve ever been comfortable with. New means inexperienced. New means awkward. New means change. And none of those words make anyone feel warm and fuzzy. So if being new is so scary, why did I choose it? When I’m asked the question about why I decided to leave a career I’d wanted since childhood for something so completely different, a quote by Jim Rohn always comes to mind. “If you don’t like where you are, move. You are not a tree.”
For as long as I can remember, when someone asked me what I wanted to be, I always had the same answer: a high school English teacher. So, that’s what I did. And some days, I really loved it. When a student was excited about something we were reading or passionately wrote about an experience that was meaningful to them, I was over the moon. But, most days I didn’t love it. I came home stressed, worked more hours than is probably healthy, and my life looked less and less like I imagined it being when I fantasized about having my own classroom. Now, don’t get me wrong. This is in no way supposed to be a commentary about the state of education. That would take up more room than I think I’m allowed in this blog post : ) . The point is, I was unhappy.
I taught for five years. Then in 2013, my husband and I had our son Jonah. It wasn’t until then that I really took a look at my life. Having children really forces you to reflect on what’s most important. I knew that being in the classroom was not what I wanted to do forever. I needed more. But I didn’t know what I needed more of. The only thing I did know was that we had outgrown our little 2 bedroom house. And that’s when my love of real estate began.
We started our house-hunt, and I could have looked at 500 houses (much to the chagrin of our realtor- I was a bad client). A seed was planted. And to make a long, long story short, here I am. It was scary. I was inexperienced, and awkward (very awkward), but it was the best decision I have ever made. Not one day has gone by that I have not been so grateful that I was led to The Paxton Group. Who knew someone could be so passionate about selling houses? Certainly not me. But, when you think about it, is teaching really so different from selling real estate? In the end, I’m still helping people, and that’s what means the most to me. Moral of the story? You don’t like where you are? Do something. Change is hard. But, from experience, the reward is so worth it.
