BOULDER COUNTY Laurie Kaufman PROOF
Her clients aren’t simply in the hands of a seasoned professional; they’re in the care of a true friend.
Business leaders and owners will understand a particular familiarity that comes with their daily grind: people start to fall into “types.” It’s not that people are inherently boring or uninteresting—real estate professionals repeat over and over again how they love meeting and helping new people, but even so, the pros can start to categorize people pretty quickly. If the pros couldn’t do that, they’d be bad at their jobs. This business requires the discipline of reading people.
Laurie Kaufman will surprise you, though.
It’s not just her story but her way of being that draws you in. Spend time with Laurie, and you’ll find it hard not to share your own stories—she’s the kind of person who genuinely wants to hear them. While her warmth and openness might be rooted in her midwestern upbringing, they’ve been carefully refined over her twenty-plus-year career in real estate and even during her college days.
“The job has allowed me to apply the skills I learned studying to be a therapist,” she says, “all of which I have found transferable to real estate. Active listening, problem-solving, respecting confidentiality, advocating and advising, and being observant are all traits I find to be highly effective when guiding my clients through the complexity of a real estate transaction.”
What stands out just as much is her humility. Laurie isn’t one to shy away from talking about herself because of insecurity or shyness—she’s confident and selfassured, but without an ounce of pretense. This authenticity is a key part of her success, making her approachable, relatable, and someone you naturally want to connect with.
“The home buying and selling process can be quite unsettling. I strive to take the pressure off my clients. My goal is to take a proactive approach to the process so it feels less daunting and overwhelming. I encourage clients to let me manage the process and take the lead, while trying to add a little laughter and levity to the mix,” she says.
The laughter and levity part is true.
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moves beyond her years.
You don’t know you're sitting with someone trained in therapy, and you find yourself laughing and joking with her. She puts you at ease.
Underneath all that, however, you’ll find a remarkably hard worker who has intentionally shaped her career over decades of business savvy
“I started my real estate career while I was attending graduate school,” she remembers. “It gave me a chance to balance my studies with the countless hours I spent commuting in my zippy yet unreliable Saab hatchback, traveling between CSU in Fort Collins and CU Denver, all while managing a portfolio of rental properties for a local investor.”
In addition, she had her own budding portfolio of properties in Boulder, which she managed as well, a smart investment she made when she saw the front range housing market heating up.
“Fortunately, I had the foresight to buy real estate in 2000-2001 before the boom,” she says.
“A four-plex in downtown Boulder—my first home — and a rental condo were my initial efforts at real estate investing.”
“I encourage clients to let me manage the process and take the lead, while trying to add a little laughter and levity to the mix.”
Laurie found her lane and stepped on the gas pedal.
“Soon after I graduated from CSU, my longtime mentor, Daryl Smith (RE/MAX of Boulder), convinced me to get my real estate license,” she remembers. “As fate would have it, the day after I passed my real estate exam, I bumped into John McElveen (now a fellow milehimodern agent) at The Kitchen and, off the cuff, told him I got my license in case he knew anyone hiring. Two days later,
he called and offered me a job on his sales team. This is how I began my real estate career and the next twenty years at RE/MAX of Boulder.”
The decision to head to milehimodern came suddenly, but not reluctantly. She explains, “A year ago, after much contemplation, I knew it was time to challenge myself and make a change As luck would have it, I connected with Jennifer Fly, the managing broker at milehimodern, who introduced me to their unique and cutting-edge culture, philosophy, and creative approach to marketing
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A REALTOR WHO REALLY CARES
real estate. The fact that milehimodern invests in their agents by offering a business coach made me realize this was the ideal place to advance my personal and professional development.”
Laurie is somehow a highly driven person but also not driven at all. You can’t have her success and not be driven, but nothing about her way of being says “driven.” Her unassuming manner supports a deep confidence in her skills and market knowledge, which gives her an ever-ascending stability, the sort of climb that looks slow but isn’t slow at all.
“The home buying and selling process and logistics can be quite unsettling. I strive to take the pressure off my clients.”
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slow but isn’t slow at all.
Beyond her professional life, she enjoys the perks of living in Boulder.
“To unwind and connect with friends, I hike the open-space trails with my feisty long-haired Dachshund, Pedro,” she says. “My favorite trails are Mount Sanitas, Coot Lake, and Chautauqua. Some people stop to smell the roses, my motto is ‘stop to pet the dogs,’” she quips.
She’s admittedly crazy about dogs, “I am an animal advocate, and I support Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue, where I was a foster ‘failure’ and adopted my black Lab, Harley. I also support Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and sponsor Frank and Bean, the adorable miniature donkey duo at Medicine Horse. This non-profit provides equine therapy to veterans and cancer survivors in need of healing through the connection and unconditional love of animals.”
“I am also a huge sports fan,” she says. “I am a loyal Cubs fan, and I love spending an evening in Denver at a Nuggets game. In the fall, the perfect day consists of a morning hike followed by a CU football game. I can't get enough of watching the best mascot in college football, Ralphie, storm Folsom Field. What’s there not to love about a spunky buffalo dragging her wranglers around a football field?”
In the end, Laurie says she feels very fortunate. “I am lucky to have a career that allows me to develop relationships with such an array of interesting, capable, and exciting people. It might sound cliché, but the best part of working as a realtor is the relationships I build with my clients, and fellow real estate agents many of whom I now call friends.”
