3 MIND–BENDING

3 Mind-Bending Philosophies to Expand Your Professional Perspective

Beyond the day-to-day duties that make your business tick, so much of success is derived from the principles you put in place to guide your business. The foundational tenets you subscribe to can make or break your business for the long-term; they not only influence how you complete routine

tasks, but also impact your growth, your ability to manage a team, and what the future might hold. With all that in mind, here are three philosophies to remember as you strategize your professional life—whether you’re mapping your monthly goals or creating an overarching plan for growth.

1Treat Your Business Like a Business

One of the perks of working in real estate is that you’re often able to create and manage your own schedule and volume, but that doesn’t mean you can skimp on the technical details of being your own boss. No real estate professional worth his or her salt would forgo empowering tools like a business and marketing plan, or spreadsheets to track cash flow and expenses, or regular profit-and-loss statements, or fiscal year budgets and projections. Taking these measures may appear daunting at first— and completing them will certainly require discipline and a learning curve—but harnessing valuable data and information can intelligently inform your professional decisions, strategies, and long-term growth.

2Achieve a Holistic Understanding

When schedules are busy, it sometimes feels like enough to reach the end of the week’s to-do list. But, if you’re planning on a lasting career built on year-to-year growth, it’s not enough to account for the short-term. By creating daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and five-year goals, you’re outlining and quantifying your progress. While your quarterly and yearly goals may be clear in your mind, what about five years from now? Perhaps you’d like to add to your designations, or incorporate a new team member, or add an additional branch. No matter how you envision your professional future, the first order of business is to create a timeline. Once you have a clear deadline in mind, it’s far easier to build out the steps and calendar necessary to achieve your goals.

3Specificity is Empowering

While you may have a general sense of where you’d like to see your business go in the next few months or years, it’s hard to work toward or attain a goal that’s abstract. To make the most of your time and efforts, you must identify and understand precisely what you’re aiming toward. For instance, instead of planning to add volume to your enterprise, outline a specific, attainable number to work toward. Or, if you’d like to add an administrative staff in the years to come, consider the details of this decision—the money it would take, the type of people you’d want to hire, how many hours per week they’d work, what tasks they would complete, etc. Adding hard details to your goals not only makes them more realistic, but progress is more easily made when you have specific items you can cross off your to-do list along the way.

While there are no 100% fool-proof or guaranteed routes to success, shifting your mindset from the present and the abstract, to the specific and the long-term can have a major impact on your chances of success. Instead of dreaming of being more productive or successful, do yourself a favor and craft a gameplan you can bank on.

BRITTANY PATRICK

For some real estate agents the passion for the business starts very early on. That was the case for Brittany Patrick who, inspired by her mother—the broker at Ryen Realty—started her real estate classes while she was still a senior in high school. As soon as she graduated, Brittany decided to go straight into real estate. She obtained her license in December 2012, and joined her mom at Ryen Realty, where she’s been a top agent since joining. She currently serves buyers and sellers throughout Clearfield, Jefferson, and Centre County, PA.

Despite still being a relatively young agent, Brittany has already established a great base of repeat and referral customers. She often works with investors and ensures that they receive a good deal on their properties. She also flips houses with her fiancé, and has a lot of knowledge in that area. And besides her real estate expertise, it’s also her upfront attitude that keeps clients coming back. “I’m very honest and blunt with my clients. I don’t beat around the bush. I think people respect that about me. I’m also a very hard worker, and make my time as flexible as possible for my clients,” she says. And it’s due to her diligent work ethic that she is able to finalize about 55 to 60 sales a year, with a price range of 15k to 350k. When she’s not working or flipping houses with her fiancé, Brittany’s schedule is still packed with many other activities. The most important one for her is being a present mom to a two-year-old. She also works as a health and fitness coach part time. And, as the owner of a picturesque house on the river, when she wants to relax, all she has to do is walk outside and see the view. “I own a house on the river, and most of my free time is spent doing outdoor activities with my family,” she says.

Going forward, Brittanywants to continue flourishing in the real estate business, and making consistent progress in all areas of her life. She is passionate about the local real estate market, and wants to ensure that the economy is able to thrive, even in the current difficult times. And to make her mom proud, she is working on getting her broker’s license, and wants to become a broker at Ryen Realty after her mom retires, and continue her long legacy of excellence.

For Brittany, there are many positives to working as a real estate agent. Aside from being able to create her own schedule, it’s the human aspect of real estate that she truly enjoys. “I love that I get to constantly meet new people in this line of work. I love talking to people, and I really enjoy connecting and building long-term relationships,” she says. But her passion for the business truly boils down to a simple love of real estate itself. So much so that she even bought her first home at the very young age of 18.

To learn more about Brittany Patrick email brittanypatrick7@gmail.com, or call (814) 771–3693

KEMA PHILLIPS

Kema Phillips began her professional career in pharmacology, working as a pharmacy technician. After eight years in the industry, she began to realize that it was no longer for her. “I remember telling my husband that I wanted to run my own business,” she recalls. “So I researched several businesses when I came across real estate. I was really intrigued, because I just had my first child, and I could make my own hours. What also stuck out to me were the words, ‘low investment, large return,’ so I got my license and began to practice.”

Kema now works alongside her husband, Justin, who became licensed last year, leading the Flourish Atlanta Real Estate Team. Kema reports that she is well on her way to reaching a goal volume of $10 million in sales. Perhaps more noteworthy, her business is 100% repeat and referral clientele. I’ve never had to buy leads,” she asserts. “All of my clients are from my sphere of influence or through social media. Our mission is to help every single client make the best real estate decision based on current market trends and keep the process fun and exciting. We are genuine, and I believe people can see that.” me is getting my client to their end goal, whether it’s their first investment, first home, vacation home, or retirement home,” she notes. “I love the smiles we receive on closing day, knowing that we provided them with exceptional service”

Kema strongly believes in giving back to her community and gets involved with local charities and nonprofits throughout the year. “When I first started, I got a group of women together to create and give out care packages for Atlanta’s homeless,” she says. “In addition, I am very active with Keller Williams’ Red Day program. One of our biggest charities is the local orphanage. I’m all about finding creative ways to give back.”

When not working or donating her time, Kema enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids. She also loves to travel.

AS for the future of her business, Kema hopes to expand, not only her team but her office locations. “I’d love to be running an expansion team all across the country,” she exclaims. “That’s the dream.”

It’s not surprising that Kema receives stellar reviews for her esteemed work ethic. One client recently wrote: “Kema went above and beyond for us. She listened to our wants and delivered! Thanks for all you did!”

Kema believes in utilizing multiple avenues in order to market her listings. “Social media is huge for us,” she insists. “In addition to our business Facebook page, I am a member of several groups, so I promote on those pages as well. We also put out Coming Soon notices and lots of signage to get buyers excited about the upcoming listing.”

What Kema loves most about her job is the joy she provides to her customers. “The ultimate reward for

For more about Kema Phillips, email kema@kpregroup.com, or call (678) 592-2541