How It Started
In high school, Kari worked for a family friend who was a chiropractor, which just so happened to be in a ReMax building. Her father suggested she should look into real estate. Though Kari was unsure about real estate at the time, with the generational pressure to attend college, she kept having run-ins with one of the relators who would come to adjust his back. As he kept pushing her to work for him, she finally agreed to work for him for a summer. That summer, Kari fell in love with real estate.
Kari shared her experience getting started that summer.
“So it was interesting. When I started working for him, I was about two weeks or so, and he told me he was going to Ireland for ten days, it’s on you. This was when email was barely a thing. The MLS was on dial-up, so I only had a little in terms of resources. I remember the lender he used at the time was this beautiful woman, classy, pulled together like a role model to me. And I was inspired. I wanted to be like her. And so that always stuck in my head. At that time, I wasn’t licensed, and his buyer’s agent didn’t work out. I started to think, confident 19-year-old in college trying to figure life out, why not take the test?”
Kari passed her test and almost went inactive at one point, pursuing an accounting major that wasn’t for her. She described her past as winging life, trying to find her fit, though she was always blossoming her traits as people skills.
Kari applied for a job at Longhorn Steakhouse, and though they were not hiring, they took a chance on her. To this day, she stays in contact with some of her colleagues and regulars from Longhorn and speaks of them fondly as dear friends. She describes the skillsets needed in the service industry, which directly transfer into her real estate agent skills. Going from her day job in real estate to her night shift at Longhorn grew her network exponentially and allowed her to help her sell countless houses from the friendships she built there.
How It’s Going
Even stating, “I take a lot of pride in it, and I get myself in a bit of trouble going above and beyond. It is such a stressful process financially. Making the most significant decision of your life and moving, let’s be honest, isn’t fun. Then adding kids into it, buying and selling at the same time. I’m that person who will come to your house if you need a contractor. You don’t have to take off from work. And yes, that means I am probably cutting myself out of another deal that I can be spending time going and finding. But it’s more about the relationship and taking something off someone’s plate because I work for them. I don’t work for the next person that hasn’t signed up with me yet. And I think that’s where I differentiate myself a lot.”
Her dedication to her client’s efficient and smooth success in the settlement process truly makes her shine. However, this passion for real estate doesn’t stop there.
Kari mentioned that she doesn’t have kids, so she has extra time to fill her soul with friends and to study real estate trends, not only in her local market but across the country. In addition, networking with other relators in markets like L.A., Phoenix, and Vegas helps her be ahead of the game.
In addition, Kari networks with other relators locally, exhibiting vast knowledge for her clients. She stated, “I know what people in my office are doing. I network with them, but I want to see things that aren’t ordinary here that I could influence in my business to make it better for our clients because we haven’t seen that trend yet. So I take a lot of pride, and I take a lot of time to talk to other agents throughout the country.”
She has an individual coach who has a roster with 30 people across the United States, and she has the privilege of having them as a network to lean on.
Kari is proof that you can be anywhere you want to be if you put in the work for it. She’s proof of that and is transparent in her struggles. Her desire to help people move forward in the right direction and loves coaching.
“For instance, somebody is getting divorced or has done something financially, made a poor decision, wants a career change, doesn’t have a degree you know you can make that change at 30, 40, 50 years old and change your life in a year or two. And that’s like one of my biggest things like I want to help those people. I want to show kids how to teach a Kids’ class through Keller Williams called Quantum Leap. You know, 16 to 28-year-olds, they can apply for scholarships, but it’s goal setting, financial responsibility, all sorts of things. So I get really passionate about those things, giving back. I was even a firefighter if you can believe it.”
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