People over Profit? What a Concept!

I love Red Barn for so many reasons. The culture. The leadership. The grit/entrepreneurial spirit. The high service/low fee model. The HGTV connection. Quite the contrast from where I started. 

After I earned my real estate license, the real learning began. To earn your license, you need to demonstrate a basic knowledge of real estate terminology and laws but the REAL aspects of real estate (ie writing contracts, negotiations, navigating the MLS systems, etc) are barely covered in real estate school. Upon graduation, you have to select a brokerage to hang your license with and I chose a national name brokerage based solely on their name (falsely) assuming that brokerages were basically the same both from a commission split, training, and lead generation no matter where you went. 

Boy, was I wrong. 

When I initially met with broker at this big name brand, I was assured training was included and it was. There was staff available to ask questions from 9-5 Mondays through Fridays but the reality is a lot of real estate is done outside the traditional work week and these resources weren’t available when I needed them at critical times (ie multiple offer situations, etc). And training classes were available (for an additional fee, of course) or I was welcome to hunt and peck through a library of existing videos and blog posts. If I’m completely honest, I fumbled my way through many of those first transactions. Things could have gone terribly wrong had I not had a good understanding of the contracts from the real estate investing I had done to date and from my negotiation experience as a former marketing consultant for firms like The Coca-Cola Company and Cox Communications. 

As I was settling into this new career and had a few transactions under my belt, my world completely changed. My son was diagnosed with cancer. 

Learning your child has a life threatening disease can shake you to the core, as you can imagine. The shock of it all had me in a daze and I felt like I was in a fog that wouldn’t lift. During this time, a mutual friend of ours connected me with Ken and Anita Corsini, stars of HGTV’s Flip or Flop Atlanta and the founders of Red Barn Real Estate. Although we had real estate investing in common, we shared something else. Their son is a cancer survivor and they had already summited the mountain I was about to climb. These two took time out of their extremely busy schedules to spend over an hour with me, someone they didn’t know, to counsel me on what was to come, who to connect with and to share hope and encouragement at the onset of this very dark time in my life. I am forever grateful for their generous outpouring of wisdom and love. 

Shortly thereafter I made appointment with Scott Martineau, the President of Red Barn Real Estate, to learn more about the brokerage and ultimately made the decision to move my license.  What I had encountered from the people I had met with at Red Barn was completely different than what I had seen in real estate offices. The culture was amazing. One of collaboration, not competition. One where the broker provides leads should you need help generating business. One where jeans and baseball caps, my go to “uniform”, is welcomed. One where newer agents have access to mentors to guide them through every step of the way.  One with amazing profit splits. (I keep 100% of my commission by the way.) But most importantly, one where people come before profits. 

I’m so thankful I made the decision to pivot to this boutique brokerage of high caliber real estate professionals. Since I joined, I’ve experienced the highs and lows of all that life has to offer and my friends at Red Barn have seen me through it. On the personal front, my son is now in remission and is doing well. (Thank you Jesus!)  On the professional front, my real estate career has flourished at Red Barn and I am proud to be one of the top producing agents at the brokerage as well as in the top 5% of all REALTORS© in the Atlanta area. It is a privilege to hang my license at Red Barn; a place I’m proud to call home.