Branchin(g) Out: Getting out of Fear and into Action

Posted on by jenbranchini

Today marks Day 12 of the Shelter-in-Place order, as directed by Alameda County and then the Governor’s mandate in CA. We were among the first counties to have this order. During those first few days, panic ensued, my heart raced, a level of adrenaline ran through me 24-hours a day that felt like I was constantly running on the treadmill, and all the while, I wasn’t sleeping. Those first few days, I swallowed gallons of information from the news, internet, numerous threads, live webinars to try and comprehend what just happened and how to navigate these foreign waters. I survived and thrived through The Great Recession in 2008 but that doesn’t mean I don’t carry a certain amount of PTSD along with me and it was surfacing big time. I am a REALTOR®, and I humbly say, a pretty successful one at that. I have a good pipeline of business, then just like that, everyone retreated into their homes, just like my family. So now what?

Day 3, I posted to my Facebook page, “Today, I woke up with a plan.” My dad always told me to write my goals down, that if you don’t, you will wander aimlessly through life. Nothing about a pandemic was on my goals, so I had to regroup. My goals were simple: get up, exercise, take a shower, check in with 5 clients, take a break every 2 hours from the information sources and clean the pantry. This was enough. It helped take the edge off and allowed me to move forward. Each day, I am doing this. Small, simple goals.

As I began my daily workout a few days ago, I found myself breathless, tired, defeated and wanted to give up. Then my instructor said, “It doesn’t get easier, you just get stronger.” A light bulb went off in that moment. I then started to realize that navigating through this time is much like the first mile of a workout. At the start, you don’t want to do it, you make excuses, you’re tired and you want to give up. It’s this part that keeps people from ever starting a workout because they think it will be too hard and they don’t think they can do it. But, Mile 2 hits and you start breathing a little more regularly, and your legs forget they were tired. Pretty soon you are in your grove and on your way and have forgotten about Mile 1. The next thing you know, you finished and feel ok. You made it.

We are hitting Mile 2 now and starting to settle in to life as we know it. I am smiling more, laughing at silly things, enjoying my family dinners, my face is a little less tense and I am looking ahead to what’s next. So, what now? This is the part I call forced change. My day to day business practice has changed. Life has changed.

That We adapt. We live. Don’t take living for granted.

Stay tuned for Mile 3!

For the love of real estate: a journey into leadership

Posted on by jenbranchini

Waking up Jan. 1, 2010, I wasn’t prepared then for this incredible journey.

I am a REALTOR® first. I am the person that holds the hands of many as they purchase a home that they will experience 1,000 different emotions in. I guide sellers to their next chapters and facilitate all the ups and downs of a transaction, all while keeping buyers and sellers as calm as possible.

I love being a REALTOR®. This month marks 17 years! So much has evolved over time, and I’ve expanded my horizons in the profession. Sharing those experiences is my goal here, to assist, enlighten and entertain you.

I started in my 20s and believed that I could accomplish anything. I owned a condo with my father and began to market my real estate services to our neighborhood. I have created so many friendships over the years and now my personal holiday card list exceeds my business list. I believe in long lasting relationships. I want to be the first person any of my past clients think of for anything around housing. I find it important to work with people who share my values. Something that I share with other agents is, “If I’m going to take them to bed with me at night, I better like them.” I hear real estate is EASY, it’s a fast and easy way of making money. I can say that, done right, it is a very fulfilling career. However, there are times that this business is more stressful then raising three children and being unemployed. Focusing on advocating for my clients and never focusing on the compensation at the end of the transaction has kept me true to my profession.

About 5 years ago I began to feel a fire in my belly. Technology was changing rapidly and I found that our industry wasn’t doing much more than complaining about what was going on around us. What do you do when that is going on around you? Hide, be a complainer, blame? No, get involved! I then started a journey that isn’t near complete.

Starting our local, Young Professionals Network in 2010 was a huge passion of mine. I truly believed it was important to get young real estate professionals involved, and I continue to advocate for that today. Being young in real estate brings many adversities. Here are a few that I heard as I began my journey. Let’s remember, leadership in organized real estate is a VOLUNTEER position.

  1. You’re too young to know
  2. You need to wait til your kids are older
  3. You don’t have enough experience
  4. Don’t think you’re going to come in and pass me, I’ve been paying my dues
  5. Who do you think you are
  6. You have a husband and kids to take care of

These are a few examples of what I heard as I began this journey. This is crap! When an industry is stagnant, clearly others will seek opportunities for innovation and change. Why would anyone be too young? Isn’t it about fresh ideas, new approaches, outside opinions and curiosity? I look at life through the eyes of my kids. They ask more questions in a day then some adults ask in a year. While I agree with the saying, “I know more now then I did then”. Marry the experience with the new and/or young and WOW, you have some great minds working together. For those who know me, I don’t run the other way when someone says I can’t do something. I was raised to question with kindness but never take no for an answer. Put your mind to something and make it happen.

Over the past five years I have had many amazing opportunities in leadership and because of those have created so many wonderful friendships along the way. I learn more from my peer group that spans across the United States then I did the previous 12 years.

This amazing journey continued in 2012 when I was elected Treasurer of our local real estate association, Bay East. This was a dive into a corporate world that I had no experience in, as real estate was my first career. Not to mention that I had a major fear of speaking in front of people. I learned the ins and outs of the budget process, the financials, strategic planning and reported to our executive committee and board of directors on a monthly basis. I had to put fear aside.

My year as President

This began on January 18, 2014 as I was installed as President of Bay East Association of REALTORS®. I began preparing for this year in April of 2013. We hosted a great out of the box event created by the National Association of REALTORS® called ReThink. It’s an active role playing event that forced you to evaluate the “what ifs” about the real estate industry. We took those results and incorporated them into our Strategic Planning sessions later that year.

I remember everyone asked me, “What is your message, your theme?” I never liked slogans nor do I like feeling like I have to be married to a specific theme. Maybe this is one of my weaknesses? Looking back, I found I focused on the future: What are things going to look like 3 years from now? What issues do we see now that may grow into larger issues that will effect housing in the next few years? How can we prepare as an organization for the future? What do our members need as we move to the future? I go back to questions, always asking.

Looking ahead, there will always be disrupters in and out of our industry that will replace or improve what exists now. The volunteer work REALTORS® do at any level makes a difference. Get involved, use your voice and bring your ideas. I know I can’t change the world alone, but collectively WE can make the real estate industry better and be the disruption.

This blog will serve as my platform to answer such questions, hopefully on a semi monthly basis or as often as possible. Thanks for reading!