Latest / Charleston's Leading Producers / #35 Showing Up As Yourself | Kortney Oden

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#35 Showing Up As Yourself | Kortney Oden · Charleston's Leading Producers

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: This has nothing to do with me.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't my house, my mortgage, my family, or anything.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to walk away from something, you have every right to do so.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Hey leaders, I'm Jake, a loan officer obsessed with business growth and finding out what's actually working in our market.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: If that sounds useful, hit follow.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this week's leader.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: All right, Courtney, we're recording.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for hopping on and doing this.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: No problem.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: We we were actually just kind of laughing.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: So um you you've had a trying 48 hours, yeah?
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: I have, yeah.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's been, I mean, I have three kids, so there's never a dull moment, but yes.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's never a not trying 48 hours sometimes.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: So um mine were actually, so we've been on fall break the past three days.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, in my job today, I was running around to different brokerages.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I brought my seven-year-old with me.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh goodness.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: So it worked out great.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: She did really well.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: We were riding around, she did good in the car.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: We listened to K-pop demon hunters the whole time.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's always if all else fails, just throw that on.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: You're good.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Throw K-pop on.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, she did really good.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the agents liked meeting her, so she does good in those situations.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: But um, but yeah, so you you're you're running on little sleep, you were saying.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Very little sleep, yeah.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: My daughter had a very aggressive, I don't know if it was a stomach bug or food poisoning, but it was started about 3 a.m.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't go to sleep until about midnight previously to that.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it was something was coming out about every 30 minutes until about 2 33 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally she was over it, and I was like, Oh my goodness.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was just glad it didn't last much longer than that because you know, some of these bugs last a few days, and I was not prepared.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Especially it looks like we're gonna be cooped up in the house here.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: The rain is coming.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're recording on the 9th of October, and um the impending rainfall sounds like it's happening, but yeah, I'm hoping that that means some sporting events will get canceled this weekend, and I can sleep.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: The sporting events on the weekends are out of control.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's insane.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: My my son, he plays hockey, that's not weather dependent, but his games are always between 7 and 8 a.m.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: But that's like 35, 40 minutes from where we live.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: So it's at the Palace?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't know that.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I was a beer leaguer at the Palace for years.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: What?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: He loves seeing all the beer leagues play, but it's typically like his practices are pretty late, and then his games are really early.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: So by the time we're getting out of there, I'm like, I don't want to be here for another five minutes.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't blame you.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, I grew up um played, you know, all the way through high school.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I played in the beer leagues down here probably for like 10 years.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's so and you don't play anymore?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, I gave once COVID hit, I I I retired, I say.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I mean, I couldn't have so some of the games are 11 30 p.m.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Sunday nights.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I can't do this.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of my complaints.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: I do wish that they would open up another Ice Palace or whatever they want to call it, just somewhere locally, just because you do have every college team, semi-pro team, house league, everything in one place.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And trying to fit it in a schedule is rough.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: I said that for years, and the the problem not to go into this right away, I don't know how we got um on the hockey economics right away, but they have a monopoly and they don't take care of the rink, and it drives me crazy.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, if somebody just built another rink, it would force them to run theirs better.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, for sure.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: But nobody like I don't think anybody knows that it's as big as it is down here.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't anybody with a little bit of money would be a genius to open up another rink around here because the only competition would be that one.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: It it's run so horribly, it's dirty, it's just old and out of date.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: And um, like you said though, it's packed all the time.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: There's a ton of kids and grown-ups, the adult leagues, yeah, playing hockey.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, and I mean, even like the Citadel everywhere plays there.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: The last one I went to, um, it was actually the College of Charleston and Citadel game.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: And we saw the beginning of that one, and I was so sad we didn't get to stay for it.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh, you got school tomorrow.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: No, this one I think it was a Friday, I was playing like a Friday night pickup.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: This was within the last year, and um, full disclosure, I turned 40 this year.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, I'm just kidding.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: If you can't see on the podcast, she's giving me the are you kidding me that?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, just turn 40.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And every once in a while I'll be like, I I still got it.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I can go play.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then I went and I played this pickup, I think it was 11:30 actually on a Friday night, and I was like, I cannot play anymore.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: My body just will not handle this.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: It does not recover like it used to.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: No, and then the whole weekend shot, it was horrible.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh huh.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, let's get into some real estate.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: I could talk hockey the whole time.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: But same.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: We can pick that up another time.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're recording in the beginning of October.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: I want to start with just where we're at right now.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: So you're coming off a couple great months, Courtney, um, and a recent brokerage change.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I'm just curious, what are you seeing in the Charleston market right now that might have contributed to your success the past couple months that maybe some agents aren't seeing?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um honestly, I think it's just knowledge is power.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think it is a lot of actually having faith in yourself, like using things that I have seen out there instead of trusting what I'm seeing on social media or on the news, because when we see those things, they're not necessarily in our market.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And anybody in this general area knows Charleston is not the same market as Somerville.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Somerville's not the same market as Columbia.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like you go 10, 15 miles down the road and you've got a completely different market.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I leaned in on just being knowledgeable about what I was seeing instead of what I was seeing everybody else see.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just very beneficial.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's so important the stories that we tell ourselves.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And if we listen to like what's going on on social media and what's going on on the news and all these things, it's it's almost like there's nothing good that can come from it.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, I think it's really important.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: But you mentioned markets within Charleston being very unique.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, do you have, you know, whether it's Somerville, you know, even like I I almost consider Nexton a different market than even Somerville.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And they're really it definitely is.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you've got different not to say that Somerville and Nexton don't have similar price ranges and pockets of them, but Nextton as a whole, their taxes are different, which is very challenging for some people.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Their price range is a little bit different.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and just even like parts of Somerville is so big that it's I don't know how geographically large it is, but it is, I mean, it's like 45 minutes from one side of Somerville to the next.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And within there, you have so many pockets of, I mean, you've got some backroads where you've got$200,000 homes, and then you've got other homes that are close to a million.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And they're not far from each other.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: But you, it's just everywhere you go, you really have to be knowledgeable about the market and really do your research in order to come off as knowledgeable about that market.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever you do have that knowledge, that is actually your knowledge and what you know when you talk to people about it, it makes them understand so much more because you don't feel like you're just reading something or understanding something that you just read.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: You actually have seen it yourself.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: And is that where you're doing most of your work?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Is up in the Somerville area?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Are you dipping down into Charleston a little bit?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I have been, I've been all over.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: I have recently mostly been in Somerville, Monk's Corner, Cross, and out that way.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I mean, my entire career has been over towards Ravenel, Johns Island, James Island, Charleston, everything.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: So you're getting rural a little bit too.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I go there's some days when I'll have there was, um, I don't remember when exactly it was.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was a few months ago, where I had three different clients that needed to see, like I had three different things.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I had an inspection one day, showings another day, and I think I had to stop by for like an out of state client at one of their houses.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I went literally from John's Island over to the other side, like Dorchester side of Somerville, back over to this side of Somerville where I live, which is the Berkeley County, almost monks corner side of Somerville.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And my husband, when he saw my gas tank, he was like, We just filled this up.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, You have no idea how much I drive for a living.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it's funny you say that.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I did today.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: I drove down to Mount Pleasant, stopped downtown, came back up.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I actually, you know, sometimes I'll I'll I'll let you in on the loan officer world.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's easy for us to maybe be a little judgy of realtors, you know, we can come down on them a little bit from the loan side.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what are they doing out there?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I was like, oh my gosh, I really feel for these realtors running around everywhere.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: This is not how I would want to spend my time all the time.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: There is a reason that our vehicles are somewhat of a tax write-off, okay?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: And just beat to hell, like all the time.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: So many times I forget how many miles are on my vehicle.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I drive a suburban and I forget it's like not even a year old.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'm at close to 23,000 miles on it.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And when I told somebody that not too long ago, um, they were like, Oh my gosh, what kind of trips have you gone on?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, none.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: I just drive a lot for work.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, West Ashley and Ravenel.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what's changed the most in your business over the last like six months to a year?
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think the last, there's my kid.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think um the last six months would be more of a very accurate thing of what has changed.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: I felt we'll say this about a year ago, I just felt so kind of lost in real estate.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that I had started real estate for the reason that I was not going to make it through nursing school, but I wanted to help people.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I was so hyper focused on still, I wanted to be able to help people, but I was so hyper-focused on being successful in thinking that that success would make me be able to help more people instead of shifting my mindset to just helping people and being able to be that person.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: I have my clients call me if they need a painter, if they need a drywaller, if they need a roofer, if they need a new tire on their car, if they need a doctor that's local.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I've just been able to shift the mindset to like, I'll be your person, even if it's not a realtor.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if you don't need real estate advice right now, that's fine.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll still be your person.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still there for you.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I have built those connections and just those relationships.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: I had somebody tell me that I don't have to be friends with all of my clients, which is accurate.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's very accurate.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I do build relationships with all of my clients.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And when I stopped and focused more on those relationships and not so much the business side of things, I also was able to get back to being authentic and everything, um and being very true to who I am.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, sometimes as shameful as it is to say, I live in total chaos.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: But I finally got to the point where I felt like I didn't have to hide that side of things anymore.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that truly just those two things right there shifted my entire career.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm I've been busier in the past really three months than I've been in the past three years.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's awesome.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love hearing that.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a couple things that I want to try to like pick apart in there a little bit.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I I do think, you know, realtor side, loan officer side, there is different ways to be successful.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: And some people do find success in in being, I'm a transactional person, I run transactions, and you know, that's how they run their business, and that's totally fine.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's really interesting to hear that once you've flipped into I'm just gonna I'm just gonna be Courtney.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And some people that's not gonna jive with, you know.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm not everybody's cup of tea.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: And but I also start conversations like that when I get interviews where somebody doesn't know who I am before they call me, they're like, hey, I Googled and you popped up.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um I start with a listen, this is the cringy side of real estate.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: I do have to have you sign a buyer's agency agreement or whatever it is in order to be able to show you homes.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I also realize I'm not everybody's cup of tea.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna take your firstborn from you.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you decide that you don't want to use me, I'll let you go.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, even that phrase, this is the cringy side of real estate.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like if I tried to say that, it would just come out of my mouth weird and everybody would be turned off by it, you know.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: But when you say it just sounds so natural and easy, you know?
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's I sometimes don't think before I speak, but that's definitely what I I mean, and it works for me.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: And the more I mean, I did have one client, um, it was like three-ish months ago, and they told me at the end of the transaction, they were like, you know, I had my doubts in the beginning.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um they told they were like, You're just very pretty.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you see a pretty blonde girl and you wonder if they really have the fight behind them.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: And they called me a pit bull in a skirt.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I kind of like it.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not really sure if that's like an insult or not, but I'm glad that you had your doubts and I proved you wrong.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: What makes you a pit bull?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you sure you love that hands on it.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'll make sure I leave that part in there.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am I don't like, we'll say this, and this doesn't just have to go with like real estate.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is a in-life, real life thing.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like when people are disrespected.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like when people are taken advantage of.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like when I feel like people aren't listening to other people and humanity as a whole.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: We can disagree on religion, we can disagree on politics, on anything.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to disrespect anybody.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: And when we get to that point, the not so classy side of me comes out, and it's not, it's it's a very like humbling.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna put you in your place respectfully, but I'm gonna make it very clear this is not how this is going to work.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it just happens so um respectfully that you know, once you've especially on the business side of things, once you know that you've pissed me off and that I'm telling you this isn't going to work, you know I mean this is not going to work.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is not how this is going to happen.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we just move on from there.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Usually it gets the job done though.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there's a lot of chatter, I think, in our community right now.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: We mentioned Somerville and Nexton.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it seems like buyers who are canceling contracts are up, and buyers who are actually firing agents and firing loan officers and moving on to the next one is up.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it sounds to me, you know, I'm thinking about your past three months and having a lot of success, but coming into it with that attitude, I I think actually helps things.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: It helps those relationships with those clients.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Clients are, I'm guessing, less likely to move on and less likely to like just blow up and go insane.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um because they know that you have their back in that sense.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and there's I actually have a challenging one I'm working on right now, and it's not challenging because of my clients, it's challenging because of the builder.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there have been times during this transaction, including this morning while I was at my daughter's field trip, where even I was kind of like, huh, what are we gonna do here?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it was as simple as asking my client, I said, listen, full transparency.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is what you guys deserve.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know what you guys want.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: I need to know what you're willing to walk away with because there's a difference in there, and I want to make sure that I don't push the envelope too much to where they're like, Well, you screwed us now.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so just having the conversation with them of how do you want me to proceed from here, was they were like, Oh my gosh, you're okay with it if we walk away.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, this has nothing to do with me.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't my house, my mortgage, my family, or anything.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to walk away from something, you have every right to do so.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I will tell you exactly what that looks like for you.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, I want to make it work.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: I want to make all your dreams come true.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not afraid to ask for anything if that's what you guys want to ask for.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we can definitely go down that path, but get reminding them that just because you're under contract and just because I'm in it with you, you're not affecting me.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't count on anything that hasn't made it to the closing table for the record.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I would never want somebody to move forward with something because they're afraid of what I would think about it.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: The phrase this has nothing to do with me.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love that.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's something I as business professionals, we want to put ourselves in the middle of these things and make it about us.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess it's natural.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but we do it way too often.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: I tell my clients all the time, I look at everything from as if it was my house, like I'm going to fight for you like I would fight for my own home.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to fight for you with negotiations like I would fight through my own negotiations.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: I do treat every individual transaction as if it was my own.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I do get a little attached because I want, you know, I want them to see it through.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: And but that's not because of money going in my pocket.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's not because of my reputation or anything like that.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's just because I truly do want their family to be in the home that they want to be in.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or I just closed out a divorce situation that was so nasty.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And like it was a rough one.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And getting to the table where they were both just like, we can go our separate ways.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I can breathe again.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: And just like it was nasty, let me just tell you.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: It was real that one I could write a book about.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but even like in not a dreamy scenario, just to be able to move on to the next level of your life, it it's just so, I don't know, it warms my heart.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: As cheesy as that sounds.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, living in chaos.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: We we have to touch on this a little bit.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you were mentioning you were at the field trip this morning, and these are things that we want to do, and it's probably one of the reasons that a lot of people get into um the real estate world, is because they want to have opportunities to go on field trips and do these things with our kids, and then your phone starts blowing up.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but tell me about the balance of living in chaos.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Is this something that you feel like you're getting better at, have gotten better at, where balancing being a hockey mom, which is not only time consuming but very expensive as well.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um balancing all of that with a demanding real estate career?
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um so no, I don't think I'll ever adjust to that.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you talk to any of my friends, they'll tell you I thrive in chaos.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: When I get bored, I'm not really sure what to do.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I have a son Do you create chaos?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: Are you one of those people that I don't create it?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: No, I love to sit in peace.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I have a son that plays hockey.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: I have a daughter that does horseback riding.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Both of my daughters do dance.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: I have a kid in therapy.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: And hockey horseback riding.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: My oldest is 10, my middle is eight, and then my youngest is five.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're entering the dance world right now, and it's just uh the the bills are going up so fast.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Slow down with these dance bills, but yeah.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, or sorry, gymnastics.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's sports in general.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, it's crazy.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Sports total more than my mortgage a month.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh easy.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I don't think I'll ever learn, I don't think there is a balance.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think there is a I don't think of it as a balance.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think anything will ever balance.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's prioritizing things.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some things that are non negotiables for me, and my clients know that my kids will always come first.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um now, if that means that I'm in the middle of a field trip and you're having major issues with your new build, I'm going to answer that call.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: I I can do both nine times out of ten.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if my grandmother's in the hospital and I'm saying goodbye, I'm not answering that phone call, and I hope you understand that.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: But it's just always like a set of priorities.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I, but again, that's one of those like open book things where I am unapologetically meet at all times.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that's very overwhelming.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: But a good example of it is I set the expectations from the get-go.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: And last year, my husband's dad died unexpectedly.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I had a closing that day.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I found out the news that his dad died, and my whole brain went to, oh my God, my kids, my husband, like it was it rocked our worlds.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I missed my closing that day and didn't even remember I had a closing.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: And when I called my clients, I called them.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: I owned up to it.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I show up to every closing.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm not gonna be there, I tell you in advance.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I called them and I was like, listen, I want to say, I am so sorry.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: I told you guys I was going to be there.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so sorry for not showing up.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let me explain what happened.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: They were immediately like, please don't be sorry.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Please feel like you can be with your family.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: There was no shaming me.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: There was no nothing.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: But they knew from day one, like, I'm pretty sure one of my kids was there for my listing appointment, which I try not to have happen, but sometimes it has to happen.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: So they knew, like, my family, unfortunately, that day there was a crisis and it I wasn't making it.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't even, it was just such a shock to us that like I didn't even remember I had a closing.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know which way was up.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know, like, it rocked our worlds.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: If somebody says, Yeah, I don't understand, I can't believe you missed this closing.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, those are the people that we do not want in our spheres and do not want to be working with.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: At least me personally, I don't know.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe there's people out there that again, going back to the transactional nature of some things, but uh and I think about our market too.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we mentioned Somerville and Nexton, and even some of these more rural ones, like Ravenel, you mentioned the people that are in those communities are the ones with kids and chaotic families, and also are very much in this same stage of life for the most part.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or they're 55 plus and they have been through it and understand.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I don't think I've had, I'm trying to think of, I mean, I'm sure there's some somewhere, but most of my clients are either grandparents, parents, very close aunt and uncles.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like they all jive with the children.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's interesting.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when somebody moves down here, like from the north or something like that, um, there's a lot of opportunity in our business because sometimes those grandparents are right behind.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: So it's almost there's a lot of, you know, two sales that you can kind of make out of one sometimes by doing a good job.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: But um, take me back to when you first got licensed.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: So what year was this?
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and what was the original decision like to dive into real estate?
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so date wise, don't fact check me because I might be off a few days.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: But we'll go with ish.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I started to get into real estate.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so my husband and I moved here from Virginia 11 years ago now.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he's a police officer for North Charleston, and he I was pregnant when we moved here, and we were like, okay, I'm gonna raise the babies, you do that.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: We knew that we were living off of a low income, but it didn't make sense for us to pay for childcare.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to be in real estate, but it just wasn't the time to do it.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um looking back, I wish I started back then.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Then things shifted, and some of my friends had gotten into real estate, and I had told my husband, I was like, I just wish I did it.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I did it.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: He was still, we had um trying to remember when exactly it happened.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it I think I was pregnant with my daughter when it happened.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: He got hurt at work during COVID.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he, due to them being shorthanded, he had a call where he had no backup, ended up tearing his bicep, needed surgery, and we survived off of$31,000 with three kids in one year.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we racked up a lot of debt.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: And at that point, it was I gotta do something.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I can't, no, we can't afford childcare, but no, we can't keep going like this either because we're gonna lose our house.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there was during COVID, we missed a few mortgages, we had a lot of debt.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I started to get my license.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I'm gonna do it.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I wasn't under any pressure to do it.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: It took me a little while.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think while I was in the process of getting my license was also when I found out that I had some major health concerns of my own, that I was like, ugh, wow.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: And as that came up, I kind of it was like a essentially life or death scenario.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I kind of it was like a wake-up call for me where I when you have that kind of news, I was like, this isn't the life I want to live.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't the life I want my kids to live.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I literally told my husband, I was like, it's time to start living.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I don't know where this is gonna go.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yada yada.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I actually got a major surgery and ended up putting my license on hold for just a little while and took the test, but didn't hang my license immediately.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think I hung my license March 17th of 2023.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I hit the ground running.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: I started out strong and have just continued to go strong.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: I actually wrote down because I was very scared.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: They told me in the beginning, like it takes about 18 months for you to close your first transaction as a realtor.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: If that's normal, I don't know the first few months.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think the first few months of it, I sold like four or five.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody was telling me how abnormal that was and how amazing.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's a lot for the first few months.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I just I so I got my license in or I hung my license in March.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: I ratified my first, I got a listing and ratified that contract on Mother's Day.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember my clients being like, I hired you because I felt like you had something to prove and you proved it.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: And you took our calls on Mother's Day, you got this ratified.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so impressed.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that to me was like, I'm where I need to be.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but my first full year, I sold 12 homes.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: My second full year, I sold 22.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: And right now I am like, this is my third year of doing real estate.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to end up being somewhere around 33 homes.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: Hell yeah.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's just hopefully going up from there.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's that's awesome work.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: Do you still feel like you you mentioned your clients saying they felt like you felt like you had something to prove.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Do you still feel like you have that chip on your shoulder?
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I always will.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um I come from not much.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I had I come from not much.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think I I don't think it's so much to prove to other people.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: I really don't care what other people think, but I have something to prove to myself and to my kids.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: And just to be I don't just to be a good role model for them and to show them what hard work gets you.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um I actually got a call earlier today that made me cry.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was like um, I can't say what it was, but it was a full circle moment and I was so honored and just like shocked because I didn't even know it was a thing.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: And my kids got to see that side and they were like, what does that mean?
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: What are you are you okay, mom?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and I explained it to them and they were like, that's amazing.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: Whoa.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: And even my son was like, Mom, I'm proud of you.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I ugly cried.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm supposed to be proud of you, but thanks, bad.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like things, and just I don't know.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: I to me, it'll never be enough.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not talking about like money.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I think I truly think every single day I can become a better person.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I stress sometimes, sometimes I fall short on that.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I do try try to be better every single day than I was the day before, as far as parent, as far as a friend, as far as just myself, the person I look at in the mirror.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, sometimes I wake up and I'm like, girl, you don't got it today.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then other days I'm like, we got this.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I I don't think there's anything else that I can add to that that that's going to um that's gonna make any impact.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: That was so well put.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it sounds like you're just so in love with the job itself and growing as a person, and that's what we need more of um in our market and in our industry.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think that's awesome.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: That whole that whole story is is great.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm actually gonna wrap us up there.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: 30 minutes has flown by.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um will you come back on and share some more?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because I have like a whole bunch more questions that I didn't even get to.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: So can we just come back on anytime?
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can just give me a little bit of a heads up so I can put it in the calendar.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: We're working on our calendar until a kid gets sick and we gotta push it back, you know.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm so sorry.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: But no, no, no, no, it could happen to me too.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: So um, however, we need to work it, we will.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: But um, for anybody that has been listening and wants to reach out and get in touch with you, um, what's the best way to connect with you?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um I would say by email, but sometimes that goes to spam, so don't even worry about that.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: Just call me or t text me.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people would prefer to text these days.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: You may get a voice memo from me because I'll be in the middle of driving or something, but you can just text me.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Instagram, any of the socials?
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Instagram for sure.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: I check that regularly.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: What's your Instagram?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: My Instagram is linked to my Facebook, so really either of those, but my Instagram is the at sign Courtney Odin, K-O-R-T-N-Y.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: O D E N.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's dot real.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: I should probably know this.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: If somebody wants to find you, they will.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: Don't worry.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's 2026.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: We'll we'll figure it out.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: So my phone number is out there publicly, so it's you can always just Google it too.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: Part of the gig.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I appreciate you coming on.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: This has been awesome, and I look forward to it.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening to Charleston's Leading Producers Podcast.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: Could you take a moment to hit subscribe on the platform that you're currently listening on?
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: That allows this show to grow and bring you more of the top of the line producers and business leaders.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: And if you think these stories will help someone you know, please share this with them.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: New episodes every Wednesday.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Jake Cummings, and see you next week.