As a woman in the front lines of my business who is entrepreneurial in nature, my commitment is to maintain a sharp level of knowledge, ethical leadership and distinctive ingenuity. But will my role change during this Covid-19 pandemic time of uncertainty?
My quarantine was initially focused on cleaning after my teenagers, spouse, pets and dealing with this new norm of continuously working from home. First and foremost, I decided to re-analyze my role as a woman which inherited biased misconceptions ‘as seen on tv’ that a woman should stay at home, cook, clean, care for the kids, work and be altogether happy. As a Gen X’er my single mother, baby boomers and many others paved the way discarding a woman's stereotype by collectively making strides in the workforce. Even though the pay disparity continues today women have not ceased climbing the corporate ladder as they simultaneously manage their home front in one way or another. Kudos to women such as Dr. Deborah Birx, Maya Angelou, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Vernice Armour, Julia Child and every other woman out there for breaking that glass ceiling!
Personally, and long ago, I stereotypically enjoyed my stay at home job caring for my infants but when it came down to the nitty gritty during the economic downturn my mothers’ motto “women are strong and work hard” kicked in so I turned my “women at work” sign back ON and remembered my dreams of becoming a business owner.
What did I do? Over a decade ago, somewhat similar to today, the damaged economic market transformed real estate. Backing up to my original fundamental commitment and my fervent love for real estate, I chose my educational knowledge base to pursue a broker’s license and thereafter a Master’s Degree in International Real Estate. Was it hard, yes! Did the market, the family, the finances deter me, NO! My dream was real, I was in control of my future, I knew there was no stopping me, I had to accomplish this goal and I really wanted to experience “you never work if you love what you do.” And now, after time has passed, I can say my career changed along with the economy but I was still the same woman, mother, wife and entrepreneur.
Today, I’m happy to report nothing has changed either. I’m still a woman, I still work hard and I still take webinars (just a whole lot more of them). I still love my family and I still love to cook. In short, we are all changing simultaneously hence what we are going through today is not visible until it has passed. Real estate is a science of hindsight as I like to say, but it’s not just real estate, it’s life. Our life changes in small steps, strides, little increments but when you compile your thoughts and look back, a whole lot ends up transforming and mostly for the best.
As we roll with this tsunami tide, this titanic tidal wave of a virus disrupting our daily structured (or unstructured) lives we must continue focusing on our commitments. I continue to strengthen my knowledge with at least 3-5 webinars per day, continue my leadership at home with my family (cleaning, puzzle making, creative recipe cooking) and with my office staff/team of agents (zoom, calls, texts, emails) along with my continuous thoughts through ingenuity on where our real estate business and market is going. Together, as we are socially distant from the rest of our normal lives in unprecedented times with no manual or instructional video on how to handle life, take the time to listen to yourself, re-evaluate your dreams and goals, create a business plan, enjoy the quiet time.
Inasmuch as we want to return to ’normal’, the world will not come to a standstill like this again in our lifetime. Let’s enjoy this quarantine craziness as we know it too shall pass but overall, embrace the time spent here and now and punctuate these moments in thanksgiving. Let us stand united in our commitment for the good of our family, our country and the world.
*Floridian First Realty is certified Hispanic and woman owned small business as designated by the State of Florida Office of Supplier Diversity.