When I was growing up I only knew one thing and that was I wanted to be a Mommy like my own Mom.
If you follow my Random posts you probably have heard me refer to myself as "Barbie", it's a nick name my co-workers and friends call me.
I love Barbie she has everything! As a little girl I had lots of Barbies and all the accessories. The thing I loved most was the Barbie house and my Barbie wardrobe box. Apparently I also liked competition at an early age a trait that would follow me into adulthood. My Mother recognized this trait so she entered me in the 1962 Fairyland Coronation Pageant which I won!
Competition continued to be a part of my life and throughout my school years I was a cheerleader ,and member of the dance line in high school not to mention being crowned "Miss Rooster Day" in my home town of Broken Arrow,OK
When all my friends were choosing career options our Sr. year in high school I was uncertain what path I would choose. I tested high in history and science and a friend I knew convinced me that I should major in dental hygiene. I selected the University of Arkansas because of the dental hygiene school and off I went!
Things did not go as planned. Not only did I discover I was not cut out for a medical major, I became involved in all the college fun of sorority life and cheering my Arkansas Razorbacks on as a member of the pom pom squad! My focus changed and I changed majors to history. Although I loved history I could not figure out what I would do with a degree in history so I opted for something more practical and changed my major to general business.
While in college, I fell in love and ended up marrying my college sweetheart, moved to Lake Charles, LA and soon became what I dreamed of since my childhood, a Mother! Staying home with two children over 12 years I was a volunteer, room mother and involved in many community organizations.
Then one day my family changed, and I had not planned D-I-V-O-R-C-E in my future but it happened. Scared and wondering what I was going to do now after staying home so many years, my friends and family encouraged me to step out and use my people and business skills. The only skills I had been using for 12 years were my organizational skills, cooking skills, cleaning skills and sewing skills!
One of my best friends told me I had been "marketing" for years sitting on all these committees, planning charity auctions, etc. and that I should use my Jr. League skills to get a marketing job! What did I have to lose, I was assertive and determined, so I interviewed for an outside sales position with a cellular company. Anyone remember those bag phones???
Later I was recruited for an outside sales job with Chemsearch a division of NCH Corproation which is a Fortune 500 Industrial Sales Company based out of Dallas. One of my clients gave me a pink hard hat that I had to wear on construction sites and I was always easily spotted when wearing it!
I loved outside sales and quickly expanded my territory and started collecting crystal sales awards! I became the first female inducted into the Chemsearch Southern Region "Hall of Sales Fame" and became an regional trainer leading new sales representatives
Chemsearch was the beginning of my sales/marketing career but after 5 years I was tired of the traveling and wanted to see what it would be like to actually draw a salary vs. commission sales. So I set my sights on working for the new L'Auberge du Lac casino that was opening up in Lake Charles.
It was pretty exciting working for L'Auberge in Marketing and being on the opening team of the casino in May 2005 All was well then until Hurricane Rita hit Lake Charles in 2005 leaving a path of destruction in Southwest Louisiana.
My husband was in Florida working as a loan officer for a friend and after the Hurricane and losing our home we decided to permanently move to Boca Raton, FL. Florida was supposed to be the beginning of my retirement. My children were grown so I expected to just become a beach bum and live by our pool! 
To my surprise my husband enrolled me in Real Estate School! I was freaked out and scared to death, that was the first school since college and I did not know how to study. He said he had a feeling I would do well and this was 2005 during the real estate peak.
After nights studying at the library, note cards pasted all over the cabinets and listening to CDs in the car I crammed! Everyone told me "no one passes the real estate exam the first time" . I was not going through all this effort to fail, and as luck would have it I passed first time around.
That is how my real estate career began and I had to learn fast. Fortunately my first broker Dawn Weil and associate broker Brianna Kelly took me under their wing and showed me the ropes!
Together we were a team and I learned how to plan, organize and put together a marketing/listing presentation in order to secure real estate construction projects. It worked and soon we were exclusive listing agents of a new development and I was selling my first Guardian American townhomes in Pompano Beach, Florida!
After two years in Florida, my husband and I eventually missed our friends and family back in Lake Charles, LA and in 2007 we returned to Southwest Louisiana. Once again I had to study for a test to become licensed to sell real estate in Louisiana.
I can honestly say I have had the best of each job. I loved being a Mom, learned how to sell and market with my marketing jobs and put all that useful experience together to become successful in real estate!
Throughout the years I have always been attracted to competition, challenge and drama!
Now I am truly the Real Estate Barbie of Lake Charles!
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