I am a California native where my father's family is from, but when I was almost three, on a very snowy Christmas Eve my family took the trip across the country to move to Kansas City, Mo where my mother was born and her family lived. I grew up in a very nurturing, conservative, traditional, Christian family. I was always very active in theater, music and acting and had great opportunities to work with the likes of David Cassidy and Ed Asner amongst many other talented individuals. I had many great opportunities including attending college at Avila College and Southwest Missouri State both in Missouri. I excelled in college but didn't finish my degree.
I was married at the very young age of 22 and moved to Indianapolis in February of 1993 with my new husband as he had a new job there. Just six short months after getting married, I found out I was going to have a baby . I decided to complete my degree program after having my son and finally received a Bachelors of Science in Arts Administration in 1995 from Butler University which combined my fine arts courses with my other business classes. Having my son, Daniel, has been and continues to be the biggest blessing in my life. After four and half years of my young marriage, we called it quits, but I stayed in Indianapolis.
I was very fortunate to be able to start my own business in 2000. I started out with a few contracts working as a promotional model booking agent. This was a natural progression from my leadership roles I had at some of the special events, many of which were racing related, in and around Indianapolis. After landing a couple of large contracts for various clients such as Old Navy and Pepsi, I was able to start contracting many great models and talent in Indianapolis. My business grew from there. Not only did I cover the entire state of Indiana, I had modeling and acting jobs for the entire Midwest region including Chicago, Louisville, KY, Milwaukee, WI, Cincinnati, OH, and sometimes even jobs on both coasts. My agency grew from just a small promotional modeling agency working special events and sampling programs into one that was booking infomercials nationwide, casting feature movies, producing runway fashion shows, and booking many types of industrial videos with over 500 models and talent.
In March of 2004, I realized that spending the next 30 years of my life away from my family who had moved back to California, was not what I was meant to do. I made a huge leap of faith by giving up everything I had built in Indianapolis to be in California. It was a risky move, but I was very excited. On Sunday, August 1, 2004 I started my drive across country in my car with my Dad who had come to help me on my move.
After maintaining my business for another six months in California, I was able to sell the agency and begin a new career in real estate. I started at a brokerage that specializes in recruiting new agents and met a lot of great friends that I am still very close with today. It was the perfect place for me at the time as I was not able to devote my full attention to my new career. Unfortunately, in May of 2005 we found out Mom had stage five cancer and we lost her later that December. I was extremely happy for me and my son to be so close to her and have that time with her. Because of Mom's illness, the entirety of my very small family including my father, sister, brother-in-law, and niece and nephew, all live here in Temecula, which is a dream come true that we all live in the same town again now for the first time in more than thirteen years.
In November of 2005, I was given the opportunity to move over to Rancon Real Estate's new office on Highway 79 S. I jumped at the opportunity. I knew it was the right fit for me. This company was everything I was looking for - family owned and oriented, community philanthropy, employee perks and benefits, highly productive agents, and a super positive and stable environment in which to work. I have had a lot of fun learning the ropes of real estate, and I continue to add to my education through seminars, company provided training, and continued education courses.
I am getting into my fourth full year working in real estate and I am so very grateful to be in what I think is a perfect fit for my skills and experience. Working in this industry takes a lot of commitment to your work and communication on so many levels. When I was building my agency, working with clients on contracts, making sure the jobs satisfied the expectations, and communicating with all of the logistics of each job really helped prepare me for closing a contract in real estate. I usually had multiple projects I was working on and never had a "boss" per se telling me what I should or shouldn't do. I only had my clients - both on the talent end and account end which again is very similar to working in real estate. I still dabble in producing films and volunteering for our local film festival, but real estate will continue to be my full time focus and vocation.
The best part of being a real estate agent for me is being able to help people fulfill their dreams, and I've been able to do that many times now. I think I am a great agent because I work very hard for my clients. I know how hard people and families have to work to be able to buy a home or land in Southern California. But then again, we all are looking for our piece of the "Southern California Dream!" I am so grateful to be here and to be able to serve you all. Thank you for taking the time to read a little bit more about me. If I can help you or someone you know, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. Warm Regards, Susan Manning
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