After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1990 with a degree in finance, I followed my two brothers into a job as a stock broker.
It was fun at first....
Even as a $5 per hour "caller", it was exciting to put on a tie, take the train down to Chicago, and walk into the financial sector working for Lehman Brothers, sack lunch in hand.
Just being down in the Loop, you felt like a "player"...
The hours were long and painful. Dialing number after number. Our goal was to get a wealthy prospect on the phone. When we did, we would hand off the phone to a senior member of the sales team.
Hour after hour, we would hold the phone to our ears battling with wives and secretaries.
Very unpleasant work.
We didn't even get to make a sales pitch...
Anyway, after a couple years the money started to flow.
Those were fun years. We were all young, making 6 figures, and partying hard...
I drove a Porche 968. Then a Mercedes SL 500.
Fun years indeed.
But shallow. And stressful. Always stressful.
I never really liked what I did. I was OK at it. But I never loved it.
I am glad I have left it...
I love what I do.
Ken
A Realtor you can trust.
;)
;)
Selling real estate is by far the most enjoyable and most flexible career that I've had. I processed and underwrote mortgage loans when my kids were young because I wanted to have weekends to enjoy with them. I worked because I had to, definitey not because I liked it. In retrospect, I think I would have transitioned over to selling real estate a lot earlier had I known that having a job that you love allows you to be happy...and happy parents are unquestionably better parents.