Tamara Dean has been a friend of Spade and Archer for a while now, booking consistent home staging projects for her Seattle and Kirkland listings and selling, selling, selling. She knows her stuff -- she's got 23 years under her belt after starting out helping her Dad with his real estate business. She eventually became a single mom working double duty as an agent in real estate and also as a cocktail waitress. Nowadays she has the instinct and forethought to take time for herself, but when things got going in the beginning, she certainly struggled when she found herself trying to balance it all.
There came a time when it all caught up with her, and she almost didn't really know who she was or how she got there. She had been hustling and bustling, indirectly letting her personal needs take the back seat to the people and clients that relied on her. She eventually had a wake-up call from her then husband and made a commitment to herself, for herself. Fortunately she also had family and friends that were there for her when she needed them, but there were still things that she still (like for most of us) could adjust to set a better stage for success on all fronts.
Tamara found a great resource in working with a life coach where she was continuously being challenged to get out of her comfort zone. "I had a [life] coach at the time and he was like, 'You know what, stop feeling sorry for yourself, you just need to get out of your shit right now and this is what you need to do.' ...I was in such, at that time, a victim mode 'oh, poor me,' ...and it took that third party to pull me out of that and see it from another perspective."
Through all of Tamara's new found efforts in self-care, there were still battles that would come naturally within the real estate business. Take the factors of rejection for example. It happens to the best of us. Real estate is one of those fields where before people shop for homes, they shop for a person. People look for their agent -- the one and only person (or group) who gets them, understands their needs, and will deliver. And what happens if they aren't liking how it's going? They will leave you for another. Tamara had a hard time pacing through those scenarios early on, but with time (like most things) things got easier to bounce back from. She has found ways to continue onward with patience, motivation, and ultimately -- success.
The ability to also create mutual wins for everyone she is working with is a huge boost for positivity and reinforcement, too. Some agents become complacent with outcomes where one side wins and the other suffers a loss. Tamara won't settle for that understanding that there's always a happy medium.
As an agent that hasn't ever truly had a business partner, it's impressive that Tamara always aims to keep it copacetic in her transactions. Co-listing has been a great tool in her toolkit not only to gain momentum for a listing but also for staying connected in her professional community and also for keeping up the morale.This is why co-listing has only done her well.
"It's always been more or less me doing them a favor… You have a good relationship because you have a transaction together and you've got each other's back and you end up working so well together that they appreciate that. ...If you're always out there doing the right thing and doing what's best -- not necessarily for yourself but for your clients and for other people -- then that kinda comes around full circle, and I think that's where a lot of my business comes from."
Referrals have come in for her from the usual places -- sellers and buyers of course, but the fact that she has gotten so much of her business from other brokers' referrals is impressive to say the least.
It's clear that Tamara's "what goes around comes around" mentality has helped establish a successful path for her in her business. As the self-described "peace maker" and extremely driven individual, she is a welcomed breath of fresh air in a sea of competitive professionals.