We were lucky to catch up with Alondra Lara recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alondra, thanks for joining us today. What’s been one of the most interesting investments you’ve made – and did you win or lose? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

An investment in your personal development is the best investment. In the past months, I have felt a major personal growth as well with those around me because when you decide to improve your own life, you are also improving the lives of those around you. When the year started, I decided to flip the switch and make several changes. Just like they say, ” New year, new me.” Surprisingly this year I meant it and I maintained that positive and growth mindset. Nothing great ever comes easy so I learned to invest my time in what I knew would help and restore my personal growth, physical and mental health, finances, my career and relationships. I began by first of all getting closer to God and building that strong and unbreakable connection. Keeping God in my daily prayers and conversations actually got rid of that loneliness feeling inside of me. My mom always says, ” Entre mas subes a los terrenos del exito menos gente ira contigo,” meaning, ” The more you climb up to success, the lonelier it will get.” She’s right once again! When the year started, a new chapter began. I switched real estate brokerages, took more of my time building new relationships both in my personal and business life, made it a habit to make it to the gym every weekday at 5am, cut-off my nigh-outs, focused more on my well-being, invested more of my time and positive energy on my family and close friendships, and even began managing my sleep and social media hours. My personal development has honestly been tremendous that I still can’t believe just how more resilient and courageous I have become and how I live a more zestful life! With this, so many doors and opportunities have been welcomed into my life.

Alondra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Alondra Lara, one of your Houston Realtors and your Miss Pasadena Latina 2022. As a person, I am defined as an unstoppable woman and someone who is invested into giving back to her community and always contributing to society in an impactful way. I believe that when you want to make an impact in someone’s life or in the world around you, it all starts within yourself. Real Estate was actually a part of me since I was a little girl. Watching my parents’ struggle and fighting every day for the life they crossed borders for, I knew I had to become a powerful woman who would one day help everyone. In my life, there is no one that I cannot help. I am honored to say that I am a realtor in the 4th largest and most diverse city of the nation. Houston is a city that never sleeps and is full of opportunities for everyone. Helping has just always sat deep in my heart. But helping people achieve the greatest transaction of their life is a promising and beautiful feeling. After a year in the Real Estate industry I began to notice my personal development, despite of several pushbacks. I am the most proud to say just how many blessings and opportunities have been welcomed into my life . As I mentioned I am a person of not only self-development but a person that serves her community. This year just started so beautifully and still thriving. In January, I was actually reached out by my former Career and Technical education high school teacher if I would love to be interviewed for the Pasadena ISD Board of trustees. This meant I was the CTE spotlight alumni student for my high school. In February, I was also invited to come in and be a special guest speaker for Carter Lomax Middle School, and just speak to their students about the real estate life and show them what the greatest transaction of their lives would be. My creativity also began to flourish. Instead of gifting my buyers the normal closing basket full of goodies gift, I decided to gift them a lifetime of memories, which is their very own personal and intimate photoshoot in their brand new home! I thought, what is something that will last them a lifetime other than a beautiful and memorable transaction? Of course, a book full of pictures in their first ever home! Let’s not forget about the golden opportunity of taking the starring role as Miss Pasadena Latina. When this golden opportunity showed up at my door, I was very frightened for I have never been part of any beauty pageant. But why would I let my skepticism run over one of the greatest phases of my life? Becoming part of this extensive and positive organization of Miss Texas Latina, where beauty is not only defined physically but internally as well has to be one of the greatest blessings of my life. Miss Texas Latina has granted me the opportunity to intensify my voice in my community and continue to give back! The journey leading up to the pageant weekend has impacted my life more than the actual pageant weekend. That’s because there is nothing quite like the personal development journey that a woman goes on in order to prepare for a pageant. This includes practicing your interview skills, how to speak publicly, be professional both in our personal lives and on social media, pushing ourselves to learn more about who we are as a woman and even educate ourselves about what is going on in the world today. It can also include learning how to carry ourselves with poise, elegance and confidence. We have to also prepare mentally for being in a position where we are surrounded by so many hard-working, beautiful and confident woman and learn to embrace what really makes us unique and what we love about ourselves. Guarding our hearts from comparison is a must when it comes to it as well! This organization is so powerful as it allows us to open up, find our missing pieces, epitomize our personalities, and demonstrate leadership. If you think about it, joining this pageantry has been a stepping stone to all my self-improvement and how much I have grown as a real estate agent for my clients. I have given them the best version of my self as I continue to grow and learn more!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As mentioned earlier, great things never come easy! Don’t we all just love to experience victories, accomplishments and beautiful surprises? Life is beautiful but it can get rainy and cloudy on days. On those days, is when we grow more resilient which is the ability to recover or spring back from hardships. This year has brought me a range of scenarios. Let’s just say, that when I decided to make a move in my real estate career, it was mostly because as a human, I knew that I was capable of so much more. I am person who is constantly wanting to grow and looking for ways to not only help but empower those around me. When this happens, indifferences come in. And that is okay! Learning to set aside what truly will benefit you is hard to fulfill when you are the type of person that cares for the those that will stay behind. By making the move, greater opportunities knocked at my door but it also got lonely. In life, there are people you will always care for no matter what, but learning to set aside your feelings for the sake of your success is also crucial. Those that truly care for you, will always provide valuable social support in every decision you decide to make for self-growth. I soon then realized, that it wasn’t that I was lonely, it was just part of my journey. They were meant to be part of my journey and I do thank God for them every single day! Aside from this, other discouraging events began to happen. A few deals did go downhill which is a realtor’s worst nightmare. As a realtor, we depend on every closing for that commission check. But when deals fall through, we need to get back up on our feet immediately for there is no time to waste! As realtors always say, “Time is of the essence!” With this happening, it did get very hard, discouraging and depressing but there is always a solution to everything and the rainbow always shines after a storm. Thanks to my mom, I leaned closer to God and began walking by faith. I became very thankful for what I have and had experienced as well. I am now a strong believer that everything happens for a reason and I know for a fact that what I had to encounter was for my own good! I used to be told that I was very weak but now looking back, I even question why I cried for certain things and now when similar things happen I actually feel more optimistic and relaxed. After all, keeping an open heart allowed me to even be blessed with greater opportunities. I was just being blinded by the brighter side ahead of me!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Okay now, let’s change gears! Growing up, it was very hard for me to ever feel like I fit in anywhere. In elementary and middle school, I never knew what it was or felt like to have at least one friend other that my twin sister. We were both always struggling in that aspect of life. I even phased verbal and physical bullying at point in my life. After high school, I told my self, I didn’t want to ever be like those people who will never look at you because you weren’t popular or cool. Was is even being cool? Anyways, I became the person that I always prayed to have had back in my younger days. I turned my social media into a safe place for everyone and a place where I showcase my true personality and what I do. What you see on social media is the real me. I am a realtor, I am Miss Pasadena Latina, I am woman of her community, I am a sister, I am a friend to strangers, I am a self-taught dancer, and most importantly, I am “me.” That is when I began to see more and more new faces on my social media daily. My following is no where near what an influencer has but that is because I am not trying to just influence people, I am trying to positively impact my people. I show them who I am. You want people to know who you are. You want them to know who is behind that profile. Let people connect with you. Allow them to have some sort of connection with you. Remember you are trying attract the right audience to your business, service and life! For example, if you are a makeup artist, you want to attract newly engaged woman who want their wedding makeup done, you want that new beauty queen to hire you, you want that news reporter to hire you and even that quinceanera that needs makeup for both her pictures and special day! As a realtor, I’m looking into helping those newly engaged couples who are now moving in together, I’m looking for that son/daughter wanting to surprise their parents with a new home, for that family looking to upgrade or even sell to downsize. But I am also looking into helping those that need a friend, that need just a few words throughout their day, or even need me to be a speaker or help in the community. Be you and watch the right people come to you!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alondra_laraa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alondra.lara.1276487
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alondralararealtor?lang=en

Image Credits
– Pure Snap Photography – Flash Moments Photography – April Moon Photos