We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Allison Holden a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Allison, appreciate you joining us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

Asking others to support your business, whatever that business may be, can be uncomfortable. Many of us were raised with the notion that we should pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and not ask for help or rely on others, especially when it comes to something as controversial as business. But the tough truth is that every small business you know and love only stays afloat by your patronship. Every time you scan your credit card, make a purchase online, hit the like button, or share a post on social media, you’re supporting someone’s business whether you mean to or not.

I think it can be understandably difficult for folks to understand just how huge exposure is for a small business owner. Or that Realtors are small business owners at all! I find that educating folks that any engagement on social media- likes, shares, comments, etc. are more powerful than most know. Reviews from past clients are especially impactful and of course word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth! If you know someone looking to buy or sell a home, tell them about your favorite Realtor!

Owning a small business, whether you’re in real estate, insurance, jewelry making or any other entrepreneurial venture is one of the biggest financial risks you’ll ever take, with the potential for the highest reward. But that reward is only possible when your friends and family spread the word about your business.
Likes, shares, mentioning our name when folks bring up real estate, writing reviews are all wonderful ways to help the Realtor in your life. Our friends and family are our biggest advocates and we rely on you more heavily than you may realize!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Absolutely! I know you couldn’t tell, but I’m a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices McLemore & Co in the Greater Memphis Area of Southwest Tennessee.

I’m a very proud mom to a nursing student at the University of Memphis (go Tigers!) and happily married to my environmental scientist/beekeeper husband. I’m a home design enthusiast, healthy living promoter, and a staunch believer in the Oxford comma. I bring an intuitive understanding of people into my business which allows me to be a great resource for my clients. I understand that real estate is about people, not properties and that the concept of home is greater than the sum of four walls. Real estate is my profession, people are my passion.

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

I was born in 1984 with the congenital heart defect Transposition of the Great Arteries. I had open heart surgery when I was 6 months old at a time when open heart surgery on newborns was at a terrifyingly high mortality rate. I received my first pacemaker when I was 18 years old and a freshman in college. I’m now on my fourth. Resiliency is a coat I’ve worn my whole life. Despite the ongoing surgical interventions and routine cardiology check ups needed to sustain my life, I’m more normal than the former paragraph might lead you to believe. I’ve had the opportunity of a full life. I gave birth to my daughter who is the light of my life, I completed a half marathon, I’ve built my own business, and I’m still here, excited for what’s next.

I’ve had a few doctors express their amazement at my good health and vitality (“wow, your nails are so pink” aka your oxygenation is so impressive for someone like you), but to me, what alternative is there? It’s never time to be sick, it’s never the right moment to give up. Something urges me forward, something pushes me. I’m meant to be here. And while I’m here, why not do it all?

I had a surgeon who unbelievably had the same defect as I do. He unfortunately passed from cancer not too many years after we had cause to meet, but I’ll never forget his take on our status in life:

“It’s like at the Grammy’s when they say ‘I’m just happy to be here.'”

He’s exactly right. The appreciation, the gratitude, the wonder, the resiliency I have. I see how hard it is for other people to have it. And it’s a gift. The heart defect was a gift to me. What can bother you when you’ve overcome such trials. I’ve found the answer to be- just about nothing.

Have you ever had to pivot?

For the first 7 years of my real estate career, I worked in sales for an investment company who produced turnkey rentals for investors all over the world. It was an incredible beginning to my career and an invaluable education. I was earning a great paycheck each week, drew commission on houses sold, and felt that I’d made it. So it was the toughest decision of my career to decide to leave it all behind.

Call it a 7 year itch or a gentle nudge from the great beyond or the desire to stretch myself to loftier goals, I set off on my own with a growing mountain of credit card debt in tow. Real estate school was tough, the exam was scary, and the fees to become a Realtor, join your local ML,S and monthly brokerage fees are not for the fainthearted! It’s truly an investment to become a Realtor, or the most expensive hobby you’ll ever have.

I was determined to succeed, even if I didn’t quite know how, and succeed I have. Through the support of my broker mentors, my fellow agents, and my awesome clients, I met my first year goals and I’m excited for year two!

The higher the risk, higher the reward, they say and I’ve found it to be true. The minute you take your first step into the life of your dreams, the first to greet you there will be fear. The trick is to keep walking. If you do, you’ll never look back.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @agentallisonmem
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/agentallisonmem
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-holden-hatchett-046545a8/