We were lucky to catch up with Ariana C. Garcia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ariana C. , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I am in a unique position where I am responsible for overseeing the direction and management of LancLiving Realty but I am also an independent agent with the company, as well as the LancGallery initiative coordinator. Our company’s mission truly intertwines with my personal missions.

I am with a local, independent agency such as LancLiving for a variety of reasons. Our company is heavily dedicated to DEI initiatives in the community, we are an anti-racist organziation, and have non-gender discrimination policies in place as well. ( Which we are the only agency in Lancaster county to have.) Our company is also certified BCorp through the BLab organization. Essentially this means we have a designation that verifies the company is operating at the highest levels of social and ethical transparency, we focus on environmental sustainability, and using our business as an active force for good in our community. We place people over profits always.

I stumbled across LancLiving by chance after meeting with several big box brokerages and their values were truly the only one that resonated. I am on a personal mission to create a lasting legacy and build generational wealth not only for me but for my child as well. I am the first entrepreneur and realtor in my family. I will be the first home owner in my immediate family as well. Although I did not immigrate here from Puerto Rico, my experience is very much First Gen. I’m a licensed esthetician, have extensive retail experience, and have worked in Public Ed and the non-profit world. All of these work roles and experiences have truly shaped my personal mission. Yes I want to run profitable businesses and be successful but in Real Estate I discovered “my why”, outside of my child. I am dedicated to educating and empowering my community to understand the benefits of homeownership and how Real Estate is a catalyst to creating generational wealth. I seek to inspire other single mothers like me interested in entrepreneurship to pursue it. I am in an industry that often requires support from a spouse or outside financial support to be successful and I have navigated without that. I want other women to know they can do it too and that it’s never too late. I seek to amplify and elevate small business in my community, as well as the many artistic voices Lancaster is home to.

I am on a mission to use my voice to advocate for Fair and affordable housing in my area, as well as fair funding in our schools. I am a realtor by trade but feel I am here to do much more in my community than sell/purchase homes. It’s hard to be in a room where you want representation as a POC and you realize you are the representation. I am willing to put myself in these spaces to advocate for what I believe in but also to encourage my peers, colleagues, and clients to join me in these efforts. I am a non-traditional person in very traditional spaces and I want to encourage others to do the same, We are no longer asking for seats at the table but building our own.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My journey to being a Realtor has been a tumultuous one, although I have been pursuing entrepreneurship actively since 2018 when I obtained my PA esthetics license. Esthetics and Real Estate are both passions of mine and I’ve realized I love them both because it allows me to connect with others, empower them, and allows me to provide them with a service that will bring temporary or lasting joy, depending on which job it is. Both professions were also attractive to me due to the flexibility and unlimited earning potential.

I sought to enter Real Estate due to working full-time as a retail associate/manager. RIP to my MAC days. I have an almost 8 year old and for a large portion of his life I worked retail hours, which were crazy but money was good and there was room for advancement. As my son entered school I realized I needed a change in order to be a present parent the way he needed and deserved, I realized I worked hard, needed flexibility, and had a knack for selling people diamonds that cost thousands of dollars after an hour convo (Thank you weird part time at Kay Jewelers). I tried college many times and it never quite worked out, vocational training is what stuck so as I evaluated options; Real Estate is what I settled on. I took my courses online while working fulltime and spent many a lunch break studying and many nights crying into my laptop over how tired and drained I was. It took me 6.5 months to finish my courses and then COVID hit, so it was about 8 months before I could even schedule my exam.

I received my license at the end of 2020 and thought full-steam ahead, naively not realizing I had just embarked on the hardest journey yet. Working full-time, being a single mom, freelancing weddings for income because it was needed, and trying to juggle being a realtor was tough. I didn’t realize this was a pay to play industry and I would need 2-3k before I could even sell or that this was an industry that is inherently quite racist. (As a latina Realtor I am working a system that is not meant for me. I am a positive disruption here in our local market.) There was a point where I couldn’t afford my dues to practice and my younger sister was the one who invested in that dream for me. (I later got to repay her with a sisters trip to PR.) My brokerage had minimal fees and because of this accessibility I was able to stay. It took me over a year to close on my first house but I made that sale 3 months into transitioning to being a full-time Realtor and that’s when I realized it was time to bet on myself even though I think I always have.

I left my job with benefits and stable hours with CAPLancaster and their TeenELECT program (Also why I go so hard to inspire single mothers. I was a case manager for pregnant or parenting teens in our local school district in my last job) and took over as my brokerage’s office director. This position was created to allow me a parttime salary which I needed as a single mom while actively working in the industry and expanding my personal real estate business. The flexibility of this position allows me to continue taking freelance bookings and catering bookings with my sister, in our charcuterie business 2BoardGirls. I also became the gallery coordinator for our LancGallery initiative as well.

I want people to know I’m the real deal as an agent. I live and work in this community but I also care about it and actively work to make it better through my community involvement and businesses. Lancaster is a special, special place and I want to leave it in better shape than I found it for my son and generations to come. I’m empowered by my agency to run an authentic business, where I don’t need to code-switch to be viewed as professional or hide my tattoos. I am unapologetically myself which is not the norm in a conservative real estate market like Lancaster county. Some people love it and others hate me but I am rooted in passion and purpose in all of my roles and I know that money always follows. I am passionate about creating generational wealth and educating my community and peers about this topic. I believe by introducing people to new experiences and information we can expand their paradigms and begin to create new ones. Every time I sell a house it changes my life the same way it changes my clients. I am committed to making homeownership a priority and possibility for other latina, women like me who are single or first gen in other ways like being the first to attend college. My entire spirit embodies “Community over Competition” because when I see one of us win it truly feels like a win for us all.

I am proud of my resilience and tenacity towards achieving my dreams and I want others to know si, se puede. Plus as an agent I am a vibe! I am redefining real estate my way and I encourage other agents of color to do the same.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I’ve really had to unlearn how to stop being a workaholic and prioritizing my entrepreneurship before my personal life, rest, and even fun. As a single mom I’ve become used to being a decision maker and hyper-independent in many ways. I spent a large portion of my life in survival mode for many reasons from finances to housing insecurity to abusive relationships. I always told myself I needed to work like 2 people in order to provide for my child and that rhetoric really etched itself in my brain. It’s been an on-going process of self-work and self-reflection to get to the root of my hyper independence and the traumas that caused it. I used to wear it as a badge of honor but now I realize the true goal is to be a healthy, well-rounded woman and mother who values all aspects of her life and not just work. As an entrepreneur it’s very easy to become emotionally unavailable and eat, sleep, breathe the business. I spent a lot of time on my journey operating from this mindset where all that mattered was my career and my motherhood but very little was left for me.

When I stepped into my role as Office Director last year and made the shift to being a full-time Realtor, there were many habits I needed to unlearn. This was the first time I could prioritize myself, my wants, and my needs and not just work. It’s truly a blessing to not only be in a workplace like LancLiving but to have colleagues and a broker that value me as a person and are open enough to be like “Ari when was the last time you had a self-care moment?” We have a unique dynamic here and we include a mental health covenant in our policy manual, which essentially was a promise from each agent when they join that they will prioritize and value their mental health in order to not only be the best agent they can be, but a happy, healthy functioning member of our community.

I am finally at a place where I don’t feel the need to professionally people-please and I feel safe enough to set and honor my professional boundaries where needed. It’s easy to fill the calendar and then feel overwhelmed by the commitments, it’s more advantageous to identify what feels okay for you and plan your calendar that way. I use my calendar extensively but now not just for work. I book in time for self-care, my hair, working out, lunch with friends, or even a trip to market. I found that when I started to do this it helped me shift my perspective further because I began to find these things just as important and valuable as working. Being an entrepreneur can be rigorous but as I’ve prioritized my self-care and shifted more and more away from that workaholic, always hustling mentality, not only did I become a better mother, friend, and colleague but I was happier and my quality of life improved without finances even playing a part yet.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I loveee social media management and content creation. It started out as me just wanting an outlet to post my beauty and makeup content as a way to build my freelance makeup biz. I’ve always had a strong interest in learning about passive streams of income and monetizing digital content. I started working with social media years ago from a personal standpoint and then in 2018 when I obtained my Esthetic’s license, created my first beauty page: A.Chanel Beauty. I’ve since turned that page and following into my Real Estate page on IG/FB. I also currently manage the LancLiving social media pages, as well as the pages for 2BoardGirls (my catering startup with my sister), and my personal blog Casa de Glitter on IG. I’ve always looked at social media as free marketing and advertising when done well. I’m not one for super clean, curated aesthetics. I prefer when people come to the pages I manage, that the content is vibrant, eye catching, and useful. I want followers to be able to connect with the business, brand, or person in an authentic manner. Social media is a way for the community and followers to connect in a way that’s not as formal or serious.

As a realtor, I use a lot of personal videos on my story and reels to connect with my clientele. I am consistently told how I show up online is exactly how I am in real life, and it truly is the biggest compliment, as it lets me know my marketing is authentic and relatable. Depending on which page I’m posting on the strategy changes, but I always try to make content a blend of still images, reels, and carousel posts. This way it’s appealing to multiple audiences and shows a wide variety of content and styles. I typically choose music that I feel fits the vibe for the post or video, but I find trending audios and templates can be helpful when cranking things out. Also, a content bank. Sit with yourself or a friend and brainstorm content ideas: what is your client’s pain-points? What information would be useful to them? You always want to provide clear value without everything being a sales pitch. Be playful and professional. Let your vibe show while using your platforms to establish your presence as an expert in your industry or local market.

I also recommend content planning even if it’s just on a weekly basis and batch creating on one or 2 specific days a week. The more consistent you are and the more planning you put behind your content (even if it’s just 1-2 hours/week to plan/create) the less overwhelming it is on a weekly scale, especially when you are a busy, working professional.

My last and final tip is to be intentionally social on these platforms. Share & repost your favorite brands/local businesses for additional exposure. Comment and engage with people’s content that resonates, doesn’t matter if you know them or not. Be authentic in your engagement but I have made many a friend in real life by being genuine and social on social platforms. Follow and connect with accounts you want to see more of so the algorithm shows you more like that. Utilize your stories to spur 1-1 convos with your followers and always include a call to action in your posts.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lancliving.com (company)
• www.calendly.com/arianachanelsells (booking link)
• Instagram: @_casadeglitter & @arianachanelrealtor
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearichanel
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/arianacgarcia

Image Credits
Group image of agents on the sofa in the office – shot by Tennison Photography for FIG Magazine (Matthew Tennison, we purchased this image/rights) Group photo with me in tie-dye -Diddy Films (Dierre Williams) shot at The Candy Factory. Duo image with me and my sister – Diddy Films @ The Candy Factory Photo of me doing charcuterie table – ThroughLivsLens (Olivia Ramos) venue: Osbornia Farms