We recently connected with Cheryl Curtis and have shared our conversation below.

Cheryl, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve taken quite a few risks in my life. However, the biggest risk I’ve ever taken, by far, was leaving my job at 45 years old, after 25+ years in the same line of work, at the height of the pandemic. You see, I’d worked in the finance, banking and accounting field for 25+ years, prior to leaving my last corporate position working for a private industry government contractor. In my last position, I worked in a Senior Accountant role, where I really did enjoy the work that I did. But, what I did not enjoy was the micromanagement, lack of support and lack of time and personal freedom I was experiencing.

I’d gotten a taste of entrepreneurship working part time as a TIPIC (Title Insurance Producer Independent Contractor), also known as a Loan Signing Agent in most states except Maryland and Indiana. I came to love the personal freedom I had, and I felt some sense of fulfillment by providing service to others.

I loved it so much that I decided to do it on a full-time basis. Now, in full transparency, I was really scared to branch out on my own, knowing that I would now be responsible for not only my business, but also my own health benefits, my own tax payments, business insurance and licensing, and everything else that comes along with business ownership. I always knew while I was working my business part time that I had something to fall back on with my full-time job. However, in working for myself as a new full-time entrepreneur/sole proprietor, with no other source of income, I knew that if I didn’t work, I didn’t eat. As an entrepreneur/sole proprietor, there is no such thing as paid time off (PTO). Nonetheless, I made a decision to resign from my full-time job and start working my own TIPIC/Notary business full-time.

Then, exactly one month from the day that I’d resigned from my job, I contracted COVID-19. I immediately started questioning myself and my decision. I even started asking God if this was a sign that I’d made the wrong decision. Lucky for me I’d paid off most of my debts, and saved about six months of my household expenses. So I was not panicking too much for the 3 weeks that I was down with COVID. However, it did make me start thinking about some other means of income.

So, what did I do? After I got well, I decided to register for a real estate pre-licensing class. I figured since I was already well versed in the title side of real estate and closing loans, I may as well get educated on the front end of the real estate transactions. Unbeknownst to me, the TIPIC/Notary business was really taking off, and I was booked and busy. So much so that I was turning away work, because I just did not have the capacity to take it all on. So, of course I didn’t have time to really study for my real estate pre-licensing class I’d registered for either. For about a year or so, business was booming! Then, when things started to slow down, I went back to real estate pre-licensing in between working TIPIC/Notary jobs.

Well, just as I was finishing up my real estate class I was introduced to another business opportunity that I thought was an amazing opportunity. It was a travel business opportunity! There was also a network marketing component that went alongside the travel business. However, I was not interested in that aspect of the business at all. But I mean, come on, who doesn’t love travel? I was extremely interested in the travel business because I’ve always wanted to travel more. And now that I was my own boss, I was determined to make that happen. So, what did I do? Yes. Upon doing some research, I decided to purchase my own travel business, so that I could travel more, learn more and experience more, on my terms. Of course, this is the short version of the story. But, the long short of it is, with all that I’d experienced over the previous year, since I’d left my job and started working for myself full-time, it just made sense for me to add travel to my business portfolio.

The next day after purchasing my travel business, I took my Maryland real estate exam and passed! YAAAYYY, I’m a MD REALTOR®️ (so I thought)… Ha ha! Whoa, not so fast there missy. There’s still quite a bit more to do before actually becoming a licensed REALTOR®️. Passing the test was only the first step of several more to follow. So, to shorten the story I’ll just say I completed all of the other steps to include affiliating with a brokerage, paying those fees, affiliating with an association, paying those fees, registering with a MLS service, paying those fees, getting access to show properties, paying those fees… I think you’re getting the point now, right? After getting all of the licensing and everything in place, it was time to get to work!

For the first six months I was full speed ahead working my real estate business; and successfully I might add. But, what about my travel business? When was I going to work on that? Oh, and let’s not forget about my TIPIC/Notary business. Did I bite off more than I can chew? Was I a little too overambitious? These were all the questions I started asking myself. Get it together, Cheryl, I told myself. You can do this! You just have to get more organized and time block. I’d heard everyone talk about time blocking. But what does time blocking really mean? Well, I guess I’d better figure it out, if I want to be successful in running three businesses.

And here I am today, two years in as a full-time entrepreneur, four years into my TIPIC/notary business (two of which have been full-time), almost a full year into my real estate career and my travel business and still loving every one of my career choices, which all intertwine in one way or another, and loving every part of my journey – the good, the bad and the ugly. If someone had told me 20 years ago, this would be my story, I would have laughed at them profusely. Some doubted me, and if I’m honest, I doubted myself (for a brief moment). But it just goes to show that it is never too late to change your career path, and you can be successful at anything you set your mind to do and work hard at.

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

I am a 47-year-old mother of three adult daughters, and a grandmother to one granddaughter. I am originally from Atlanta, GA, and have been a Maryland resident for almost 19 years now. However, I am still a southern belle at heart. I got into my TIPIC/notary and real estate businesses because of a very good friend and mentor who encouraged me to bet on myself when I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I knew I wanted to make an impact and I could not do that in my previous jobs, or at least not in the way that was fulfilling. Becoming a TIPIC/notary as well as a real estate agent has allowed me to help people and make an impact in a way that is very gratifying.

I got into my travel business because of a notary colleague turned friend and coach that I’d met while networking. She introduced me to the opportunity to start my own travel business, and after some thought and research, I couldn’t turn it down. As I mentioned before, I love to travel, and had always dreamed of traveling more as I got older and finished raising my children. Additionally, I loved the idea of saving on my own travel, earning commissions on travel, and helping others do the same. So, the opportunity just made sense to me. In addition to my other businesses, it provided another source of income. I needed to diversify my income, because I knew I did not want to ever be in a position where I would be forced to go back to a traditional job.

As a REALTOR®️, people come to me with all types of real estate needs, and it gives me a sense of fulfillment to be able to help ease their minds by educating and assisting them in finding a resolution to their problems, whether it be finding a new home, selling or leasing a home, searching for or selling land, relocating, finding a contractor or some other resource, etc. There are so many moving parts in the world of real estate, and that can become overwhelming for the average person with no knowledge of their state laws and requirements. So, it is my job to take some of the burden off them and at least make that part of their lives less frustrating and overwhelming. Likewise, as a TIPIC/notary, title companies and/or individuals reach out to me with a need to have documents verified, witnessed, notarized, etc for a number of reasons. As a civil officer of the state, I have a duty to deter fraud. As a travel business owner, I am a dream maker! I help change lives, help people make lasting memories, and if they choose to take advantage of the opportunity, I show them how to do the same, and live the life they’ve always dreamed of, and make money while doing so.

I am a professional who is trustworthy, dedicated, energetic, charismatic, solution focused and stands ready to listen, educate, provide solutions and serve your needs in an ever-changing market. I believe that communication and transparency is of utmost importance, and I strive to always provide a welcoming environment. I have a passion for details, an extensive knowledge base and I pride myself on providing an accurate, first-rate level of service and an exceptional experience for every individual customer and client I serve.

What I am most proud of is my amazing children, my resilience, perseverance, and choice to choose faith over fear. I refused to allow my fear of failure stop me from going after my dreams.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the lessons I’ve had to unlearn is that everything (including me) doesn’t have to always be perfect. And as preposterous as that sounds, it has been such a reality for me. Growing up in an era where I was taught that there was a time and place for everything, there was no room for error, and I had to always be correct in everything I spoke, wrote, did or showed, whether it was writing a paper, speaking to another individual, or just simply practicing a line for a play or speech, I became a perfectionist, and it was ingrained in me. And now that there’s this thing called the Internet, and everything is out there for the whole world to see, it terrified me to know that something that I put out in the universe could be floating around with an error for the whole world to see. Keeping in mind, the Internet, especially social media platforms, have become a major source of advertisement now, and once it’s on the web, even if you delete it, it’s still there. Unfortunately for me, being such a perfectionist and an over thinker, I have missed out on several opportunities to put myself in front of audiences that might be my next client(s). So, now I ask myself questions like these:

Who is my audience and are they really listening or looking that hard?
Is it going to impact my client(s) if something is wrong?
Is it going to end my career if something is wrong?
What is the worse case scenario if something is wrong?

Then finally, I have to just get out of my own way, breathe and not create my own problem(s) that lead to unwarranted anxiety about things that really don’t even matter.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill has taught me that my success is up to me and my thoughts. If we can control our thoughts, we can control our success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/CurtisyFirst
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourdmvrealtorcheryl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamblessedcctravels
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yourdmvrealtorcheryl
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamcctravels