We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful India Kershaw. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with India below.

India, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

One of the main missions behind my firm is education. However, it’s the personal mission behind the firm mission that sets the foundation for why I do what I do. While it took me a few years to realize that real estate was my calling, the real estate seed was planted years ago at the age of 10. My parents built our second home from the ground up and I was enamored by the entire process. While the house hunting and construction process set the tone for my future calling, it was the events that unfolded several years later that would tie my calling to my ultimate true mission.

Business ownership surrounded me during my childhood. My dad was a very successful entrepreneur while my mom was a very successful corporate entrepreneur. Both of my grandmother’s had their own part-time businesses and other family members had their own stores and businesses alike. Business was undoubtedly a part of me. But what I have learned is that my true WHY did not come from seeing all of their successes. But in fact came from what others would deem as failures I now see as pivots to success. From witnessing businesses go bankrupt, beautiful homes fall into foreclosure and family structures shaken from these events. I have now made it my mission to provide education and to be a resource for those who desire homeownership and to help people know that there are options even when life has taken a bit of a detour. I want to be the resource for others that my family needed so that I can show others there are other avenues and foreclosure does not always have to be the only solution.

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.

Unlike some college graduates, by my junior year I thought I had it all figured out. I was already working part-time in my major at a radio station and had a promised full-time job upon graduation. Then one month after starting my dream full-time job, that I had worked so hard for, I got my first taste of adult life. The station unexpectedly (to me anyways) flipped which meant one thing, I no longer had my dream job. This was my first personal taste of not having any kind of control of my career. This is where that previous childhood seed of entrepreneurship and real estate secretly started to take root.

After trying a few “good jobs” that read well on paper, in 2008, the first bud of that seed started to bloom when I entered into the real estate industry via property management. I quickly moved up the ranks in record time going from leasing agent in Winston-Salem, NC to marketing director of a new acquisition in Downers Grove, Illinois and then promoted to property manager in Cary, NC. This is where I then finished out my property management career managing several multi-million assets in Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh, NC. Feeling a bit burned out, I took about 2.5 years off from property management and worked in corporate and a non-profit during this time. I was quite miserable to be honest and was praying to God for my next and hopeful final move. That’s when the next bloom came in October 2014 when I earned my real estate license and finally made the jump to entrepreneurship!

Now while this sounds like a smooth transition it was everything but. This entrepreneurial ride has been anything but linear but it’s been incredible and I have learned and grown so much along the way. After working at a couple of local firms trying to find my footing, in April 2017, I co-founded a local boutique real estate firm, Sims and Kershaw Realty, which has been amazing for me professionally and personally.

Being blessed enough to own and run a real estate firm is one of the things I am most incredibly proud of. It has afforded me the opportunity and flexibility to help clients in a way that’s personal to each of them. This industry is anything but one size fits all and I have seen from not only working in this business but from the ebbs and flows of my childhood that many times when home buyers and sellers have a challenging circumstance that does not fit into the typical square box, others will tell them it’s hopeless. However, I am able look at the totality of their situation and if it looks like it fits better in a circle or triangle then that’s exactly what we will find.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I simply just do what I feel is right no matter what and can’t understand why anyone else would not practice the same. Totally unprompted and time after time, my clients tell me I am not like most agents. I love surprises but only good ones, lol, so I prepare my clients with as many potential outcomes and provide as much information as possible for their situation so that they are well-informed and prepared. They say that my authenticity, patience, understanding, integrity and willingness to see everything through no matter what, are the reasons they like working with me and why they continue to refer their friends and family.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In February of 2017, the firm I had established myself at and thought I would be with for many years was unexpectedly going out of business. They gave us about 30 days to find another firm to work for. This was sounding very familiar to me. With just a few years under my belt as an independent agent at this time, I felt I was just getting my stride, so a shake up like this felt career shattering. However, there are times God has to remove you from a situation to take you to the next level. As it turns out, this seemingly scary forced move created phenomenal opportunities for my business and my life as a whole.

From that same firm, I met my current business partner and from this challenging situation we were faced with, we created and launched Sims and Kershaw Realty in the matter of weeks and onboarded 10 agents during this time. And because of the amazing foundation established at Sims and Kershaw Realty am I ready for my next and very exciting pivot which is the launch of my own firm Kershaw Realty Group (KRG).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kershawrealtygroup.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/india_kershaw/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realtorindiak
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/indiakershaw/
• Other: https://www.SimsandKershawRealty.com

Image Credits

Tumaini Johnson of Ehphex Media