Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julia Van Valkenburg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Julia, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Getting into real estate and the path that lead me here has been a series of risk taking. Some “leaps of faith” were softened by a safety net or my supportive husband, but many times it felt like there was no railing to prop me up if I fell.

I’ve spent much of my adult life trying to figure out what it is I actually want to do for work. I’ve always been drawn to creative work (film and television, interior design, and more) but social media marketing is the space I’ve been in the longest and feel the most confident in. It’s only now that I’ve found a way to combine marketing, creativity, and another industry to forge a new path.

I’ve always been drawn to trying new things and taking risks, but like millions of others it was 2020 that really jolted me into something new. At the time my husband and I were working and living in Los Angeles, and as much as I love LA, I was starting to miss my hometown of Tucson, AZ. I had also began to realize just how much the cost of living in LA was potentially holding us back, and comparing it to what was possible if we were living in Arizona. After nearly a year of discussions we decided it was time to move, but what would our new lives look like?

In 2019 my husband and I had purchased a condo in Glendale, CA believing that we’d be in California forever. It was a bit outdated and needed some work, but the plan was to tackle projects over the course of many years. Instead, I quit my job in spring of 2021 to focus on renovating our condo and selling it that summer. The plan? We’d use the proceeds to eventually buy two homes in Tucson; one to live in and one to rent out as a short term rental.

For those first few months I was utilizing the skills that made me thrive — consulting with contractors, painting cabinets, staging our space, and getting it ready to sell. It was so fun and such a gratifying experience for me that I wanted to replicate it again and again. Our profits from the work I put in were more than my yearly income and it felt like being my own boss was actually doable.

Still not wanting to jump back into the 9-to-5 life, I took on the short term rental project once we were back in Arizona, decorating our new home with almost entirely secondhand furniture and getting it ready to list on Airbnb. The experience with our realtor was less than satisfactory, so I had another idea….what if I get my real estate license? That risk, and those that came before it, are what’s lead me to where I am today.

Julia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My tagline, “I want you to love where you live, inside and out,” is intended to bolster my brand and what I want for my clients and community. My social media presence (particularly on Instagram, @TucsonInsideAndOut) is focused on celebrating Tucson by providing information on local businesses, homes for sale, city history, things to do, and so much more. That covers the “outside” component, but the “inside” part of Tucson Inside and Out means helping people figure out how to affordably and creatively decorate their space, whether they rent or own.

Because of my background in marketing, social media media is major component of my real estate business. As a Tucson expert who cares deeply about the power of homeownership, I want people to know that the work I do is holistic and not just about paperwork. It’s about ensuring that my clients love where they live, feel at home in their neighborhood, and are able to be their best selves inside their community and home.

In addition to being a realtor and managing my rental, I also offer staging, short term rental design, and other decorative services.

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

By the time I got my real estate license and closed my first deal, rates were nearly double what they were in 2021. Not only are rates higher now, but housing prices in my market continue to rise. Did I get into the real estate industry at one of the worst times since 2008? Yes…yes I did.

As a result, I’ve had to reassess my strategy every few months to make sure I’m doing the best with the time I have. There are many “gurus” in real estate who I mostly try to ignore, but one piece of advice I’ve held onto is knowing the difference between working “in” your business and “on” your business.

When you have a client who is listing their home or in the process of buying, there’s so much work that goes into supporting them (aka working “in” your business) that you can sometimes neglect putting in the effort to find your next client (working “on” your business). The goal for my social media is to one day have a consistent flow of leads, but that type of growths takes time and patience. In the meantime, I’m building resilience by trying to stay steady in an industry that ebbs, flows, and throws curve balls too!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Prior to embarking on my real estate career I worked in social media marketing for a major non-profit. This role included leading the organization’s Instagram account (with 1.4M followers), developing long and short term marketing strategies, managing content creators, and also creating content myself. That experience informed nearly everything I know about stellar marketing, but there’s still a major shift between managing a brand behind the scenes and then becoming a brand.

With my face at the forefront, I’ve struggled to implement strategies I know are effective simply because it would entail putting myself “out there” in a way that feels excessive. My first piece of advice — which I’m working to accept myself — is to not worry about what people may think about you, your business, or your social media tactics. What performs well online is a combination of the commonsense and the algorithmic, and whether or not a family member, friend, or acquaintance likes your online presence doesn’t matter in the big scheme of your business.

Authenticity is a major buzzword, but there’s a reason for it. People are drawn to those who are unabashedly themselves or have found their niche. Do your thing, experiment, and lean into what’s working for you. I finally started incorporating more voice overs into my reels (which I had been avoiding because I think I sound corny!) but those reels have increased my following by 50% in the past few months. It’s vital to pay attention to what’s working and try more of it. And if you’re making things that aren’t “performing well” but you enjoy making and posting that type of content, keep at it. You also want to enjoy what you’re creating, not just sharing for consumption, likes, and follows.

I haven’t always done this, but now that I’m fine tuning my approach I try and think through these things before I post. Is what I’m sharing providing any value to my followers? If not, is it somehow working to expand on my brand? If I can’t answer yes to either of those questions, it means I should skip that post and come up with something different.

My last little tidbit of advice is to understand the power of “parasocial relationships” and how deeply folks can form an attachment to a personality through a screen. If you don’t want to be the face of your company’s brand, then find someone who can be. Most people want to build a connection with a person, not a company.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.buyselltucsonhomes.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tucsoninsideandout
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084812625578
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-van-valkenburg-tucson-real-estate-and-interiors-09a938249/
• Other: https://tucsoninsideandout.beehiiv.com/subscribe