We were lucky to catch up with Karen Kirn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Karen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you ever experienced an industry-wide U-Turn? Tell us about it?

The real estate market has changed. This is no secret. These bumps make us take a hard look at how we run our business and what needs to change immediately. Ok, next step identifying what needs to change. This is usually easy, but how and what to change into next. That is where I have struggled in the past. Second guessing myself has been a momentum killer for me. Entrepreneurs have so many daily decisions to make, and when something isn’t working and needs to be changed immediately, it can stop you in your tracks. What is currently working for me is a mantra “try it”. If it doesn’t work then try something else. Energy creates energy, and trying and failing is so much better than not doing anything at all. I have to get every idea out of my head.

Karen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a residential real estate agent who works in the Denver Metro area. My passion is helping first time home buyers make the jump into home ownership. It can be scary and some people need more hand holding than others. I always want to be a soft place to land for them and all their questions. I also own a staging company called Maven Staging and Design with my best friend Tana Lawrence. I offer my sellers full staging services, which is helping sellers in this current market. Sellers shouldn’t assume that buyers can imagine what their home will look like when it is vacant.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

My strategy when building my business has always been…be yourself. Do what comes naturally to you and you can’t fail. There are so many real estate business building strategies, and the main point to all of them is to connect with people. Honestly, that is the easy part for me. So, I had to figure out what was the best way for me to do that. I was driving down Colfax shortly after I moved to Colorado in 2012. At first glance you are struck and saddened by an era-gone-by and the almost complete lack of upkeep. The Mid-Century architecture, neon signs and dive bars are all screaming for love and attention. The more time I spent driving down Colfax, the more I realized there was a thriving Dive Bar culture. At night the parking lots were full of patrons despite all the boarded-up retailers around the tiny establishments. I joked to myself that I should visit each and every bar from West to East Colfax and blog about it. That idea stuck with me until now. In September of this year, I decided I was going to give my Dive Bar crawl a try, but instead of doing it alone I was going to invite some new and old friends along on the journey. I call my Meet-Up Dive Bar Aficionado. I wasn’t sure how my idea would be embraced. I wasn’t sure of anything, except I needed to get this idea out of my head and make it a reality. I created my first event at The Swing Tavern. It is the first dive bar on West Colfax. I immediately had over 150 people join my group and I had to cap the RSVP’s to 20 people for the first event.

What walked into my life after that moment still humbles me. People who not only have a love of Colfax but of Dive Bars. They know what I know… that the heart of a city is in these bars. Natives, locals, regulars whatever you want to call them. They are the historians.
It has been implementing events like these into my business and creating a culture of people not business that works for me.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Reputation is built up or torn down on character, communication and trust.

– Be introspective and honest with yourself. As hard as it might be at times, think through what you did and why you did
it.
– Be sincere with others.
– Do what you say. If you commit to it, then do it. You will be judged by your values, and you will be trusted
only if you follow through.
– Be authentic in your professional relationships. Open communication both ways.
– Listen first, talk second.
– Accept responsibility. If you are wrong, you must apologize.
– Be personal. Reach out to understand and value the experiences of others.
– Share authority, responsibility and credit. Don’t be afraid of giving power to others!

Contact Info:

• Website: thepropertymaven.com
• Instagram: karenkirn_propertymaven
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenkirn
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenkirnrealestate/
• Other: https://www.meetup.com/dive-bar-aficionado-from-west-colfax-to-east-colfax/