We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maggie Eterno. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maggie below.
Hi Maggie, thanks for joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
I am so thankful for the impact of my parents and the legacy they’ve built throughout their life. Long story short, my dad was a local pastor and made a huge impact on many lives. The final decade of his life were the hardest years for him. He endured medical hardships non stop such as kidney failure, amputation of both his legs and then prostate cancer which is what ultimately took him… Something that has greatly impacted my life and my career is the gift of practicing gratitude. My dad always looked for the good in every situation. Even in his final days, he always looked for the good. I remember a specific instance where dad was going through a lot of pain. It wasn’t the hospice nurse’s day to come check on him, but we called her to see what we should do to help give him some relief. She just happened to be nearby and was able to stop by to check on him and help us get him comfortable. As the day finished and dad was feeling a lot better, I remember him telling us, “you see the good? It wasn’t the nurse’s day to come, but she came anyway. See, there is always something to be thankful for.” And that’s how my dad lived his life. It took me a couple of years to be able to look for the good, but I slowly saw what my dad saw. He saw the power of gratitude and how this one thing can completely transform your life. When we cultivate a grateful mindset, we shift our focus from what is lacking in our lives to acknowledging and appreciating the abundance that surrounds us. Gratitude has the remarkable capacity to enhance mental resilience, foster positive relationships, and even improve physical health. By regularly expressing thankfulness, we create a ripple effect that not only uplifts our own spirits but also radiates positive energy, fostering a more harmonious and fulfilling existence.
This is why I decided to implement it into my daily life. Every morning, I practice gratitude. I think of three things that I’m thankful for and I write them down in my journal. As I began to experience a huge change in my mindset, I decided to share it with my team. We read The Happiness Advantage as a team in 2022 and implemented, “What’s good in your world?” This is the way we begin every single meeting or huddle. We start off my sharing what’s good. I feel that this has not only impacted my life. It’s impacted the lives of those on my team and in my world. It helps us begin each day with a positive outlook and a focus on the good rather than on the bad. It truly has changed our culture for the better!
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 married to my high school sweetheart who is also my business partner! We have three teenagers that take up most of our time and a mini goldendoodle named Georgia. We live in Oconee county! We are real estate investors who also own a real estate team. We have a team in the metro Atlanta area that services Northeast Georgia and metro Atlanta. And last year we expanded into Athens and Oconee market. We now have two teams and we’re excited to continue to watch them grow.
About a decade ago, my husband decided to get into real estate as a side job. We owned a successful locksmith business, but thought that real estate could help us make some extra income each month. What we thought would be a side gig ended up changing our lives. In his first year, my husband won Rookie of the Year for the entire Southeast Region in Keller WIlliams and we quickly realized, this could be more than just a little extra income each month. At the time, I stayed at home with our kids and helped him with marketing and social media and had zero intentions of joining him. The next couple of years he continued to see success and I decided that I wanted to create my own path to my own success. If you know me, you know I’m a high achiever and I’m stubborn! I remember him sitting me down in 2019 and basically told me that if I didn’t join him, he would have to hire someone to help him. I knew that it would be best for our P&L if I came on board and helped him.
It wasn’t easy to join in full time. I was pretty timid and felt that I didn’t have the skills and abilities to help him run the real estate team he was trying to grow. It took a lot of time and a lot of ups and downs. We had agents come and go, but I finally began to feel comfortable in my shoes. It was not an easy process and it took a lot of time, but I’m very proud of how far our team has come.
We’ve grown in production by more than doubling our volume and gross commission income. We’ve grown in numbers from three buyer’s agents to 12 agents. But most of all, I’m proud of the growth that I’ve seen in my team personally. I meet with my agents 1-1 for coaching sessions every week and I completely invest in their success. But it’s not all about production, I want to help them create a bigger life and a path for the future. Real estate changed our lives and I want to pay that forward.
As real estate investors, we know the power of investing in real estate and we educate and train our agents on how to find good investments. We also find that our training and teaching helps them stand out in a market saturated with agents.
I’m proud of the brand we’ve built and the the support of our clients. We treat people as people and not transactions. Because we pride ourselves in knowing the market very well, we educate and advise according to data and what would benefit our clients the most. We don’t ever want to make something about the money. It’s about our client’s best interest, their goals and their dreams.
Our biggest goal is to educate and help. If we can help one person create wealth and build a better life and future, then that’s a win for us.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
When Joseph and I first got married almost 20 years ago, I went through the darkest season of my life. I began to experience severe panic attacks and anxiety. As someone who was always care free and happy, I had no idea what I was going through. I lived years in silence because of the stigma with mental illness 20 years ago. Then Joseph and I lost our house, we had medical debt we couldn’t pay from a lot of my visits and we found ourselves living paycheck to paycheck. He worked multiple jobs to keep me at home because I could not work. I had kids and battled PPD. It was the hardest season of my life. Mixed in with severe financial trouble, we were in a really rough spot. I left my career in banking when my son was born almost 17 years ago because I needed to be closer to home due to my anxiety. When I left my career, I was devastated. As someone who wanted to climb the corporate ladder, I lost all hope that I would ever be able to succeed in any industry. Throughout the following years, I finally got help from a professional and began to truly work on myself. I knew I had to fight not only for myself but for my kids and my husband. I look up today and see the person I’ve become, and sometimes I downplay the battle I fought. But when I sit in my memories and look back at how far I’ve come I am so proud of my resilience. Not only in my mental health, but finding a career that I completely love. As moms who pause their careers, we struggle with the thought of what will happen when it’s time to enter the workforce. But I’m a living testament that you can stay at home with your kids and enter the workforce and still be a boss! I am thankful for the hardship I endured because it’s made me who I am today.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
This is still something I’m working on, but also question a lot. I may not have thousands of followers, but the followers I do have I’m thankful for. I’ve learned in life that it’s about helping that one person. I’ve decided to build my social media audience organically and being the real me. Many times we hear, find your niche. And I struggle with that because I’m a mom who is trying to survive the daily hustle of raising good humans and a successful business. There is so much that goes into that and that’s what I love to share on my social media. I love to show my highs and my lows because I never want my audience to think my life is perfect. I still have a ways to go, but I refuse to focus on the size of my audience and focus on being authentically me. Whether my platform grows or not, I know that I can make a big difference just where I am with the people in my world.
My advice would be to be you. If you do have a niche then go all in with zero regrets. People are going to judge you no matter what you do so you might as well do what makes you happy. My other advice is that done is better than perfect. Wherever you are in your journey, just start. Be consistent and always bring value to your audience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://maggieeternoblog.com/
- Instagram: maggieeterno
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maggie.eterno/
Image Credits
Gabby Roberts Photography Karen Santos Photography Regis Photography