We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie Saunders recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Stephanie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?

“No” is your strongest asset. We live in a world where SAY YES has become very popular. But the best advice I ever received was in graduate school. I actually went to school for acting, which is not all that different from a real estate but thats another article. The reason this advice was given to us is becomes sometimes our careers are based on what we don’t do, rather than the things we do…do. Hear me out. A jack of all trades is not as valuable as an expert in a specific niche. Which reminds me of another saying.. Niche to RICH! It may be hard to say no to opportunities, especially when you are in a new field or building your resume. But it’s also important to have a goal of who you want to be, who you want to serve, who you want to influence, because there is no way you can be everything to everybody. So the sooner you figure out who you are and who you are for, the sooner you can focus on saying yes to the opportunities that are inline with your professional goals. And let’s face it, having boundaries is the foundation of good self care! Just say NO to always saying yes!

Stephanie, 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 found real estate in 2019 when I was working as a stylist at Nordstrom selling high-end beauty products and luxury goods. A family member watched one of my youtube videos where I was demonstrating a new lipstick or some new skin serum and said to me, ‘your videos are great, you know you could sell houses instead and make a lot more money’. Needless to say, I was intrigued. Retail was never the goal, I went to school for acting and worked in theater, tv and film until my mid 30’s when I needed more steady income and turned to a sales career. Always a creator, I was used to self promotion, content creation, video production, social media marketing, and kept the creativity going in my new field. Youtube was still early and social media was a new way to reach consumers and stay top of mind with past clients. Transitioning my focus to real estate was exciting because I was learning so much about a new profession that the content was writing itself, as I learned, my audience learned. I fell into building new construction homes, so, why not make a series where I take the audience along the new construction journey? (Check out FOOTINGS 2 FINISHED on Youtube/@sellyourhousewithsteph now in Season 2!) I have built my real estate brand on multi-channel marketing from social media, to youtube, to blogs and newsletters and I’m just getting started. I’m always looking for new ways to market my clients listings and I love to bring together my passion for storytelling with creating beautiful and visually exciting content to my sphere, and, reach new audiences which in turns, creates new clients.

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

I think my ability and comfort on camera. I pop off reels, videos, series, behind the scenes, shorts, stories etc, pretty easily. Often folks say, ‘you’re so natural on camera’! But I can’t take all the credit. I had an entire career of training to be in front of a camera, or on a stage, and much of the entertainment industry is self-taping for auditions and opportunities. So while I know how hard it is to put your self out there, believe me, no one likes how they look, how they sound, what their hair looks like, how they photograph- but hey, that’s just who you are. And once you get over all that and just start making content, it becomes more of a quantity vs quality situation. You can always make the quality better the next time, learn from your mistakes, choose a different outfit, change your makeup or hair, get better at speaking in clear sentences with less umms and ahhs, but you can’t learn if you don’t put in the practice. So flip that camera and make that video! It’s helped me win the Innovator In Marketing Award for 2022 and 2023 from the North East Association of REALTORS and believe me, I could find a million faults with my content. But I’m always trying to make it better the next time, and so can you! Using content creation in my real estate marketing is creating a unique style of branding in my market for myself and my clients.

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

Stay in touch. Connect on social. Stay top of mind. And work on your database everyday. It’s your own private goldmine.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sellyourhousewithsteph.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sellyourhousewithsteph
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sellyourhousewithsteph
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieasaunders
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/teambostonhomes
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@sellyourhousewithsteph
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stephanie-saunders-key-team-compass-windham
• Other: GOOGLE BUSINESS: www.ratesteph.com

Image Credits
Dawn Ferragamo