Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tabitha Caver . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tabitha , appreciate you joining us today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.
Starting out as an entrepreneur, you do it all yourself because you have to. Most of us have this story. But what I found was that a lot of new business owners stay stuck doing it all because of a worker or employee mindset. They do whatever they do so well that they stay doing that one thing and never leading and empowerIng someone else to do the work for them, In order for my husband and I to grow and scale our business, first we had to identify our own strengths and weaknesses. Second, we had to cultivate the mindset of owner. This was difficult for me especially because I strive for perfection and do things in excellence. To trust someone else with your baby is terrifying. It’s like you know no one is going to clean your house like you do. It got to a point in our business that we had no choice. It was either stay working in the business and it dies or pivot and start working on the business to sustain and grow it to where we knew it could be. Working on the business can look like understanding there is no real profit if you don’t have a great accountant making sure you stay in compliance with tax laws and setting you with a solid financial structure. The customer service and quality of work will ultimately decline if the proper systems and protocols are not in place. Scaling up for us meant that we needed to outsource our weakness and build on our strengths. It means that when you outgrow certain systems and people you must make challenging decisions for the betterment of the company. Building the infrastructure and the right team who believes in the vision and culture of the company is crucial for success and longevity.
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
If you told me 20 years ago I would become a real estate broker and leading a interior design team in my own real estate investment company, I would be have fell down laughing. When I first met my husband Quincy, he was a real estate agent and newbie investor and that was cool for him. I had my own plans. After years of supporting him behind the scenes with admin work and design work on our renovation projects, he said “you know you would be great as an agent”. I immediately shut him down. I did not want to sell houses to people who were unsure themselves on if they wanted to buy a house or not. Some short time later, after sitting with the thought, prayer and wise counsel, I agree to get my license, not just because he asked me to but because I finally saw the big picture, the vision, calling, and power of what we could accomplish together, not just for us but for our family and generations to come. Our company Good Steward Investments, lends our expertise to real estate representation in buying, selling, and investing along with interior design services, Although real estate is at the center of our company, we have a heart to serve people. Good Steward lives by our guiding principles, which are integrity, quality, communication, and community. Above all, we engage in ethical conduct and pursue excellence. More than a decade in business, our family has seen substantial growth from featured television shows on multiple TV Networks to major real estate expansion with a multi million dollar portfolio that includes both residential and commercial in new construction, multifamily, and flipping.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I remember It was early in my career, I was typing up the offer for my client and sent it over to the listing agent. Once the listing agent received it and contacted me, This listing agent came for me y’all. Like for real came for me. Every mistake I made in the offer the agent was glad to remind me that a seasoned agent in the business would have never ever made the mistakes that I did. The agent went as far as to question my competency and quickly wrote me off as a rookie with no clue. They were convinced that I had no idea what I was doing. After we went under contract on the home, I was almost terrified to work with the listing agent. Inspection and appraisal came and went. The negotiations were intense, and the listing side was not budging one bit. To kill the deal, the agent sent over a termination of contract agreement. I just knew that this was going to take all that I had plus some more to get my client the home she needed. Through it all, I held my composure and kept it professional. I had to educate myself even more on real estate law, negotiations, and strategies. Even though I was working for a reduced commission, I could not lose this house for my client. We submitted other offers but we were outbid. So I had to get creative, I walked her through switching lenders and loan type. I now had to negotiate the purchase price of the home with a reduction of ten thousand dollars to be exact. With one last attempt, I presented all the data and facts. In the end, seller agreed to reduce the price of the home by more than $10k!
Come to find out, the seller was motivated to sell for a very special reason. As we left the closing table, my client smiled at me, her sentiment blew me away. In almost a whisper she said, “Thank you for not giving up, and thank you for going above and beyond to get me in this home.” It was all worth it. Can you guess who she called when she decided to move and needed to list her home for sale? That’s right, she called me. I assisted her in listing and selling the same home I helped her buy a few years before. No amount of preparation and planning could have equipped me for what was in store. Only real-world real estate experience geou ready for something like that. I had to work my tail off and endure some harsh work environments just to save that deal. Regardless, I was committed and resilient to keep going. There was a finish line and I was not going to stop unit we reached it.
On this journey, you will most definitely have to give more than you get sometimes. Don’t miss an opportunity to gain wisdom and experience (which is more valuable) just because the dollars don’t make sense. Real estate is not all about numbers. Not everyone will agree, and that’s okay.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
As a leader, I believe that one of the keys to becoming a significant, sacrificial, and impactful leader, is to become a leader of self-first. You will not be able to successfully lead or manage others until you are able to lead and manage yourself. Understand this, leaders who are most effective are leaders who are disciplined in their daily lives. A leader who is authentic and real is better than a leader who is always right. When leading a team and maintaining a positive culture, we are still learning the important balance of being a leader who is both confident and humble, someone who is driven but also who is health-conscious. We are finding out that an impactful leader is both focused and flexible, they are optimistic yet realistic. The top organizations that I have studied over time have a very direct but kind way of supporting their teams. It’s OK to be both empowering and controlling when it comes to certain things and in certain seasons of the business. There’s something to be said about great managers and leaders who understand that urgency and patience go hand-in-hand. We have learned that to be fugal and operate out of abundance is possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tabithacaver.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamtabithacaver/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tabitha.caver1stLady
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabitha-caver-0596a564
- Other: https://linktr.ee/firstladytabitha