Defining Why: Carrie Dougherty

Defining Why with Carrie Doughtery- Realty Executives Farragut 

Welcome to this month's edition of our Defining Why blog, where we peel back the layers of our top agents and learn more about why drives them. This month, we sat down with Carrie Doughtery, an award-winning agent at REA Farragut.

My career in real estate began in early 2006.  I was in my fifth year of staying at home with my kids, with a goal of staying home until they were in school.  I failed at that part.  After five years, I was ready to transition back to work, and my former career wasn't really an option.  I taught high school English and speech and the goals that I had for myself were quite lofty.  My Bachelor's degree is in Rhetoric, so I always wanted to teach my students how to write, how to research, and how to document sources in their written works, so that they could go to college fully prepared.  To teach writing, the after-hours commitment was quite intense, because you then had to read and grade everything that the students wrote.  After a horrific first year of teaching, I left the public school system and went to a private school system, only to discover that I didn't like that either.  At the private school, however,  they invited me to be an assistant in the Development Department, organizing and executing fundraising events for the school.  I enjoyed that, so I decided to pursue my Master's Degree in Higher Education Administration, and then worked at Illinois State University as their Director of Development for Student Affairs.  I traveled the states, meeting with alumni, soliciting scholarships for the University's first-ever capital campaign.  I loved it, but I couldn't go back to that career while still having young children at home.  That's how and why I chose real estate.  

 

My background in education and development seemed to perfectly fit the skill set needed to begin a successful real estate career.  I chose a small shop to hang my license, and Tom Biggs mentored all new licensees on the industry.  He taught us how to generate our circle of influence, how to manage and nurture prospects, and ultimately how to structure and build our businesses.  He taught us that if we created a strong marketing plan for selling homes that we would get listings and then the listings would generate buyers.  He was right.  As I am now completing my seventeenth year in the industry, the majority of my clients are repeat clients or referrals from repeat clients.  I love that.  

 

I wake up every day with a desire to experience life to the fullest.  A consistent description of me has always been "highly energetic".  I work hard, and I play hard.  My husband and I have many hobbies which include boating, kayaking, 4-wheeling, and motorcycling.  And if it's up to me, we rope in as many sunrises and sunsets as humanly possible, because they bring me back to center.  When I'm centered, everything in my world runs better. 

 

I challenge myself every day to try to do better and be better at *everything*. When I stayed at home with my kids, I always said that I wanted to "wear the cape."  I wanted to be great at being a mom, being a wife, and being a Realtor.  When I was building my business, I put in grueling hours.  There were so many less tools when I started that now save time.  A 16-20 hour work day was normal for me for many years, and I still put home-cooked meals on the table, taxied children to activities, did laundry, cleaned the house, paid bills, planned vacations, and the list goes on.  In 2012, I started to break down.  I couldn't do that pace anymore.  I woke up one morning and went to work literally 6 feet from my bed at my roll-top desk.  I had 16 homes under contract.  I had the files all laid out on my bedroom floor.  16 contracts, 16 negotiations, 16 home inspections, 16 repair negotiations from inspections, 16 repair lists, 16 appraisals, 16 different lenders and title companies and agents.  My brain was exploding.  I was failing at wearing the cape.  It was then that I knew I had to buy back some of my life.  It didn't matter how much money I made, if I had no time to enjoy it.  

I became a small 4-person team at that time. . . me, an assistant and two buyers agents.  Together we were incredibly strong, but not without growing pains.  Since that time, I've just used my gut to manage my business.  Right before Trump got elected, I felt the housing shortage come on, and I didn't think I was going to be able to sustain the team.  We ultimately disbanded, and I went back to being a solo agent again.  That was the right decision.  

Advice for new agents juggling the family load and work load:  Value Your Time... especially when working with buyers.  It's ok to ask for the buyer's lender information prior to showing them a home.  It's ok to ask them to contact your lender of choice.  It's ok to ask them to drive by a property prior to you showing them the property.  It's ok to ask them questions to gauge how serious they are as a buyer and whether breaking from dinner will result in a sale or a missed opportunity to have dinner with your family.  If you are doing something with your family and the business CAN wait, then let it wait.  And ALWAYS Trust Your Gut.  It's ok to say no.  It's ok to drive past and not go inside.  And it's always a good idea to tell someone where you are going.  I would also recommend finding a real estate friend to cover for you while you are on vacation or are in situations where you can't get there.  I forged a relationship with a veteran agent and it was invaluable.  He covered for me for years, and I gave him clients when I was too busy to handle them.  It worked out.