Lora Bladow, REALTOR® – RE/MAX Excel
What do you do?
As a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Excel, I sell residential homes and vacant land in Central Wisconsin as well as assist Buyers in purchasing properties.
What education, classes or training were helpful to you?
Real Life is truly the greatest training for a career in Real Estate. I completed 3 years at UW-Madison majoring in Occupational Therapy before deciding that I didn’t feel called to complete that program, and switched to a massage school. Upon graduation, I worked as a massage therapist for a couple years before deciding to go work at a real estate title insurance company, which in turn led to my career in Real Estate. To become a Realtor you need to complete the State of Wisconsin’s Real Estate Salesperson course, pass a state exam, and pass a background check.
Beyond that, an invaluable part of my training actually came from my high school communications class and being very involved in theater groups back then. Those “performance” and effective communication and active listening skills are absolutely irreplaceable.
Why did you choose this sort of work?
Not many people choose to become Realtors as a life goal unless they’ve been brought up around the business. I can honestly say Real Estate chose me.
What do you like best about your work?
So many things bring me intense joy in my work, but among my top favorites are the relationships I get to build, and incredible people I get to meet, the marketing side of my work, because I love being able to tap into my creative side, and negotiating is definitely another favorite part of my career. There really is nothing like being able to make the call to a client that they have an accepted offer, it’s like telling them they’ve won the lottery.
Being so intimately involved with the emotional process clients experience during one of the most stressful and/or exciting time of their life creates such a strong bond between us and I LOVE when first time home buyers send me pictures and videos of changes they’ve made to their home, or their favorite spot in the house, even their new puppy or baby! It’s special to me that they trust me and include me as a member of their family.
What advice would you give girls who want to get into your field?
My biggest advice to girls considering real estate is to be true to yourself, be your own self and don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Dig deep to find a confidence you didn’t even know you had. You’ll be told No a million times, you’ll have deals fall apart when you were counting on that income. You’ll have to work with difficult personalities and emotional situations – Find your inner peace and your voice.
Do NOT do anything in pubic or on social media that you wouldn’t want the most important person to you to see. Hold your head high, shoulders back, look people straight in the eye, shake hands confidently and ALWAYS do for others what you wish was done for you; especially with difficult people. Finally, I’d want every girl to know that everything always works itself out – Never Give Up.
What is an example of something you’ve had to overcome to get to where you are now?
When I began in Real Estate, I was a young 25 year old woman in a small town I didn’t grow up in. The industry was VERY competitive and fast paced and no one knew me. I had to work hard to earn people’s trust because I was so young. I also had to set myself apart from the experienced agents in that town that everyone had known for many years.
Little did I know, I’d move to Wausau 10 years later and start all over again. Even though I was not a fresh-faced young girl anymore, I still had to trust myself enough to know that I was worthy of asking for people’s business even though they didn’t know me and really show the community once again how I was different than the folks they’ve always known. In my first year of real estate, I earned my way to the top 20% of agents in the Madison area and my first year in Wausau was no different.
Anything else we should know?
People often think of Real Estate as looking at pretty homes all day. In reality, that’s a very small fraction of our jobs. We are independent contractors of the companies we work for, meaning we are essentially our own small business under the umbrella of a brand. The bulk of real estate is marketing, networking, relationship building, writing legal contracts, and making sure to protect your clients all while continuing to prospect for future business. The business is less about sales and more about consulting. The first 3 years are typically the hardest and most inconsistent years to be able to depend on a reliable income. You can spend as much money as you make those first years and it’s incredibly easy to get frustrated and down on yourself. It’s important to find a mentor to hold you accountable and keep you motivated. No one will hold your hand and do the work for you, so to be successful will mean making a commitment to yourself every day, even when you don’t feel like it. But the rewards of knowing how much of a difference you’ve made for someone are unbelievable and unique to this profession.
Thank you Lora Bladow!
To read more interviews with local wonder women, check out the Wunderfrauen Archive.
Thanks so much for including me on your page! What an honor this is 🙂
Thank YOU! 🙂