Meet Lara Svedin

We recently connected with Lara Svedin and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lara , we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

Growing up in a small town of about 50k people everyone seems to know each others business. I feel that when you grow up in a way where you aren’t just a number you learn early on that you have to either decide to blend in, not be seen at all or really stand out. I chose the later. With a strong, supportive family behind me I was destined to stand out. I always was extremely social and outgoing. An athlete, lots of friends and a good head on my shoulders. “No FEAR” is what my father always taught me, and till this day that is how I try to live my life. Confidence and high self-esteem came along the way. Of course I had my moments where I would rather crawl into a hole and not be seen because of embarrassment or guilt, maybe I made out with someone the night before at a party or said something dumb in class… But when all eyes are on you (even at the grocery store on a Saturday morning) you learn quick that the quicker you can move past it and leave it behind you the better. Laugh it off and move forward, I think that the key to self confidence is learning over and over again that no matter what you do you can always decide to learn from you mistakes and keep growing. Trust yourself and your intuition, that will never steer you wrong. The more you grow and learn the more self confidence you will develop.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m now 36, a mother of two kiddos Charlotte and Cannon, 5 and 3. They are my world. But I do know myself well and I always knew that I was not destined to be a stay at home mother. HUGE shout out to those that are. I know it’s a broken record when I say this but it’s for sure the hardest job in the world. I was working as an outside sales rep for windows and doors when I left my job after having my son Cannon. Thanks to my incredibly supportive husband, Peter, I was able to decide what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it. It was a hard pill for me to swallow, not because I loved my job, but because I thought that I was losing a part of my identity. However, I learned that that was the best thing I have ever done. I did stay home with my son for a year after I had him before diving right into the real estate world. I knew it was a competitive industry but that never stopped me before. I knew that I could do it and do it on my terms. My first year with Guide Real Estate Denver I sold over 3.5 million and only worked for 2.5 months. Sales has always come easy to me and thats because I truly love people. I honestly feel that if you got your own back and a couple good friends and family cheering you on you can rule the world! Or at least feel like you do. This is why recently I have decided to start a podcast called “Unbuttoned” with my good friend Calandra Bodilis, owner of Envogue Salon. I came up with an idea to interview women and men in business and get them to open up and share with the world what their experiences have been, why they do what they do and help others learn from or “feel scene” from their mistakes, hardships and success.

I have always been the motivator in my life. I love to see others succeed and I think that too is what makes me good a sales. I want to help people be successful. Whether thats buying and selling a home, starting up a new business venture or even deciding to step into parenthood. It brings me joy to see others succeed and thats why we are starting this podcast to broadcast other people stories to the world and help others learn together.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back over the years the skills that I poses that have always helped me are perseverance, will and discipline. I always believe that when there is a will there is a way. I’m not sure if will is actually a skill but its definitely an important quality that I poses. You have to have a will to keep moving forward, whether that be a better car, better schools for your kids, a new hand bag.. whatever. You should always always have a will that drives you forward.

Perseverance is something that was drilled into my head by my father from a young age. Whether it be him telling me not to quit the track team, to make my bed or get a job. He was always telling me you must persevere. I didn’t get it until I met my husband who was building a construction company from the ground up. Man there is so much work and unexpected circumstances that come with building up a business. But he had me and I was the one telling him he must persevere. Keep moving forward, thats all you can do. Believe in yourself and learn from those around you and one day it will pay off!

Discipline I learned as a young athlete. Athletes are the most disciplined people in the world I believe. They can’t go to all the fun parties in High School, they have to be up early to work out everyday. And damn it they have to be incredibly self motivated! Make it to practice, rain or shine, have all your equipment with you by 5am as a 14 year old is lessons you don’t get anywhere else. To this day working out has played a huge role in who I am. It makes you feel good, it gives you a reason to give yourself love everyday and it makes you a better you. So I recommend finding a sport, workout class, run whatever that makes you smile outside of work because you will always have that to fall back on when life gets tough.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents ever did for me was fail. I was raised by a father who was a custom home builder in Durango, Colorado and a mother who was a stay at home mom who was ruthless and would never let us give up on ourselves. For the majority of my childhood all I saw was success, parties and fun. I loved that of course. I was always around people who were very positive and excited about new projects or business ventures. However, in 2006 right before I was going to go into my freshman year of college my parents lost everything. My dad was building a multifamily condo complex at Durango Mountain resort and something happened with the investors. The project began to crumble along with all our financial freedom. My father was beside himself. He is such a lover and this was too hard for him to take so they moved to Denver in 2008, my sophomore year at CU Boulder. The poured a lot of what they had left into getting me through college and paying my rent. I learned unconditional love and to not take anything for granted. They loved me so much they did everything they could to keep their promise they had made to me and put me through college. For that I am forever grateful. They also taught me that when life gets rough you have to stay positive and keep living. I now know that life can change in an instant and to be grateful for what you have everyday because you truly never know when it will be taken away from you. And that lesson is a gift that was served to me from my parents failure. But they surely succeeded in my eyes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://unbuttonedceo.com
• Instagram: letsgobylara
• Facebook: Lara Svedin
• Linkedin: Lara Svedin

Image Credits

Calandra Bodilis