Meet Ruth Catchen

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ruth Catchen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ruth, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Finding your purpose is key to creating a satisfying, balanced life, and I believe loving what you do. There can be more than one way or one career to manifest your purpose. It always benefits you to be purpose driven. Also, it relates to “What’s my Why,” the fundamental question about finding your purpose from the book by Simon Sinek.

Sinek says you know your why when you are a small child, you may not realize it yet. It is fundamental to who we are and our personality and what we decide to do in life. When I look back at my life, I see this realization, although it took many years to understand it and manifest it. My why and purpose became clear to me when I started teaching. I taught students of all ages. Eventually I was asked to start and develop a youth chorale. When I did this, I realized that all of my experiences in life were there to bring back to students to help them learn. As I did this, I felt my purpose was truly driven by this venture, and I loved seeing the light in the children’s eyes as they learn and discover. It all comes down to having something to say, saying it, and leaving the world a bit better than when you found it.

I use this purpose today after investigating and learning all about the real estate world to pass all of that information and knowledge on to others. No matter what your purpose is, or what the specific action is, it starts with collecting life experiences. We go through life and collect these experiences and at some point, must decide to give back. I equate it to carrying a bucket though life picking up these experiences and putting them in the bucket. One day, I knew it was time to take them out of the bucket, one by one and share them with others.

It is essentially my “bucket theory” that has driven my purpose. Again, the medium doesn’t matter. I hope to give others meaning and experience by what I share. That remains my purpose and brings satisfaction to whatever I do.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
After embarking on several different careers, all for which I was purpose driven, I found myself getting a real estate license. I always liked people, hearing their stories, and realized after selling my house that I lived in for a long time, that home is where life happens and where all the fond memories are created. It wasn’t the physical house I would miss so much, it was what happens in the house with those I love.

First, I will tell you about myself and the path that led me into real estate.

I grew up in Pennsylvania, went to college and grad school in Washington, DC, then spent some time in Italy and moved to New York City. New York was influential in shaping my values and work ethic. Starting out as a performing musician taught me much about discipline, deliberate practice, and most of all the standard to which I became accountable. I married, had children, and ended up in Colorado, but the bucket in which I collected many experiences along the way came with me. By this time, I knew I loved teaching and helping people do what they do and be their best selves. I went back to school and got a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.

Then, I fused my education and life experience in the arts while developing STEM and STEAM curricula for PK-12. From that space, I came to real estate and learned how the training needed to be more detailed and deliberate. In getting my license and the successive training experiences, I learned what was lacking and set out to make it better by raising the level of professionalism, knowledge, and training needed for new agents. My goal is to make the criteria meet the needs of the tech age and 21st-century capabilities. I have experienced every role in real estate: sales, inside sales, showing homes, transaction coordination, marketing, social media, video, and education. My goal is to understand all aspects of the business and be your guide and mentor in the world of real estate.

I launched a course for Colorado real estate agents which has six CE credits. After teaching it a while, both in person and then creating a live Zoom class, I created a course on the Kajabi platform so people anywhere could benefit from taking the course. This course has just gone live and I have started several other course that will be finished this summer. They are for real estate agents from ANYWHERE and I believe will help the profession become more up-to-date and professional.

The next new course is based on the book, “The Unsold Mindset,” by Garrett Brown and Colin Coggins. I read the book and have done a webinar with them and believe this is a paradigm shift for people who sell – which is all of us.

The next course which I have begun to outline is on the AI (Artificial Intelligence) Real Estate Agent and it is called, “Real Estate Revolution: Empower Your Business with AI.” This course will help people in the business a long time find out what and how to use AI and also help many who may want to leave the business because it has become much more challenging.

In addition, I have become part of the team moderating and posting for the largest group of real estate agents in the world on Facebook called Lab Coat Agents. I have partnered with their founder, Tristan Ahumada, on a few small projects, including the new course on AI.

If you are interested in these courses, message me and I will send you the link to sign up. Or, if you want more information or have questions, I am happy to answer them. I am so excited about these new developments and how they can impact people’s lives to help them with their purpose driven business.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1) Interest in the business you pursue. 2) Self-discipline and deliberate practice to keep you focused and determined, persistence, grit.
3) Having a growth mindset to be able to learn new things and not being afraid of failure.

Persistence and grit to be able to learn what you need to learn and not give up even in the face of failure are very important. Everybody fails and it teaches you so much. What would you learn if you never failed? In addition, I believe that self evaluation helps a lot. Have a realistic picture of yourself and also a realistic picture of what is needed to achieve your goals. Commit to those goals in writing and get it done. Realize that time is your friend and it takes time to do something well and learn. Enjoy your accomplishments and celebrate intrinsic rewards – get pleasure from a job well done. Surround yourself with a mentor or mentors who are positive and nurturing while being realistic. The people who you surround yourself with make a huge difference in how you feel and act.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
My biggest area of growth in the past year has been accepting my own shortcomings while trying to improve them and maximizing the use of what I am already good at, all while remaining purpose driven.

I learned to focus more on positive things, not only active things, but also the things I say to myself in my head. That tape runs 24/7 so it is important for it to be playing a good song!

In addition I learned to be much more mindful and in the moment of experiences. This has helped me put my work aside when I am doing something else and enjoy activities with loved ones more. It also helps to improve my ability to be productive instead of worrying what I should or could be doing.

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