We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amy Kenyon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Amy, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
I learned at a very early age that if I wanted something I had to go after it. I always had big goals and knew that big goals brought big risks. I knew almost intuitively that if I never tried I already failed .. so I decided the risk of failing and having a learning experience far outweighed the stagnancy. I had plenty of failures and yet I’ve celebrated many more successes.. from being a young mom choosing to be the first in her family to finish college, to traveling to Honduras and working abroad, giving up a secure teaching job to embark on my own real estate business, to starting a digital marketing company for realtors, writing a healing journal to empower women who have experienced toxic relationships to becoming an artist and lastly a model who has had to find the courage to get out in front of hundreds of people and confidently strut her stuff in fashion shows.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m the type of person that never quite sits still for too long . I want to say yes to every opportunity, and in some respects I have. I am a mother of four children. I had my first child a few months before my 19th birthday. I was determined to give her an amazing life, so I went to UC Davis, took 18 units a semester, worked 30 hours a week and made what felt impossible, possible. I later became a teacher, and even taught in Honduras in a bilingual school. When I returned to the states, I had taught in inner city schools in bilingual classrooms. By this time I had 2 daughters and one on the way.. teaching wasn’t paying the bills like I needed, so with a little coaxing from my investor friends, I became a realtor. I managed to have a very successful business in Northern California. 10’years later, I found myself in the situation where I needed to move to Southern California. I had to literally start my real estate career from ground zero in a highly competitive marketplace. Talk about taking risks! While I was adjusting to life in Southern California, I decided to follow one of my passions, acting and modeling. I thought it would be a little hobby, but it ended up taking me on movie sets and runways I would have never imagined in my wildest dreams. I even ended up modeling in Italy, France and Spain in Fashion Travel Week and competing in a Ms West Coast pageant !
As I became more adjusted in my real estate career in Orange County, I started coaching other realtors who where new to the business and needed someone to walk them through the basics.. This later became the foundation for my company Agent Resource.
Agent Resource is a digital marketing platform for realtors that will help realtors grow their SEO in order to increase their digital footprint. It offers numerous marketing resources for realtors in one place, so they can start selling and worry less about their marketing. We are still developing some of the apps and expect to release our products towards the end of the year.
While I was out conquering the world it appeared, my inner world was rapidly crumbling due to an extremely toxic relationship I had been in. This relationship had forbid me to model, act, dress how I wanted, talk to certain people, eat at certain restaurants, etc.. it was extremely toxic and difficult to overcome. Once I chose to leave that relationship and fight for myself, I had a year and half journey of deep reflection and healing. It was like climbing out of the depths of hell some days, but eventually I climbed out and amazing opportunities began to blossom before me.. such as my business, modeling opportunities and a ton of travel. Escaping from the grave I had been buried in, I realized I could help others who had gone through similar toxic circumstances. That’s when I decided to write my healing journal Bad Bitch Unleashed- A 30 Day Detox. I wanted to help women ask themselves deep healing questions, while knowing they weren’t alone in their journey. My hope was to empower women and have them feel like Beyoncé walking down the cat walk by the end of the 30 days. I had created Tshirts and mugs to help in the healing journey as well, which can be found at www.badbitchunleashed.com.
Lastly, as I healed and did some deep self discovery, I learned I had hidden talents that I had wished I had, yet never knew about until I took the risk to try them. I realized I was great artist with a lot of innate skill. It’s become a hobby to quiet my mind in times of difficulty.
I am a true renaissance woman, risking it all to live an incredible life.. riding the roller coaster of life, always excited to see what’s around the corner and making my mark on the world in my own unique way.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The 3 things I would say that were the most impactful were knowing my why, following my passions and a genuine desire to help others will always be a pathway to success.
Knowing my why has led me to take risks that others might not take. My children early on were my why. Starting a family at 19 was extremely difficult. My husband at the time and I had to get public assistance to make ends meet. I remember when I would present the public assistance coupons to the cashier, there was always a look of pity and even arrogance at times. I never wanted my children to feel shamed or have to go without, so I made the conscious decision I was going to do everything in my power to give them the world. From that point on, they were always my why. My suggestion, sit down and really ask yourself why am I going to school, or working this job. What is my end goal?
Following my passions have led me to have extraordinary experiences, ranging from graduating from UC Davis, teaching abroad in Honduras, being nominated as teacher of the year by my peers, starting businesses, and becoming a writer, model , actress and artist . Ask your self what your hobbies are or your interests. What would you want to do, even if you never made a dollar doing it. What excites you? What could you do for hours and days, where it only feels like minutes have passed? When you figure that out, see how you can utilize your skills and talents for that passion in your every day life. Can you somehow monetize it?
Lastly, I found that my desire to want to help others succeed, whether it was me encouraging my students, coaching realtors or empowering women, success would always follow. Changing other’s lives changes our own lives.. The symbiotic relationship is quite beautiful really. Find a way you can give back to others whether it’s in your career or personal life. Volunteer or just be a resource for people. Find ways to utilize your experiences to show others the way.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
The one most powerful thing I’ve learned throughout my life journey is to be a life long learner. Even if you think you’re at the top of your game, there will always be someone who is better, stronger and more equipped. Seek out people that are successful in your field whether it be in person or even on social media. Use their experiences to help generate ideas and awareness. Be a good listener and ask questions about their journey. My friends have become my most powerful influences. They have inspired me with their stories of failure on the road to success. They have debated with me in my business ideas. They have sat down with me and had hard conversations, yet were also my biggest cheerleaders. They have been the beacon of inspiration as I’ve watched their successful careers soar.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.badbitchunleashed.com
- Instagram: Realtoramykenyon or badbitchunleashed
- Facebook: Realtor Amy Kenyon
Image Credits
Apollo Reyes Living Motion , Scott Rinaldi, Constantine Photography
