We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelly Marsh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Kelly with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Both of my parents grew up in the Great Depression, and both of their families were dirt poor. Because of this, they raised us 5 kids to become self-sufficient. At the start of the summer between my junior and senior year of high school, they told me I had to go find a job. So I got my first job at the new Wendy’s fast food restaurant that opened close to home. When high school started back, they said I had to quit my job so my grades would not suffer, but I did not comply. I was enjoying the new found freedom that my own income brought me, so I kept my grades up and worked all the way through my senior year and through the next summer until I went to college. Ever since that first job I have always worked. If I ever got in a situation where I did not have enough to make ends meet, my parents told me to figure it out. At one point I had lost a job and bill collectors started calling me. This tough situation forced me as a young adult to learn to become independent and responsible for my own future. Because my parents never bailed me out, I became a strong independent woman. Most importantly, I learned a good work ethic gave me personal freedom.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Since the early 2000’s I have been a residential real estate agent based out of Brookhaven, Ga. – North Atlanta. The past 20+ years have been challenging, rewarding, and I have grown immensely. I have been through all kinds of real estate markets, which have taught me how to be flexible and learn new skills. When I first started in real estate in 2001, the prices on homes were going up every year, and people who had lived in their home just a few years were able to trade up and make money on their investment. This lasted until 2008 when the bottom fell out of the market. The clients who had over leveraged themselves suffered the most. Those people who took out a home equity line of credit on their home (2nd mortgage) and used that money for anything other than improving their home lost big. Selling a house below market is a completely different transaction, as the sellers are usually very emotional and need that extra support and “shoulder to cry on” from their agent. While many real estate agents were getting out of the business, I pivoted, and learned how to do short sales and foreclosures. When the market slowed down I found that the listings I had taken that were 45+ minutes from my house were not selling, while the listings I took close to home were. I realized when there are more homes than there are buyers, you really needed to know more about each micro market in order to make necessary adjustments to sell that home.
So I also stopped taking listings that were an hour from my house, and started focusing on in town Atlanta where I live. Because I knew this area really well, it was easier for me to target the marketing for that listing, do a better job at pricing the house, and fine tune my negotiating skills.
In 2013 prices started to climb back up, and they steadily rose all the way into 2023. This enabled builders and re-habbers to get back into the market, and this is when I really learned how to sell luxury properties.
After 20+ years, I now have the experience and skills to sell all types of homes in any type of market. The world is always changing. I have learned to not quit when the market became challenging, which is what many agents did. Instead I changed with the world, which has been very rewarding. I believe we are meant to take on challenges, continually grow, and find new ways to help our clients achieve their goals.
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?
The first skill is more of a philosophy. I would call it “always be in service to others.” This can be a challenging lesson to learn. It took many jobs and years for me to really “get it”. The main company that taught me this lesson was Blockbuster Video. I worked for Blockbuster for 10 years in the late 80’s to the 90’s. After the founder Wayne Huizenga left, we would have a new CEO every year or two. Each new CEO wanted to “mark his territory” instead making decisions that put the customer’s needs first. This lack of focus on how to keep and create more customers was one of the many factors that led to their downfall. When I shifted from being a salaried employee to taking jobs that paid straight commission, I knew that my future success was dependent upon following this principal. When I became a real estate agent and created my own team, I always told my coworkers “never put money above people”. This principal guided us into always making the right decisions.
The second skill was to learn the DISC personality profiles. This system puts all personalities into 4 main types. Since I have learned each personality type, I came to the point where I can have a conversation with someone and automatically know which type they are. This knowledge helps me to choose the way I communicate with each individual. Once I learned this valuable skill and applied it, my success improved 10 fold. I have a Master’s degree in Psychology, and can honestly say this one skill is more valuable than ALL the classes I took to get that Psychology degree!
The third skill is learning how to ask questions. At one point, I was looking for a real estate coach. There was a well-known coach who had worked with several other successful agents, and the word was this person was very hard to get an appointment with. I was able to get a phone call with her to discuss the possibility of working with her. She did not ask me many questions; instead she named dropped several top agents she was working with and talked about how she had helped them. The problem was I was not looking for the exact same thing that she was doing with these people. Since she never really asked me specifically what I wanted to get out of the coaching, I never ended up working with her. I was shocked that she did not ask me the right questions! This experience stuck in my head as a reminder to figure out which questions I need to ask someone in order to really help them.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
In the beginning of my working career, I was constantly changing jobs. Instead of staying in a job that required skills that were not my strengths, I would leave and try something new. Just a few of the jobs I had, included working in a factory – (so monotonous I could only last 1 week), worked as a hair stylist – (fun for a while – but I was an average hairdresser), taught cosmetology (loved teaching), worked for an event planning company (hated it- my job was not the fun part of party planning), sold interior design products- (I could sell but was mediocre on the design part), trained employees at a flooring company that went bankrupt, sold weight loss programs and then managed some stores for Nutri System Weight Loss Centers – (learned tough lessons on how one must play politics to survive), managed 12 stores and then later became the marketing manager for Blockbuster Video – (one of the most fun companies I ever worked for – plus I learned so much, including how to run a business), and finally selling residential real estate. Selling real estate enabled me to use my teaching skills, communication, marketing, and selling skills all in one job. Plus I could help people which has always given me satisfaction. Through my time at several of these companies, I was introduced to many assessment tools like Strengths Finder, DISC, Myers-Briggs, Kolbe Concept, and others which helped me to understand what I was good at. I would recommend anyone who is not sure what kind of work they want to do to take 1 or more of any of these assessment tools and have someone who is knowledgeable about the tool explain the results. Honestly, I think High School seniors should be required to take a few assessment tools so they can create a plan for what they want to do after High School. This might prevent them from doing what I did, struggling through many different jobs trying to find where they best fit in the world. God gave each one of us gifts, and once we find out what they are, then we are able to spend our time using them to make a contribution to the world we live in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kellydiditagain.kw.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellydiditagain/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KellyDidItAgain
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kelly-did-it-again-keller-williams-realty-atlanta-2?osq=kelly+marsh
- Other: Zillow: https://www.zillow.com/profile/Kelly-Marsh/
Image Credits
myself
