Meet Denisse Oceguera

We recently connected with Denisse Oceguera and have shared our conversation below.

Denisse, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I’m not what you would describe as an incredibly bubbly and upbeat person, but I do consider myself an optimist. Reflecting on where this comes from, I would say it’s an understanding that things have to continue moving forward – there’s no reason they shouldn’t move forward in a positive way. That’s not to say that every situation is going to have a favorable outcome, but I have yet to go through something in my life that I couldn’t learn from or find some appreciation of having gone through. That being said, optimism is a choice for me and one that I make knowing there are very few things I can control, and focusing on those.

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’ve spent ten years guiding family, friends, and clients, through what is likely the biggest transaction of their lives – the purchase or sale of their home. In those ten years, I’ve watched those investments help people get out of bad debt, offer stability when nothing else in their lives was, and helped them build wealth in a world where so many people live paycheck to paycheck. It’s because of this that in 2020, I took a leap of faith and built my own business, along with my business partner, founded on the principle that real estate can lead to freedom (Live Free Realty Atlanta). Our team is now a powerhouse of amazing human women who share these beliefs.

It can be frustrating for me to see real estate treated as a sales job or fun part time hobby because in no way should a client’s experience and investment be shortchanged this way. We are advisors, lifestyle therapists, and consultants to our clients. This has lead our business to grow exponentially, year after year, thanks to repeat clients and clients who would throw themselves in front of a bus to get their friends or family to work with us. We’ve created this group of amazing people who we get to celebrate with client events, happy hours, and fun contests. Growing a team has put my in a leadership position, where the success of our agents is just as important to me, if not more, than my own. That kind of support drives me on years where business is tough, where you can work a 40 hour workweek with absolutely no results. It’s also allowed me to fuse two of my life passions – real estate and dog rescue. My family and I got into dog rescue at the height of COVID in 2020. It is a labor of love, and both the most fulfilling and challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. The success of the real estate team, and my amazing partners who may not share my passion but certainly support it, has allowed me to pour into our dog rescue in so many ways.

I cannot express the happiness in helping a client who recently purchased a home adopt their furry family member, or helping a new adopter find a home with the perfect yard for their dog. It’s brought me like minded clients who love animals and find ways to support both the rescue and my business, which I am eternally grateful for.

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?
I’m not a fake it until you make it kind of girl, and let’s face it – imposter syndrome can be a sopping wet towel on the fire of success. A lot of my early success came from the idea that if I could outwork everyone else in my industry, I would be the best at what I did. That lead to requiring a lot of external validation to have the confidence to branch out on my on. I was genuinely surprised the first few months when it turned out that I actually was really good at what I did. Even if you feel that imposter syndrome or don’t have a high built in self esteem, let your hard work and results build on your confidence and celebrate yourself when you deserve it.

As I found my footing and confidence as a business owner and leader, the next step was continuing to identify and improve my weaknesses, and figure out how I was going to use my superpower, consistency (I know- the most boring super power ever), to keep growing quickly. I did this by finding the rooms where I was the least successful and spending as much time in those rooms. I surrounded myself by people who built me up and wanted to bring me up with them, who nurtured the self esteem I’ve found in myself and still pushed me to do more.

The old adage “You are the five people you surround yourself with” is such a great motto to live by – but it was brought even more to life when one of my mentors explained the constant way you have to upgrade that circle, and how the top people in your circle are constantly running away from you so you have to run fast to catch up. That’s never meant to me to leave anyone behind – my closest friends have been in my life for 15-25 years and have settled into the support system I’ve needed to take on both of these crazy journeys. To me, it just means constantly seeking people out in the areas of my life that I want to grow, and finding growth to become someone they want to be around to. I’m also lucky enough to have a business partner who chases that growth with me, and a life partner who supports me in every way. Find your mentors, be valuable to them, and keep your mind so open to every bit of growth you can soak up each day.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My parents are immigrants – we were relocated by my Dad’s job in 1997 to Atlanta. They didn’t speak the language, know the area, or have a single person in their community support system. To this day, I have so much immense respect and pride for anyone who goes through this in their life. Throughout my whole life, my Mom has always been someone who doesn’t accept what’s possible and just figures it out. She doesn’t accept conventional limitations and just figures it out as she goes. I think I inherited or learned that skill and it’s been one of the things that’s allowed me to be optimistic and a risk taker, because no matter what happens or what needs to be solved, I can figure it out (it also led to my husband and I finding the one scuba shop on an entire island who would come up with a plan for us to get scuba certified in 3 days when no one else said it was possible- I remind him of this often. If 19 say no, ask one more).

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Image Credits
Katie Coon Elena Maas

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