Feeling Better: Slim Shady Please Stand Up

So, a few weeks ago I posted a FaceBook video telling the world that I was sick of feeling sick with headaches and stomach issues. I had to make some serious changes because I didn’t want to go to the doctor again for another issue. I have dealt with horrible allergies for the past 10 years so I have spent a lot of time at the doctor’s office.  And being a mom to two kiddos, I have taken them to every doctor appointment, dentist you name it for almost 15 years. So, I am done with doctors for a while.  Not that doctors are bad, but I knew that I had to try to change some things before I needed medical attention.

I knew in my gut–literally and metaphorically–that I had to change my eating habits.  I was scared. I think, but not completely sure but I think I was afraid to make the clean eating commitment. I normally embrace change and the challenges that go along with change but this one meant I would have to plan, prepare and think about food, all the time. I think about the healthy snacks I should have in the house, the whole foods dinners I will have to make and will my family humor me and try all the healthier menus? I also thought that all this focusing on food will take me away from my business. I actually do think that it could take over, but that is a sorry excuse.  This is just the next step in my journey. Now it is time to work on me.

So, eating clean and wholesome isn’t a new concept to me. I know what is good for me. I just let the excuse that I am so busy take over that I fell out of love with thinking, cooking and planning. My mind was 100% focused on building this real estate business that I just stopped taking care of me.   I ended up in a position where I could care less anymore and just accepted my fate that I wasn’t going to get that Sports Illustrated call to model for their cover.  Even though it would be so cool to check supermodel off of my bucket list, I know even at my age and in super shape, Sports Illustrated still wouldn’t be calling! What I ended up doing is put myself in the position that headaches and stomach aches was a daily occurrence. I was lethargic, I could feel my motivation for my business slow down and I just felt…. complacent.

I am just starting week 3 of my new awareness of what I am consuming. I still haven’t food prepped, but I have shopped and have ingredients for 3 dinners for the week and have healthy snacks ready to go in the fridge for myself.  I did a cleanse during week 1 and man was that fantastic. It was nothing like I expected! I know some people do major cleanses and I didn’t want to have 3 days sitting on the toilet! Seriously, I didn’t want that at all.  So, instead I followed the 3 Day Refresh by Beachbody and had fun with their program and meal and snack ideas. This is when I knew that my mind is ready to move forward with this plan. My head, heart and gut are all ready for Slim Shady to please stand up! I envision myself feeling good every day. Every time I think I need a snack, I check my fruit and veggie choices and grab something from that drawer in the fridge. I am starting to feel my energy come back and feel like the Camille who I really enjoy having around!

I hope you will too!

Camille

By the way, I made a great new recipe last night (new to me) which I found on Pinterest! It is under a board where a pinner lists all these great 21 Day Fix by Beachbody (again!) friendly recipes! Here is the link to my board “Good Eats” if you want to see what I am pinning and making these days! I made the lasagna roll ups last night and they were deee-lish!

Here is the link to my facebook video! 

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcamille.kooi%2Fvideos%2F10209301993451244%2F&show_text=0&width=560″>

 

*Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a professional writer nor am I am proficient in where to place commas, when to italicize (or is it appropriate to italicize or use parenthesis?) and that my sentences are grammatically correct. I am merely releasing all the thoughts that are in my brain and sharing them with you. If you enjoy my posts GREAT but I know they are written with many errors. Taking a creative writing class or a grammar class is next on my “to do” list. I promise. I also like to use double and triple exclamation points!!!! (Sometimes 4!)

Livin’ Up to my Facebook Status

Earlier this year my daughter was mad at me about something I did or didn’t do or maybe it was something I said? Oh, who knows but one of her comments to me was “way to live up to your Facebook status mom!” My first thought was to punch her but being the adult and her mom I decided it was a great teaching moment. Not just a moment, but momentS.  I actually didn’t say anything back to her. I just let it slide because I knew she was just mad at me for that moment and she is just trying to one up me on snarky comments. I gave her that victory and have been trying to live up to my Facebook status and posts ever since then.

So, her statement caused me to look through my posts. Am I portraying myself in a way that isn’t really me? Do I give off the impression that I am living this high life? That I am perfect? A perfect mom, wife, daughter? Do I tell the world that my marriage has been smooth sailing since we said “I do?” My kids are on the honor roll each quarter, never in trouble and that I don’t have any challenges in life? And I don’t think that I do. If I do, I apologize now. I know that I post a lot of positive quotes, funny videos and do silly quizzes quite a bit. Why? Because  that is really who I am! I try to find the positive in every situation, I love love love to laugh. I think I am funny, I love people who make me laugh and I love smart people who are funny. And the silly quizzes, well, let’s just think of those as junk food for the brain. We all need junk food at times and I might as well dive into silly quizzes than a handful of cookies! (that was for you Mel & Alice)

In all seriousness, Facebook is very powerful. I didn’t know much about Facebook until it was around the time of my 25th high school reunion. It was the best way to start connecting with everyone. It was so freakin’ fun to see everyone as adults. I moved out of my hometown when I was 18 and then out of state when I was 20 so I have been out of the loop for a long time with high school people. Even though I am married and have had children, it was so fun to see all of my high school friends as functioning adults, married and as parents!  We are all spread across the US and the world. Gone are the days were everyone graduates from high school, goes off to college and goes back to the home town to work and live. It’s incredible how our lives have just gone in a million directions. So, yeah, it was really cool to see everyone on Facebook before the reunion. What sucked, is that because we got to peak at everyone on Facebook, we had such a small group show up for the reunion. Ugh. So disappointing. Welcome to the age of technology I guess. And, I guess those who didn’t leave my hometown had no desire to get dressed up, pay money, and hang out with people they can just run into doing their everyday errands. So, that’s the power of Facebook! So, did I digress on livin’ up to my Facebook Status? Just a little but not too bad of a digression like usual!

Just as I am in person, I think before I talk, I think before I post. I post a lot of positive comments but if you have a conversation with me, I will say a lot of positive comments. I try to stay away from gossip, Debbie Downers and those who carry drama clouds everywhere they go. I am just done with it all. I am done with those who can not or will not or don’t have the desire to move forward. You have to be uncomfortable to grow, literally and metaphorically. My son’s friend gets pains in his legs sometimes. His doctor said it is growing pains, so literally, for him it is uncomfortable to grow. For me, I absolutely hate being the center of attention. This makes me very uncomfortable. In fact, when I am unsure of the company that I am surrounded by, I am the quietest person in the room. Another thing I absolutely hate, like I would rather scratch my eyeballs out, is to video myself talking and then to watch it. But, I have been doing it. Why? Because I was challenged by my broker to make videos as part of my marketing. The simple fact that I listen to her is HUGE and that I actually am doing what she suggests I do is even more HUGE. I listen to her because she has achieved the level of real estate success that I would like to achieve for myself, so I listen and do the things she tells me to. Just like that.  Are they uncomfortable? Yep, they sure are. Am I doing the things she tells me to do? Yep. Do I enjoy it? Yah, actually I do for the most part. I am actually starting to appreciate my unique self and that not everyone has to be perfect to be on video. As I get older and wiser I realize a lot of those who get media attention are not truly worthy of media attention. I won’t digress, because this topic alone will be a book.

So, after my self evaluation of my Facebook posts, I feel that I don’t put anything out there that isn’t truly a reflection of who I am and what I am about. I didn’t really think I was doing that because I am as down to earth as it gets. Seriously. You want to know how I actually have stayed married for as long as I have? Ask me. I will tell you that for the most part, my husband entered my life at the perfect time. He is smart, nerdy, muscular, funny, smarmy and pretty hunky all in one package. Best of all he is my best friend so that is why it works.  Does he irritate me? Yep. Do I irritate him? I doubt it. Kidding. Do we fight? You bet. Are my kids the smartest in their class? Not really. They are actually right smack in the middle with their average grades. Are they the start athletes? Kind of and not at all. So there. One snarky comment from my daughter led me to evaluate my whole social media presence. And I love the shit outta’ her for it.

This is Aviana, the one who keeps me and my social media on point.

Go out there friends and move forward!! Watch those Facebook & Social Media Posts, your kids & the world is watching you!

Till Next Time,

Camille

*Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a professional writer nor am I am proficient in where to place commas, when to italicize (or is it appropriate to italicize or use parenthesis?) and that my sentences are grammatically correct. I am merely releasing all the thoughts that are in my brain and sharing them with you. If you enjoy my posts GREAT but I know they are written with many errors. Taking a creative writing class or a grammar class is next on my “to do” list. I promise. I also like to use double and triple exclamation points!!!! (Sometimes 4!)

Gettin’ Back to Center

I have been busy this year, pretty much on fi-yah if I do say so myself! I set professional goals and I am knocking them out, one by one, day by day. I believe in goal setting but it has to be a realistic goal. I have been in  many many goal setting meetings from both sides of the goal setting process. Before I started in real estate I managed professional speakers. Every speaker I worked with was YOUGE (think Donald Trump) on setting and achieving goals. More times than not these speakers paid big bucks for a coach to help them set and achieve their goals.  My part in their business was to help them achieve these goals by facilitating their marketing plans, negotiating their speaker contracts, making calls out to their database, writing web site copy, creating print ads and basically do all that I could for them, so they could write their books and go on as many speaking engagements that they needed. So, goal setting isn’t a new concept for me.

But, what was new to me is the real estate industry. I had no idea of how to gauge how much business I could possibly do in one year. I was baffled as to what to expect from myself. After working in the speaking industry for 12 years, I was VERY comfortable in goal setting with and for my clients.  So, new to real estate, I did what felt like a million different things to get myself comfortable in this new endeavor. For starters, I had a WONDERFUL mentor. She literally held my hand on my first couple of contracts. She knew that I was very frustrated with not knowing everything so she walked me through my first transactions which just happened to be for rental clients. Knowing that I am a perfectionist, she knew that I needed to have every “i” dotted and “t” crossed before I turned anything in to her. I learned those darn contracts, disclosures and all the documentation that my clients had to sign because part of being a perfectionist is also the desire to “know” everything. Well, when you are new to any industry, you can not possibly know everything right off the bat, right?!  I was nervous, excited, scared and always felt that I needed to learn MORE!!

My second year was so much better. Once I had a few transactions under my belt, I felt my confidence level go up. I was getting more comfortable with the contracts, found some great industry partners who functioned like I did as far as level of service, and most importantly doubled the amount of transactions from year one to year two.  By the end of the my second year, I thought, well, I certainly could double what I did for 2015! There are still 3 and half months left in 2015 and I am darn near my goal of 18 transactions this year, I believe that I need 3 more to check that goal off, but, the good news is that I will definitely hit the dollar amount that I set out for myself. Now I know for 2016, I will double my earnings and transactions once again.  Hopefully,  I will find an assistant to get me to the next level!

Hitting these business goals is hands down a great, no, such a FREAKIN’ FABULOUS feeling. But what is even a better feeling is doing what I love to do with those I choose to work with. I feel so blessed, lucky, fortunate whatever the word is to have worked with all the clients I have worked with over the years. Each person or couple, whether it was a rental, sale or purchase transaction has taught me something of great value. I work so closely with my clients that when the transaction closes I find that I really miss talking to them everyday! It can be an intimate experience working with couples or individuals at this capacity. Buying a home for the first, second or third time is a major event in most people’s lives and I am so honored to be a part of this experience with them.  I literally go through withdrawals once the transaction closes. So, I try to find the balance of staying in their lives but not driving them crazy!

Stella has found her groove!! (side note: I sometimes call myself Stella) I have accepted the fact that I won’t know everything because once I do know something it will change! I am slowly understanding that I can only have so much control over all the moving parts in the transaction and believe me this is hard to let go of. But, when you have your cross transaction agent, their client, my client a title company, a lender, the home appraiser and a couple of inspectors involved, it is nearly impossible to have 100% control over everything! You have to trust that your industry partners will strive for excellence in their role in the transaction.

In addition to my business goals for the remainder of 2015 and 2016, I have a personal goal of taking better care of my physical being. I will literally take the advice of all the speakers I have worked with and block out times and days for yoga, massage and classes at the gym. Ah, deep cleansing breath. Repeat and I am ready to roll. Getting back to center is really my main goal for 2016. That, and being more “present” with my family. That is always a goal of mine because these darn kids just keep growing and I don’t want to miss anything!!

So, gettin’ back to “center” is what it is all about from here on out on a personal level. Professionally, I will double my financial goal that I set for 2015 and mentally I will seek professional help to deal with the “loss” when my clients are done with me and they have moved into their new house!!

Until next time peeps….NAMASTE!

Camille

*Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a professional writer nor am I am proficient in where to place commas, when to italicize (or is it appropriate to italicize or use parenthesis?) and that my sentences are grammatically correct. I am merely releasing all the thoughts that are in my brain and sharing them with you. If you enjoy my posts GREAT but I know they are written with many errors. Taking a creative writing class or a grammar class is next on my “to do” list. I promise. I also like to use double and triple exclamation points!!!! (Sometimes 4!)

Customer Service Savvy

So much discussion surrounds customer service. It’s either shitty or it is fantastic, right? Almost no in between service. The expectation is that customer service should be hands down, knock you out GREAT! Especially from someone who makes a living on tips or commission, you would think people in these positions would be EXPERTS on customer service. Not always the case, and remember how I feel about expectations! (If you don’t expect much, then you will be pleasantly surprised when anyone does anything nice!)

My first retail job was in the late 1980’s and the customer service motto then was to treat everyone as you would want to be treated. As a 16 year old, that idea really confused me because when I walked into a store, it made me nuts when employees would great me at the door and proceed to follow me around and ask me a ton of questions when I just wanted to look!  I think a majority of the people feel this way. So, needless to say, I wasn’t the star employee at that job! I did great on sales once I knew someone wanted my help, but because I didn’t jump down their throats when they first walked in the door, my managers constantly were taking me aside asking me if I liked working there! Can you imagine, I had comparable sales results with the rest of the staff but because I didn’t interject an enthusiastic cheerleader “HI, HOW ARE YOU GUYS DOING TODAY?” I was constantly being pulled to the side and being talked to! But, yet my sales totals were there, I just didn’t do a back flip then straddle jump when greeting customers into the store!

So, when it comes to customer service, how do people want to be treated? I think people want to feel respected, heard and most of all empowered. I learned this lesson back when I was bar tending. I loved bar tending for so many reasons, but the main reason is that I love to watch people, period. When I bar tended, I actually loved it when someone would send a drink back because they couldn’t taste the alcohol. Most often I would ask the customer what they feel is missing in their drink. I would say, maybe I forgot a shot of something in your long island, tell me what you think I forgot and I will add it for you. Often times the customer was in such shock that I would ask THEM what was missing they couldn’t tell me what was missing. But, by me asking them, they felt empowered, respected and they knew I heard, often time loud and clear I heard them. I would rather fix the mistake, get the drink back to the customer and have them come back to the bar when I was working because I relied on their tips to pay for so many things!! (Here was my secret to fixing the drink, whatever alcohol they told me was missing, say vodka, I would take the liquor bottle, pour vodka down the straw about half way so when they go take a sip of their drink, they get a shot of vodka.  Which,by the way,  made for very happy customers!  And I didn’t waste a full drink with 4 shots of liquor in it! haha!)

I am a firm believer that you learn more by listening. When it comes to food and beverages, nothing teaches you more about dealing with people then working at a restaurant. In fact, I will make sure my kids have that experience at some time before moving out of the house. Seriously. Nothing can prepare you for dealing in the real world than playing well with others and sharing all the toys in the sandbox like working in a restaurant.

So, three key points to FANTASTIC service is to:

1. Show Respect- by demonstrating points 2 & 3!

2. Empower-Let the client dictate the flow and tone of the conversation.

3. Listen- Ask them questions to learn how you can be of assistance. When they reply, listen attentively to their reply!

Till Next Time Peeps!

Camille

*Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a professional writer nor am I am proficient in where to place commas, when to italicize (or is it appropriate to italicize or use parenthesis?) and that my sentences are grammatically correct. I am merely releasing all the thoughts that are in my brain and sharing them with you. If you enjoy my posts GREAT but I know they are written with many errors. Taking a creative writing class or a grammar class is next on my “to do” list. I promise. I also like to use double and triple exclamation points!!!! (Sometimes 4!)

Goal Setters and Go-Getters

In September of 2000,  I began to work in the professional speaking world. I was not a speaker but I worked for the association for professional speakers. Ninety nine point nine percent of the speakers are/were absolutely wonderful people, inside and out. Talk about living their dream! The speakers who belonged to the association were at various levels in their careers but each of their stories were so different from one to another but yet they all were do exactly what they set out to do! At first, I was a little leery of how incredibly nice, smart, upbeat and overall how great these people were (and still are!).  I remember thinking, how is it that these people are so happy all the time? How did they figure out that they wanted to speak, coach, and share their gifts with the world on this platform? How are they so comfortable talking in front of 1000’s of people at one time? That thought alone made me break out in a cold sweat!

Let me tell ‘ya, it was quite a change from working in the service industry, that’s for sure.  As I grew comfortable in my role at the association, I began to pick the brains of the tireless volunteers who I had the privilege to work with. This was my first experience working with people who were entrepreneurs, goal setters and go-getters. I soon discovered that I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be as happy as they were. I had dreams, goals and I am known to be a go-getter every now and then. So, after  4 years of working for speakers as an association manager, I ventured out on my own to start my own business. In September of 2004, I started CK Professional Speaker Services, Inc.  The only problem was, I wasn’t too clear on what type of services I wanted to provide.

Because I wasn’t 100% clear on what I wanted to provide, my business model was tweaked, turned around and tweaked again. Which is frustrating as I went through all the changes, but I realized I created that situation by not being clear on my services. I started out by providing marketing services to speakers. My ideal client, which took me a couple of years to identify, was a speaker who was established enough in their business who just could not keep up with their marketing activities and calls to their database. This is where I came in. I made calls to their clients, past clients and reached out to new clients. I sent bulk mailings out to their database, followed up on those bulk mailings and helped the speaker maintain the integrity of their database. I absolutely loved doing this for the speaker clients I had.

One of the greatest challenges I took on was a speaker who worked primarily in the faith based audiences. He wanted to build his speaking practice to corporate groups which meant he had to take his current message and make it appealing for a general audience. I helped him create a new web site, tweak his message so it would appeal to corporate audience, and tried to keep up with marketing activities and sales end of his business. I loved every aspect of this challenge, but in the end, I started to figure out that I could be working this hard on building my own business!

I was faced with the decision of what exactly  my next business would be. I knew that I needed a break from the speaking industry. And, I also knew that I was not/am not an ideal candidate for a “RJ” (real job) because I am so used to working on my own, from my home office and around my family’s needs. Right around my 40th birthday my husband suggested that I get my real estate license. For the first five minutes I thought he was nuts, but by the next day, I signed up for the licensing class and here I am.

All the lessons that I learned from the speakers constantly run through my head. This has been going on since I started working with this very dynamic group of society! One of the biggest lessons that I learned is to be authentic. To me, being authentic means to find your purpose, be true to myself and those closest to me, always find the positive in every situation and grow from all experiences.

I have made many many mistakes as a business owner. The one thing I did correctly was to NOT repeat my mistakes. I knew when my time was up with the speaking industry and I exited quietly. I don’t regret a single decision nor mistakes because I gave it a shot. I stuck my neck out there, took the risk and learned. And, holy cow, I learned.

Until next time!

Camille

*Disclaimer: I do not claim to be a professional writer nor am I am proficient in where to place commas, when to italicize (or is it appropriate to italicize, or use parenthesis?) and that my sentences are grammatically correct. I am merely releasing all the thoughts that are in my brain and sharing them with you. If you enjoy my posts GREAT but I know they are written with many errors. Taking a creative writing class or a grammar class is next on my “to do” list. I promise.