 Today knock on wood Cancer-free 65 closings at 16 million. I'm not gonna tell you you can't do anything What is up everybody so I have a special special treat for you today Desiree out of out of Charleston South Carolina is with us today. She uh, I Guess she's been in the zero-to-diamond Facebook group for a while And I guess she finally took the plunge to follow me on Instagram So we kind of chatted there for a second and then she told me that in 2018 she had a cancer scare at the end. It was like one week one year ago yesterday or something She dealt with that battled that and then came back to close eight million dollars in sales All in the same year. So I thought what an inspiration like what an inspirational story Please just tell us a little bit about yourself and kind of how you got into real estate and And then like leading up to it to like, you know, you're you're 2018 Okay. Well, I've been in the Charleston market for about seven and a half years I'm originally from Connecticut and I had gotten my license years ago in Connecticut in the market paint And I have a marketing degree. So I ended up working as a director of marketing for food service distribution company and Then we made a decision to move here on the market Was a lot different here than it was back home and I said to my husband You know, I want to get back into it and he's like sir, you know go for it so I started with My first brogridge not knowing a single person here in Charleston and Eventually built my business up and peers into it. I said to my broker, you know, I want to get to the next level What can I do? And he said just keep doing what you're doing. You're doing a great job I'm like, well, that's not gonna get me anywhere. So I ended up leaving going to a different brokerage And I've been with them ever since And I started off on a team there and went off on my own a couple years ago And 2017 Excuse me end of being my biggest year today then did one point or two me eight point one million in sales So when I started getting my my business plan together for 2018, I Said it really high. I had huge goals. I was gonna close 46 homes do 14 million in sales and then eight days into 2018 I was diagnosed with cancer so Obviously kind of turn my world upside down and You know Once I once it all sunk in and I knew what was gonna happen Going forward I Told myself told my husband and I had only told a few of my closest friends. What was going on I wanted to keep it quiet because I didn't want I Didn't want to People feel sorry or anything for me Yeah, and I didn't want it to affect my business So I just kept every day You know treating it as a new day when like I was going to work like I normally did and Didn't let it anything get me down and long story short I ended up having a fabulous year did eight point four million While going through all of it So right So did you? Like you have to take some time off for like treatment and certain things, right? Yeah, I had surgery in February But I only took off one day My husband still jokes with me about this because I was negotiating repairs in the recovery room and Then he drove me to a builder meeting the next day so I could ratify a contract with a client I Tried not to take Too much time off You know still going once I started treatment I was going to the hospital every day But my my doctors were great they set me up for two o'clock in the morning and then I was able to Try to go about my business the rest of the day So I'm just like speechless right now. I Look back on last year. I'm like I can't believe I'm not sure where it was in me that I Ended up doing what I did but I have an amazing support group of friends and When you surround yourself around people who are in a like business and a like mind they They and my family just kept me kept me staying positive and moving forward I Just cannot believe that so like so like there was like like I know people that have been through you know that kind of stuff and You know they went through treatments where they just felt really sick and there's like no way that they could Can you hear me? Yep Your face is frozen, but Yeah, I hate it when that happens Can you hear me now? Yeah Yeah, like I've had people that I've known people that went through that and like they would be like so sick certain days and Like you know for like weeks at a time and stuff you didn't go through that The treatment I had just made me very tired. So You know I had to force myself to take naps and Just dealt with it the way, you know I'm I've always considered myself to be an overachiever and so I just kept pushing myself Not sure if it was the best thing looking back on it but you know Today knock on wood cancer-free healthy and so Yeah, definitely. Let's knock on some wood and stuff like that. It's amazing. I Would I can't imagine what that feels like or how that you know Goes but I would think that I would be the same way, you know, just like fight through it and You know make the best of it stay positive, you know keep working Yeah Stuff like that So I'm with Keller Williams and we have what's called the ALC which is the agent leadership council and I was on it and you know, we had our we had our retreat in January and Happened to be a few days after I got the diagnosis and I Stood in front of that group and I told them what was going on and And they and they said well, what can we do for you? I said nothing other than call me every day to make sure I'm making my calls and doing what I need to do for work And they're like, okay. We're behind you 100% so So grateful for that group of people and grateful for my other group of realtor friends and family They you know, it's when you're going through something like that You definitely have to surround yourself around positive people And I credit a lot of my year to all of them So you have a really incredible support group of friends family agents that really helped you through all this and I'm just like blown away by this. I mean, this is incredible. Um, so So you went through that you became cancer-free you continued selling through all that That is just amazing. So 2019 What are you what is your goals for 2019? They're pretty hefty 65 closings at 16 million and I know it's a it's a huge thing over last year But I think if I had not gone through what I went through last year. I would have Been even at next level. So I'm pretty confident. I'm gonna deal with this year Yeah, I Don't I don't have any doubt in you I'm not gonna tell you you can't do anything 65 closings at 16 million and I know it's a it's a huge thing over last year, but I think if I had You know the market here in Charleston still very very good. We're still and Pretty much a seller's market. There's a couple areas that have slowed down, but overall with everyone still move in here You know, we've got approximately 35 people a day moving here. So And I'm a location certified. So with all of that, it's I'm confident I'll be able to You know Reach those goals. Oh There's no doubt so tell me a little bit about your business like where you get your leads and how do you how do you you know? How do you do all these deals? Well, I first started up leaving that I got all my business off of Craigslist because I didn't know anybody here so I had to do something to build the database and I Am a Relationship agent. I thought right from beginning. I was going to treat all of my clients Basically like family the way I would want to be treated and I felt friendships when majority matter of fact I actually went out to lunch today with one of my past clients so Just throughout the years. I have stayed in touch with all of them and worked out worked a really good referral business from it so Between that would be a military location certified, you know, we have two two military bases here So That has been a good chunk of my business. Well, listen first of all, I just want to say thank you for doing this and What an inspiration and this is going to help well that may be going through You know some kind of similar thing or they have a family maybe we're going through something like this So And I don't know if you guys can hear me or not I can I'm not sure anybody else can okay So I guess I guess my thing for you is is what can I do to help you? Love all your videos about I one thing I will bet I don't do and Something you know being this business It's our constantly learning new things and constantly pushing ourselves to do new things and get out of our comfort zone One of the things I don't do is cold-calling. So your videos have been kind of an inspiration to me because Well, like I said, most of my business is all Referral and past client based So, you know, if we increase our goals, we have to do things to increase our business and yeah so Cold-calling is one of the things I need to get more comfortable with You know the thing about cold-calling is is it is once you do it a little bit you get addicted to it because it's so fun And you help so many people you become really addicted to it and you get so much business out of it And you just it just becomes really fun and addicting So I think that's the biggest thing if you'll just take the plunge in and just do it for a couple months and See the rewards and see all the new relationships you build and so on and so forth You'll become addicted to it and then at that point you like you're gonna be so You know, you're just gonna want to do it more and more and more, you know, because it's it's it's like it's the holy grail of building business, you know Right, right Cool. Well, any last thoughts? Um Anybody that's going through this situation or anything in general You know changing your business or whatever is it's all your mindset and You have to have a positive mindset, you know, say those daily affirmations every morning I Truly believe you put into the universe What you what you asked for you're gonna get it, you know, so just keep positive mindset Sorry Don't let the Negative things around you take you down. I love it. I love it again. Thanks. Thanks for doing this I don't see any questions in the in the comments. I think everybody was just inspired and just enjoyed, you know Listen into the conversation. So like I said, if there's anything in the world that I can do for you Please reach out to me anytime and I'll never backwards to help you and Yeah likewise Well, all right guys, I'm out of here with Desiree. We'll talk to you guys soon