Episode 190: Jessica Kruse
On this episode of The Brad and Taylor Show, we have Jessica Kruse from Serenity Realty!
To watch the full episode, check it out on YouTube below. In the meantime, here’s a transcript of the conversation…
Here’s what you missed from Jessica Kruse…
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Taylor: Welcome to The Brad and Taylor Show. Today we have Jessica Kruse.
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Brad: You’re listening to The Brad and Taylor Show, a podcast that inspires entrepreneurs to pursue their passions. We’re sitting down with some of the best to learn how they got started and some lessons they learned along the way.
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Taylor: Hey Jesse, how’s it going?
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Jessica: Great! How are you guys?
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Brad: Doing good. Well, let’s get this started. So, um, tell us a little bit about you. What do you do?
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Jessica: I’m a Michigan realtor right now and I’m also a cosmetologist. So I do hair on the side. And, but mostly in real estate.
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Brad: Probably get some clients from that you’re like, well, chop it away. And you’re like, you want to sell your house?
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Jessica: And they got to work off of each other.
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Taylor: Well, what came first cosmetology or real estate?
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Jessica: A little bit together. I was actually in cosmetology school when COVID happened. So we shut down and I got my real estate license while we were shut down and then I finished school. So I guess you could say real estate, but I started being at school first.
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Brad: Okay, nice. So did you just go right to school to do that? Or did you do anything else before that?
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Jessica: I actually was in healthcare for 10 years. I was a pharmacy technician. I started out doing that and then I kind of dabbled in marketing a little bit. I just wasn’t digging the cubicle lives. So I decided to kind of take a turn and do something that made me happy and also just wanted to have more time with my kids. Medicine was always getting out at five o’clock or later and, you know, missing practices and it just really wasn’t for me.
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Taylor: Yeah. It’s funny. We both came from medicine too. Yeah, well, you are a pilot, but yeah, we both came from that side of it, so, yeah.
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Brad: That’s too funny. So tell us about your first transaction when you got your license. You’re doing it with COVID still? Or what was it like? Were you still in the lockdown when you had your license or when did that start?
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Jessica: It took a little bit of time. I felt like there was a big, long gap between when I finished my classes to when I could actually take my test. I got my license and for the first, probably four, four to six months. I was glad that I was good at doing hair because I was very, like, I made a huge mistake, but it was also a year ago. So we were right, you know, getting into the slow season with Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I definitely thought I made a huge mistake in quitting my job and it was terrifying. And then I had my first sale in February of this year. It was a referral from a distant cousin of mine. I was so shocked out of anybody that was going to refer to me. I was like, okay, cool. They can come from anywhere, but I had him and it just seemed by the time I started showing him houses. A month later when we were closing on his deal, he had already made a comment like, you’re killing it. And I’m so glad I got to be your number one. So just with my first client, as soon as that started, it was just kind of, you know, every single month just kind of making more deals. So it was really exciting.
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Taylor: That’s awesome. Yeah. Were they all referrals or was it you kind of reaching out to the community? How did that happen?
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Jessica: Most of them were referrals, but I’m from a small little town. I graduated with 59 people, so it’s a town where everybody knows everybody and I don’t live there anymore, but I live close by and it just kind of once you know, I had another cousin use me and then somebody else calling from Morenci, it’s like, they knew who I was or I went to school with their kids. That’s just kind of how it started. So I’ve definitely been doing it all on my own. I’m not, I’m not big on leads because I don’t like talking, not talking to people that I don’t know, but sometimes it can be a scary world out there. So if I can know the people or at least know their last name, it makes me a little bit more comfortable. So yeah, but it’s been really great.
00:03:51:20 –> 00:04:00:07
Taylor: So a year ago now, today you were kind of maybe thinking, did I make a mistake leaving my corporate job? How do you feel now that you’re all in?
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Jessica: I’m sorry, can you say that again? I think we froze.
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Taylor: That’s okay. So a year ago you were thinking maybe you made a mistake by leaving the healthcare field? Right. How do you feel now that you’re a year in?
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Jessica: I’ve made the best decision of my life. I’ve never been happier. And actually, when I got my real estate license, I thought it was going to be on the side. I was going to do hair full time and you know, if I could sell a house here and there, it could be vacation money and it’s completely switched roles. And to be just so happy. Now, this is the career that I’ve always dreamt of having, just meaning being happy and waking up every day and actually loving my job and not dreading every single day. So I love it. I couldn’t be happier.
00:04:44:24 –> 00:04:53:25
Taylor: Yeah. Going into real estate part-time. I know you were thinking of hair full-time real estate part payments. Probably the quite opposite. Right. And I’ll say, yeah.
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Jessica: My broker at the time looked at me and said, you know, you’re not going to do hair. And I was like, well, we’ll see about that. But yeah, I don’t do it very much, but once in a while, I do a few clients here and there, mostly family. Yeah.
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Taylor: Awesome. Well, over the last year, what is the worst house that you’ve been to? Or showing the worst property? Which one sticks out the most?
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Jessica: You know, I have been really lucky and haven’t really had anything too crazy. I would say the one that wasn’t necessarily like the worst within dirty or cluttered or anything like that. But I did go when I was getting started, I was answering phone calls for leads. This particular instance is why I don’t like doing leads anymore. I met with a person that I just didn’t know who she was and kind of in a bigger city, not in Detroit, but we were kind of heading that way. There was a group of guys that were standing outside and I just kind of waited and waited like, you know, our showing time, I don’t know who these people are and it just made me really uncomfortable. Apparently, they’re seeing the house as well before us, but they refuse to leave. So after they left the inside, it’s just me and one other female inside. They stayed in the parking lot, so it was really uncomfortable. And that was probably the worst, but I mean, by far, not that bad, it’s just me being a small-town girl, who’s afraid of her own shadow. But you know, we just like always have to be safe and on guard, but that was just weird. Like I just wanted them to leave.
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Taylor: Yeah. Yeah. Especially in this day and age, you never know it’s better to just be safe than sorry. Rather you stay in the house than walk out and what are you guys still doing here?
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Jessica: We did have one. I did show one that was really funny in the basement. It was like a toilet bowl, like a cover and a lid. And it was really funny. It was just hanging on the wall and we opened it like, oh, like what’s behind the toilet. And it was like a vent. It was really funny. So that one will probably stick out for me for a while. They were very creative to cover that vent.
00:07:03:28 –> 00:07:09:02
Taylor: Yeah. What kind of goals do you have finishing off for the rest of this year and going into the next year?
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Jessica: I actually have my Ohio state exam scheduled for November 18th. So that’s a really big goal for me when I first started. I wanted to wait to get my Ohio license to see how I did in Michigan. And like I said, I’ve just been so blessed and have had really great success that I thought it was time to move and get my Ohio license my entire 10 years that I was in the medical field. I worked in Ohio, so I have a love sphere in that area. So I’m really excited. I’m just trying to study and pass that but that’s my goal for finishing out the year. So starting next year, I will be really strong with both states.
00:07:47:17 –> 00:07:58:07
Taylor: Awesome. So you kind of got Michigan down now. How do you plan on going into Ohio? Do you have anything that you would do differently from when you started in Michigan or kind of the same?
00:07:58:10 –> 00:08:36:15
Jessica: Just kind of doing what I’ve learned? Over the past six months, you know, I got stronger every day and I’m actually with a new brokerage than I was when I first started. And she’s just teaching me so many wonderful things about marketing ourselves and what we can do. I think it’s working, it’s working really well, and I love the steps that we’re taking together as a team. She’s in Ohio as well. So I think we’re just going to be a powerhouse and mainly just working our sphere and getting to know the community. Our community is really big for us and you know, supporting our local communities and doing those things just to be out there.
00:08:37:02 –> 00:08:41:06
Taylor: Awesome. Do you have any business books that you could recommend to maybe anybody else starting out?
00:08:42:12 –> 00:09:41:17
Jessica: I will not lie. I’m not a huge reader. I have two little ones. I read mostly kid books every single day, but I did have one that stuck out with me and it’s How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I actually took a Dale Carnegie class a few years ago. And if nobody’s heard of it or if you have heard of it and thought about it, take the classes. Absolutely amazing. I didn’t think that I needed help making friends. Because I thought I had friends, but once I took this class, you really realize that you might have friends, but you might not be a great friend and just really learn how to talk to people and listen, that’s the biggest thing. I felt like I learned how to be a good friend, how to listen. And that goes along the way. I think even in my business, knowing when to just stop talking and listen. So that would be to me, my biggest one, the books that are out there from Dale Carnegie but then also the classes.
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Brad: Nice. Before we go today, how can people get a hold of you?
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Jessica: Everywhere! Facebook, Instagram. Facebook would just be Jessie Kruse, NextHome Elevate. My Instagram is @jesse.welcomehome. My phone number is (517) 662-9707 and always at first texting or phone calls, anything works for me.
00:10:13:01 –> 00:10:15:19
Brad: Awesome. I like it. Hey, thanks for coming on and sharing your story with us today.
00:10:16:09 –> 00:10:18:05
Jessica: Thanks, guys. I appreciate you having me.
00:10:21:05 –> 00:10:39:07
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Check out Jessica Kruse:
NextHome Elevate
Serenity Realty
www.serenityrealty.com/michigan
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