Starting Again Without Starting Over

When I began my career in real estate, I brought more than 24 years of healthcare leadership experience with me. I also had a new industry's compliance requirements and governance framework to learn, a different business model to understand, and new professional relationships to build.

Both things were true: I was an experienced professional, and I was a beginner.

Recognizing that helped me approach the transition with greater perspective. I could value what I had accomplished while acknowledging how much I still needed to learn.

For women considering a career change, that balance matters. We can become so accustomed to being knowledgeable and dependable in one setting that entering an unfamiliar field feels like surrendering part of our identity. Yet the experience we have earned remains useful—even when its application changes.

My healthcare career included more than 14 years with Marathon Health, where I held progressive leadership roles across operations, implementations, client relationships, and business development. I learned how to ask questions, organize complex work, navigate difficult conversations, and help people move toward a shared goal.

Those skills continue to serve me in real estate and in the businesses I own today.

Listening carefully matters when a client is deciding whether to relocate. Operational discipline matters when managing a transaction or building an e-commerce business. Leadership experience matters when an agent needs guidance through an unfamiliar situation.

The setting has changed. Much of the responsibility feels familiar.

One of the most useful steps in a transition is to take inventory of what you already know how to do. Look beyond job titles. Consider the problems people trust you to solve, the relationships you have built, and the responsibilities you have handled well. Then identify where those abilities could be useful in the work you want to pursue.

Be equally honest about the gaps.

My leadership background did not remove the need to study real estate, learn its professional responsibilities, or seek guidance from people with more experience in the field. I had to make room for questions and feedback. That remains part of my work today.

Choosing the right people to learn from is consequential. Find mentors who will explain their reasoning, offer honest feedback, and help you strengthen your judgment. Encouragement is valuable; so is someone who will tell you when you need to prepare more carefully.

One piece of advice I often received from an influential mentor—and continue to return to—is "go slow to go fast." During a career transition, it can be tempting to rush toward visible progress. Taking time to understand the work, establish sound habits, and build trustworthy relationships gives that progress a stronger foundation.

I also believe in approaching a new chapter from a place of abundance rather than scarcity. Other people's experience can become a source of learning. Their accomplishments can offer encouragement. Sharing a useful resource or making an introduction can strengthen a relationship long before either person knows where it might lead.

That outlook helps me stay open—to collaboration, to different perspectives, and to opportunities I might otherwise overlook.

My faith and the support of loved ones have also helped ground me through uncertainty. A new direction comes with decisions whose outcomes we cannot fully predict. I have learned to prepare thoughtfully, seek guidance, and take the next step without expecting to have every answer.

Today, as Tennessee Principal Broker for Realty85, I have the opportunity to support agents building their own careers. I want them to have accessible leadership, practical education, and room to ask questions. Having entered this profession after a long career elsewhere, I appreciate how much people may bring with them—and how much support they may still need.

If you are considering your own next chapter, start with a few concrete questions. What do you want to carry forward? What do you need to learn? Who can help you understand the work before you commit more deeply?

You do not have to dismiss your previous career to make room for another one. Let your experience inform your choices, and give yourself permission to learn.

I am still drawing on lessons from healthcare leadership. I am also learning new ones. There is value in being able to do both.