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Work
Experience: I've had just about as varied
a work experience as one could manage. My
short-term jobs have been babysitter, mail courier
for a private college, inventory clerk for a seminary
bookstore, waitress (I was a lousy waitress, by
the way), and a security guard and stage hand.
In college I discovered my first love, Driving
Things Which Are Big. I drove for Cambus,
the campus bus system at the University of Iowa
in 1997 and 1998. When it became apparent
that university life and I weren't going to get
along very well, I switched to Trucking School
in the fall of 1998, and in my small class of
three (being the youngest, the only female, and
the only one without prior experience) I graduated
at the top. My Class A CDL (commercial driver's
license) in hand, I promptly got a job behind
a desk for Transport America, a national trucking
company, and stayed there for six years.
After a family-driven move brought me to Pennsylvania
and the Lehigh Valley in 2004, my first and only
job in the state has been with the RE/MAX real
estate family. And not to be too cliché,
but it does feel like I've come home.
Why I'm in real estate:
I got my job at RE/MAX real estate after
four months of job hunting when my family moved
to the Lehigh Valley from Iowa. At the time,
I took the part-time position because I needed
a job to help support us as my husband looked
for a permanent position as well. I stayed
in real estate, and specifically at this office,
because about a year and a half after I started
(and my job became a full-time position) the office
was fortunate to find an amazing set of senior
staff that has since blown my estimate of what
this office could be out of the water. I
love coming to work every morning with projects
on my plate, and yet not knowing fully what the
day will hold as I am also constantly approached
by agents looking for new ideas for their own
marketing needs. It's a great experience,
and I've learned more here since 2004 about real
estate (and about myself) than at any other position
I've ever held.
My best qualities: I'm
a very good listener; I like to problem solve;
I have above average mechanical skills allowing
me to repair minor office equipment problems (electric
staplers, 3-hole punches, VHS videos, etc); I
am an excellent note-taker in meetings (I have
to be – I tend to get drowsy when sitting
still and listening to people talk); my writing
is nearly always legible; I work well under pressure;
I have a good eye for editing; machines (computers,
fuel pumps, that sort of thing) that are stubborn
and giving other people trouble cower in fear
when I approach and immediately start working
smoothly again in case I may have to actually
try to fix them; and I'm nice to children and
small animals, which my two kids and cat especially
appreciate.
A little known fact:
I've written one novel per year since
2003. Each novel has been at least 50,000
words, and each has been written (very nearly)
entirely in the month of November.
What are my mottos? "Pain
is inevitable. Suffering is optional."
M. Kathleen Casey. This is my motto because
even though it sounds rather dark, it is a reminder
that even though painful things happen, whether
it is physical or mental or emotional pain, that
suffering and being miserable because of them
is something that is allowed to happen.
You can't avoid the pain, but you can prevent
the misery from invading and overwhelming your
life.
What is your favorite technology device? This is just about an impossible question to answer, especially with all the great gadgets out there that most of us have learned how to not be able to live without them. My top few would have to be my iPod, my pink GameBoy, my Flash Drive, my laptop, and my laser pointer. (The laser pointer is a special favorite of my kids and cat.)
Where I have lived: Belle
Plaine, Iowa; Blairstown, Iowa; Webster Groves
(suburb of St. Louis), Missouri; Charles City,
Iowa; Iowa City, Iowa; Topton, Pennsylvania.
I must confess, I'm a Midwestern girl born and
bred.
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