Real Estate? Really?

Many of you reading this post have known me for my entire life. Most of you are family or dear friends and you know the play by play of my life. It's probably not a huge surprise that a traveling singer/mother of a 1 year old/performing artist with no place to perform due to Covid-19 would decide to "switch gears".

But, why Real Estate?

In 2014 when Chef Paul and I bought our first NYC condo, real estate became a huge interest of ours. I mean, who doesn't love a good House Hunters marathon? But, seriously, we would look at listings for fun and it wasn't long before we sold the first place and bought our second place. Both experiences of buying and selling were filled with so much drama that over the last 6 years we've become quite educated in the process. For those of you who live anywhere else in the country, NYC real estate is unlike any other in the country. We do things differently and what can sometimes be extremely frustrating is also just another thing that makes this city so unique.

I had been on a pseudo-maternity leave since Baby Girl was born and prior to the 'Rona I was looking forward to getting back out there. As the Pandemic weeks of spring and summer crept on and on and the near future of my career looked bleaker and bleaker I knew it was time for me to take a drastic step in a new direction.

I start perusing jobs on the Internet and the frustrating reality set in: I am a Classical Singer and Voice Teacher with a Master's Degree in Music and an impressive resume, but I am NOT QUALIFIED for any job outside of my field!

Crap.

Doesn't singing the National Anthem for 70,000 Saints fans or jumping into a role at the Metropolitan Opera last minute count for anything????

Sure, it does. But not when there are hundreds of other applicants who have degrees and years of experience in corporate jobs. A wise friend gave me some advice: take the 20+ years of experience you have in YOUR field and make someone believe that those skills will make you perfect for whatever you apply for. Okay, fine.

Then, as I applied to some jobs I also had to deal with a horrid feeling in the pit of my stomach: I am putting myself "out there" to take on a career which will take me away from my one and only child all day, five days a week. Yes, plenty of mothers work these hours and I have an enormous amount of admiration for them, but my family's situation is unique to us and I knew that I could not take on a typical full time career outside of my home. One day, maybe. But, not now.

So then I thought: what am I passionate about in addition to singing? What special skills do I have that qualify me for a career without a specific degree? What do I want to spend my time doing? What can I do that will enable me to work from home part of the time? What has a flexible schedule so that I can prioritize family and work? What can I do where I can still be a singer and a teacher since I've spent so many years developing these talents? What company out there will see my unique qualities and God-given talents and know that they would be lucky to have me working for them?

Like all really great ideas -- it came to me so suddenly that it was one part LIGHT BULB and one part WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS SOONER?

Timing is everything. There's a future post or two where I can tell you the fun story of how I was introduced to my Broker and why I think in a couple of years Chef Paul and I will look back on this topsy-turvy period of our life and say "it all worked out the way it was supposed to be all along".

Let's see where this new journey takes me!