898. A Day in the Life–What’s It Really Like to Be a Real Estate Agent?

Kimberly Falker

“It all began in 2004. I took the real estate licensing classes, then the exam, got my license and started. I’d never done sales, never done anything like it. I’ve approached the industry and my career in multiple different ways and creatively had a lot of fun with it along the way. There’s no ceiling, you can be as big as you want to be, you can be as small as you want to be, and I’ve done it all. I love the marketing piece of it, and I love the people part of it.”

Kimberly Falker is the founder of The Falker Group Real Estate company in Safety Harbor, Florida. With a background as a prosecuting attorney in Boston, an elementary school teacher in Florida, and a mother of two, she brings a unique level of professionalism and service to the real estate industry, which she has been actively working in since 2004. Kimberly graduated from Florida State University in Elementary Education and the Cumberland School of Law in Trial Advocacy. During college, she performed in FSU’s Flying High Circus in acts including high wire and trapeze. Today, Kimberly lives in her hometown and is enjoying an “almost” empty nest as her two children head off to her Alma Mater, FSU, in the Fall of 2020. Her Real Estate business is thriving.

The Most Impactful Turning Point?

“My son was born under the shadow of 9/11, just a month after the tragedy in 2001. These were obviously highly turbulent and stressful times especially in the financial world, which is where my husband was working as a partner in his dad’s firm in Southwest Minneapolis, Minnesota. We had moved back there from Boston, where I was enjoying practicing law but had taken some time off to begin raising our family. I wanted to take some of the financial burden off of him and start practicing law in my new state. But rather than retaking the bar exam, which I had zero interest in doing, I decided to explore the occupation of real estate since my mother had been successful in the field and my younger brother had recently moved from Atlanta to Florida to join her business. I decided to study for the real estate licensing exam, which I passed, and began working in the field I have now been enjoying for the past 15+ years.”

The Most Powerful Lessons and Experiences?

1. “Both my parents are very active and adventuresome. I have two brothers I have always been very close to. We did a lot of camping and took fun family trips together. This solid family foundation was and continues to be a powerful, positive influence on my life from every perspective.”

2. “With no background in running, my aerobics instructor recruited me to run track my first two years in college. I was only OK at running but I took it as a personal challenge and a benchmark of discipline. My goal in running was that I just never, ever wanted to be last, and I reached that goal.”

3. “During my undergraduate years at FSU, I performed in the Flying High Circus in acts including high wire and trapeze. I tried out for high wire because I was scared of doing it and I wanted to overcome that fear. I was scared every single time I did it, but I did a lot of hard tricks on there, such as stand on a guy’s shoulder who rode a bike across the high wire. There were 24 of us and the experience of collaborating with those creative folks remains one of the fondest memories of my life.”

4. “My mom is probably one of the largest influences for me professionally because she had multiple careers. I always thought that was so cool that she just kept reinventing herself. One of my mom’s majors was elementary ed, so she taught school, then she also was a dental hygienist and then, long story short, she wound up in real estate.”

5. “In all truth, I got some really nice listings because of my legal background. I was able to compete at listing appointments against some of the bigger names because I had that background. Not to be sexist, but it was usually to win over the husband who is a little bit more conservative or numbers focused. It’s obviously an attribute in negotiations to have that history and it is very beneficial to work with contracts and not overlook some of the details. So that’s definitely come into play to help me in many ways.”

6. “It is all in how you want to work your business. That is what is really nice: you can actually work to the degree that you want to in your own comfort zone. Or, if you want to be a discount broker, you can be, but I think that it’s like anything: how you behave and how you present is what you get. And results, too, you know. I think that if you behave as an expert and are not willing to short change your skills, then you can do quite well–because you know you’re worth it.”