We had the fun of chatting with Tara Klein a Torrance area real estate professional, passionate about giving back to the community where she sells homes.
Enjoy our interview here:
Here is Tara’s Story:
After spending the majority of my working life as a corporate employee with a decent, reliable salary and premiere benefits (A+ medical benefits – employee savings programs). I left a six figure salary as an in house legal recruiter for one of California’s top law firms for personal reasons. Even when I graduated USC in the 90’s I chose a very prestigious, stable job with a high salary in the insurance industry over a job offer at the 4 Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles (which was probably a better fit for my personality). When I was in college I worked as a waitress there wasn’t as big of an emphasis on interning or really using college as a time to figure out what you wanted to do…college to me was a conduit to get a good job. My father is a hard-working risk adverse banker who lived below his means and as a result has provided a very comfortable retirement situation for he and my mother (just in case anyone wants the back story). When I left the law firm, I just figured I would get another job at a different firm or try something new. After all, I did move around and up fairly easily in the law firm world, but I didn’t take into account that economy was tanking and law firms were shrinking their recruiting departments due to the lack of hiring across the board. After taking some time off, and living on my 401k/savings (NOT a WISE decision), I started Klein Legal Search, and had basically was a “one hit wonder…” and miserable because a big part of my law firm job was retaining our attorneys and now I was cold-calling into law firms looking for people unhappy in their jobs who might want to switch…I started to think about all of the referrals I was giving to other professional friends. Sending people to my friend’s store, my hairdresser, other Realtors, etc. Basically, I realized that I can naturally promote anyone or anything if I truly believe in the person, the service or the product, so why not sell myself as a Realtor. My mom started real estate when I was in high school and did very well, but had discouraged me from leaving a cushy salary in the past for the unpredictable life of a Realtor. She would say to me, “I have your dad, I don’t need to put food on the table for my family what I make goes to supplement your father’s income). I had enough money saved from Klein Legal Search (at least I thought I did) to get into real estate with a very small cushion until I went to do my taxes and realized that my cushion plus savings would be going to the IRS via Klein Legal Search. This did not deter or delay my real estate career but it did alter my lifestyle which was really mentally hard on me at 42 years old. This is where money anxiety really kicked in… In order to take some of the pressure off of myself. I gave up my 2 bedroom house and rented a room from someone in Hermosa. I never worked harder than I did in my entire life and do think that not having a cushion is why I worked so hard, but in Real Estate hard work doesn’t always lead to an immediate pay day. I almost felt like I was being punished for doing what I had to do working for other people to get the perfect review or the raise without really pushing myself to do more. Needless to say, I loved real estate and it was obvious that I was good at it, but I still had anxiety about money…do I spend to make money or do I play it safe, etc. etc. My second year in the business was fantastic. It also was the first year that I did a vision board…What is nuts about being a Realtor is that so much is out of my control (I am a Virgo). Being a worrier and an over-thinker makes me a fabulous Realtor because I answer my phone at all hours, I am only satisfied if my clients are happy, etc. etc. but it makes the feast or famine nature of the business a personal challenge for me. I do believe what we think impacts what happens in our life, so I try very hard not to be so fear based when it comes to financial security, etc. but it is a constant struggle.
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