Adjusting to a Kirstie Alley Life

I was not a very socially active child. I wasn't sports minded. I wasn't a girl scout. I cheered for about 2 1/2 days. I twirled long enough to simply have a baton in my possession. Never was my name included in the homecoming court or on the tennis team.

I did not come from a family that nurtured extra curricular activities in their children. And, I was painfully shy. I simply wanted to fade into the background and not be noticed.

After I was married I took on a role of assisting in real estate. I was not licensed so I was simply doing paperwork. But I fell in love.

My creative side kicked in and I loved designing flyers and organizing files. So I decided to get licensed and try my hand at being the front person. I could make a little money and who doesn't love to see other peoples houses?

I had a great mentor, Ray DePue, who taught me so much. This was not like working at all because I loved what I was doing. I began to set goals for what kind of volume I wanted to turn out each year. Making people smile by facilitating their dreams into reality was exhilarating!

My business started to grow, as did the hours I worked. But I has alive! I would get a check off one sale that was a months worth of what I would have made if I had stayed in my home town. I learned to network, take care of my customers, and how to market with the best of them.

I found my niche in new construction and never looked back. I could make a good living wearing jeans and boots and not have to drive a BMW. Every year I would set my goals higher and achieved them every year.

My name was every where. I could go to the store and be stopped by total strangers and asked about that status of the real estate market. People saw my face in newspapers and sales books (little did they know I paid lots of money for  those ads myself). At that point I was probably the most successful person in not only my immediate family but my extended family.

I was on top of the world. I never had to think about money and juggle when bills would be paid. It felt good. I made it on my own. Just good old fashioned hard work. I did not have a family member who handed an entire development to me that jump started my career. I earned every sale that I had based on my own skills.

Then 2008 rolled around. The market had been in a downward spiral for several years and it was getting harder and harder to hang on. The outlandish expenses were still there but the business wasn't.

I was aging and younger agents with award winning smiles and promises of selling ice to an Eskimo were made. For several years my career remained on life support before I decided to pull the plug. Then I think I grieved the lose for several more years.

As I sit here watching True Hollywood Story, I relate to some of these has beens. I understand the humble beginnings and fighting your way to the top. I too had been drunk on the cocktail of "fame" and money. I too had taken that long tumble down has been lane.

I think about those like Kirstie Alley, Sally Struthers and Valerie Bertinelli often. There are still days that I feel like the most I am every going to be again is a Lifetime movie network star, begging for money to save the canines or just known for my struggles with my weight.

I have come to terms with that part of my life being over. I have new goals and appreciate all the friendships that still remain from that part of my life. I know what I can accomplish when I buckle down and focus. I  actually am in a very happy place. I know I am still a star, it's just in my own galaxy now.

So to the current IT girls and those on top, enjoy, appreciate and let it go when the time comes gracefully.

Until next time- Safe Picking
Tammy