In this episode, Lorie Jones sits down with Rebecca Blacker, a New York City real estate broker who dared to bet on herself transitioning from maternity leave with a career pivot and found success with her commitment to authenticity, even when she was advised to “tone it down” to be taken seriously in a male-dominated industry.
This conversation is a masterclass for young women forging their way in leadership, finance, and business, fields where so many are told to “dim their light.” Rebecca shares how she flipped that script, building a thriving brand and career anchored in her true character. She also discusses family legacy, strategic video marketing for social media, navigating setbacks, investing in professional growth, and balancing the demands of home and work.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you should play smaller to succeed, or if you need a reminder to show up as yourself, this episode is for you. Share it with someone who needs this encouraging message today!
Show Highlights:
- The Full Fee Agent and the power of strategic questions in real estate. [03:28]
- Navigating a family legacy and rediscovering true ambitions. [06:59]
- Why invest in professional video marketing and not DIY it. [15:21]
- Can you thrive in male-dominated fields with a bubbly nature? [18:55]
- Asking for help and learning from mistakes in early career. [22:19]
- The future value of buying an apartment when you’re young. [28:25]
- Tips for handling fear of job loss in high-pressure careers. [31:07]
- Do you have a “cheerleading bench” ready to encourage you? [33:23]
- Resilience in the ongoing mental load of working motherhood. [36:13]
- Managing life’s seasons with imperfect but achievable balance. [40:45]
Follow Rebecca Blacker on Instagram @RebeccaBlacker.
To reach out to Rebecca, email her at rblacker@cbwarburg.com or visit https://blackerandreed.com/.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:01.66
Lorie Jones
Good morning, Fearless Females. We are here today with Rebecca Blacker. She is a New York City real estate broker, and I’m so excited to get to chat with you today, Rebecca. I’m excited to hear your story.
00:13.88
Rebecca Blacker
So happy to be here.
00:15.90
Lorie Jones
So let’s get started by i am a reader. i love books, any and all forms. Tell me what your favorite book is.
00:25.37
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah, so I have a lot of of favorite books. Lately, I’ve been into business books. So I just read this book called the full fee agent, which I know sounds very specific to real estate brokers, but I think it’s could be very useful to anyone that’s in sort of a sales role.
00:47.36
Rebecca Blacker
Um, it was written by Chris Voss, who’s a hostage negotiator and Steve Scholl, who is, uh, kind of like a career coach.
00:53.24
Lorie Jones
Oh.
00:58.65
Rebecca Blacker
Um, he does a lot of real estate relating coaching, but, um, he’s also fantastic. And it’s a book really about, um not wasting your time, you know, like how to work more efficiently.
01:12.19
Rebecca Blacker
um And, you know, they’re one of the main points of this book is um figure out if you’re the favorite or the fool before you walk into the door. Right. So there are questions you can ask someone over the phone before you go in, you know, in my case, to their home to to pitch yourself and Usually you can figure out whether this is going to be a waste of your time or whether you’re going to be chosen.
01:42.70
Rebecca Blacker
um And so I’ve really um I’ve read it now twice. i read it and then I listened to it because there’s a lot of great, you know, helpful things for me in my business.
01:54.89
Rebecca Blacker
So I really like it.
01:55.95
Lorie Jones
Oh, that’s so interesting. Yeah, but that that give us an example of like one question. Can you think of one that it told you to ask?
02:06.49
Rebecca Blacker
Um, so like just simply, um, you know, a question is why, are you selling? Right. So, you know, sometimes you’re so excited.
02:15.68
Lorie Jones
Oh,
02:18.50
Rebecca Blacker
Somebody has called you and they’re like, you know, I’m, I want to sell my house or my, in my case, my, my apartment. And I want you to come in and you’re like, okay, great. And you set up a time and then you just show up.
02:30.30
Rebecca Blacker
But, you know, what I’ve learned is to ask some more questions. um And so ah simply, you know, why are you selling? So, you know, if you hear things like, oh, you know, I just want to see if I can get the price that I’m hoping to get or, you know, um I was just sort of hoping to pick your brain or things like that. Then you’re like, well, I don’t know if this person is serious.
03:00.15
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
03:00.31
Rebecca Blacker
Um, maybe I want to ask some more questions or maybe i say, you know, I’m not the right person for you Um,
03:08.06
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. Or this is, ah it’s like, get to know faster, right? Like the idea of like, if you’re not a good fit, if this, if, you know, they really aren’t interested, then, then get to know faster.
03:13.56
Rebecca Blacker
Right.
03:22.35
Lorie Jones
So you don’t spend all your time thinking this is going
03:24.50
Rebecca Blacker
Right. Cause then you. Typically in my line of work, you know, you’re you’re doing a lot of work to prepare and then you go in and you’re spending a lot of time at somebody’s home and you really, you could save yourself many hours of work by just knowing, is this person really, one, a real seller? And two, is they interviewing ah so many different brokers basically to just not choose me?
03:50.33
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah, that’s so interesting. I like that. I’m going to i go have to look at that. but you’ve You’ve piqued my interest.
03:54.80
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah, I’ll send it you. second
03:58.23
Lorie Jones
So, Rebecca, tell me just a little bit about your journey. did you Did you know you wanted to be a real estate broker at age like three? Like, how did you how did you get to this path?
04:05.98
Rebecca Blacker
yes No.
04:08.13
Lorie Jones
What do you do? Tell me a little bit about that.
04:10.39
Rebecca Blacker
Sure. um So I would say at age three, I knew a little bit about real estate. my My family is in the real estate business.
04:18.77
Lorie Jones
Okay.
04:22.34
Rebecca Blacker
um
04:22.76
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
04:23.58
Rebecca Blacker
My grandfather ah was actually a Holocaust survivor. He came to New York um after the war and and with some money from his friends. um ended up buying a building in the Bronx um and kind of, you know, grew his business from there.
04:47.63
Rebecca Blacker
And then my father actually entered the business when he after he finished law school. So there was a lot of real estate talk at my dinner table.
04:59.43
Rebecca Blacker
Um, but it was, uh, you know, more about, they bought multifamily, they have multifamily buildings and they manage them. So we were, there was a lot of talk about like tenants and boilers and, um, you know, like roof and facade work and, and that kind of thing.
05:18.69
Rebecca Blacker
Not exactly what I, what I do now.
05:19.00
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
05:22.50
Rebecca Blacker
Um, so I, I did always hear real estate talk, um, So after I was a finance major, after college, um, it was 2009, it was kind of a tough time in the financial world. Um, and i didn’t get the finance job that I had wanted. And so I decided to go into and work with my dad sort of as just like something in the interim, because I was thinking I wanted to, you know, still go into the financial world.
05:58.17
Rebecca Blacker
Um, And so I, um, so I started working with my dad and, um, 10 years later I was still there. Uh, so, um, you know, I learned so much. I, it was, um, a very heavy management job. So it was mostly, um, you know, managing the existing properties we had anything from, you know, um,
06:28.66
Rebecca Blacker
maintenance request to, we did our own house in-house leasing. um And we had our own crew for, you know, fixing things and, you know, all that. So that was my job for 10 years.
06:43.70
Rebecca Blacker
um And, you know, it was something I never loved. I loved so like working with my dad every day.
06:53.42
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
06:56.57
Rebecca Blacker
um and I loved the fact that it was very, um, sort of, i don’t know what the right word is, but like it it was a nine to five, you know, I knew my schedule.
07:08.38
Rebecca Blacker
Um, it felt like, you know, after a few years I could sort of do it with my eyes closed and, um,
07:14.04
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
07:17.08
Rebecca Blacker
And so after those 10 years, um my daughter had been born. So she’s, um I had my son. And then ah two years later, I had my daughter and she was um just born.
07:32.70
Rebecca Blacker
And, you know, I was thinking about ah maternity leave. And um I can’t really say I thought easily deeply about it. You know, I, you know, I i don’t know if I, um,
07:51.51
Rebecca Blacker
did all the research I should have done. um
07:54.39
Lorie Jones
but
07:55.06
Rebecca Blacker
But I just decided that this was the time that I was going to make the career switch. Again, it was still in real estate, but I had always just loved the part of the business that I, when I was helping people find their homes.
08:12.63
Rebecca Blacker
So like when we I was doing the leasing for our, for my family business. um I always loved that part. um
08:19.83
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
08:21.18
Rebecca Blacker
And so when my daughter was born, I was like, if I’m going to work every day, um i want to do something that I really love and that I’m going to be successful at, you know?
08:31.07
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
08:36.29
Rebecca Blacker
And I think what I also really liked was that the sky was the limit, like whatever I put into it, was what I could make, right?
08:47.02
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
08:47.46
Rebecca Blacker
um And so I wasn’t like a salary, you know, being a broker is not a salaried employee. You don’t have set hours. You don’t have health benefits. You don’t have any of it.
08:58.29
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that sounds scary.
08:59.10
Rebecca Blacker
but it was terrifying. Um, but I don’t, it was like, it was a little impulsive, honestly. um maybe call it like some postpartum, I don’t know, something.
09:13.91
Lorie Jones
but
09:14.06
Rebecca Blacker
Um, but, um, but i so I decided to become a broker and,
09:26.49
Rebecca Blacker
I, at that point, once I made the decision, I then started speaking to everyone I knew that was, that did that, you know, and I had a lot of wonderful mentors along the way. um But that’s really my journey.
09:42.19
Rebecca Blacker
And then I, you know, I started with nothing. I went into this company at the time, it was called Warburg Realty. It was a small firm, just New York based.
09:54.33
Rebecca Blacker
Um, and I liked it cause it felt like a family kind of feel like I had just come from. And I sat at a desk and I just started listening to all the people, the brokers around me, um, doing their work and them on the phone.
10:00.73
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
10:15.37
Rebecca Blacker
Um, and i kind of built myself from there. So.
10:24.12
Lorie Jones
I like that. So it’s like, it’s like you, you that you didn’t know, you just knew that you wanted this one piece, the piece that you loved. And, and you’re like, okay, i’m going to figure out how to do this. And, and you listened to what other people were doing to kind of it like, like you went and said, I have no experience, but this is what I’m going to do.
10:51.03
Lorie Jones
So you started with zero.
10:52.70
Rebecca Blacker
Right.
10:52.67
Lorie Jones
That’s scary.
10:53.53
Rebecca Blacker
ah Right. It’s so scary. um I will give myself a little bit of credit in the sense that one, like I come from the real estate business. So like there are some there is overlap, right?
11:03.77
Lorie Jones
Right.
11:06.25
Rebecca Blacker
Like I had done like thousands of rentals.
11:06.30
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
11:11.96
Rebecca Blacker
So, you know, and and, you know, I went into it really wanting to do sales.
11:11.96
Lorie Jones
huh.
11:17.80
Rebecca Blacker
But like, you know, yeah most brokers start out doing rentals. So I had already done that piece.
11:25.98
Lorie Jones
I see.
11:26.71
Rebecca Blacker
Right. So I had a head start for sure. And then the other piece was that I grew up in New York City. Right. So I was a local.
11:33.69
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
11:35.30
Rebecca Blacker
I um I knew the buildings already.
11:39.89
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
11:39.96
Rebecca Blacker
um I knew, you know, the street. I knew everything about it. So so I felt like it was kind of probably easier for me to just jump in than it would be for somebody else.
11:54.86
Lorie Jones
How did it go over with your dad when you told him you were quitting?
11:59.44
Rebecca Blacker
It’s so funny everybody asks me that question. um I think he was disappointed at first. um and And I shouldn’t say I think I know he was very disappointed.
12:13.71
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah.
12:14.07
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
12:15.35
Rebecca Blacker
you know, it was like his baby that he, and he trusted me, of course, because I was his daughter.
12:20.12
Lorie Jones
yeah
12:25.46
Rebecca Blacker
And, you know, I think it was sort of, he felt like, well, what am I going to do now? Right? Like, I don’t have someone in my family that can,
12:36.60
Rebecca Blacker
um you know, manage my business.
12:38.04
Lorie Jones
take this over. Yeah.
12:40.38
Rebecca Blacker
um And I would say, though, if you were to ask him now, um he would just say, like, how proud he is of me.
12:51.86
Rebecca Blacker
Like, he just couldn’t but he just can’t believe that I was able to accomplish what i what i did.
12:52.25
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
12:59.50
Rebecca Blacker
So my dad, I still call him pretty much every day for advice. um
13:04.74
Lorie Jones
Uh huh.
13:05.85
Rebecca Blacker
And he just like, he loves to hear, he’ll like pick up the phone. He’s like, how many deals did we do today? And he’s just, he’s really into it. And um I think now he’ll say it was like the best move I ever made. Yeah.
13:21.82
Lorie Jones
So, Rebecca, as you were as you’re going as you’re looking back along this journey, is there an investment that you made in yourself that was just pivotal that just made all the difference into where you’re at today?
13:36.70
Rebecca Blacker
Yes, I think a really big investment was in my business, which was um I invested heavily on social media videos.
13:52.21
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
13:52.76
Rebecca Blacker
um So when I first started, i didn’t have, like I said, any clients, any business. And I decided that, you know, it was at the time where video was becoming really popular on social or like not as big as it is now, but it was starting to be bigger. And TikTok had just kind of taken off. And so I decided to go into a studio um and film professional videos. And it was really for people to get to know me. And I felt like I was too scared to sort of do it without the going to a professional studio. um
14:38.45
Rebecca Blacker
And so I went to the studio, they did my hair, they did my makeup. They like, you know, I got to change into different outfits. So it looked like it was different days that we were filming the videos and.
14:49.78
Lorie Jones
Oh.
14:50.87
Rebecca Blacker
um They started out as me just sitting behind a screen and sort of like being myself, talking about different real estate topics, talking about being a mom. um Just, you know, i I wrote scripts before I went and i sat there and I, and i did these videos and they were, you know, I filmed them many at a time so I could have content for a little while. And the videos were really instrumental in building my business because, you know, it was a way for me to start a brand, which was myself, you know, and, um, people, you know,
15:36.60
Rebecca Blacker
higher real estate agents that they can relate to, that they trust, that they, um you know, feel can kind of guide them through this incredibly complex transaction.
15:50.35
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
15:54.39
Rebecca Blacker
And so getting myself out there and myself on the screen and talking about the things I did know about was like,
16:05.82
Rebecca Blacker
Very, very helpful. and But trust me, this was like, you know, many thousands of dollars to do.
16:11.45
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah, way back in the day.
16:12.09
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah.
16:13.21
Lorie Jones
i love that you you did it professionally, like you you picked an expert in the field to kind of help out with that. I found that that a lot of times it it feels like you should DIY it, but you don’t know what you’re doing.
16:21.05
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah.
16:28.73
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah. And I just, I, I needed like, like the coaching a little bit. This, this place, like the, the guy that runs this studio just was coaching me through it.
16:34.46
Lorie Jones
Oh, yeah.
16:38.84
Rebecca Blacker
And it made me feel so much like more comfortable. And quite honestly, I still go to the studio. I’m going to be going there next month. I, you know, I, I went back.
16:49.66
Rebecca Blacker
I was probably like my 10th time there, you know? Um, and they just, um, it it felt easier for me to go the professional route and like have someone coaching me through it.
17:00.70
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
17:02.91
Rebecca Blacker
So.
17:03.19
Lorie Jones
Yeah. I like that. Okay, Rebecca, what is the worst advice someone ever gave you? And did you take it? Did you not take it
17:15.42
Rebecca Blacker
um The worst advice someone ever gave me was, think it was, i interned at actually a ah real estate company when I was in in college.
17:33.08
Rebecca Blacker
um
17:33.33
Lorie Jones
Even in finance.
17:35.00
Rebecca Blacker
ah yeah ah Somehow real estate was always like grabbing me in, I don’t know.
17:39.95
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
17:40.24
Rebecca Blacker
It it was meant to be. So I interned at a commercial real estate brokerage. um i And I worked for this woman And I remember her saying to me, you need to work on presenting yourself more seriously and kind of like, you know, kind of said something like, you know, you’re very like bubbly and friendly and you need to kind of dull that down and appear more serious because men,
18:24.28
Rebecca Blacker
are not going to take you seriously.
18:30.17
Rebecca Blacker
And I remember i was I was in college. So like, you know, you hear something like that and you’re like, uh, um And at that time, the firm that I was interning, and it was really all men.
18:44.61
Rebecca Blacker
So, um and so I listened to it.
18:44.91
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
18:51.91
Rebecca Blacker
I don’t know if I actually… took that advice, really, um you know, because the internship was over and I sort of was like, I think I looked back on and I was like, that was kind of crazy advice that she gave me.
19:06.55
Rebecca Blacker
um But so, no, i didn’t take it because I’m, so you know, I’m serious, but I’m also goofy. And that’s just who I am. And I’m friendly and I’m bubbly.
19:15.93
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
19:19.02
Rebecca Blacker
And I think what I’ve realized is that um you have to be yourself. Like, you can’t try to be someone else because people can just see right through that.
19:35.32
Lorie Jones
It comes off as inauthentic, doesn’t it?
19:37.88
Rebecca Blacker
It really does.
19:38.14
Lorie Jones
It comes off, it kind of gives you the ick.
19:38.68
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah.
19:40.38
Lorie Jones
What it is, is that the, you know, that’s the technical term for it. The ick, you kind of get the ick when you’re not, when you’re dealing with somebody who doesn’t feel like, you know, they’re authentic.
19:44.04
Rebecca Blacker
Right.
19:50.54
Lorie Jones
But I do, i do hear you like in finance, um you get a lot of, this is the way it should be done. You need to be more serious. And I’m like, but I think finance should be a little bit fun.
20:04.12
Rebecca Blacker
right well like you know, you’re, go again, like you’re, you’re investing so much time in what you do. Like it shouldn’t just, it shouldn’t be miserable. And so, yeah, I remember, um, she said that.
20:13.37
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Huh.
20:18.81
Rebecca Blacker
So I, I don’t think I took it. or Maybe I did for a few days and then was like, ah I don’t think I can do this.
20:27.04
Lorie Jones
I can’t keep this up for 20 years, right? we better We better go back to fun bubbly me. Well, and it sounds like you built a brand out of that too, like out of your uniqueness, out of the fact that you were like, you know, this should be exciting.
20:40.25
Lorie Jones
It should be fun, um you know, getting your own your own place. And yeah, yeah.
20:45.21
Rebecca Blacker
Exactly.
20:47.99
Lorie Jones
what um What about a time that you can look back on over your journey where you’re like, oh gosh, I wish I had a do over? My goodness, I want to go back and do that again.
20:59.39
Lorie Jones
Knowing what I know now, I would do that totally differently.
21:01.05
Rebecca Blacker
yeah
21:02.66
Lorie Jones
Is there something like that? Mm
21:05.53
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah. um Yeah. think I didn’t ask for help enough. at the beginning.
21:15.17
Lorie Jones
hmm.
21:15.45
Rebecca Blacker
um I it was partly like I don’t want to bother anyone, you know, um and There was a little bit of like, I’m going to figure this out on my own. You know, like kind of like when you’re as a mom, there’s nobody telling you, there’s no one really to ask.
21:36.66
Rebecca Blacker
And you sort of just learn how to do everything by trying it out and and seeing.
21:39.03
Lorie Jones
Good luck
21:42.44
Rebecca Blacker
So I kind of approached my, you know, being a broker at the beginning that way. um and I had these, my first clients, um,
21:55.51
Rebecca Blacker
who um we’re were buying an expensive apartment. um And we in New York have something called a board package. So when you are looking to buy a co-op, you have to submit a financial, basically, package. Not only financial, there’s also recommendation letters, recommendations,
22:23.62
Rebecca Blacker
it’s It’s sort of like a a college application, but but with financials as well.
22:27.64
Lorie Jones
yeah
22:29.80
Rebecca Blacker
um And so um i didn’t really ask, I didn’t know to ask what questions to ask. And so I put together this package for my clients and they got turned down by the board.
22:50.26
Rebecca Blacker
And I was, i can’t even tell you I didn’t sleep for weeks.
22:56.15
Lorie Jones
yeah
22:56.54
Rebecca Blacker
Like it was, i was embarrassed. I was angry.
22:59.82
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
23:01.20
Rebecca Blacker
I was, i was just all the emotions and my clients were, were very unhappy. um there was a lot of emotions on their side.
23:09.76
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
23:12.56
Rebecca Blacker
And I was trying to keep my emotions at te intact, but I was like, oh my God, I just screwed this up. What am i doing? Why did I even you know decide to do this at all? Like, I don’t know what I’m doing.
23:24.09
Rebecca Blacker
And luckily, i mean, um they had a great attorney that I worked with and we kind of got the whole package to be re-looked at by the board and they ultimately got through.
23:41.45
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
23:43.10
Rebecca Blacker
but there were so many things I missed.
23:43.32
Lorie Jones
Oh, good.
23:45.38
Rebecca Blacker
And when I think about it now, I cringe because I’m like, what was I doing?
23:47.99
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
23:50.46
Rebecca Blacker
um And you know what was really helpful? I had a few mentors, one in particular, who’s just like, who I think is like the most,
24:03.70
Rebecca Blacker
successful, fabulous broker in New York. And she was like, oh, that happened to me so many times at the beginning.
24:07.04
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
24:11.42
Rebecca Blacker
And it was just like, she said that. And I’m like, what? Like, really? Like…
24:15.54
Lorie Jones
Like this this almost ground my world to a halt for two weeks, right? And you’re treating it like it was like, oh, yeah, that happens to people.
24:19.80
Rebecca Blacker
Exactly. Like…
24:23.96
Rebecca Blacker
that That’s just like sort of how it goes. You know, that you kind of that’s how you learn. i mean, and um
24:28.86
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
24:32.63
Rebecca Blacker
I am still sort of mortified when I think about it. um But luckily it it worked out and these clients still speak to me.
24:43.56
Rebecca Blacker
But but it was, you know, something that.
24:49.43
Lorie Jones
It was a learning experience. I think that’s so interesting, too. Like, I find that I learn more from, you know, from these, your fearless females as they, as they tell me the things that they wish they would have done differently, or that they didn’t do so well, you know, because like,
25:06.81
Lorie Jones
I’m like, oh, I have that tendency too. Oh my gosh, I don’t ask enough questions sometimes. like and And you learn that that sometimes these setbacks um are are so vital, important to learn how to do what you’re doing. And it it it feels hard sometimes that they’re they’re looked on as failures or negatives when really that’s where you find the most growth, right?
25:37.85
Rebecca Blacker
I would, you um you need to have those moments to then, one to ground you a little bit, right? Like, just like be like, okay, I really don’t know what I’m, and then, you know, just learn to learn, you know, for the next time.
25:56.22
Rebecca Blacker
And, and,
25:56.43
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
25:58.49
Rebecca Blacker
What I, I, you know, again, I can’t speak to every line of work, but for me, every deal is so different. And so I’m learning on each one and I’m making little, not as big mistakes as that one, but I’m often making little mistakes as I go.
26:18.42
Rebecca Blacker
And that’s what kind of makes me a better broker.
26:22.60
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. And I found, too, that if you ask for help, that people are so willing. um Women mentors, especially, ah i find maybe I just run into really great people. That might be it, too. But but I find that they’re willing to share their knowledge so that you don’t make that. I mean, but you would be the same way, right? You would tell somebody else, oh, hey, I made this mistake.
26:49.69
Rebecca Blacker
ah Well, so now I have a team and I have newer brokers on the team and I always tell them that story because I say, just so you know, i had a terrible, you know, like I majorly screwed up on my first one.
26:52.21
Lorie Jones
yeah.
27:05.14
Rebecca Blacker
So don’t worry, we’re going to like you can’t screw up as much as I did. So and I think that just like gives people, ah you know, the people, you know, the ease of that everybody does it.
27:17.62
Lorie Jones
yeah
27:19.26
Rebecca Blacker
And um and I kind of tell them exactly what the the issue was. Like, i i just, true you know, a big financial miss.
27:32.51
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. So what about if you could go back and high five yourself for a really great financial decision? What would that be?
27:45.08
Rebecca Blacker
I think it was actually purchasing my own apartment. um I bought a an estate sale um in a great location.
28:03.42
Rebecca Blacker
and And I bought this apartment before I was in this business. um
28:08.04
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
28:09.62
Rebecca Blacker
And I guess there’s a theme here. I didn’t use a broker because I thought I knew everything.
28:13.81
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
28:14.62
Rebecca Blacker
ah um And I definitely didn’t. ah But it ended up being a really great um investment. ah And, you know, we we fixed it up and um it You know, we’ve, the you know, our investment has definitely appreciated in value.
28:43.03
Rebecca Blacker
And um i sometimes wonder if we didn’t buy our apartment and we kept the money, you know, in whether we would have spent that money on something not as smart, you know,
28:55.49
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Not an appreciating asset. Yeah.
28:59.48
Rebecca Blacker
Right.
29:00.38
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. um How old were you when you got your first apartment?
29:09.53
Lorie Jones
pretty that’s good 30. That’s good. I think the average, you would know this better than me, but the average age to buy your first property now is like 38 to 40 or something like that.
29:18.68
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah, there was an article where it’s definitely getting much, um you know, people are are older when they’re buying their first homes.
29:29.95
Rebecca Blacker
It’s really because homes have just gotten extraordinarily expensive. And it’s it’s not an easy thing to do.
29:38.84
Lorie Jones
and Especially in New York, I would assume.
29:41.53
Rebecca Blacker
In New York, it’s it’s very tricky, but our rents ah rents are also astronomical. So, um you know, i think that’s starting to, what’s that’s what we’re really seeing now is rents have just gotten so high. i mean, the average rent is like over, I think it’s over like $5,000 month.
30:02.14
Lorie Jones
oh my good heavens.
30:03.06
Rebecca Blacker
so people are realizing that it’s a better, you know, if you run the numbers, it makes more sense to buy if you can.
30:11.45
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
30:12.56
Rebecca Blacker
So, so yeah, it’s it’s an expensive place for to live for sure.
30:19.81
Lorie Jones
Rebecca, what scared you the most when you started out on this journey? Was there something that you were just terrified of? And does it still scare you? Did you learn how to navigate that? It doesn’t sound like anything scared you.
30:33.02
Lorie Jones
I just have to say this right now because like you started with nothing and you’re like, yeah, let’s do this.
30:33.06
Rebecca Blacker
I know. That’s so funny.
30:38.62
Lorie Jones
And a brand new baby and two kids.
30:40.31
Rebecca Blacker
oh my God. I know. i like, I, I realized that’s how it comes off, but, but, uh, I think I’m, I go in waves of like really believing in myself and then like losing that for, you know, a couple months or I’m just like,
31:04.86
Rebecca Blacker
I don’t, no one’s ever going to hire me. I’m going to, you know, it it often happens at the end of the year. um I feel like my job is a little bit like being an actor. It’s like, you never know what your next job is going to be.
31:20.44
Lorie Jones
yeah
31:20.50
Rebecca Blacker
it feels that way in that, like, you know, just because you had a really good year or a really good quarter doesn’t mean that that’s going to continue. um and so I think what scares me is just like no one’s ever going to hire me again.
31:38.10
Rebecca Blacker
And that was what scared me at the beginning. Like, who’s going to hire me? Like, you know, um and. I’ve been told that every successful real estate broker says the exact same thing at the end of the year, which is I’m never going to be able to have that year again or I’m terrified or or what you know, something like that.
31:58.14
Lorie Jones
yeah
32:01.42
Rebecca Blacker
And um
32:05.85
Rebecca Blacker
So far, it’s it’s worked out. So I think just ah believing in myself.
32:10.04
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
32:14.84
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s hard. It is hard. Some days when you’re like, some days you’re on top of the world and you’re like, oh, everything’s wonderful. And then the next day you’re like, i didn’t do that right. And I didn’t do that right. And I didn’t measure up to my own expectations in this way. It’s, it’s, it is hard sometimes to always be supporting and positive of yourself.
32:37.37
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah, I know. It’s 100%. And I think now I have several women that look up to me and depend on me.
32:49.98
Rebecca Blacker
And so I feel like it’s that extra pressure of like needing to, you know, to perform at my very, very best because people are watching, you know.
32:57.91
Lorie Jones
um
33:07.29
Lorie Jones
So what do you do when you get in the doldrums? Like you look in a mirror and say, I am beautiful. I am great. Like what do you, how do you.
33:20.45
Rebecca Blacker
I think I’m really lucky in that I mentioned my dad. I’ll call my dad and I’ll just be like, I don’t know.
33:27.25
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
33:30.02
Rebecca Blacker
i think this is, you know, um not something’s not feeling right. you know, business feels slow or you know something. or
33:38.32
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
33:38.90
Rebecca Blacker
Or, you know, I can’t handle all this stuff with the kids. yeah Whatever it is. And, like, just getting… He’s a really good cheerleader for me.
33:49.85
Rebecca Blacker
um I also have like some really great friends at work that I can confide in who like have sort of known me from the beginning of the journey.
34:02.01
Lorie Jones
hu
34:02.26
Rebecca Blacker
And they’ll like, sit you know, like that one of them is actually the head of my firm. And she said to me the other day, she was like, do not forget like where you started.
34:17.53
Rebecca Blacker
And did, and I’m sure you never thought you would be where you are right now when you first started. So like, don’t forget that journey.
34:28.62
Rebecca Blacker
And, you know, and you should, you know, and like, you should be so proud and all those things. And so ah and so I’ll even say to her, can you please just say that to me like every month or every few months?
34:41.73
Rebecca Blacker
Like, I need to hear that.
34:42.56
Lorie Jones
I love that. I love that. I will do that with certain friends. I’m like, I just need to hear nice things about myself today.
34:48.66
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah.
34:48.90
Lorie Jones
Can you just tell me something nice?
34:52.63
Rebecca Blacker
And I don’t know, those, eventually, ah they so you start to take those things in.
34:59.81
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
35:02.36
Rebecca Blacker
But…
35:02.33
Lorie Jones
i I actually keep ah a list of like when I have clients that will reach out and say, hey, you it really made a difference or thank you so much for doing that. Or i am so happy that you’re you know you’re my financial advisor or something like that. And I’ll i’ll put those in like a ah ah file folder or in my CRM system. And when I’m having a really down day, I will go look at those things.
35:27.38
Rebecca Blacker
ah Good, as you should. Because I know you you sometimes just know an amount of self-talk helps. it um You almost need the outside, like somebody else to say it.
35:41.34
Lorie Jones
And I think it’s interesting. It’s so interesting that you didn’t point this out, but you have that bench ready, that supportive cheerleading bench, like ready and waiting. Like you don’t wait until you’re in the doldrums to go find the people to tell you you’re doing great.
35:53.56
Rebecca Blacker
yeah yeah
35:55.02
Lorie Jones
Like it’s like your bench is there with their pom-poms ready to cheer you on.
35:59.00
Rebecca Blacker
Right, right.
35:59.46
Lorie Jones
Right.
35:59.88
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah, it’s true. I know. Sometimes I’ll call my dad. He’ll just can hear it in my voice. He’ll be like, up one of those days, huh?
36:05.34
Lorie Jones
okay.
36:08.60
Rebecca Blacker
And I’m like, yes. And then, you know.
36:10.29
Lorie Jones
I love your dad. I don’t even know him and I love him.
36:15.09
Rebecca Blacker
He’s pretty fantastic. Yeah.
36:17.21
Lorie Jones
So did you face any unique challenges because you were a woman?
36:25.85
Rebecca Blacker
I think just… the the the balancing of it, of, you know, I can’t go to work and just be at work.
36:31.87
Lorie Jones
Mm
36:39.26
Rebecca Blacker
I have to make sure that you know, someone’s going to be home to pick up my kids. um Someone’s available to take them to this activity.
36:51.22
Rebecca Blacker
There’s food on the table. There’s paper towel, you know, that there that we have everything in the house.
36:55.30
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
36:57.48
Rebecca Blacker
Like, so, and and then when I’m at home, I can’t really turn work off just based on the way that my job is.
37:07.70
Rebecca Blacker
Like, ah it’s ah it’s a twenty four seven like, being available type of job. And so, I often wonder again, I’m, I’m a female. I’ve never been a man. I don’t know what the experience is of, of, of men, but i imagine that men are a little bit able to turn one off and turn one on, um, and not be kind of experiencing both at the same time always.
37:38.83
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
37:39.73
Rebecca Blacker
Um,
37:39.86
Lorie Jones
So they don’t have that little niggle in the back of their brain saying, did you get the field trip form signed? Is there bread in the house? What’s for dinner? Oh my gosh, what’s for dinner? Oh.
37:54.30
Rebecca Blacker
ah Yes, I imagine that most um men don’t have that ah experience, but I’m sure there are some that do. And I think it’s and it’s just something that’s empowering that that I and other women are able to do that.
38:20.38
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. i I had one guest one time who said, I’m just so amazed at how resilient women are. I’m just so amazed at all that we do and all that we’re asked to and all that we show up in so many ways and for so many people in our lives.
38:38.73
Lorie Jones
It really is inspiring.
38:40.20
Rebecca Blacker
It really is.
38:40.39
Lorie Jones
And watching, know, all the women as they on, like,
38:46.87
Lorie Jones
A bunch of roles, a bunch of different things that we have to get all done. um
38:52.06
Rebecca Blacker
true.
38:52.57
Lorie Jones
it It is inspiring sometimes, isn’t it?
38:55.58
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah. really is.
38:58.46
Lorie Jones
What is the thing you are most proud of, Rebecca?
39:03.54
Rebecca Blacker
My children.
39:04.76
Lorie Jones
ah
39:05.50
Rebecca Blacker
i said and Like, that’s really the most important thing to me and it’s what I’m most proud of. It’s just, like, i should be more specific about that.
39:18.20
Rebecca Blacker
That I’m… That they’re kind.
39:21.22
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
39:22.36
Rebecca Blacker
And that they are… um you know, they have empathy and that they are good friends and um respectful and all of those things.
39:36.46
Rebecca Blacker
Like, um it makes me so proud. Like, the the most the best compliment I could ever receive in life is, like, your kids are so nice. Your kids are so kind.
39:47.46
Rebecca Blacker
Or, you know, your kids they were so kind to my daughter when, you know, when she got hurt or something.
39:48.41
Lorie Jones
yeah
39:55.78
Rebecca Blacker
um
39:56.18
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
39:56.98
Rebecca Blacker
Like, I can go to sleep that night with a smile. Like, that is what I’m most proud of.
40:04.10
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that is that’s ah it’s always a good feeling when someone tells you that you’ve done a good job because you are doing two jobs, a mom and, you know, a real estate broker.
40:15.24
Lorie Jones
And, and a lot often we feel like maybe we aren’t measuring up in one area or the other area and that balance and that time for everything.
40:26.38
Lorie Jones
So yeah, it’s always nice to be told you’re doing a good job, huh?
40:29.50
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah, I guess that’s my, I guess that, you know, we were talking about the people that sort of give you your pep talk for work. It’s like, i guess it’s like other parents.
40:42.91
Rebecca Blacker
that’s That’s your pep talk for your at-home work.
40:47.35
Lorie Jones
Yeah. yeah And it’s important too, I think, that you have both, right?
40:52.04
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah, yeah.
40:52.69
Lorie Jones
ah Especially the teenage years. I’m i’m not sure. you You haven’t gotten there with your kids yet.
40:57.72
Rebecca Blacker
No, okay eight and six, so I’m not there yet.
40:58.46
Lorie Jones
but Yeah. I loved my teenagers, but I definitely needed a support crew during that time. Yeah.
41:10.01
Rebecca Blacker
I can imagine, yes.
41:14.71
Lorie Jones
um Any advice for a young lady who’s kind of just starting down this path that you’re already so successful at that might help her to get where you’re at?
41:24.49
Rebecca Blacker
I think my advice is that
41:34.01
Rebecca Blacker
it going to be hard and there are going to be really tough times and that there are like kind of seasons where like you’ll feel like you’re doing really amazing at being a mom and not so amazing at being at your work or your career or vice versa. And that there’s no perfect balance and it’s all hard, but that, you know, if you if you just stick with it and you have great supports and great mentors and um that that you could accomplish anything.
42:20.54
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I love that. I love that. And I love that message for our daughters too, right? i I’ve got three sons and so I like them to hear it too, but I think our daughters need to hear a little bit more often. Hey, you are, you’re doing good. You can accomplish anything you want to.
42:40.79
Lorie Jones
Maybe not all at the same time, but but but you can you can you can accomplish in anything you want to be. So great. Well, thank you so much for taking this time, Rebecca, just to sit down with me and share your knowledge.
42:49.55
Rebecca Blacker
Yeah. Yeah, this was
42:55.01
Lorie Jones
If I have a young lady who wants to ask some questions, how does she get in touch with you?
43:00.98
Rebecca Blacker
Sure. ah She can email me ah or they she can DM me on Instagram. My handle is at Rebecca Blacker.
43:13.59
Lorie Jones
Perfect. Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing your insight and and your story and your and your dad with us today. i really appreciate it.
43:25.06
Rebecca Blacker