FLM: Tell me the defining moment of when you decided to get into real estate.
MG: I was purchasing my first home and actually found a place advertised in the newspaper and found a realtor to show it to me. Not only did this realtor not find the home for me, but she didn’t do a single thing of what a decent realtor should have done with pulling comps, suggesting inspection and final walk through, etc. I ended up purchasing the condo, but it was not completed and still under construction the day I received the keys. Thank goodness the seller eventually finished the job, but it really left me in the worst possible position and was just an awful experience. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to be a Realtor and do the EXACT opposite of what she had done, or shall I say, not done for me. I wanted to provide a hand holding experience from beginning to end with the client and have a detailed list of specifically what to expect from the beginning of the home search until closing and that is exactly what I did.
FLM: Describe how your personal battle with cancer impacted your business journey as you worked to get healthy.
MG: When I got diagnosed with breast cancer, it was in December 2011, during the middle of the recession, and all I was only selling foreclosures… and many of them! Rewind back to the beginning of 2011, I was pregnant with my first and only child and during my pregnancy, I felt a lump on my right breast but didn’t think anything of it, as I assumed it was a clogged milk duct. I remember showing my mother, who had fought and beat breast cancer a few years prior, and she said to most definitely get it checked out and it was because of her that I did, but not until a bit later. On May 13, 2011, I had my daughter and had one day of maternity leave, because as a realtor, you don’t get maternity leave! I worked constantly while taking care of my newborn and after 3 months went by and I realized I never went in for a check-up. I eventually ended up going in because I had a bit of spotting and was concerned. The doctor asked how I was feeling, because to my surprise I was pregnant again. I couldn’t believe it! The doctor said that we needed to monitor the spotting as I could be having a miscarriage and within 24 hours, I did.
The next day while in the office, I told the
doctor that I was also very
concerned about the lump
in my right breast. He
believed it was a clogged
milk duct as well and wanted
to monitor it for the next 6
months. I wasn’t comfortable
with that answer because I
had many family members
diagnosed with breast
cancer. He ordered a
mammogram, but it took
over 4 months to get one. I
had my mammogram and on
Dec 28th, 2011 they called to
tell me that that I had Stage
2, triple negative breast
cancer and was BRCA1+. On
that day, I realized, life was
changed as we knew it as I
needed to make some major
life choices and figure out
what I needed to do to beat
this and be around for my
daughter.