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Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tenzo's Birthday!
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First official date night with Har
Har & I have been together for 7 years come March and now that he's graduated and working now we've instituted date night. If anyone out there who has been in a LTR knows, after so many years, you have to make an extra effort to keep things exciting and interesting. The idea is that we'll take turns making plans for each other.
I got the ball rolling and we will be dining & wining at a restaurant that I see anytime I'm on the 134 freeway heading east - I always thought it looked cool and what better time is there to try something new than now? :)
Gettin' crunk at Crunch
I've been taking a class called "Videography" at the gym on Wednesdays, which is a fancy name for hip-hop cardio. I've taken cardio dance classes in the past since I joined the gym, but never found myself able to keep up with the various 8 counts and complicated choreography once we get to the "let's take it to tempo!" stage. Freestyle dance with my boyfriend at a club I can do; dance routines? Not so much.
Still, I'm not a quitter, so I just keep going each week looking like a fool with two left feet. But wait, there's more! Not only do I royally stumble on the steps, but we also have to "perform" as we are broken off into 2 separate groups while the other watches. So now there's performance anxiety to boot! ha ha ha! Surprisingly, it really doesn't bother me much at all. Here I am, surrounded by a mix of wannabe dancers to hardcore dancers who pick up the routine "like that", and then the gay guys who make it look better than most of the women in the room ha ha! Luckily, there are other non-pros in the room who are having just as hard, if not a harder time than I am.
Well, I can admit that I am not naturally born with Janet Jackson dance skills, but damn I actually kind of got the routine down today! So I could actually focus on making it flow from one move to the next instead of Mr. Roboto-ing it from one count to the next. So now I'm motivated to keep at it now that I know that a little practice and mind numbing concentration helps me shake my bon-bon like a pro. Now if only I could start a dance routine in a club - the way that musicals break out in song and dance in a random, unnatural fashion. Then I could show off my newfound skills..ha ha ha!
Still, I'm not a quitter, so I just keep going each week looking like a fool with two left feet. But wait, there's more! Not only do I royally stumble on the steps, but we also have to "perform" as we are broken off into 2 separate groups while the other watches. So now there's performance anxiety to boot! ha ha ha! Surprisingly, it really doesn't bother me much at all. Here I am, surrounded by a mix of wannabe dancers to hardcore dancers who pick up the routine "like that", and then the gay guys who make it look better than most of the women in the room ha ha! Luckily, there are other non-pros in the room who are having just as hard, if not a harder time than I am.
Well, I can admit that I am not naturally born with Janet Jackson dance skills, but damn I actually kind of got the routine down today! So I could actually focus on making it flow from one move to the next instead of Mr. Roboto-ing it from one count to the next. So now I'm motivated to keep at it now that I know that a little practice and mind numbing concentration helps me shake my bon-bon like a pro. Now if only I could start a dance routine in a club - the way that musicals break out in song and dance in a random, unnatural fashion. Then I could show off my newfound skills..ha ha ha!
Broker training boot camp - month one
As of January 2008, I have officially embarked on my journey into the challenging yet lucrative career as a commissioned real estate broker. My firm specializes in representing retail tenants and shopping center landlords in the North Los Angeles area. Luckily, we have not felt the sting that our residential counterparts have with the subprime crisis and looming recession. Deals are still getting down, however, we have definitely slowed down - industry experts predict "cautious optimism" in the current climate.
Needless to say, 2008 is a challenging time to enter the market as a budding real estate mogette to be. Not only is there a vast amount of knowledge to soak up, an acclimation to a commission versus salaried structure, and the newbie factor, but I am also facing the ugly head of a recession.
However, perspective is everything and I see opportunity. Anyone can do well when the economy is cranking and the market is hot. It takes real skill and savvy to not just survive, but thrive when times are tough. What I learn now will make me 10x the broker I would have been had I started training in a hot market, where deals can be done with your eyes closed. If I can learn and succeed now, just think about what I'll do when the economy bounces back and deals are plentiful. Not to mention, I am training with the best in the business - and that makes all the difference right there.
As far as my experience thus far, a lot of my training has been driving our trade area and familiarizing myself with the subtleties of each city. I'm still adapting to the organic structure of my work day; in previous positions including the management position I held before I was promoted, there was immediate gratification - I had "x" amount of tasks with various short term deadlines and I executed them. Now, I have "x" amount of tasks that I slowly chip away at in order to reach longer term goals by "planting seeds" that will soon be the lifeblood of my career.
Today I realized how much I am going to love this business - I set up a meeting with a great restaurant tenant in Burbank, CA. that I personally frequent. My senior broker and another trainee attended as well.
It's exciting when your efforts bear fruit - how cool is it that I went out and identified the opportunity, contacted the owner, set up a meeting, and established a working relationship to secure potential deals with a great restaurateur within my first month. The icing on the cake is that the CEO of the restaurant is so gracious, humble, intelligent, and kind. What a enormous difference it makes when you work and surround yourself with people like this.
Needless to say, 2008 is a challenging time to enter the market as a budding real estate mogette to be. Not only is there a vast amount of knowledge to soak up, an acclimation to a commission versus salaried structure, and the newbie factor, but I am also facing the ugly head of a recession.
However, perspective is everything and I see opportunity. Anyone can do well when the economy is cranking and the market is hot. It takes real skill and savvy to not just survive, but thrive when times are tough. What I learn now will make me 10x the broker I would have been had I started training in a hot market, where deals can be done with your eyes closed. If I can learn and succeed now, just think about what I'll do when the economy bounces back and deals are plentiful. Not to mention, I am training with the best in the business - and that makes all the difference right there.
As far as my experience thus far, a lot of my training has been driving our trade area and familiarizing myself with the subtleties of each city. I'm still adapting to the organic structure of my work day; in previous positions including the management position I held before I was promoted, there was immediate gratification - I had "x" amount of tasks with various short term deadlines and I executed them. Now, I have "x" amount of tasks that I slowly chip away at in order to reach longer term goals by "planting seeds" that will soon be the lifeblood of my career.
Today I realized how much I am going to love this business - I set up a meeting with a great restaurant tenant in Burbank, CA. that I personally frequent. My senior broker and another trainee attended as well.
It's exciting when your efforts bear fruit - how cool is it that I went out and identified the opportunity, contacted the owner, set up a meeting, and established a working relationship to secure potential deals with a great restaurateur within my first month. The icing on the cake is that the CEO of the restaurant is so gracious, humble, intelligent, and kind. What a enormous difference it makes when you work and surround yourself with people like this.
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