Stephanie Welter, a realtor with Keller Williams Realty, sits down with Scott Sanders and Jarrett Svensen of Bright Leaf Homes on this episode of The Real Estate Moguls Podcast.
Scott started Bright Leaf Homes, a custom home building and remodeling company, back in 2008 after working in production home building. He didn’t like the cookie cutter style that he saw and knew he wanted to create something different.
Over a decade later, Bright Leaf now has 16 employees and has developed an effective business model:
“As we grew as a company, we realized what we wanted. Take the home building experience and package it all together to be sort of a one-stop shop. Part of that is having somebody who can help clients find a piece of property, help clients find a home to renovate or a piece of land to build on, help clients sell their existing property, help clients do mortgage financing, all of it.”
Jarrett saw what Bright Leaf was doing from the side lines and knew he needed to be a part of it. A Science Teacher turned real estate agent, Jarrett lived in an area that Bright Leaf started developing heavily in. What drew him in was the scientific approach to what they were doing.
“So I started lingering. I started stalking them a little bit and then one day I reached out to Scott directly and I'm like, I don't know what I can do for you, but I know I can do something for you.”
That led to Jarrett starting and becoming the managing broker of Bright Leaf Realty.
Together, along with the other 14 members of the Bright Leaf family, they are not only selling custom home builds and renovations, they are investing in educating their clients on every step of the process.
“We're not really selling people on what we are building. We're educating people on what we're building.”
Listen to this episode of The Real Estate Moguls podcast to learn more about Scott’s journey to building Bright Leaf, how they’ve created their success, a breakdown of what the process of wanting to build a house really looks like, and more.
Stephanie Welter is a Chicago girl through and through. Growing up in Jefferson Park with her siblings and neighborhood friends, everything about her upbringing, according to Stephanie, was pleasant. Her mom had a saying that always seemed to bring everything into perspective: “I know a bad day and this ain’t one.”
“She completely formed my mindset, which I call the deathbed theory. It's everyday I picture if I was on my deathbed, I would look back on today and, I’d just want one more normal day. One more day of my toddler crying and getting syrup on my good couch, you know?”
Stephanie has taken this positive approach she’s learned from her mom and applies it to all aspects of her life. Everyone has challenges, but for Stephanie it’s about maintaining empathy but not letting emotion control her and always coming up with a plan.
She also shares the beautiful story of how her and her husband came together. From growing up together as kids in the Northwestern side of Chicago never thinking they’d ever end up dating, to getting married, having kids and creating a beautiful life together.
As a person who has dealt with anxiety and panic attacks, Stephanie shares her own personal journey of how she’s been able to constantly remind herself in those moments to take a step back and shift her mindset in that moment. She calls her process identifying her three gorillas: black, blue, and pink or as she translates it: worry, guilt, and dopamine.
“If you give it a name, it takes away its power, but I gave it more than a name. I made them into gorillas.”
Tune in on this episode of The Face of Chicago Business podcast to hear more about Stephanie’s story from family, to her career journey, to her advice on how to manage the tough things in life.
Topics: Real Estate Broker, Investor
