Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Novak.
Ashley, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Sales has always been a part of my life. My grandfather owned a car dealership and I grew up at the dealership with a family full of salespeople including my mom.
Throughout high school, I worked in various commission based jobs from selling shoes to windshields to getting people to refinance their mortgages, but towards the end of high school I opted for a different path outside of sales and enlisted in the United States Air Force. I left for basic training six months after graduating high school and six days before Christmas. That decision was a game changer for me and took me completely out of my comfort zone, but a great overall life decision.
I was assigned to a finance and contracting unit and had several positions throughout my four-year enlistment, but contracting and acquisitions was by far the most interesting to me. I went into the military when I was only nineteen years old so I was tasked with huge responsibilities of managing and negotiating multi-million dollar contracts on behalf of the Department of Defense and Air Force. I think my time in the military has helped me in my real estate career more than I could have ever imagined, but that’s a story in itself!
After separating from the military, I moved to Los Angeles to follow my dream of living in California! At this point, I didn’t know exactly what my career goals were so I finished my bachelor’s degree and while in school I decided to get my real estate license and started with Rodeo Realty. My sales, contracting, and finance background were a good fit because I’ve been selling residential real estate ever since!
About a year ago, I teamed up with my fiancé, Jonathan Schultz, and now we have an amazing business partnership. It’s really a great fit because he has a strong business management background and is so motivated and hard-working that he brings the best out in me and vice versa and our clients really benefit. I love my career and that I get to work with my fiancé and best friend. I am so grateful that my unconventional path brought me down this road!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When I first started in real estate, my perception was Million Dollar Listing. Agents show beautiful homes and your client finds his or her dream home on the first showing and you write offers on cocktail napkins and everyone is happy. That perception couldn’t be further from the truth. You are building a business from the bottom up and it is a very competitive. You deal with a lot of rejection and that can be a blow to the ego especially when you are starting out, but you get to a point where your drive is bigger than your fear and you just go for it! There have been clients we’ve called, mailed, door knocked, etc. twenty times before they sat down with us so we try to keep that in the back of our minds. We take every opportunity to learn and fill our tool belt so we can better serve our clients and make their home buying or selling experience as smooth as possible because we know it’s a very personal and emotional time.
Rodeo Realty – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are currently realtors at Rodeo Realty, which is one of the top brokerages in Los Angeles. Rodeo Realty is one of the largest independently owned residential real estate firms in California, but maintains the feeling of your friendly boutique neighborhood realtor. We sell homes primarily on the Westside of Los Angeles, but have sold properties all over the city. We work with a wide-range of clients from families to investors, but a large portion of our client base are first-time home buyers and homeowners who have previously listed their home without a successful sale. Jonathan and I are very hands-on realtors and really take an interest in our clients and their goals.
It sounds cliché, but we are genuinely invested in our clients and care about their best interest. We work hard to take the stress and tension out of the real estate transaction for our clients with a persona driven process flow plan individualized to each of our client’s needs. We know that repeat and referral business are vital to being successful in real estate and really focus on the client experience and overall satisfaction. So many of our clients have transitioned from clients to friends and I think that makes us enjoy this business even more and it reflects.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
In real estate, it is all about numbers. Your success is based on sales, gross commission, total transactions, etc. and of course that is an important factor in operating a business, but I like to measure my success on more than numbers. I think in the social media age especially, we have so much pressure and are constantly measuring our success and accomplishments against others. I work hard to acknowledge my progress and growth year after year and celebrate the little wins just as much as the big wins. For me, if I’m growing and evolving as a person and business woman than its success to me.
Contact Info:
- Address: 11940 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90049 - Website: www.EstateLA.com
- Phone: 424.333.5340 or 424.324.8537
- Email: ashleynovak@rodeore.com or jonathan.schultz@rodeore.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleynovakre/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleynovakre/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AshleyNovakRE?lang=en
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ashley-novak-los-angeles
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-novak-63312323/
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