#KeepPlaying redux
#KeepPlaying by Ashlee Cameron
Ashlee has been part of the Fairway Fam since January 2015 & is currently a Co-Branch Manager out of Silverdale, WA.
When I tell people I used to live in a bus, on an island, with an outhouse, they don’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me either. I am rarely caught without lashes or high heels, I’m good for a day hike, but count me out for camping; and in all fairness, I’m a bit extra, so I get it.
But it happened. I had just turned 21, dropped out of college, no plan, no degree, parents’ basement, credit score in the low 5’s. I like to refer to this time period as my “early life crisis”. I was aimless, terrified and all I could think was, “Come on Ash, change it”. So I ran away to an Island, because I could and who cares?
A year later, I came home -Blissed out from Island life, sun kissed, and jobless. I found employment quickly, scanning documents in the basement of a real estate company bringing them into the digital world.
I blinked, and suddenly here I am. Turning 33 on Saturday, still very much in love with my career and pondering how in the heck I’ve been in the real estate game for 11 years.
What a WILD ride. Real Estate; the ultimate rollercoaster. And I’m obsessed.
Every time we close a loan, every time I get the opportunity to play a small role in helping someone achieve what is still in large part the American Dream, I’m back in line for more tickets, cheering, “Let’s go again”
I hear the masses, the media, the world saying, “well, the market is down”, to which I find myself thinking “who cares”. I’m helping people obtain homeownership, because people still need houses. Because people still need mortgages. Because I can.
The truth is, a part of my heart will always be with that girl in a bus on Lopez Island. I catch glimpses of that her in my day to day, bartending at the marina, frolicking on 5 acres, cooking over a fire, and it makes me smile. She still exists.
In the not so brilliant moments, I can hear her saying, “Come on, Ash, change it”
We can’t change the market. We can’t change the rates. I am no longer 22 -there is no Island to run to.
The only way to change it, is to make the calls, set the appointments, do the flippin work. Stay on the ride.
And I’m for it. I’m in it. I want to go again. Year 11, but because I’m extra, hands up this time. Let’s Go!
