Today we’d like to introduce you to KiKi Williams
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is KiKi, I was born and raised in St. Louis and lived here my whole life. I did the traditional “Midwest” things like get married, have a child, be the wife and mom, you know, the family thing. For some reason though, I felt empty. As I reevaluated where I was in life I decided that it was time to get a divorce but I asked my (ex)husband to leave first; then in 2020 the pandemic hit. For the first time in my adult life it was just me and my daughter and with us being homebound w/ nothing to do, all I could do was sit with my thoughts. Do not get me wrong, I loved being home because I had all the time in the world to listen to my baby girl, time that I hadn’t had before. We sat and talked, laughed, she even taught me some TikTok dances, that’s a sight that nobody wants to see lol. We had deep conversations about what we were going to do now that her dad was gone. The more we were quarantined the more my childhood dreams resurfaced and I remembered that I wanted to be a real estate agent. Now, inside of marriage I could not take on another task but now that my marriage was over I aimed to do everything that I had ever wanted to do. Real estate was a thought but I didn’t pursue it until 2022 after the divorce was final. I was invited to a career seminar by a friend and fell in love. I took the course, passed the test and was so proud to finally say that “I am a Realtor”.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Real estate is NOT for the weak. You have to have, or you have to grow thick skin. Sometime you are told “no” and it doesn’t necessarily have to be personal, sometimes it’s just not the right time for someone to purchase a home. Real estate is nothing that I thought it would be either. There is a lot on the back end that doesn’t get talked about, like for example, hosting an open house, one would think that you just unlock the door and sit in the home for two hours then you leave when time is up. It takes a few hours before the open house to prep because you have to learn about the area, as well as the schools and you have to know details about the home so that you can answer any questions that visitors may have, and they always have questions so you have to be prepared. You also have to put out directional signs days before the open house, and some areas/ sub divisions do not allow that until the night before or day of, you also have to market the open house, so it is more than just unlocking the door and sitting waiting for people to show up. That’s just a small, but not full example of behind the scenes of a real estate process, there’s so much more.
I have to be real here, I thought that with my personality I would come in and sell homes to anyone that spoke to me, it’s confidence not arrogance lol. I though that every person I met would just want to work with me and I would sell every person a home. It’s not that easy. You have to be so on point to be a real estate agent, you have to follow up with every human that you meet and keep following up. Let’s not talk about the contracts, learning those is a whole different ball game. These are big transactions and there are lots of dotting of I’s and crossing of T’s involved, so much so that it could have you doubting your intellect when something goes unnoticed, but we have an absolutely amazing admin team and they don’t let anything slip between the cracks. I say all that to say that as difficult as it can be, and the industry is going through a big change right now, I love being a real estate agent and I wouldn’t trade it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
One thing that I have never realized about myself but it’s been mentioned to me by many, many people, is that I make people feel comfortable, and I’m easy to talk to. People often tell me that there is an “aura about you”. The first time I heard it, I didn’t understand it because I’m just being me, going through everyday life being myself wholeheartedly, living and learning. I can talk to anyone just about anything and this pink hair is a magnet for conversations lol. Whenever someone sparks up a conversation with me, I let them, I never rush the conversation along because you never know what another person is going through (I hear A LOT of things) or how a simple chit chat with a complete stranger can impact an individual’s day or mood. I ask a lot of questions and its quite often welcomed and reciprocated with them answering and keeping the conversation going. I’m genuinely interested in what other’s have to say about their life’s path. You never know what you can learn.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Human connection is important to me. In a world full of screens and social media, having the opportunity to sit down and talk to someone without the distraction of a device is what I enjoy most at this part of my life. We are all so busy, sometimes doing nothing, and we hide behind being busy, and our devices that I think that we don’t connect like we should. People used to talk to one another way more pre text message, SnapChat and TikTok, all fun apps but I feel like we need more connection in the world today. People have stories to tell and they are much more enjoyable hearing them talk about them because we tend to get theatrical when we speak and that makes it fun. Give me human connection all day over some words on a screen, I want to see your face, your body language, I want to see your reaction to what I have to say to you and I want you to see mine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kikiwilliamsrealestate.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ms.kiki.williams/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kikiwilliamsrealestate
