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Life and Work with Jen Allen

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Allen.

Jen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Indiana and graduated from Purdue University in 2001 with a degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management. After graduation, I worked in a variety of industries, from non-profits to large corporations. I grew to understand the key principles of customer satisfaction, marketing, and business development through my professional experience and my MBA earned from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

In 2014, I discovered that real estate was the ideal combination of my desire to help others and my expertise in marketing, negotiation, and communication. I worked with both large brokerages and boutique firms, learning best practices from both, before starting Aim Realty in January of 2018.

Great, 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?
The road has been anything but smooth. My intent was to use my undergrad degree to work in tourism as a tour director with a private travel club I had interned with. However, I graduated in December 2001 and the travel industry was at a complete standstill. I ended up following my college boyfriend to where his work took him, which lead me to northern Indiana, Portland, and St. Louis.

Eventually, that relationship ended and I had put my career aspirations on the back burner with each move and struggled to find work that paid a decent wage or had the ability to move up the ladder. I decided that it would be best to go ahead and get my MBA while I decided my next steps. During that time, I met my husband and we had two boys. When I graduated with my MBA in 2010, we had a two-year-old and a two-month-old. Plus, we were in the middle of the recession and I couldn’t even get an interview. My husband had been laid off from his job and we were struggling to make ends meet.

After a few years of this, we decided to take a leap of faith and change our environment. We had visited friends in the Denver area and realized that it wasn’t hit nearly as hard with the economic downturn. We had no jobs and had to short sale our house, but decided it was necessary to get a fresh start. It was the best decision we could have made. It still took us about three more years to really get back on our feet, but by the end of 2015, I had a year of real estate experience and my husband was working a full-time job with benefits. All of the struggle we went through makes me a more empathetic person and much better at my job.

My advice for women just starting their journey is to take the next best step and learn from every success and failure. I wouldn’t change my own journey because it is what has made me who I am, but if I had a daughter I would tell her to never put her own aspirations on the back burner for a man.

Please tell us about Aim Realty.
I am a full-time REALTOR® in Broomfield, Colorado, and the owner of Aim Realty. I work with Buyers and Sellers in the North Denver Metro area and am known for my attention to detail and clear communication throughout each real estate transaction. My hands-on style and collaborative approach to problem-solving have earned me a well-respected reputation, among both my clients and peers in the industry.

I am most proud of my ability to give back to my community through Aim Realty. We have an adopted shelf with Broomfield FISH and give back through philanthropic efforts with schools and other organizations on a continual basis. I also started an initiative called Life in Broomfield where I interview local business owners and help promote their business on my Life in Broomfield Facebook Page and web site. I am excited to continue to connect with even more business owners in the future to find ways we can partner and help each other grow.

There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
My best advice is to be authentic. I don’t want anyone to think that I am above challenges and the need for help or advice. I am continuously learning and know that I will be for the rest of my life. If you meet someone who knows everything and wants to mentor you, run. Some of my best business relationships are with other Realtors outside of my organization and the fact that we can be honest and uplifting with each other in such a competitive industry helps all of us. I prefer my networking to happen organically because that is what yields the best results.

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Image Credit:
Noah Berg

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