Rising Stars: Meet Gretchen Blase

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gretchen Blase.

Hi Gretchen, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started my career as a high school math teacher. I had come to a point in my teaching career where I was craving a change. I needed to find a new path that would use my skills but provide new challenges and a different pace. I had been thinking about the possibility of real estate because my dear friend and neighbor had her own real estate team and I had been watching her career. One morning in 2017, we were having coffee on my back porch and I told her I needed a new direction with my career and she said, “Gretchen, you would be a great realtor. Teachers make awesome realtors.” This was the push I needed! I told her I would talk to my husband about joining her team and get back to her in a few weeks with my decision. I looked into the cost of starting a real estate career. I thought about the steady salary I would lose as a teacher.

And, the biggest factor, I saw the freedom I would now have over my own time and the direction of my business. I had come to a point in my teaching career where I was craving a change. I needed to find a new path that would use my skills but provide new challenges and a different pace. I had been thinking about the possibility of real estate because my dear friend and neighbor had her own real estate team and I had been watching her career. One morning in 2017, we were having coffee on my back porch and I told her I needed a new direction with my career and she said, “Gretchen, you would be a great realtor. Teachers make awesome realtors.” This was the push I needed! I told her I would talk to my husband about joining her team and get back to her in a few weeks with my decision. I looked into the cost of starting a real estate career. I thought about the steady salary I would lose as a teacher. And, the biggest factor, I saw the freedom I would now have over my own time and the direction of my business.

I had come to a point in my teaching career where I was craving a change. I needed to find a new path that would use my skills but provide new challenges and a different pace. I had been thinking about the possibility of real estate because my dear friend and neighbor had her own real estate team and I had been watching her career. One morning in 2017, we were having coffee on my back porch and I told her I needed a new direction with my career and she said, “Gretchen, you would be a great realtor. Teachers make awesome realtors.” This was the push I needed! I told her I would talk to my husband about joining her team and get back to her in a few weeks with my decision. I looked into the cost of starting a real estate career. I thought about the steady salary I would lose as a teacher. And, the biggest factor, I saw the freedom I would now have over my own time and the direction of my business.

I now tell people that instead of teaching students about math, I educate clients about selling and buying homes. I am able to use my skills as a good communicator to help my clients feel like they are being heard and kept up to date during the sometimes very stressful process of selling and buying a home. As a teacher, I worked with students from all different backgrounds and this is really no different in real estate. No two clients are the same. Each client has their own story for why they want to buy or sell their home. When I was a teacher, I had to figure out how to motivate my students and what made them tick. With my real estate clients, it is very similar. I need to discover what is important to them when buying a home and what they want most from their sale. When I had a student I was teaching that was really struggling, most of the time it had nothing to do with my class or what they were learning. The same thing is true with my clients. Life is messy and it does not stop while buying or selling a home. I work hard to make the process as stress-free and smooth as is humanly possible for each of my clients. Buying and selling a home does not have to be stressful. Stay positive, know your business and good things will happen.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Real estate can be stressful. I have had to learn to keep my emotions level because my client’s emotions are all over the place when they are stressed about buying or selling a home.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a realtor who specializes in buying and selling homes in the Denver Metro area.

I started my career as a high school math teacher. I now tell people that instead of teaching students about math, I educate clients about selling and buying homes. I am able to use my skills as a good communicator to help my clients feel like they are being heard and kept up to date during the sometimes very stressful process of selling and buying a home. As a teacher, I worked with students from all different backgrounds and this is really no different in real estate. No two clients are the same. Each client has their own story for why they want to buy or sell their home. When I was a teacher, I had to figure out how to motivate my students and what made them tick. With my real estate clients, it is very similar. I need to discover what is important to them when buying a home and what they want most from their sale. When I had a student I was teaching that was really struggling, most of the time it had nothing to do with my class or what they were learning. The same thing is true with my clients. Life is messy and it does not stop while buying or selling a home. I work hard to make the process as stress-free and smooth as is humanly possible for each of my clients. Buying and selling a home does not have to be stressful.

I have a strong faith in Jesus Christ and I pray a lot for my clients and their transaction. I am thankful for the opportunity to get to help people. I believe being a realtor is all about helping people achieve their goals.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I am a firstborn, type “A” personality. I have always been an achiever. I am a natural leader and I do not mind pushing hard to get what I want. I have always been very active. I played field hockey on a D1 scholarship in college. I have run 9 marathons and finished a 1/2 Ironman. I am an avid hiker and backpacker and will finish the Colorado Trail, 486 miles, next summer. I love to travel! Last year I hiked in Nepal and will be returning in 2023 to hike to Everest Base Camp. I love being married to my husband Bill, of 25 years. I am passionate about my kids who are now young adults. I also have two border collies who love to get out and run and hike with me. Family is very important to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thenewdoorgroup.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchen_thenewdoorgroup/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gretchenatthenewdoorgroup/