After returning home from the Peace Corps in Madagascar in 2019, I knew that whatever I did next needed to fill me up in the same way that serving in the Peace Corps did. Leading up to the Peace Corps and once I was there, it was the first time in my life I felt excited to answer when someone asked the dreaded question “so what do you do?”.

I felt eager and proud to share how I got to travel to a far away land and live and work in the rainforest in tiny health clinics with my local community. It was rewarding and fulfilling to create relationships within the village of a few hundred people, dozens of miles away from any English speakers.

I discovered the way to build trust was to let go of my Americanized beliefs about how to do things, and immerse myself into their world to discover what they wanted, not what I thought they needed.

Coming home, I asked myself, what could I do here back home in America where I could again work together with people on long term projects that mattered to them, that could improve their everyday lives, where I could ask questions to discover wants and needs, and build relationships that transcended the project once it was completed.

My dad was a Realtor growing up, so I knew of the profession, though I never considered it for myself. That is until I noticed how the traits that made me successful in the Peace Corps translated to being a real estate agent!

Six years later and having served hundreds of clients with selling and buying property, many of whom are now my close community members, I am so glad I asked the question, “how can I feel the same pride in my profession and serve my community here in America the same way I did in the Peace Corps?”.