How Do You Live Authentically and Live a Happy Life

[Music]

how do you

live authentically and live a happy life

does it mean having a job that you love

doesn’t mean making the money you’ve

always wished you would be making

doesn’t mean having a family and being a

great parent

to many of us living authentically and

living a happy life

can mean different things for me

living a happy life is doing something

that i love

which allows me to live a lifestyle that

i truly

and authentically enjoy as a little girl

i always dreamed of living in new york

city

i grew up in a small town called

lancaster pennsylvania

where we’re known for the amish and that

is our claim to fame

my mom told me when i was around the age

of eight we were tourists in new york

city

she said i looked up at the buildings

and said

i am going to live here someday

there is such innocence and a sense of

dreaming in this comment

coming from a child at this age but if

you knew the type of child i was

you would know this is a statement of

fact i

would be living in new york city one day

when i wanted something i was determined

to get it

as a child and even now

there are so many emotions when i think

about my childhood and growing up to

where i am now

i loved high school i was always happy

and active

when i received a scholarship to run

cross-country and tracking college

i thought this was the greatest gift

that i ever could have received

i was happy i was extremely grateful

and honored i was determined to make the

most of it

and i did after college

i followed the route i’d planned for

myself at the age of eight

i moved to new york city not knowing

anyone i moved into a basement apartment

in queens

with the heat that worked of times of

course it wouldn’t work when it was

below 30 degrees

there were no windows in the bedroom and

my roommate i found off of craigslist

and i survived no scary craigslist story

here

i didn’t want financial help from my

family for rent

food transportation etc and we all know

new york city is very expensive

i wanted to be successful on my own i

was determined

i wanted to find what made me genuinely

happy

just because i had a degree in

communications

that didn’t determine the type of job i

needed to get

i wanted to do something that made me

happy and allow me to

enjoy my life authentically i wanted to

do something that i was passionate about

that i woke up every day excited to do

and also

allow me the time to travel and have

hobbies that fueled my career

such as volunteering you think i would

say

never in my wildest dreams would i have

thought i’d be working my dream

job that i’m actually obsessed with

doing in a city i love

and enjoy working every single day

but it’s almost the complete opposite

i feel i created this lifestyle for

myself

it wasn’t easy but you can give yourself

the life

you want if you believe in yourself and

really push

if you really focus and have persistence

and drive

in high school you believe your next

steps are to go to college then you get

this degree

and all of a sudden life is passing you

by you’re not even working in an

industry you got your degree in

or maybe you are but then you’re like

wait

what is my passion and why aren’t i

doing it

why are we so accustomed to living this

life

you go to school you graduate you go to

college you get a degree

you get a job you retire

then you die that’s the american dream

so many people don’t even try to find

their passions

and they never take a risk like never

you always need to take risks and live

your life even if it’s uncertain

like i said i always dreamed of living

in new york city

since i was a tourist at the age of

eight okay

so i did watch a little sex in the city

i wanted to be carrie

with the fancy clothes the apartment in

the village going out on the fun dates

and the nice dinners but

i wanted to be her and live in the city

but i wanted to make it on my own

i didn’t feel that i wanted or needed

the help of others

i was determined to be my own person and

make my own

happiness i had to live my life and take

risks

big ones i’m really passionate about

what i do

and i did take a huge risk i always

wanted to work in residential real

estate with

ryan sirhant from the bravo tv show

million dollar listing new york

how would i possibly do that in an

industry that i had no experience in

knew no one within within the industry

and the job is a hundred percent

commission based

and the majority of the industry is

white

older men then there’s me

hey after emailing ryan for

two years every single month and getting

no response he finally emailed me back

i met him the interview went amazing

and he brought me onto his team with

very little experience

he saw something in me and the rest is

history

i must say i have a great boss and

leader

he’s a trailblazer and someone who gave

me the confidence to be the same

to be a trailblazer in an industry in

one of the top

real estate markets in the world that is

dominated by

white older men sounds pretty

intimidating huh

but if you find your people like for me

it’s my clients turned friends my

networking groups

my social media followers my real estate

peers and my team

if you find your people then you can

feel empowered to pursue

the true lifestyle that you want a

survey by the equal employment

opportunity commission stated that at a

senior level

only about 22 percent of new york city

real estate industry is women i won’t

lie

that’s a daunting and scary statistic

but

i pushed forward because no statistic or

moody client

would stop me from achieving my dreams

this business wasn’t necessarily made

for me

and i wasn’t sure if i would even be

accepted

but i knew if anyone could push through

and rise to the top

it was me i wanted to work with ryan for

the confidence and that platform

to help support my goals and dreams find

someone who inspires you

i’ve had very emotional discussions with

my boss about

colleagues and clients who have talked

down to me

and even to this day they talk down to

me and they belittle me

i stay positive and i kill everyone with

kindness

and kindness and hard work doesn’t have

a race

an age or a gender in this industry

it’s about humanity in sales humanity

wins

and humanity sells in my industry

you really need to work hard even if

your business doesn’t have many of your

demographic

you know walking into a sales pitch or a

meeting

it’s rare to see someone who looks like

me

i’m doing what makes me happy and it is

rewarding for all the people who helped

shape

my life people want to work with me

because i am

happy i am genuine i show my clients i

work hard

i am loyal patient and dedicated because

i am confident in who i am

and in my passion for this career in

life you don’t have to limit yourself to

one passion

for me it’s about my career in real

estate traveling the world

incorporation of fitness in my life and

doing volunteer work you have to allow

yourself

the opportunity to try many things and

experiment with many passions

the idea of living and taking risks has

to be something that you are

okay with it may be uncomfortable and

scary

but that’s what risks are try not to be

afraid of failure

and if you fail what happens

you use that fuel to light your fire and

build yourself back up

if you have a passion go after it no

matter what someone tells you

or society says is the norm you need to

build a life that’s happy for you

just in case you need this reminder

dreams really do come true

you need to be persistent driven

confident

and you need to find your people

it’s never too late to live

authentically and to live with passion

there are so many reasons to be happy

what does living a happy life mean to

you

thank you