Meet Gretchen Blase | Associate Broker, Realtor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gretchen Blase and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gretchen, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I decided to start my own business in real estate after years of teaching high school math. 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 loose as a teacher. And, the biggest factor, I saw the freedom I would now have over my own time and direction of my business. In my head, I weighed what was the worst and best thing that could happen with my choice. The worst was that it would not work out, I’d spend some money trying to start my business and I would go back to teaching. The best was, I would find a new career where I was in charge of my own time, how I would grow my business and there was no limit on what I could achieve. Five years later I am still a realtor and loving my decision to start my own business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
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. Stay positive, know your business and good things will happen.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Go to a sport event (Broncos, Rockies, Avalanche or Nuggets)

Eat at Denver Biscuit Company for breakfast.

Visit Pearl Street in Boulder on a weekend evening or day.

Hike around Chautauqua. If they are early birds, hike up Sanitas in the morning and then eat breakfast at Snooze.

Head up to Breckenridge for a day, walk around, eat at the Canteen.

Visit Fort Collins and explore Old Town.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Amy Ballain – She is my dear friend, neighbor, team leader and mentor in my business.

Website: https://www.thenewdoorgroup.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchen_thenewdoorgroup/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-blase-80b34020/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gretchenatthenewdoorgroup