Meet Rachel Wysocky | Residential and Commercial Real Estate Agent

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

Hi Rachel, let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?
I really put a lot of thought into this question because my legacy and what I would leave behind for future generations is something that’s incredibly important to me.

The more I’ve thought about what I would want to leave behind the most, the more I think about my past experiences, more specifically, how they’ve led me to where I currently am in life and the influence they’re going to continue to have on my future and how I could use those to help people.

First, some backstory. I have a past in law enforcement. Ever since I was young, a career in law enforcement was the only thing I’ve ever seen myself doing and I was fortunate to be hired by the government as a federal agent essentially right out of college. As one of the youngest in my academy class, I felt on top of the world and thought that was the beginning of the rest of my life in my dream career.

Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen circumstances, that dream life was short lived. Naturally, like any other probably over-dramatic young adult who was under the impression the dream life they always pictured was gone, I thought my life was over and questioned if I would ever feel that same feeling of success and accomplishment that I felt when I initially landed my government job.

In the years following that experience, I found myself bouncing from job to job; trying my hand at different careers, building different skill sets, and chasing the feeling of pride and success. I went from teaching to bartending to contracted federal jobs to local government jobs and worked with everyone from children and adolescents, to individuals with various disabilities, to young adults starting out in life, to established professionals in their career, and even animals for a bit. I learned how to effectively talk to people and was privileged to be able to ask them questions and hear their stories, both good and bad, and how they got to be where they were in life.

Ultimately, my ability to work effectively with people and build rapport caused me to contemplate another career change and I put myself through real estate school.

Initially, I intended on only doing real estate part time as I was working a different full time job, but within a couple of months, I began doing real estate full time. When I first started at my current office, VIP Real Estate, I sat with our amazingly talented marketing director and senior staff members to come up with a marketing plan to help ensure this “new start” would be successful. When they asked about my life and what led me to real estate, I told them my story and we thought about how we could take my past experiences, mainly the experiences that had a negative connotation in my mind from when I was a first responder, and turn them into something I could correlate with a positive experience; something that I could feel proud of and something that would make me feel fulfilled and give me that sense of accomplishment and success that I’ve chased for so long.

Naturally, any successful real estate transaction is going to be a positive experience and have a feeling of success attached to it, so we devised a way to share the success of my “new start” with first responders. I have a personal understanding of how hard these individuals work everyday and the types of difficult situations they encounter and the effects they can have on a person, and felt that without my negative experiences while I was in that capacity, I wouldn’t be where I am today or experiencing this success. So, to give back to the people in those professions, I’m donating 5% of my commission from any residential real estate transaction involving a first responder to their agency/department (or any organization/charity they partner with) so that they could get new uniforms, equipment, apparatus, fix their facilities, etc. Since first responders aren’t the only people contributing to my success, I want to make sure all of my clients have a positive experience and know that I appreciate them for working with me and that I support them just as much as I support first responders. To do this, I’m donating 5% of my commission from that residential transaction to any charity/organization that my client chooses.

So to provide a more direct answer to the overall question, I want my legacy in life to be my story and my success. I want people who are questioning if they’ll be successful in life or feel like some negative experiences cost them their dream life to use my story to get through whatever hard time they’re going through, whether that’s a kid just graduating from college questioning if their going to achieve their dream once they’re out in the real world or an established professional who’s considering a new start for themselves but is nervous to make the leap because they don’t want it to be a mistake. I want to be remembered as someone who was able to take all of the negatives that happened that once led her to feel like a failure and use those as fuel to create an even better life full of success and positive experiences. And ultimately, I want people to remember me and my story when they’re going through something difficult, and think me as someone who showed them that it’s ok to start over and do something new. It’s ok to re-evaluate your situation and goals if you don’t feel as successful or fulfilled as you’d like to be where you currently are. It’s good to talk to people and learn from their successes and failures and then reflect on your own. And if there’s anything at all you take away from reading my story and remember me for, take the notion that when all is said and done, the negative experiences don’t define you and you will be successful in life. And when you do reach that level of success that you strived so hard for, absolutely celebrate that, but don’t forget about all of the things that happened to you, both good and bad, that led you to that point.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m newer to my current office, but I’m really proud to say that I’m one of the few agents there to do both residential and commercial real estate. It wasn’t easy to get to this point, but it’s been so beneficial and rewarding. As one of my many jobs that I mentioned I went through during my interview, I previously worked for an apartment locator in the Denver Metro area, and found that was something I was very good at, so when I was considering another career change and wanted to expand on my professional abilities, I put myself through real estate school. I was working a full time job and was completely new to the field and have been out of school for a good amount of time, so studying and taking notes and learning the material wasn’t the most natural thing for me to do. Once I passed the national and state real estate exams, which mainly focused on the residential real estate, it wasn’t long before I found myself having an interest in commercial work and wanting to expand my expertise. In addition to getting started in commercial real estate, I also started getting involved in some property management work. As I’m moving forward in my career and becoming more successful, I really want to share my success in a constructive way, which also helps to set me apart from others in the field. So, for any residential transaction I’m involved in, I’m donating 5% of my commission. If the party I’m working with is a first responder, I’ll donate the 5% to their department/agency so that they could get new equipment, uniforms, apparatus, fix their facilities, etc., or, donate it to an organization or charity that they partner with. If my client is not a first responder, I still want them to know that I appreciate them for working with me when there are many real estate agents to choose from, so I’m donating the 5% to any organization/charity/foundation of my clients choice!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I moved here from the east coast, so there’s a ton of things I would do and places I would take my best friend. East coast (where I’m from at least) = beaches, so my first stop would be the mountains. I’d take my best friend up to Breckenridge and show them a mountain town and get food at a local restaurant. I’d take her up to peak 8 and hang out and spend the day exploring the surrounding area. The second day, I would probably do something outdoors and show her some of the local beauty. Like most Coloradans, I love outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, and paddle boarding. Everyone here knows that when you hike, the views at the top of pretty much any hike are breathtaking and there’s so many pretty places to paddle board with amazing views. Then, the next day, I’d do some “touristy” things. I’d take her to 16th Street Mall and show her downtown, maybe hit up a sporting event (whatever sport is going on at that time of year). I’d take us to eat at Avanti or the Milk Market so there’s some different food options and then grab some ice cream at Little Man. I’d take her to Red Rocks and spend some time there exploring. I’d finish the night off downtown showing her some of the different rooftop bars. After that, my next stop would probably be somewhere a little more south from Denver like the Colorado Springs area so she can really get the full Colorado experience and see different areas. I’d think I’d probably do Garden of the Gods and the zoo. I would absolutely make it a point to take my best friend to Rocky Mountain National Park. Hopefully I’d get to show her some of Colorado’s wildlife (from a good distance away of course) and there’s a little local restaurant on the way back that I’d take her to that has the BEST pot pie. I think the last day I’d spend relaxing with my best friend and show her “everyday” living. I’d grill out, listen to music, relax, catch up and hang out with my dog (Josie). I’d keep it low key after a week of exploring and jam packed, fun-filled days
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely want to thank the people closest to me because without having them as my support system and telling me their stories and failures that led to their success, I’m not sure how I would have overcome the things that I did on my own. Like me and what I most want to be remembered for, their story is their legacy. Their story did for me what I want my story to do for others. I also want to mention my marketing director, my co-workers, and my management team at VIP Real Estate for helping me turn my story into a positive life experience and for helping me build on my own personal strengths and use those to maximize my success

Instagram: @Rachel_wysocky_ or @Rachel_viprealestate

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-wysocky-b7a2741ab

Twitter: @Rachel_wysocky

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachel.wysocky, or Rachel Wysocky – VIP Real Estate Agent

Image Credits
Headshot (Cheetah Shirt/Red Pants) Credit – Kristina Aleksandra at I Shoot Happy