Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Hensley.
Hi Kristen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am proud to have called Austin my home for the last 38 years. Although I have traveled all over the globe, I still can’t imagine calling a better place home. I am so lucky to have a close family circle, an amazing group of friends who are pretty much family, a loving husband who is the best thing to ever happen to me, a beautiful daughter and a troop of fur babies that help to make my life complete.
From a very young age, I loved helping people and being a part of their big life events. I remember planning weddings for the kids at my daycare that included the dress, a reception and all the bells and whistles. And my favorite thing to do growing up was to play house with my Barbies so I could get their new house all set up and ready for them to live happily ever after. As I got older, the fascination with weddings and homes never faltered, and if anything, got even stronger. After college, I contemplated pursuing my love for homes and helping people by getting my real estate license, but in the end, my passion for weddings took the cake (pun intended) and I decided to pursue that career path instead. For the past 16 years, I have been the Director of Operations for a venue outside of Austin and have helped somewhere in the ballpark of 1,200+ couples plan one of the biggest days in their lives. Although I have loved every minute (or at least most minutes) of my time as a wedding planner, as time went on my passion for real estate continued to grow and blossom.
As it always does, things change, and the wedding industry is no exception. These changes afforded me the ability to shift and begin focusing on real estate. It has been an amazing transition, going from helping people start the beginning of their story to helping them continue their story by growing in their real estate needs. And being able to help them in the city that I have seen grow and change over the last 38 years is just the icing on the cake (sorry, I couldn’t help it)!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think that anything worth doing will always be easy. If it’s worth doing, then there will inevitably come a time that growth and change will need to take place in order to continue that growth. And the real estate industry is no exception, especially in the current market.
Beginning my career in real estate turned my life somewhat upside-down. After 16 years in the wedding industry, I had gotten to the point in my career where there wasn’t much that surprised me anymore. Planning and executing wedding came with ease and very rarely was I given a task that wasn’t easy to deal with. But shifting into a brand new industry that is so information-driven was a challenge. Learning to navigate not only the contracts and legal sides of the business but also the relationships with colleagues, clients, customers and fellow agents proved to be challenging and took time to learn. I quickly learned that this is not an industry that you can master quickly, and I am learning something new with every transaction and sale. I look forward to the day where I can consider myself a seasoned professional and help those coming up behind me learn the ins and outs of the industry.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Keller Williams is as much a technology company as it is an international real estate heavyweight. Founder Gary Keller opened its headquarters in Austin, Texas in 1983 and has been growing the company exponentially year-over-year since. KW is famed to be the largest real estate franchise internationally, not only in agent count but also in units and sales volume, and their sales force is one to be reckoned with. And because they are a technology-based company, their business model equips agents with a technological edge and the ability to offer customers whatever they wish.
Keller Williams was the perfect fit for me when I decided to get my license. Their core beliefs and values align directly with mine, and they believe, just as I do, that the company we keep can contribute to our lives in untold ways. They believe that family and God should come first before business and that to build careers worth having, businesses worth owning, lives worth living, experiences worth giving, and legacies worth leaving, we must strive to be better and do better for those around us. I try to live this mantra every day, with every client, in every deal so as to not only create great relationships but also forever clients!
I am proud to serve the entire Central Texas region, from South of Waco to North of San Antonio and West of Brady to East of Bastrop. I specialize in residential, raw land, and farm and ranch purchases and sales and have a wide network of referrals across Texas for any needs outside of my service area.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I feel so blessed to have had so many people who have lent me their shoulders on which to support me as I began this journey and continue to offer those shoulders for me to continue to climb.
One of the many benefits of being an agent with Keller Williams is their unmatched new agent training, which at its core begins with the mentorship team. Although everyone within the education department at KW is worth their weight in gold, there are a few who have helped me more than I could ever appropriately thank them for. Ken Manceaux, David Burton, and Mallory Mundy are at the top of those who I owe my sincerest gratitude for allowing me an unlimited number of incessant questions, unending text messages, and zoom calls to go over every aspect of my first deals.
Without the support of my family and friends, I would not have even gotten to this point in my career. My husband has always been my biggest cheerleader and was actually the first person to push me to pursue my passion. Without him being there to cheer me on, support me emotionally when the road got rough, and constantly be there to pick up the slack, I could never have begun down this path.
Contact Info:
- Email: kristen.hensley@kw.com
- Website: https://kristenlhensley.kw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenhensley_realtor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristenhensleykwrealtor
Image Credits:
Ateta Studios – owners Tony & Elena Smith
