After having moved away from her Louisiana home, Lauren Jerden-Myers found herself needing a flexible job to support herself and her three children as she navigated divorce. She had never been interested in real estate but after seeing an acquaintance’s social media post, Lauren enrolled in real estate school and was licensed eight weeks later. After working on a team for three years, she decided to venture out on her own and now leads her own team. 

Finding business through referrals and word of mouth, Lauren’s team has evolved organically into a fair amount of VA work. Having been married to a service member and living in a military community, this has been a natural fit. Her team partners with Operation Homefront, a military organization offering free programs.

Although Lauren doesn’t like how competitive the market can be, commenting that “it stinks to tell people their offer didn't get accepted,” now she loves real estate. “I love getting to closing day with the people who didn’t think they could get there.” Lauren is proud that some of her clients have been service members, first generation Americans, and first generation homeowners. “It’s such a cool feeling to help them purchase their first home.” Lauren also enjoys teaching people who don’t have great credit or a huge down payment that they can still buy a house. 

Lauren originally thought real estate would mean quick, easy money. Now she knows better: “Turns out, it’s not quick or easy.” Lauren reflected on one of her early challenges: “When you’re new, there are a lot of people who don’t take you seriously. But now, I’ve developed a lot of friendships in the real estate community.” This gave Lauren an important perspective. “When new agents reach out to me, I recall how I felt when I was new. New doesn’t mean you’re incompetent, it just means that you are new.” Now Lauren happily shares her knowledge and lessons with other agents when they call with questions.

“I wish more agents had the mindset that we are all coworkers - because we are. We will need each other’s help or advice at some point. I have an open door policy - if someone reaches out to ask how I flip renters or get leads, I’ll happily share. I’m not the first person to do these things, so I might as well tell you how I approach them. A lot of people helped me get to where I am, so I definitely want to pay it forward to help others.” 

Lauren’s guidance to new agents: “Just know that it’s probably going to be a little harder than you expected at first. There will be times you want to quit, especially in the beginning. Most good stuff is hard in the beginning. But if you’re willing to ask for help when you feel stuck or discouraged, and you’re willing to stick it out, it can be very rewarding.”

Prior to her first real estate position, Lauren had been a hands-on stay-at-home-mom. Her transition into real estate as a single mom with three kids required her to overcome “mom guilt” and learn balance. In her first year, she did 100 transactions and wasn’t fully aware of how much she was working. “I was deep in survival mode and did what I had to do to make it work. When I came up for air, I was exhausted. My kids and I returned to Louisiana to visit family for two months and I didn’t work at all. I needed to breathe.” 

Lauren was honest with her kids about having to work, but now her oldest sees that she works less than she used to. “After that first year, I had proven to myself that I have what it takes to do this, but reminded myself that I didn’t have to continue at that same pace. I learned to refer leads out when I had too many. My kids are getting older; they grow fast and I want to be in the moment with them as much as I can. I’ve had to let go of some things, but I have promised myself that I won’t miss the school events and I’m not going to miss dinner with my family.”

Lauren has since remarried and between them, she and her husband have three boys and three girls, ages 5 to 13. So maintaining some kind of balance and leveraging her time is critical for this busy mom. “Some of my clients can only view houses in the evenings and I’m willing to pay a showing assistant to show houses when I can’t be there.” Another way Lauren has found balance is in her ability to work from anywhere. “Yes, sometimes I work a little while we are on vacation, but I remind myself and my family that we are on a beach,” she said with a smile.

Now, when talking to other moms or new agents just starting out, she offers inspiration: “I had no real estate experience, three kids, and no family support here. I was on food stamps and the odds were stacked against me. But I made it. I promise you - if I can do this, you can do this, too.”

Lauren has had to overcome imposter syndrome, which made it hard for her to feel like she has been deserving of her success. “Only recently have I really realized that I’ve done very well. When people first started telling me I was doing well, I would question, ‘am I?’ I still feel very new; I’ve only had my license for just over four years but in that time, I’ve done over 350 transactions. I had to remind myself that there are people who have been licensed longer than me but haven’t done that many transactions. So now, I am finally able to own that yes, I am a bit of a badass,” she said with a smile.

One of the factors to Lauren’s success is always putting people first. “I’m not afraid to get my hands a little dirty to help my clients when they are feeling stressed. Sellers are worried they’ll barely break even and buyers are struggling to find a home that meets their needs with a low budget. Even though I’ve done this a hundred times, I remind myself that my clients have not. This is a big deal to them; it’s one of the biggest investments they’ll ever make in their life.”

Reflecting on her real estate career, Lauren is proud of herself. “I made it work. I started this business in a place where I knew nobody. Now my kids and I have lots of friends here. I love, love, love Colorado Springs. It is home.”