We are all in this business because we are passionate about helping others, and Kristen Hunter is no exception. Her path to real estate was unusual, and her previous experience helped her develop a unique skill set that serves her well. Kristen started out majoring in pre-med in college with the goal of being a Physician’s Assistant to a dermatologist. 

She quickly cooled on that idea when she realized she wanted to go beyond “throwing a pill” at a problem and instead find the root cause. She switched focus and became a clinical physiologist, focusing on cardiac and pulmonary rehab. Still, she found that her patients often didn’t want to put in the hard work that recovery requires. “I found that most patients wanted to find an easy fix,” she explains. “They wanted to talk about pills and medications, and often I knew they needed to talk about healthy living and lifestyle changes.”

Kristen switched focus again, this time to weight management, getting closer to the root of the problem. She became the director of a local gym and at her busiest was teaching 40 group fitness classes and 30 personal training sessions per week. This level of work inevitably led to burnout and Kristen recognized it was starting at the same time she began to turn her gaze toward real estate. “I wanted to dive into real estate because I was personally interested in investment properties,” she recalls. “Once I started to learn more about the power of real estate and the dept of each decision I felt pulled to the profession.”

Kristen is honest and transparent when she admits, “I’ve always felt like a bit of an imposter but I’ve set myself up for success with the right education and relationships to get the ball rolling.” She continues, “It is scary to change your career or life path but sometimes you just have to trust your prep work.”

Kristen has been in the business for two years now and is learning a lot along the way. She’s also putting her holistic approach and diagnostic skills to good use. Helping people make a big life purchase is a huge responsibility and Kristen takes that seriously. She says, “There is always an underlying ‘why’ or concern, and people aren’t necessarily forthcoming with that.” She knows how to ask the tough questions to draw people out of their comfort zone and into verbalizing their hopes, dreams and fears. As a matter of fact, she has a bit of advice for newer realtors who might be nervous themselves. “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” she advises. “It’s so weird to walk into a room or into a TikTok talking about real estate, but that’s how you get noticed and connect with people you can help.”

When she’s not connecting people with new homes, investment properties and one another, Kristen loves spending time with her handyman firefighter husband, Seth Hunter, and their two golden retriever rescues, Callieson Cornelius and Vernon Banana. She continues her heart’s work teaching three classes per week at Sun City Community Center, leading seniors through the rigors of Boot Camp! 

Managing fitness classes and an entire gym helped set Kristen up for success by requiring organization, consistency and availability. “I’ll be there at 9 PM or 7 AM,” she says, “But hopefully we’ve defined and lined up all aspects of the purchase so we can be confident in our next steps.” She goes on to say, “My job is to put people at ease and I started with helping people feel at ease in their physical bodies, now I help them feel comfortable with their real estate decisions as well.”

If you would like to connect with Kristen, follow her on Instagram and TikTok KristenHunterRealtor!