The Agent Tales: #2 Jenny Wun
The truth is that real estate isn’t about property. It’s about people. Normal human beings who have braved the sometimes wonderful, ofttimes treacherous waters of this great, real estate adventure. Here are some of their stories.
“Finding the courage to give courage.”
Jenny Wun
On an everyday kind of Saturday in a very typical April, I received an email from a high school student. It was just a single paragraph long, yet it turned out to be life-changing — for us both.
Of course, it didn’t start out that way. In fact, it started like this:
“Hi Jenny
My name is Niti, and I currently study at Burnaby south secondary school. I came across your profile through REW and I really admire your hard work. I have a huge passion for real estate and have always wanted to get into it but never really knew how to start.”
Look, it was hardly out of the ordinary for me to get emails like Niti’s, but it was unusual to receive one from someone so young. Something about her words struck a chord within me. To send a mail like this one as a high school student takes real courage, I remember thinking.
We set up a video call for the next day. I asked her about her intentions; what she'd like to learn; how much time she wanted to commit. As the call unfolded, I couldn’t help but think that I saw something in Niti. She was so young, yet so driven. When many of her peers were probably concerned with their next exams (and rightfully so), she was asking to be taken out of her comfort zone.
And then I realized what resonated with me so strongly: I was talking to a version of Jenny Wun.
Jenny Wun. In her element.
The easiest job in the world?
This has never been a “job” for me. It still isn’t. Yes, of course I know how trite that may sound, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Many people seem to think that changing careers into real estate will be “easy”. We all know that it isn’t. It’s as hard as hard work can be.
Niti had the “audacity” to think big, and I decided mid-sentence on that call that I simply had to help her. My experience of making my way through an extremely male-dominated industry was that I wasn’t given support unless I was willing to pay for it. The playing field wasn’t level. It still isn’t. An ambitious woman is simply not viewed in the same way. I could only help myself back then. Now I could help someone else.
Niti was willing to invest herself and her time. I wanted to invest in her.
I decided then and there that my brokerage would be one that championed women in my industry.
That would be my difference.
Blazing trails.
Everything worked as well as Niti did. A week after our call, she started handling some admin work at my office. The following month, I had her apply for the Women of Oakwyn Scholarship (she promptly put together an application and video that won her $1,000 towards her real estate studies).
In very little time, she was on payroll. In no time, she was indispensable.
Over the course of the following year, Niti worked with me at a presale development and when I opened my own brokerage, she immediately took a role as an administrative assistant for a realtor in my office. Soon after, she enrolled in BCIT's real estate marketing program.
I decided then and there that my brokerage would be one that championed women in my industry. That would be my difference. I would do what I could to help us all play in a bigger sandbox. I would help women learn how to kill it in this industry.
It’s about being the best version of yourself and wanting the same for others.
Finding the courage to give courage.
Of course I believe that I have played a role in shaping Niti’s journey. But, for me, that’s not even half of the story. My friendship with Niti profoundly reshaped the way I viewed what I did, and who I am.
I want women to go after the big deal they might not otherwise feel qualified for, the raise they might not ask for, the partnership they might not feel they have permission to pursue. Everyone in this industry is trying for a USP – it’s impossible not to benchmark against your peers – and to sometimes feel defeated by the competition. Niti reminded me that this is irrelevant. It is not about competition (as I know so many women have figured out). It’s about being the best version of yourself and wanting the same for others. It’s being who you are and standing up for what you believe in as a person; for your principles.
But that wasn’t Niti’s most important lesson. Before I met her, changing things seemed such a gargantuan task. Years of change. A movement of some kind. Yes, it was our time to rewrite the rules, but what could a single woman from Burnaby do?
In the house. Simon sat down with Jenny on her podcast. Listen here.
Two becomes four.
Niti taught me that one step, thing, person at a time makes the impossible possible. We show up and start building and very soon one brings two. Two becomes four. I wasn’t alone against an impossible climb. I had never been alone. None of us are. You have permission to love yourself, to honor your value, to build your own life and redesign it as needed.
I am that kind of woman. You are that kind of woman. We are those women. All those with Niti’s kind of courage need is for the rest of us to be courageous enough to help.
Jenny Wun
Oakwyn Realty Northwest
