April 2, 2024 • 23 mins
Ever made a leap of faith into the unknown that rearranged your entire life? Our special guest, Lissette Lopez, knows a thing or two about taking such a jump – from the insurance world into the dynamic landscape of real estate, she's managed to navigate the complexities of a career shift while maintaining her roles as a steadfast wife and mother. As Lissette recounts her motivations and the ripples of change through her personal and professional life, the conversation touches on the nuances of midlife transformation and the bravery required to grasp new opportunities.
Thank you for listening.
Be sure to visit the Restless to Renewed website for pictures and more information about episode guests at www.RestlesstoRenewed.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:38):
Welcome to Restless, to Renewedwomen, redefining midlife and
(01:02):
beyond.
I'm your host, Janice Neely,and today my guest is Lissette
Lopez.
Lissette and I met through amutual friend and I'm so happy
to be able to talk to her.
Welcome, Lissette, and thankyou for being here.
Lissette Lopez (01:16):
Hi Janice.
Thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor to be here.
Janice Neely (01:20):
Well, I appreciate you so much, and I think today
that our listeners will beinspired by some of the major
changes that you've made in yourlife, and one that you're
making currently.
So, first of all is that you'remarried and a mother, and so I
know you have a lot ofresponsibilities, and change
(01:40):
impacts others in your life, notjust yourself, correct?
?
Yes But recently you made amajor change in your life.
Can you tell us about adecision you made to change your
career?
Lissette Lopez (01:54):
Yes, well, you're right.
When I do make a change, itdoes affect the entire family.
My husband is working, ofcourse, and supports most of
what we do here in the house,and then I have my children, two
teenagers my daughter is 14 andmy son is 15.
So I really had to think aboutmaking a move, because the move
(02:14):
I made was going from insuranceinto real estate and, as we know
, real estate is commission only.
So this was something that tookme a couple months to really
get serious about and try totake that leap, knowing that I'm
going to have to cut back onsome of the income that I was
receiving.
Janice Neely (02:31):
Yeah, that can be very scary.
I imagine anybody going intoreal estate for the first time
has some of those fears.
But you said you were ininsurance before.
Can you tell us about that?
Lissette Lopez (02:44):
Of course, for the last about 15 years.
I have a health and lifelicense, so I am an enrollments
benefits counselor, so what Iwould do is guide people in
their choices for theirwork-related insurance plans,
which was fun, but it was awork-at-home position.
So for the last 15 years I'vebeen working from home, which
(03:07):
was very satisfying because itgave me the opportunity, of
course, to be home for my kids,pick them up from the bus, have
dinner ready and the housecleaned and things like that in
between my appointments.
So that did serve its purpose.
And then, of course, as my kidsare getting a little bit bigger
we're already talking aboutcolleges for my son and I'm
seeing an end to their schoollife, at least high school
(03:27):
school life, and we're talkinguniversities I decided that my
time's kind of running out.
I felt like they're not goingto be home that much anymore and
my responsibilities arestarting to shift a little with
them as they get older.
Janice Neely (03:41):
Yeah well, I could imagine.
I did not work at home when mychildren were young.
I worked part-time and I thinkthat I would have thought at the
time that being at home wouldhave been a dream job.
But I often wonder about peoplethat are at home if they ever
get a chance to turn it off.
Lissette Lopez (03:58):
Exactly, you don't.
And then you actually miss andyou crave that life of wanting
friends and having this social,even if it is just driving to
work.
And you crave that life ofwanting friends and having this
social, even if it is justdriving to work and you hear
people complain about their job.
But you get there and you havework, friends, you get dressed
up, you have more goals to do inthe day and I really started to
miss that a lot, a lot, yeah.
Janice Neely (04:19):
I can see that I think I felt a lot better about
myself when I was having to getout of the house.
There are days now and I'm inthe house and I'm sitting here
working, but I'm thinking Ireally need to go.
you know, put on some differentclothes or something.
It's so easy not to do anything.
(04:40):
So you were in insurance andyou said you've been thinking
about changing careers.
How long has that been going onin your mind?
Lissette Lopez (04:50):
Well, I'd say about the last year I've been
trying to center myself and seewhat I can do that's different,
that would still create awonderful income or hopefully
better than the one I have now,even if I know it does take some
time to get there in anybusiness when you start.
But the big piece was I had agirlfriend that lived across the
(05:10):
street a neighbor, a goodfriend of mine and she was
starting to do real estate andwithin several years I've
noticed a huge change in her.
She was a single mom and shewas able to move out of this
neighborhood and she startedsucceeding and meeting and
helping so many people.
And she's the one that kind oflooked at me and said, listen, I
know you're looking forsomething to do.
Have you ever thought aboutreal estate?
I think you'd be perfect and Iwould, I'll help you.
And that's when some littlelight bulbs started to click and
(05:33):
I'm like, okay, just watchingher do that.
She is younger than I ambecause I am about, you know, 54
.
So she is younger than I am.
But I was like if she could doit, I could do it and it was
actually putting a real personbehind the image of a realtor,
so it allowed me to see somebodyactually go through the process
(05:53):
.
I know it's hard work and allthat, but it really inspired me
to be able to make the changethat I needed All right.
Janice Neely (05:58):
Did you have any fears when you were making this
decision?
Lissette Lopez (06:04):
Oh my gosh, yeah , so many, I still do.
It's just it's very competitiveand I feel as somebody at this
point in my life going into thiswhole new workplace where it
seems like everybody's soyounger and they're put together
and it looks like they justhave it all going on, which I
know it's not true, you know.
I know there are struggles ineverybody's lives, but I was
(06:26):
very fearful of putting myselfout there.
I'm not great on social media.
It's kind of all new to me.
There was a lot of fears withthat.
As you know, trying to reinventmyself at this age and coming
back out into the workforce andseeing all the possibilities and
the newness of everything wasvery scary for me.
Janice Neely (06:45):
Yeah, I wonder.
You know you said somethingabout a lot of younger people
and they look so put togetherand so forth.
I think about people that areyounger than I am and there
would seem to be a difference intheir confidence.
I think that in my age group wewere taught you had to earn
everything and you had to, youknow, climb your way to the top
(07:08):
or whatever, and I think there'ssome good to that.
But I also do admire a lot ofthe people who do have the
confidence to say this is what Iwant and this is what I'm going
to do.
I wish I would have had moreconfidence when I was younger.
Lissette Lopez (07:22):
Me too.
That's what I say.
If I could only turn back theclock and have all these
emotions and the strength that Ifeel like I'm having now as I
get older.
As far as you know, I don'thave as much time left.
I'm going to go for what I wantto do, and I wish I would have
had a little bit more of thatwhen I was even in my 30s and
taken a little bit moreadvantage of opportunities
(07:45):
without holding myself back.
Janice Neely (07:47):
Right?
Well, you know, life happens,we have responsibilities and we
don't always get to choose whatwe want to do at certain times,
but at the same time, I thinkthat this time of our lives is
kind of a wonderful thing,because we do have a little bit
more freedom to do some things.
(08:08):
You know, the kids are growingor grown In my case, my
grandkids are grown and it justseems like there's just so much
more time to utilize, and so Ithink that the women that are
listening ought to be inspiredand think you know, I've got
things that I wanted to do andit's time to do it.
Lissette Lopez (08:28):
Exactly.
That's why I love your podcastso much too, because it really
is inspiring.
Those women are amazing andit's true, as you get older and
you see your kids are grown upand they're going to be gone
soon.
They have their own life andit's exactly what you want to be
with us, but hopefully they'renot going to need us and you've,
you know, raised them to go onand enjoy their life and take
(08:48):
chances of their own.
But then you look around andyou're like, okay, now what?
They've been your main purposefor so long that it's like, okay
, let me catch myself here.
What am I doing?
I've got X amount of years leftbefore I really am not having
them in the home and I need tofind out what I want to do,
what's going to make me happyand still want me to jump out of
bed in the morning and feelexcited about life.
(09:08):
We still have so many moreyears ahead of us.
Janice Neely (09:10):
Yeah, hopefully.
Well, you never know.
That's the point.
Right now, people are living tobe 100 and that's one of the
fastest growing demographics,which is amazing to me.
Lissette Lopez (09:20):
I can't believe that.
Janice Neely (09:22):
But so we've talked about some fears, but
what about financial fears orsomething like that?
Was that a scary thing for you?
Lissette Lopez (09:31):
It is, it still is because I'm still so new it's
only been a couple months I'vebeen a realtor.
Thank God, I do have my husband, who's able to still provide
and do the main bills while I'mable to do the smaller bills.
So that really helps because Ithink if not, I would have had
to wait, put my dreams a littlebit on hold until I was able to
(09:52):
do both.
So that's been a huge asset.
I mean, he really is apartnership.
The good thing is I do have apart-time job.
So I used to volunteer for Menof Valor that I know you're
familiar with, which is a prisonministry and so many amazing
things that they're doing withGod through the men in these
prison systems and helping them.
When they come out, they go oncampus and they learn how to
(10:14):
live and work, and there's somany classes that they teach
them.
So I used to do a lot ofvolunteer work for them and then
they just asked me to become apaid employee for part time.
So I was like that's it, that'swhat I was waiting for.
I said that's perfect.
I said now I could do that andthen just hustle the other times
(10:36):
, because it's about 20 hours aweek, so then I could dedicate
myself to going out and tryingto get listings and doing
pictures and meeting people, andthat has really led me to make
more solid my choice, because itfelt like the universe kind of
said OK, here you go.
Janice Neely (10:52):
You're able to do both.
Because I think, to dosomething that tugs your heart
with both pieces, both realestate and then also Men of
Valor.
And I had the opportunity tohear a guy speak you were an
event the other night and I wasthere too and heard him speak
and he had come out of theprison system and it was so
moving to hear what Men of Valorhave done for his life, and now
(11:15):
he's also giving back Exactly.
I think that's great, that youget to have both of those jobs
and enjoy them both.
Lissette Lopez (11:32):
So you decided this, you decided you're going
to be able to make itfinancially, and then you did
some training, correct, yes, I'mwith Keller Williams, which I
love because I did look atseveral other companies, but
Keller Williams is, as far asfor training, there's like
classes every day.
There's something I could doalmost every day in the office
or on Zoom.
So they really do have yourback for newer agents and they
(11:52):
give you a lot of support, and Ifelt like that would be the
perfect fit for me, because evenonce you take your exam, as you
know certain things you takeyour exam and your state license
and all of a sudden you cancall yourself a realtor.
But there's so much informationout there, there's still so
much to learn, that I feel veryblessed to be in the hands of
Keller Williams, because Ireally do think that they put a
(12:12):
lot of training into theiragents to help you get the best
out of it.
Janice Neely (12:15):
That's good, because I can imagine it'd be
very scary, when you're tryingto do contracts and things like
that, if you don't have thatsupport system.
Lissette Lopez (12:23):
Exactly and, as you know, the home it's the
biggest purchase sometimes thatpeople will make in their
lifetime.
Even if they make it a coupleof times in their lifetime, it
usually is the biggest purchase,and even for investors as well.
You want to know what you'redoing and that's going to help
build your confidence.
You want to go in sounding likeyou know what you're doing,
even if you're new.
Janice Neely (12:41):
Right, and the key to me would be that you do the
best you can, but have someoneelse look it over, two or three
people, at least at your teamuntil you know that everything's
right, and then you'll buildthat confidence too.
Lissette Lopez (12:57):
Hopefully.
I would love that, but I keepsaying I have a feeling I'm
going to be a different personby the end of this year, as far
as everything I'm going to know.
Janice Neely (13:05):
So you do have the professional support.
What about your family support?
Lissette Lopez (13:10):
They knew they could see how I was getting a
little frustrated at home.
So my husband we did have a lotof talks about how it was going
to happen, because it woulddefinitely affect him as well
and our children.
But, like I said, thispart-time opportunity also made
it a lot easier for me to jumpinto children.
But, like I said, thispart-time opportunity also made
it a lot easier for me to jumpinto.
But they did see, and my kidsare getting bigger, so they
would both come to me and say,mom, you got to be happy.
(13:32):
Sometimes I was like, oh mygosh, here I go, I'm going to
change at this time in my lifeand my daughter's like so what?
She's like so what, just do it,she goes, no matter how old you
are, just go and do it.
And I'm like you know what?
You're right.
You're right.
What's going to be worse?
Like they always say, we'regoing to regret the things we
don't do, not the things that Ido.
Even if I fail, I'll give it myall.
Janice Neely (14:05):
Right.
You know, I'm 66.
And when I look at pictures ofmy grandmothers and . that they
were doing at my age and theyhad pretty much decided, you
know, or maybe not decided,maybe it was just it happened,
life happened, but they werestaying at home and just kind of
winding down.
And now I'm just not seeingthat with women.
There are a lot of women ,that's their preference, and I
think that's wonderful.
I think you should do what youwant to do and if you want to do
that, that is beautiful.
If you don't want to do that,then maybe we have always been
(14:27):
telling ourselves that we weregetting too old.
But maybe you know, that's justtalk.
Lissette Lopez (14:32):
Exactly.
I think life is proving that somany things are changing Me too
, when I look at my, my grandma,parents, even my mom.
My mom lives with me as well.
She's 79 and I'm firstgeneration Cuban, as you know.
And those Cuban moms andgrandmas, they just stayed home
and cooked, but they were sohappy to do that.
That was all they ever wantedto do since they were little.
That was their goal or theirdesire, and they loved it and
(14:53):
they were so good at it and Imean I liked it.
But I always felt like, oh no,there's more.
There's more to me than justmom or wife or stay-at-home
anything.
I had that burning desireinside of me that kept saying
there's more, there's more,there's got to be more.
Janice Neely (15:09):
Yeah, and I think with myself.
I think I was a good mother.
I hope I was a good mother andI love my children dearly, but I
mother.
my mother My mother was just sohappy to sit and rock a baby.
She still is so happy to sitand rock a baby.
.
Just give her a baby and she'lllove to sit and rock it.
While I was rocking the baby, Iwas sitting there thinking I've
got to do this and I´ve got todo that and I made myself
(15:30):
miserable.
I never could just calm down andenjoy rocking the baby.
And I think that's just how I'mwired.
So, yeah, it's a differentworld.
So, now that you've startedthis new career, what's your
favorite part about it so far?
Lissette Lopez (15:47):
Gosh, getting out.
It's forcing me to look atmyself as a different person,
because I have to actually likereinvent myself in my head as
well as I'm speaking to people.
I have to kind of not fake ittill you make it, because I
don't really like that too much,but it's kind of true, like I
have to start acting like who Iwant to become.
So I am having to get out,having to get dressed and get my
(16:12):
hair done and my nails done anddo things that really weren't
as important.
There were like a number 10 onmy list now is like two or three
, because I have to bepresentable and just it forces
me to get out and make friendsand bump into people and talk to
people and I really like that.
I like that because.
I feel like that's what I wasmissing.
Janice Neely (16:29):
Yeah, I think, instead of make it till you,
make it maybe live into it.
Exactly, there you go, correct?
Lissette Lopez (16:36):
I like that a lot better yeah.
Janice Neely (16:38):
I think that's probably a good way to say it.
So right now you are inMurfreesboro, Tennessee, and
what's the housing market likein Murfreesboro?
Lissette Lopez (16:50):
Gosh, it's booming In Middle Tennessee.
It's crazy.
I think we're number seven ornumber eight in the country of
this town that's growing, it'sexploding.
Home prices are still risingbut there's so many
opportunities and I'm learningabout so many programs for
families and first-time homebuyers that are still able to
get you into a house.
I know that we're hoping thatthe FHA is going to start going
(17:14):
down a little bit so it's at 6or 6.9%, I believe, and we're
hoping that next year it lookslike it might be down into the
fives, which a lot more peopleare going to be able to access
homes that they like.
We're seeing multiple offers onhomes just in the recent month,
so I do see that some thingsare changing, which is good.
Janice Neely (17:33):
Yeah, I remember just a few years ago, or maybe
two or three years ago, youcould not get a house because
there were people that wereputting in offers sight unseen,
and a lot from out of state, andso you know the local people
did not have a chance.
And the offers were much higherthan the asking price.
So now it's changed, but at thesame time maybe it's a good
(17:56):
thing if it levels and thenpeople have opportunities, like
you said, especially first timehome buyers.
Lissette Lopez (18:02):
Exactly, exactly .
Everybody's dream is to be ahomeowner for the most part, so
hopefully that's going to help alot more people be able to
accomplish that.
Investment properties are stillalways good as well.
I mean, you just don't losemoney with real estate.
Janice Neely (18:15):
No, no, the property on top of it is one
thing, but land is never goingaway.
Lissette Lopez (18:20):
Exactly.
Janice Neely (18:21):
And whatś the saying?
They're not making any more ofit.
They're not making any more.
Lissette Lopez (18:25):
We have all that we can, so everybody's trying
to grab a piece, yeah.
Janice Neely (18:31):
So what would you say to women who are over 50 or,
you know, in midlife and theywant to make a career change?
Or they tossed it around alittle bit but thought maybe I
just should let that pass andaccept things the way they are.
What would you say to that?
Lissette Lopez (18:51):
Well, if you're happy the way you are, I say
stay.
Then, of course, just enjoyyour ride.
But if you have that feeling,or if there's any little thing
in your mind that you want to do, you have that burning desire
to try something else, go for it.
I mean go for it.
We're running out of time, butwe only have this one life and
just do it.
And people are really notlooking at you as much as you
think.
(19:11):
You know.
You always think I'm going tomake a fool out of myself.
Everybody's so busy in theirown mind and trying to get their
own life going that even if youstumble, no one's going to care
.
Just get back up, dust yourselfoff and keep doing it.
We definitely are going toregret what we don't do instead
of what we have tried to do andfallen and gotten back up.
So, yeah, I say go for it.
Janice Neely (19:31):
Go for it.
It's so important.
It just made me think ofsomething.
Today I went with my husband.
He went to the doctor and therewas a lady in there sitting
with him.
I saw her come out of thebuilding and she was probably
about four foot eleven, had on adress and had a hat on and got
in her car and had a littletrouble getting out of her
parking spot but she finally didand then she really took off.
(19:51):
But she looked like she waskind of up there in years and so
my husband told me he talked toher and she was in her 90s and
that she had two doctor'sappointments today and she was
not happy because it was cuttinginto her social life.
I love it.
Look at her, go.
I think that when it used to be oh, you're
(20:13):
supposed to be retiring with thegold watch when you're 55 years
old and then just go sit thereand be quiet and be nice and be
happy with that.
And what if we live another 50years after that?
Lissette Lopez (20:25):
That's what I'm saying.
Like you just said, we'reliving to 100.
My grandma's died in their late90s, so I've got another
40-something years ahead of me.
Hopefully, I am not going tosit quietly and just fade away.
I mean, there's too much lightin us.
I let that light shine and goout.
However, you could do that,even if it's volunteering or
helping.
Just do whatever makes yourheart smile.
Janice Neely (20:45):
Yeah, I just say be a part of life in whatever
way it pleases you.
Be, a part of life.
Take part in it.
Lissette Lopez (20:52):
Yes.
Janice Neely (20:52):
Well, okay, everyone, Lissette has a page up
on our website atRestlessToRenewed.
com and you can get moreinformation about her there.
We also have her business cardthere.
She would love to talk to anyof you who are in Middle
Tennessee or any part ofTennessee area, and if you want
to list a home or if you wouldlike to have her show you around
(21:16):
, that would be great.
If you're out of state andyou're thinking of moving to
Tennessee, give her a call andshe is really, really nice and
helpful.
So you want to get somebodylike her in your court.
And I just want to thank youLissette.
For those of you who would bewilling to follow us on
(21:38):
Instagram and Facebook, we wouldreally appreciate it.
We need all the likes andfollows that we can get, and
today I'm going to leave youwith this quote from Harriet
Tubman.
¨ Every great dream begins witha dreamer.
Always remember you have withinyou the strength, the patience
and the passion to reach for thestars, to change the world.
(22:01):
¨ Okay, so thank you, Lissette,and everybody.
Thank you and have a good restof your day.
Theme music playing (22:10):
It´s alright if you don't know how to
do it, come sit down and talkto me.
(22:33):
It's all right that you're notsure how to do it.
You're in perfect company.
Now talk to me.
Welcome to Restless, to Renewedwomen, redefining midlife and
(01:02):
beyond.
I'm your host, Janice Neely,and today my guest is Lissette
Lopez.
Lissette and I met through amutual friend and I'm so happy
to be able to talk to her.
Welcome, Lissette, and thankyou for being here.
Lissette Lopez (01:16):
Hi Janice.
Thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor to be here.
Janice Neely (01:20):
Well, I appreciate you so much, and I think today
that our listeners will beinspired by some of the major
changes that you've made in yourlife, and one that you're
making currently.
So, first of all is that you'remarried and a mother, and so I
know you have a lot ofresponsibilities, and change
(01:40):
impacts others in your life, notjust yourself, correct?
?
Yes But recently you made amajor change in your life.
Can you tell us about adecision you made to change your
career?
Lissette Lopez (01:54):
Yes, well, you're right.
When I do make a change, itdoes affect the entire family.
My husband is working, ofcourse, and supports most of
what we do here in the house,and then I have my children, two
teenagers my daughter is 14 andmy son is 15.
So I really had to think aboutmaking a move, because the move
(02:14):
I made was going from insuranceinto real estate and, as we know
, real estate is commission only.
So this was something that tookme a couple months to really
get serious about and try totake that leap, knowing that I'm
going to have to cut back onsome of the income that I was
receiving.
Janice Neely (02:31):
Yeah, that can be very scary.
I imagine anybody going intoreal estate for the first time
has some of those fears.
But you said you were ininsurance before.
Can you tell us about that?
Lissette Lopez (02:44):
Of course, for the last about 15 years.
I have a health and lifelicense, so I am an enrollments
benefits counselor, so what Iwould do is guide people in
their choices for theirwork-related insurance plans,
which was fun, but it was awork-at-home position.
So for the last 15 years I'vebeen working from home, which
(03:07):
was very satisfying because itgave me the opportunity, of
course, to be home for my kids,pick them up from the bus, have
dinner ready and the housecleaned and things like that in
between my appointments.
So that did serve its purpose.
And then, of course, as my kidsare getting a little bit bigger
we're already talking aboutcolleges for my son and I'm
seeing an end to their schoollife, at least high school
(03:27):
school life, and we're talkinguniversities I decided that my
time's kind of running out.
I felt like they're not goingto be home that much anymore and
my responsibilities arestarting to shift a little with
them as they get older.
Janice Neely (03:41):
Yeah well, I could imagine.
I did not work at home when mychildren were young.
I worked part-time and I thinkthat I would have thought at the
time that being at home wouldhave been a dream job.
But I often wonder about peoplethat are at home if they ever
get a chance to turn it off.
Lissette Lopez (03:58):
Exactly, you don't.
And then you actually miss andyou crave that life of wanting
friends and having this social,even if it is just driving to
work.
And you crave that life ofwanting friends and having this
social, even if it is justdriving to work and you hear
people complain about their job.
But you get there and you havework, friends, you get dressed
up, you have more goals to do inthe day and I really started to
miss that a lot, a lot, yeah.
Janice Neely (04:19):
I can see that I think I felt a lot better about
myself when I was having to getout of the house.
There are days now and I'm inthe house and I'm sitting here
working, but I'm thinking Ireally need to go.
you know, put on some differentclothes or something.
It's so easy not to do anything.
(04:40):
So you were in insurance andyou said you've been thinking
about changing careers.
How long has that been going onin your mind?
Lissette Lopez (04:50):
Well, I'd say about the last year I've been
trying to center myself and seewhat I can do that's different,
that would still create awonderful income or hopefully
better than the one I have now,even if I know it does take some
time to get there in anybusiness when you start.
But the big piece was I had agirlfriend that lived across the
(05:10):
street a neighbor, a goodfriend of mine and she was
starting to do real estate andwithin several years I've
noticed a huge change in her.
She was a single mom and shewas able to move out of this
neighborhood and she startedsucceeding and meeting and
helping so many people.
And she's the one that kind oflooked at me and said, listen, I
know you're looking forsomething to do.
Have you ever thought aboutreal estate?
I think you'd be perfect and Iwould, I'll help you.
And that's when some littlelight bulbs started to click and
(05:33):
I'm like, okay, just watchingher do that.
She is younger than I ambecause I am about, you know, 54
.
So she is younger than I am.
But I was like if she could doit, I could do it and it was
actually putting a real personbehind the image of a realtor,
so it allowed me to see somebodyactually go through the process
(05:53):
.
I know it's hard work and allthat, but it really inspired me
to be able to make the changethat I needed All right.
Janice Neely (05:58):
Did you have any fears when you were making this
decision?
Lissette Lopez (06:04):
Oh my gosh, yeah , so many, I still do.
It's just it's very competitiveand I feel as somebody at this
point in my life going into thiswhole new workplace where it
seems like everybody's soyounger and they're put together
and it looks like they justhave it all going on, which I
know it's not true, you know.
I know there are struggles ineverybody's lives, but I was
(06:26):
very fearful of putting myselfout there.
I'm not great on social media.
It's kind of all new to me.
There was a lot of fears withthat.
As you know, trying to reinventmyself at this age and coming
back out into the workforce andseeing all the possibilities and
the newness of everything wasvery scary for me.
Janice Neely (06:45):
Yeah, I wonder.
You know you said somethingabout a lot of younger people
and they look so put togetherand so forth.
I think about people that areyounger than I am and there
would seem to be a difference intheir confidence.
I think that in my age group wewere taught you had to earn
everything and you had to, youknow, climb your way to the top
(07:08):
or whatever, and I think there'ssome good to that.
But I also do admire a lot ofthe people who do have the
confidence to say this is what Iwant and this is what I'm going
to do.
I wish I would have had moreconfidence when I was younger.
Lissette Lopez (07:22):
Me too.
That's what I say.
If I could only turn back theclock and have all these
emotions and the strength that Ifeel like I'm having now as I
get older.
As far as you know, I don'thave as much time left.
I'm going to go for what I wantto do, and I wish I would have
had a little bit more of thatwhen I was even in my 30s and
taken a little bit moreadvantage of opportunities
(07:45):
without holding myself back.
Janice Neely (07:47):
Right?
Well, you know, life happens,we have responsibilities and we
don't always get to choose whatwe want to do at certain times,
but at the same time, I thinkthat this time of our lives is
kind of a wonderful thing,because we do have a little bit
more freedom to do some things.
(08:08):
You know, the kids are growingor grown In my case, my
grandkids are grown and it justseems like there's just so much
more time to utilize, and so Ithink that the women that are
listening ought to be inspiredand think you know, I've got
things that I wanted to do andit's time to do it.
Lissette Lopez (08:28):
Exactly.
That's why I love your podcastso much too, because it really
is inspiring.
Those women are amazing andit's true, as you get older and
you see your kids are grown upand they're going to be gone
soon.
They have their own life andit's exactly what you want to be
with us, but hopefully they'renot going to need us and you've,
you know, raised them to go onand enjoy their life and take
(08:48):
chances of their own.
But then you look around andyou're like, okay, now what?
They've been your main purposefor so long that it's like, okay
, let me catch myself here.
What am I doing?
I've got X amount of years leftbefore I really am not having
them in the home and I need tofind out what I want to do,
what's going to make me happyand still want me to jump out of
bed in the morning and feelexcited about life.
(09:08):
We still have so many moreyears ahead of us.
Janice Neely (09:10):
Yeah, hopefully.
Well, you never know.
That's the point.
Right now, people are living tobe 100 and that's one of the
fastest growing demographics,which is amazing to me.
Lissette Lopez (09:20):
I can't believe that.
Janice Neely (09:22):
But so we've talked about some fears, but
what about financial fears orsomething like that?
Was that a scary thing for you?
Lissette Lopez (09:31):
It is, it still is because I'm still so new it's
only been a couple months I'vebeen a realtor.
Thank God, I do have my husband, who's able to still provide
and do the main bills while I'mable to do the smaller bills.
So that really helps because Ithink if not, I would have had
to wait, put my dreams a littlebit on hold until I was able to
(09:52):
do both.
So that's been a huge asset.
I mean, he really is apartnership.
The good thing is I do have apart-time job.
So I used to volunteer for Menof Valor that I know you're
familiar with, which is a prisonministry and so many amazing
things that they're doing withGod through the men in these
prison systems and helping them.
When they come out, they go oncampus and they learn how to
(10:14):
live and work, and there's somany classes that they teach
them.
So I used to do a lot ofvolunteer work for them and then
they just asked me to become apaid employee for part time.
So I was like that's it, that'swhat I was waiting for.
I said that's perfect.
I said now I could do that andthen just hustle the other times
(10:36):
, because it's about 20 hours aweek, so then I could dedicate
myself to going out and tryingto get listings and doing
pictures and meeting people, andthat has really led me to make
more solid my choice, because itfelt like the universe kind of
said OK, here you go.
Janice Neely (10:52):
You're able to do both.
Because I think, to dosomething that tugs your heart
with both pieces, both realestate and then also Men of
Valor.
And I had the opportunity tohear a guy speak you were an
event the other night and I wasthere too and heard him speak
and he had come out of theprison system and it was so
moving to hear what Men of Valorhave done for his life, and now
(11:15):
he's also giving back Exactly.
I think that's great, that youget to have both of those jobs
and enjoy them both.
Lissette Lopez (11:32):
So you decided this, you decided you're going
to be able to make itfinancially, and then you did
some training, correct, yes, I'mwith Keller Williams, which I
love because I did look atseveral other companies, but
Keller Williams is, as far asfor training, there's like
classes every day.
There's something I could doalmost every day in the office
or on Zoom.
So they really do have yourback for newer agents and they
(11:52):
give you a lot of support, and Ifelt like that would be the
perfect fit for me, because evenonce you take your exam, as you
know certain things you takeyour exam and your state license
and all of a sudden you cancall yourself a realtor.
But there's so much informationout there, there's still so
much to learn, that I feel veryblessed to be in the hands of
Keller Williams, because Ireally do think that they put a
(12:12):
lot of training into theiragents to help you get the best
out of it.
Janice Neely (12:15):
That's good, because I can imagine it'd be
very scary, when you're tryingto do contracts and things like
that, if you don't have thatsupport system.
Lissette Lopez (12:23):
Exactly and, as you know, the home it's the
biggest purchase sometimes thatpeople will make in their
lifetime.
Even if they make it a coupleof times in their lifetime, it
usually is the biggest purchase,and even for investors as well.
You want to know what you'redoing and that's going to help
build your confidence.
You want to go in sounding likeyou know what you're doing,
even if you're new.
Janice Neely (12:41):
Right, and the key to me would be that you do the
best you can, but have someoneelse look it over, two or three
people, at least at your teamuntil you know that everything's
right, and then you'll buildthat confidence too.
Lissette Lopez (12:57):
Hopefully.
I would love that, but I keepsaying I have a feeling I'm
going to be a different personby the end of this year, as far
as everything I'm going to know.
Janice Neely (13:05):
So you do have the professional support.
What about your family support?
Lissette Lopez (13:10):
They knew they could see how I was getting a
little frustrated at home.
So my husband we did have a lotof talks about how it was going
to happen, because it woulddefinitely affect him as well
and our children.
But, like I said, thispart-time opportunity also made
it a lot easier for me to jumpinto children.
But, like I said, thispart-time opportunity also made
it a lot easier for me to jumpinto.
But they did see, and my kidsare getting bigger, so they
would both come to me and say,mom, you got to be happy.
(13:32):
Sometimes I was like, oh mygosh, here I go, I'm going to
change at this time in my lifeand my daughter's like so what?
She's like so what, just do it,she goes, no matter how old you
are, just go and do it.
And I'm like you know what?
You're right.
You're right.
What's going to be worse?
Like they always say, we'regoing to regret the things we
don't do, not the things that Ido.
Even if I fail, I'll give it myall.
Janice Neely (14:05):
Right.
You know, I'm 66.
And when I look at pictures ofmy grandmothers and . that they
were doing at my age and theyhad pretty much decided, you
know, or maybe not decided,maybe it was just it happened,
life happened, but they werestaying at home and just kind of
winding down.
And now I'm just not seeingthat with women.
There are a lot of women ,that's their preference, and I
think that's wonderful.
I think you should do what youwant to do and if you want to do
that, that is beautiful.
If you don't want to do that,then maybe we have always been
(14:27):
telling ourselves that we weregetting too old.
But maybe you know, that's justtalk.
Lissette Lopez (14:32):
Exactly.
I think life is proving that somany things are changing Me too
, when I look at my, my grandma,parents, even my mom.
My mom lives with me as well.
She's 79 and I'm firstgeneration Cuban, as you know.
And those Cuban moms andgrandmas, they just stayed home
and cooked, but they were sohappy to do that.
That was all they ever wantedto do since they were little.
That was their goal or theirdesire, and they loved it and
(14:53):
they were so good at it and Imean I liked it.
But I always felt like, oh no,there's more.
There's more to me than justmom or wife or stay-at-home
anything.
I had that burning desireinside of me that kept saying
there's more, there's more,there's got to be more.
Janice Neely (15:09):
Yeah, and I think with myself.
I think I was a good mother.
I hope I was a good mother andI love my children dearly, but I
mother.
my mother My mother was just sohappy to sit and rock a baby.
She still is so happy to sitand rock a baby.
.
Just give her a baby and she'lllove to sit and rock it.
While I was rocking the baby, Iwas sitting there thinking I've
got to do this and I´ve got todo that and I made myself
(15:30):
miserable.
I never could just calm down andenjoy rocking the baby.
And I think that's just how I'mwired.
So, yeah, it's a differentworld.
So, now that you've startedthis new career, what's your
favorite part about it so far?
Lissette Lopez (15:47):
Gosh, getting out.
It's forcing me to look atmyself as a different person,
because I have to actually likereinvent myself in my head as
well as I'm speaking to people.
I have to kind of not fake ittill you make it, because I
don't really like that too much,but it's kind of true, like I
have to start acting like who Iwant to become.
So I am having to get out,having to get dressed and get my
(16:12):
hair done and my nails done anddo things that really weren't
as important.
There were like a number 10 onmy list now is like two or three
, because I have to bepresentable and just it forces
me to get out and make friendsand bump into people and talk to
people and I really like that.
I like that because.
I feel like that's what I wasmissing.
Janice Neely (16:29):
Yeah, I think, instead of make it till you,
make it maybe live into it.
Exactly, there you go, correct?
Lissette Lopez (16:36):
I like that a lot better yeah.
Janice Neely (16:38):
I think that's probably a good way to say it.
So right now you are inMurfreesboro, Tennessee, and
what's the housing market likein Murfreesboro?
Lissette Lopez (16:50):
Gosh, it's booming In Middle Tennessee.
It's crazy.
I think we're number seven ornumber eight in the country of
this town that's growing, it'sexploding.
Home prices are still risingbut there's so many
opportunities and I'm learningabout so many programs for
families and first-time homebuyers that are still able to
get you into a house.
I know that we're hoping thatthe FHA is going to start going
(17:14):
down a little bit so it's at 6or 6.9%, I believe, and we're
hoping that next year it lookslike it might be down into the
fives, which a lot more peopleare going to be able to access
homes that they like.
We're seeing multiple offers onhomes just in the recent month,
so I do see that some thingsare changing, which is good.
Janice Neely (17:33):
Yeah, I remember just a few years ago, or maybe
two or three years ago, youcould not get a house because
there were people that wereputting in offers sight unseen,
and a lot from out of state, andso you know the local people
did not have a chance.
And the offers were much higherthan the asking price.
So now it's changed, but at thesame time maybe it's a good
(17:56):
thing if it levels and thenpeople have opportunities, like
you said, especially first timehome buyers.
Lissette Lopez (18:02):
Exactly, exactly .
Everybody's dream is to be ahomeowner for the most part, so
hopefully that's going to help alot more people be able to
accomplish that.
Investment properties are stillalways good as well.
I mean, you just don't losemoney with real estate.
Janice Neely (18:15):
No, no, the property on top of it is one
thing, but land is never goingaway.
Lissette Lopez (18:20):
Exactly.
Janice Neely (18:21):
And whatś the saying?
They're not making any more ofit.
They're not making any more.
Lissette Lopez (18:25):
We have all that we can, so everybody's trying
to grab a piece, yeah.
Janice Neely (18:31):
So what would you say to women who are over 50 or,
you know, in midlife and theywant to make a career change?
Or they tossed it around alittle bit but thought maybe I
just should let that pass andaccept things the way they are.
What would you say to that?
Lissette Lopez (18:51):
Well, if you're happy the way you are, I say
stay.
Then, of course, just enjoyyour ride.
But if you have that feeling,or if there's any little thing
in your mind that you want to do, you have that burning desire
to try something else, go for it.
I mean go for it.
We're running out of time, butwe only have this one life and
just do it.
And people are really notlooking at you as much as you
think.
(19:11):
You know.
You always think I'm going tomake a fool out of myself.
Everybody's so busy in theirown mind and trying to get their
own life going that even if youstumble, no one's going to care
.
Just get back up, dust yourselfoff and keep doing it.
We definitely are going toregret what we don't do instead
of what we have tried to do andfallen and gotten back up.
So, yeah, I say go for it.
Janice Neely (19:31):
Go for it.
It's so important.
It just made me think ofsomething.
Today I went with my husband.
He went to the doctor and therewas a lady in there sitting
with him.
I saw her come out of thebuilding and she was probably
about four foot eleven, had on adress and had a hat on and got
in her car and had a littletrouble getting out of her
parking spot but she finally didand then she really took off.
(19:51):
But she looked like she waskind of up there in years and so
my husband told me he talked toher and she was in her 90s and
that she had two doctor'sappointments today and she was
not happy because it was cuttinginto her social life.
I love it.
Look at her, go.
I think that when it used to be oh, you're
(20:13):
supposed to be retiring with thegold watch when you're 55 years
old and then just go sit thereand be quiet and be nice and be
happy with that.
And what if we live another 50years after that?
Lissette Lopez (20:25):
That's what I'm saying.
Like you just said, we'reliving to 100.
My grandma's died in their late90s, so I've got another
40-something years ahead of me.
Hopefully, I am not going tosit quietly and just fade away.
I mean, there's too much lightin us.
I let that light shine and goout.
However, you could do that,even if it's volunteering or
helping.
Just do whatever makes yourheart smile.
Janice Neely (20:45):
Yeah, I just say be a part of life in whatever
way it pleases you.
Be, a part of life.
Take part in it.
Lissette Lopez (20:52):
Yes.
Janice Neely (20:52):
Well, okay, everyone, Lissette has a page up
on our website atRestlessToRenewed.
com and you can get moreinformation about her there.
We also have her business cardthere.
She would love to talk to anyof you who are in Middle
Tennessee or any part ofTennessee area, and if you want
to list a home or if you wouldlike to have her show you around
(21:16):
, that would be great.
If you're out of state andyou're thinking of moving to
Tennessee, give her a call andshe is really, really nice and
helpful.
So you want to get somebodylike her in your court.
And I just want to thank youLissette.
For those of you who would bewilling to follow us on
(21:38):
Instagram and Facebook, we wouldreally appreciate it.
We need all the likes andfollows that we can get, and
today I'm going to leave youwith this quote from Harriet
Tubman.
¨ Every great dream begins witha dreamer.
Always remember you have withinyou the strength, the patience
and the passion to reach for thestars, to change the world.
(22:01):
¨ Okay, so thank you, Lissette,and everybody.
Thank you and have a good restof your day.
Theme music playing (22:10):
It´s alright if you don't know how to
do it, come sit down and talkto me.
(22:33):
It's all right that you're notsure how to do it.
You're in perfect company.
Now talk to me.
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