268. Lisa Bennett: How to Prosper Even in the Face of Great Challenges

Top Real Estate Agents Tell How They Do It: Jere Metcalf Podcast

Today I’m talking to Lisa Bennett with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty and BreakthroughLuxury Member. Recently featured in the Emerge Magazine and as the cover story in Good News Notebook Magazine, Lisa is a power house real estate renowned for white glove service to buyers and sellers including builders and developers across Atlanta. Lisa was first on the finance side of real estate working with banks and mortgages. It was this path that prepared her for opportunity in the Great Recession of 2008 when she discovered her talent for negotiating short sales and foreclosures, not just any shortsale and foreclosure but those in the arena of luxury. The challenges of 2008 came to Lisa quickly, and she just as quickly turned them into opportunity. While so many of us in real estate recall the challenges of 2008 and the recession some of the toughest, this barely touches the surface of what Lisa has faced.

She faced the death of almost of her closest family members in a span of 2 years. She took the lessons, harnessed her pier and her mindset and despite loss and heartache, she created even more success in her life and her career. Soon after her losses, as if this weren’t enough, she learned she had a rare cancer, a cancer unresponsive to chemo as well as to radiation.

Doctors told Lisa, this cancer is going to take you or your leg, you choose. She made the choice and had her leg amputated just over a year ago in June of 2021. After this surgery Lisa had to relearn to walk and drive among a long long list of things we all take for granted every day. Despite all of this, Lisa doesn’t stop. She is relentless in every aspect of the meaning of the word. It has only just been over a year and yet she manages to list more properties and represent more investors and builders of homes in the dozens and even the hundreds. Today Lisa shares with us, How to Prosper, even in the face of great challenges.

• 00:00 - Lisa Bennett: How to Prosper Even in the Face of Great Challenges
• 03:06 - How Lisa got into real estate
• 04:45 - Advantages and Obstacles for Lisa
• 07:54 - How Lisa finds and develops clients
• 10:09 - Lisa’s business and operation structure and strategies
• 14:42 - Lisa’s breakthrough moment and idea
• 20:02 - Lisa’s leg amputation story and journey to recovery
• 30:48 - Significant life lessons
• 35:34 - Positivity, negativity and how to navigate them
• 46:01 - How Lisa navigates her business
• 48:25 - Lisa’s biggest surprise in being a real estate agent
• 54:52 - Lisa’s biggest challenge and how she overcame it
• 57:05 - The most impactful resource to Lisa’s success
• 58:10 - Most impactful book in Lisa’s life and career
• 59:19 - Lisa’s key takeaway

People/ Resources Mention -

• BreakthroughLuxury™
• Fannie Mae
• Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's International Realty
• Paul McCartney
• Chris Voss
• Tahl Raz

Book -

• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss & Tahl Raz

Quote-
Be kind and honor your mind, your body and your spirit.
Jere interviews the world’s most renowned and best real estate agents around the country and the world.
These outstanding Agents tell their stories, how they got into the business, and what has made them successful in one of the oldest and most competitive industries.