A highlight of 3 career pivots to real estate during the pandemic...
JUSTIN BOHON:
It all began with a Broadway shutdown, for my family, all least. Honestly, as real as the pandemic was, it didn’t truly sink in until that moment. Even then, my husband and I agreed that it would only be a few months, and that it would be nice to have a break from all the chaos of New York City. We packed the car and headed to our house in Greenwood Lake to wait it out. As we all know, the weeks turned into months, and then a year, with no real end in sight.
As we begin to find some sense of normalcy again in the world, I have reflected upon what I have learned and what perspective I have gained from this time. I think the central, collective idea has to do with our need as human beings to help others for our own personal survival and mental health.
Half way through the pandemic my family and I had found a certain groove to our daily routine. It was monotonous, but none-the-less, we were settled and moving through life in a pattern that seemed steady and healthy. Everything was almost normal, or at least a “new normal” that we found to be livable. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I began to put a pause on reaching out to family and friends. I pitied myself for the loss of career, the loss of income, for the endless distanced learning for our daughter, the fear of illness and the loss of loved ones to this virus. As I became hyper-focused on how unfair it all was, I became more and more depressed.
About eight months in, a friend who had threatened to cut me off for good if I didn’t return their call said to me, “I gotta say, for all that you’re experiencing, you do realize that you are incredibly fortunate, right? It’s time to stop wallowing.” How DARE she! She said, “Find something you like and do it! Go outside. Do something for someone else!”
I realize that being of service to others is not a new idea, of course, but it is what brought me out of my funk and led me to a new career that I love. The moment I shifted my focus to the needs of others, even in the smallest of ways, I started to feel more alive and vital again.
The motto of Pollock Properties Group is “Care. Serve. Give.” I still remember the way those words sounded as our CEO, Vanessa Pollock, spoke them to me in our initial zoom meeting. Prior to that moment in my life, I would have laughed at such a statement or written it off as a sound bite, but in this instance it affected me greatly. There was a shift in my mindset. This newly considered endeavor was no longer about making some extra cash, or filling up my days in order to say that I was being productive, it was actually a way to be of service to people and to a community.
Service to others was the best medicine for me. While on the surface this is not a new or profound discovery, I do believe that saying and knowing a thing are very different from actually implementing that belief into one’s daily life. Approaching all aspects of family, career and community from a perspective of caring, serving and giving absolutely altered every aspect of my life and saved me from myself. Oddly enough, I learned that the most selfless acts are often the ones that introduce the highest level of personal growth and self care to us.
DON DARRYL RIVERA:
March 12, 2020. My wife and I pulled out our phones as a barrage of texts and news alerts about Broadway being shutdown made our pockets vibrate (we’re theatre people, our phones are always on silent). As we lowered our phones, we just stared at each other. The only thing we knew at that moment was that our Broadway shows would be shut down for 30 days. My wife texted the babysitter and told her not to come and for the first time in a long time - we tucked our daughter into bed on a Thursday night. Then we made our way downstairs and watched the twilight pour through our windows for the first time ever in our new home.
I originated the role of Iago in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway and at the time of the shutdown I had performed the role 2503 times. That meant the same schedule: 8 shows a week, 52 weeks a year for 6 years. I moved to NYC to open the show, so my life on the East Coast had always revolved around it. And with Broadway closed, for the first time in a long time - I honestly had no clue what to do.
We (the proverbial every single person on earth “we”) have experienced the undeniable hardships as well as the odd silver linings this pandemic has presented to us. Through my daughter’s eyes one thing was abundantly clear: mom and dad were home all day, everyday and that was awesome! Looking back on 2020, finding the balance of telling our daughter that everything will be ok, virtually knowing nothing about the virus and also finding a way to pivot in this pandemic seemed like an insurmountable task. But luckily, here we are slowly and steadily cresting the hill on the other side. My daughter is now a couple of inches taller (and finished with preschool!) and I’ve found my place among a group of servant-hearted people who serve the families in our communities by helping them realize their real estate dreams and who give back in every way possible and I am so grateful.
If you’re reading this, most likely you’re very familiar with Pollock Properties Group and may even have been one of the families we’ve served. Having been one of those families ourselves and now being part of this incredible team, what Vanessa and the people she’s surrounded herself with accomplish on a daily basis is beautiful and astonishing. If I had to distill the many things I’ve learned during the last 18 months into one thing, it’s the tremendous power of the word “yes.”
There’s a golden rule in theatre (besides don’t take pictures and PLEASE unwrap your hard candies before the show) and that golden rule is: “Yes, and…” meaning, accept the scenario that’s presented to you and then be open to what’s to come. When theatre practitioners say “yes, and…” over and over again, the result is a story being told. And by the end you hopefully have Hamilton, or an approximation of something like that.
When I joined Pollock Properties Group, it didn’t take me long to realize I had found a new cast, who worked hard to help everyone succeed in telling their part of the story. And that the stories we were telling were not our own, but the stories of the families we were serving. I was able to help families close and raise the curtains on new chapters in their stories and every time I said “Yes, and…” it was always met with a resounding “yes, and…”
With Broadway opening up this fall, my real estate story doesn’t end here… in fact - it gets more rich and fascinating as Vanessa, with her sunshine eyes and gentle smile, said “Yes, and…” with which I blurted out “yes, and…” without even thinking twice. I’m so lucky to have found this amazing group and am forever grateful that they will always be a part of my story.
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
MARK EVANS-MORTELITTI:
Okay. Bear with me as I write this and don’t roll your eyes. I’ve learned enough this past 18 months that I could FILL every issue of the Pollock Journal for the next ten years! With that in mind, I’ve decided to focus on one thing. I have REALLY learned the value of
….breathing. You rolled your eyes, I knew it! Take a breath while I explain what I mean.
As a professional actor of 20 years I’m definitely accustomed to change, but having now been a professional realtor for over a year too, I’ve learned to embrace change more than ever. It truly is the ONLY thing we can fully rely on - Change. But it’s not always easy.
At the end of each work day I write out my “success list” (schedule) for the next day. Meetings, appointments, clients to check in with, new client consultations, offers to submit etc and when to do it. It’s always a lot of work and it’s always a struggle to fit it all in.
Without a doubt, every single day there’s a curve ball and something will happen, very often high stakes and high stress given this wild real estate market we’re living through and that nice little list I wrote may as well be jumbled up like socks in a tumble dryer. Since I find it a little challenging to not feel in control, especially when I’m navigating transactions that deeply affect people’s lives; this is where breathing helps. I once heard this saying:
“You can’t take a breath in the past, you can’t breathe in the future, you can only breath right now”.
It’s an active way of being able to come back to the present moment and relieve stress. Take a conscious breath. I am devoted to each of my clients and their families and it gets stressful when things don’t go as planned and in order for ME to be the calm one, I remind myself of that phrase as often as I need to. Try it. I bet you like it.
I’ve learned that I am a good Realtor, because there is no better education than when you’re a member of Pollock Properties Group absorbing the wisdom, experience and care that exudes from Vanessa and everyone on the team. Our wonderful PPG family, each of whom I adore, are themselves a huge breath of oxygen for which I’m grateful beyond words. Thanks for reading. Now take a breath and turn the page.
