The Autumn Edit, Volume 04

Happy almost-July, y'all. We are about to cross the halfway line of the year, which I flat refuse to believe and yet here we are. The end of June always pulls me into check-in mode, so this one is a little reflective. A mid-year read on the business, and an honest mid-year read on me.

In Real Estate

Six months in, I did the same audit on my business that I do on everything else. A little spreadsheets and data, but also a lot of thought and reflection. What is actually working, what has changed and that I outgrew, and where I am spending energy that is not giving me energy back.

What keeps coming back is that the wins I am proudest of this year were not the biggest deals. They were the clients who came back, the friends who sent me someone they love, the people who trusted me with a decision that genuinely scared them. Fourteen years in, that is still the part that gets me. You do not build that with marketing. You build it by being the same person in year fourteen that you were on day one, and by treating a business like it is made of relationships, because it is.

So the back half of the year is not about chasing a bigger number for me. It is about taking better care of the people already in my corner. If you are one of them, thank you. Truly. I do not take a single one of you for granted.

In Life

I run that same audit on myself, and it lands in the same place every single year. I will just say it plainly in case you need to hear it today too. The most successful version of me is also the version who is home for dinner, present for Camden, and actually likes the life she built. This does not require perfection, but consistency. Showings and appointments happen – but my family also needs to know that I am prioritizing them as much as I am my work. Anything else is not success. It is just survival in a nicer outfit.

The thing that keeps me steady through all of it is the first hour of my day. Before the inbox, before anybody needs anything from me, just my coffee and my Bible and a few quiet minutes with a cup of coffee and the kitties. It is not negotiable and it never will be. And as we head into the slow stretch around the Fourth, I am giving myself full permission to actually slow down for it. Longer mornings, a little less hustle, a lot more time with the people I love. I hope you give yourself the same.

A Tip I Give All the Time

I had a client go under contract on new construction this month and gave them the same little tip I find myself sharing constantly, so I am passing it along to you too. If your shower does not have a built-in bench, do not fret. There is a simple and way less expensive option, that is also pretty to look at – a garden stool.

A ceramic garden stool is just about the perfect height, it holds up to water with no problem, and it actually looks pretty in the space instead of looking like a medical supply. Use it to shave your legs, to set a towel or your coffee on, or to hold a pretty plant or just as another surface to set those products. Functional and beautiful, which is my favorite combination for a reason.

Here are a few I love, at a couple of price points, so you can find one that fits your - space:

And that is the mid-year edit. If your first six months flew by in a blur like mine did, let this be your nudge to slow down a beat before the back half picks up speed. If you are newer to town, my free local guide is still sitting on the site, the same running list of Raleigh spots I hand new neighbors all the time.

Come find me on the gram and tell me one thing you want the rest of this year to hold. Those are honestly my favorite messages to get, and I answer every single one.

Here is to a slower, genuinely good back half of the year. We are halfway there, and we are going to finish it well.

Your friend,

Autumn