Meet the President
Brenda Lee Szlachta: Women’s Council of REALTORS®️ 2020 National President
Vice President Agent Development for Real Living Kee Realty, Michigan
by Tracy Velt
Like many real estate professionals, Brenda Lee Szlachta, 2020 Women's Council National President, didn’t dream of a career in real estate. “I had three boys under four years old and was working in retail,” says Szlachta, vice president of agent development for Real Living Kee Realty in Michigan. Working in retail means many nights and weekends spent away from the family and, she says, “being run by someone else. I wanted to be my own boss.” That was 1990, and this year, she’s celebrating 30 years in real estate. Not only that, but she's stuck with the same company all these years. "I've always been with the same office, but we've had four owners during that time, so I'm the historian," she laughs. "I've moved offices within the organization but never left the company."
Finding Her Why
Six months passed, and she didn't close a single sale. "So, when January 1991 rolled around, I realized that I had to take things into my own hands." She started going to classes at her local association, eventually getting involved. "Then, I stumbled onto the Women's Council. It was the educational aspect that was important to me," she says. She started attending business resource meetings, similar to a lunch and learn program. "I couldn't get enough, there was always something interesting and useful for me to implement in my business," says Szlachta. "I wasn't a member. I didn't become a Women's Council member until 2005 when someone asked me about it," she says. From that point on, she was hooked, getting involved in committees, meeting members, attending conferences, and eventually making her way to leadership, where she was the 2016 president of the Michigan State Chapter. Szlachta’s real estate designations and certifications include Graduate REALTOR® Institute (GRI), Short Sale Foreclosure Resource (SFR), Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES), and Performance Management Network (PMN). She is a Trustee for the REALTOR® Scholarship Fund and has attended every National Association of REALTORS® legislative meeting in Washington, D.C., and national meetings since 2008.
The education she continues to receive, she says, is "invaluable. My whole job is to educate my agents and bring them ideas that are going to make their lives easier. At one Women's Council panel discussion, the speakers talked about this idea to reach their sphere of influence. They called it 33 touches. I asked them for specifics and brought the idea back to our leadership team," she says. "We put together a similar program, and it changed our business. At my company, we now have 82% of our business coming from our sphere of influence."
Planting the Flag
Szlachta has also personally benefited from the support she’s received from Women's Council members. “I invited Sara Lipnitz to speak to
our group in Michigan. She did this wonderful, from-the-heart keynote about planting your flag. What are you doing with your life? What is your plan? What flag do you want to plant? Then, she went around the room and asked some of us these questions. It was at that meeting that I first said aloud that I wanted to be the national president of Women’s Council,” says Szlachta. Doing that, she says, gave her direction and, “the support flew in. Women's Council allowed me to recognize that other people have faith and confidence in me, which gives me more confidence."
Lessons Learned
And, Szlachta admits, she questioned herself quite a bit about how she needed to be as national president. “I'm a little bit different. And so, my first thought was that to be in this position; I needed to conform. I thought, ‘I need to adjust. I need to simmer down. I need not be so loud,’” she says. “So, I'm at a President's Circle event, and I shared those thoughts with my friend, Gail Hartnett, who is a past national president.” Hartnett told Szlachta that adjusting her personality was a bad idea. “She said people elected me as the person I am, so I should be my authentic self, not some altered version.” For Szlachta, it was a good message, delivered at just the right time.
When she’s not working or volunteering with Women's Council, she’s active in her local community. “Whether it’s shaving my head to raise money with my Real Living team for St. Baldricks Foundation for childhood cancer research, participating as a volunteer in the Thanksgiving Day parade or contributing time to a women’s build with Habitat for Humanity, I believe that giving back to the community is an important part of a balanced life,” she said.
Szlachta has been married to her husband, Mark, for 36 years. Together they have three sons and are blessed with two beautiful granddaughters, Charlotte Lee and Avery.
Overall, says Szlachta, joining the Women's Council gave her the education she needed to improve her business, and getting involved in the organization gave her confidence. "And, let's not forget the referral piece. I am not kidding when I say that I am asked two to three times a week if I can refer the person to a Women's Council member in such and such state.” She adds, “The truth is I’m a grassroots person. I’m boots on the ground. I’m a member who happens to be your president. I’m the members.”
About the Contributor
Tracey C. Velt is an Orlando-based freelance writer with more than 20 years of experience writing about the real estate industry.
