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25 Mar Ep. 12: Carrie Nenonen of “CDN and The City” Talks Social Media and Corporate Relocation
In this episode, Adam interviews Carrie Nenonen of the blog CDN And The City about how realtors can use social media to their advantage, corporate relocation, & tips for new realtors. Adam and Carrie also bond over going to college at Mizzou.
Email questions to Podcast@HermannLondon.com
WHAT’S INSIDE
0:45-Thursday, April 16th The Hermann London softball team begins their season
1:01-Friday, April 3rd Hermann London is going to The Ronald McDonald House to serve dinner
1:16 Tuesday, April 14th The Hermann London Luncheon Group will meet up at Mai Lee
1:28-Thursday, March 26th is Trey Malicoat’s next free seminar at The Hermann London offices
2:09-Adam introduces Carrie Nenonen
2:49-How does Carrie train new real estate agents
3:33-How did Carrie get into the real estate business
8:00-What was Carrie’s first deal
8:23-What real estate deals are currently keeping Carrie busy
9:02-Carrie is addicted to social media
10:02-How does Carrie like to learn about real estate
10:55-People don’t know how to use Twitter correctly
12:33-How Carrie gets clients from Twitter
14:37-Other ways Carrie gets information on how to do business
15:10-How training other agents keeps Carrie fresh
16:06-What is not working for Carrie
17:30-Does Carrie specialize in one area in particular
18:25-How does Carrie decide what to blog about and when to do it
20:04-Does Carrie keep track of her site’s web traffic
20:50-What does Carrie do for fun
23:30-Carrie goes on daily realtor adventures/haunted houses
26:00-Carrie and having an assistant
26:49-What is corporate relocation
28:50-How does Carrie know what part of St. Louis someone will fit into
32:17-What are some tips for a new realtor
33:41-Adam and Carrie bond over going to college at Mizzou
36:23-What is the best business phone call Carrie could receive
37:17-Who lives under Carrie’s roof
37:40-When is Carrie at her best
38:14-What is Carrie’s favorite podcast
39:02-What is Carrie’s guilty pleasure
39:50-Who is Carrie’s mentor and how has she thanked them
40:43-How to get a hold of Carrie on her BLOG, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, & VINE
TRANSCRIPTION
Adam-Welcome. Welcome, everyone to St. Louis Realtor Podcast, live here from The Hermann London Real Estate Group in beautiful downtown Maplewood, Missouri. We’ve got a special guest in studio today but first I’m going to give you a Hermann London update because we’ve got a lot of different events coming up. We’ve softball. Our company’s softball team starts April 16th. We’re going to be playing in Brentwood. It’s a co-ed team. We need some support. We need some groupies. We need some fans to come out and support us and teach us how to win these games and increase our record from the previous years. Also, Friday, April 3rd our company is going to The Ronald McDonald House down by SLU and cook dinner for everyone. We do that once a year and it is always a fun time. It feels good to help out and see the people appreciating us being down there and enjoying the food with them. We’ve got The Hermann Luncheon Group. We started a new group. Now on the second Tuesday of every month we’ve got The Hermann Luncheon Group. This month it’s April 14th and I think we are going to go to Mai Lee. If you would like to join us just let us know. Lastly, we’ve got Trey Malicoat’s next class. You’ve heard Trey. He’s been on my show a few times and his next class or clinic or seminar or whatever you want to call it is on March 26th. That is open to the public. Anyone that wants to come is welcome to come. It’s here at our office. It is usually about three hours. The morning of March 26th from 9am to noon come on over, hear what Trey’s got to say, it’s free, he’s always motivating and gives a new perspective. It is interesting. Just let us know if you want to come to any of those events. You can email info@HermannLondon.com. I’m going to get right to it here. I’ve got Carrie Nenonen. Did I say that right?
Carrie-Yes. You said it perfectly.
Adam-Carrie Nenonen here in our office. Carrie is a realtor here in town with Coldwell Banker-Gundaker. She’s been with them here entire career. Carrie, I want you to go ahead and introduce yourself if you don’t mind.
Carrie-My name is Carrie Nenonen. I am a native to St. Louis. I am married to a great guy named Steve. I’m the mom of two teenage boys. I’ve been with Coldwell Gundaker’s corporate office for over 13 years where I also do a lot of the training of the new agents and some social media training as well.
Adam-So you train the new agents. Do you sit them down and give them a binder? Is it a two day thing? Is it a once a week for ten weeks, or how do you do it?
Carrie-Actually, it’s an 18 month process. I follow them through and kind of help them. Initially it is a lot of learning the business and getting established on the internet and that kind of stuff. But as they go through their second and third listing contracts, I actually walk them through that.
Adam-Good. You kind of act as their trainer up front and then kind of their mentor?
Carrie-It’s a mentor. Yeah.
Adam-Good for you. Well, I’m going to jump right into it. I’ve got a lot of questions ready for you if you don’t mind. I’m just going to move along with it and it seems like you are open to that.
Carrie-I am. Bring it on.
Adam-You are a realtor full time. How did you get into the business? Did you fall into it, dream about it, or was your mom a realtor?
Carrie-You know, I love that you ask this question because that is the most fascinating thing to find out how people landed into the business.
Adam-Right.
Carrie-For me, I was a social worker in the city. I got pregnant and at that point I had to decide if it was financially wise to remain there or leave and stay home with him. I decided to leave and I was a stay at home for a couple of years. I got pregnant again and with that pregnancy we had completely outgrown our 2 bedroom 1 bath slab that my husband had picked up before right out of graduate school.
Adam-Where was that?
Carrie-It was in the Overland unincorporated University City area. My father was a local high-school teacher but he was also a real estate investor. My grandfather was also a real estate investor and they did a lot of projects together. As a child I spent most of my summer vacations down in the Shaw and Tower Grove area before it had been restored. It was still very dangerous at the time. I was in these gorgeous old houses. I also grew up the daughter of parents that are really old house lovers. I was always exposed to Frank Lloyd Wright houses every time we traveled and we always did historic tours. It was something I always contemplated doing. I knew we had to move. I kind of dreaded getting in touch with a real estate agent because they kind of scared me a little bit.
Adam-We are not that scary.
Carrie-I know. We are not that scary. I was not someone who liked the hard sell so I decided to take the plunge and go for it. I thought I would move us. I thought it would be a hobby and here I am.
Adam-So you left social work to get into a different type of social work.
Carrie-It’s totally a different type of social work and honestly I’m a people person and my social work background really does help.
Adam-You mentioned that you guys would go to Shaw a lot. Was your father and grandfather doing rehabs down there?
Carrie-Full rehabs. I was so young but I remember walking to these houses and being overwhelmed by the wood and stained glass windows. At the time, he was buying houses for $9,000, work on them during summer vacation, and sell them for $40,000. They were quick flips where he was stripping wallpaper, painting, doing basic repairs, and at the time I hated it. But of course as you grow up, it kind of seeps into you.
Adam-Real estate gets into your blood.
Carrie-It does.
Adam-I guess back then he was bringing them to the condition where they would become rentals or was he selling them?
Carrie-He was flipping some. Others he would rent. He had several rentals at one point.
Adam-I guess it wasn’t all about stainless and granite back then.
Carrie-It was nothing like that. My dad always believed in maintaining the architectural integrity of the house. He true appreciation for the stained glass, wood, and the carvings so he never touched that. That is something I am so passionate about. All my clients will tell you that when I walk into a house with all the original goodies, I love it. It’s my favorite part of this job.
Adam-Do you think you’ve been back into any of those houses?
Carrie-It’s possible. He’s been gone for 5 years. I was doing real estate before that but it’s possible.
Adam-If you show properties down there and him and your grandfather were doing a bunch of work, that’s kind of neat. Hopefully the people that bought them are maintaining that character. It was kind of in your blood and you fell into it. You have a mix.
Carrie-I kind of lucked out the way I got into it. I think the most difficult aspect of starting in real estate is the financial needs and the fact that I had been a stay at home mom for 2 and a half years…we were used to me not having an income so I was able to enjoy the ride and the bumps and the valleys without the stress of paying a mortgage. It made my transition into the business a lot easier than most.
Adam-Was your first deal buying a new house and selling your old house?
Carrie-I think we ended up closing about 9 months later. It was one of my really good friends that I closed my first one.
Adam-I thought you got your license to help yourself find a new house but it took a while to find one and you helped other people in the mean time.
Carrie-It took us a little bit.
Adam-Jumping forward to 2015; what’s keeping you busy now?
Carrie-This spring has been unbelievable even though it just started. Last year we had such a lull in the market because the weather was so bad and this spring has been crazy. I’ve had a good mix of buyers and sellers. It kind of feels like people are a lot more confident with the economy.
Adam-I think we are all trying to forget the first few months of the year when you couldn’t even go outside. You mentioned to me earlier that you are big on social media and you had a long list.
Carrie-I’m on them all.
Adam-Do you go to each one?
Carrie-I prefer to go to each one. I like to dig into each site and app and do it that way.
Adam-Did you hear that Google+ is supposed to be going away?
Carrie-I did not hear that.
Adam-Supposedly Google+ is going to be stripped apart and they are going to get rid of the social aspect of it maybe because it’s apparently just people like you and me on there trying to promote our blogs.
Carrie-Exactly. It’s great for driving traffic and caching information but other than that nobody ever really interacts very much.
Adam-Is that part of the problem?
Carrie-I think so.
Adam-You’re hip. I like that you call it G+.
Carrie-What do you call it?
Adam-Google+. I’m old-school I guess. If it goes away it won’t affect you too bad I suppose.
Carrie-Not really.
Adam-You mentioned that you are a real estate educator. You like to help new agents learn about what to do. How do you like to learn about real estate and do you have certain sources that you listen to?
Carrie-I’m constantly learning. I’m big on social media and business because I’m big on social media personally and it is such an amazing resource of information. The very first thing I do in the morning is I check my Twitter with all my favorite real estate news feeds. I’m constantly reading blogs, articles, and I have everything bookmarked.
Adam-You are one of those people that gets up in the morning, has some coffee, sit down, and instead of getting out a newspaper you get out an iPad?
Carrie-I do.
Adam-And Twitter is your best source for news?
Carrie-Twitter is a great source for news if you know how to use it. A lot of people don’t know how to use it correctly. I have specific real estate lists that are private and it’s a feed of just real estate news.
Adam-Maybe you can coach me a little bit. My problem is that I’ll follow someone I like. Non real estate related, I’m a big Rhonda Rousey fan. She’s a UFC fighter. I follow Rhonda but now when I got to my Twitter I see every single person on there who has ever commented at her and I don’t want to see all that.
Carrie-You don’t have to.
Adam-So I should use a different function of Twitter called lists?
Carrie-You are on the newsfeed. The newsfeed is great if you’re trying to kill some time and you want to check it out but realistically it is really difficult to keep up with people on the newsfeed. I think I have 16 private lists. My real life friends, twitter friends, real estate agent friends, real estate news, and St. Louis goodies. I have all these different lists so if I want to get news about what is going on in St. Louis I will use my St. Louis list. It is just a way of getting all that other stuff out and just keeping it clean to that subject.
Adam-Are there any really good sources for St. Louis real estate news on Twitter?
Carrie-I wouldn’t say there is a resource that is outstanding but I would say the St. Louis Twitter community is so strong. I have met so many amazing people and clients off of Twitter.
Adam-I want to dig into this if you don’t mind.
Carrie-Yeah.
Adam-This is how I am imagining it. Someone tweets they need a home in St. Louis and asks if anyone knows a realtor. Is that what they would Tweet and you would Tweet back to them?
Carrie-I’ve had people that have said they are looking for a great realtor in St. Louis and then one of my client’s will tell them to check out out my blog, but typically incquires come in a private message or they’ll go from my Twitter to my website and they’ll reach out to me on my email.
Adam-So you get through your Twitter and seeing see all the little posts that you make, they end up at your website?
Carrie-Yeah. People know, because I’ve been on Twitter for long enough, they know they can come to me for questions. They are not going to get the hard sell with me. I’m their to help with information as well.
Adam-I guess you have made sure to not be the realtor that you were afraid to deal with that made you get into the business in the first place.
Carrie-That is exactly how I conduct myself. My husband is in sales too. We are those weird sales people that when we go shopping for a car, we do all of our research, we go looking on a Sunday, and we are ready to know what we want and what we want to negotiate and then we go deal with the sales people. I don’t like the hard sell and I find it to be extremely insulting to clients when you are trying to push them and they are not ready. I am very respectful of that.
Adam-Honestly, we are not necessarily selling houses. We are helping people buy a house.
Carrie-We are matchmakers.
Adam-I don’t care what house they buy in particular. Whatever one makes them happy.
Carrie-Well, you do as long as it is a good investment. If I don’t think it is a good investment, I’m not scared to tell my clients that.
Adam-And I’m sure they appreciate that. Carrie tells us how it is. Other than Twitter and social media, do you have a mentor or some other ways about how to do business?
Carrie-I have a really solid office. I have a wonderful broker. Our company has a lot of continuing education so I participate in a lot of that. I tend to get the bulk of the information on my own.
Adam-Just from being around, active, going to your office, you probably pick it up. You don’t have a formal…
Carrie-Right. Training agents is great because it keeps me fresh. I’m not only dealing with my situations, I’m also dealing with theirs. I have to verbalize things I already know but I don’t realize that it is actually valuable to somebody else.
Adam-If there are realtors out there that are considering getting a mentor or their might be more that are considering being a mentor, you would encourage them to do it?
Carrie-Yeah, if they can manage it. If they have the patience. I think a lot of agents, I’ve been in the business for 13 years, and I think it is easy to lose sight of what it’s like to be brand new. No matter how long I am in this business, I will never forget how uncomfortable it is in the beginning when you don’t know what you are doing. It is hard because you want to help people but you don’t want to screw up.
Adam-Being a mentor can help someone but it can help you too because it helps you stay fresh.
Carrie-Definitely.
Adam-We’ve talked about what’s working for you. I want to know what is not working for you.
Carrie-I think the thing that probably isn’t working for me, and I think it is a universal problem among any real estate agent that does a relatively decent amount of business, it’s management of your personal life and your professional life because there is no doubt about it when other people are going to work Monday morning at 9 AM, we can sleep in and take a breather because we’ve been working all weekend. But because we have that flexibility, our business during the peak hours totally seeps into our personal life. For me, my kids were babies when they started in this business so they know the weekends in the spring I am working. I may get interrupted. I may have to leave different things to go work with my clients but there are pros and cons to this business.
Adam-Maybe they appreciate that you are at their soccer game or at their school volunteering.
Carrie-Exactly. This business has allowed me to be the school mom and also have a career. It’s been a great thing for me.
Adam-I’m going to dig a little deeper if you don’t mind. You use social media, you get a lot of your business from referrals, and it sounds like you don’t necessarily do advertising. I think I saw on your blog that I’m not going to find you on a shopping cart or park bench. Do you focus on one area?
Carrie-I have no specialty and I have no distinct area that I like to be in. For me, the joy of being in this business and working at the corporate office, which is the draw since it is not connected to one area, I work everywhere and that’s what keeps it fun. I don’t advertise. I have a lot of word of mouth business and I focus my tension on nurturing my relationships with my clients. I’m viciously loyal to my clients and in return they are really good to me.
Adam-I guess that makes sense. Some agents may become a short sale expert and create a desk job for them self. You get to keep it interesting by being out and around. Back to your blog. I noticed you have things on their like recipes, listings, gardening tips, which I need to read in more detail. How do you decide what you are going to write about on there?
Carrie-Honestly, my blog is my special little place. I’ve had other agents ask me if they should blog. For me, my blog is my outlet. If I’m not feeling it, I don’t write it, but if something comes up that I’m inspired about, I write. The blog is a reflection of what’s going on in my head at the time. Often it is real estate focused but you will also see a lot about my family. We are always at The Muny and baseball games. I’m passionate about St. Louis so I like to focus on hidden gems and getting people out of their box.
Adam-I’m always trying to encourage our agents and girlfriend to blog more. I believe in blogging. It sounds like you do it in a way that you enjoy and write when you feel like it.
Carrie-I have no expectations. For me, I feel like our clients invite us into their personal lives where we get very intimate. We get to know their finances, dogs, kids, and what they eat. To me, my blog is a reflection of me. I share a little bit about what’s going on in my own life and my life and it gives people a way to relate to me.
Adam-Do you keep track of page views and traffic?
Carrie-I do have ways to measure it but I don’t pay attention to it. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make when blogging is looking at the metrics. I do have that. I know what key words tend to get hits and I find them funny but I would never post anything just for the hits. I don’t even allow comments on my blog. It is there for content for the people that show up.
Adam-And it is a reflection of you and you don’t want to have to change who you are. You also say that you work hard and play hard. How do you play hard?
Carrie-I love to travel. My husband is also in a sales job and does a lot of traveling so the flexibility of real estate allows me to a lot of that. I’ve got two teenage boys that are super busy. We are the people that are in the Grove during the international festival and we’re always out and about.
Adam-Do you have any travel plans coming up?
Carrie-We don’t really have anything in the works. My oldest son is a high-school sophomore and we are planning one big trip to Europe before he goes to college. We are stockpiling the airline miles. Typically we go to the beach and Vegas and we are trying to go to New Orleans in the fall, but we are really trying to plan a big trip.
Adam-Have you considered a European cruise?
Carrie-I’ve never been on a cruise. I’m nervous about being stuck on a boat. Everyone says I would love it but I’ve never been a cruise person.
Adam-I’ve been on a lot of cruises and to a lot of countries but it is funny because you are in each country for one day. You see a lot.
Carrie-Is it enough time?
Adam-For me it is. Especially for your sons I bet it will be because they are probably only going to want to see so much of The Sistine Chapel. Two hours you will be in and out. The Leaning Tower of Pisa. You go in and get a couple selfies and then you are ready to go.
Carrie-The last time I was in Europe my most favorite day was taking the metro to downtown Paris, getting lost, walking the streets, and doing my thing by myself. I probably walked 60 miles.
Adam-Can you do that now with your family?
Carrie-Yeah. My boys have done a lot of traveling.
Adam-Any big local events coming in the next couple weeks?
Carrie-I don’t know. I haven’t looked at that recently. I know there is a lot of stuff coming up in April.
Adam-And we can check your blog for that to find out more.
Carrie-Definitely.
Adam-Your blog also mentions that you have daily realtor adventures. Can you give us an example?
Carrie-If you follow me on Instagram, every time I bump into something funny, I like to take a picture. I can mention these people. They’ve been clients of mine for years. We went into this house, walked up to the third floor attic, and there was a noose hanging from the rafters. This was the first time that I met them and I freaked out and we started laughing. She always talks about how that is when she knew we would be life long friends. You never know what is going to be behind a door. Sometimes it is awesome and sometimes it’s appalling.
Adam-When you saw the noose you didn’t try to keep it cool?
Carrie-I’m an extremely expressive person and I try to keep house showings fun. If I see something I’m blown away by you will know it.
Adam-Did you take a picture?
Carrie-No. It was so long ago. If it had been in the past four years it would have been in Instagram. If you go on my Facebook page there is an album of the good, bad, and ugly. If I see something outstanding or off, I like to snap a picture.
Adam-I’m sure people love to look at the bad and the ugly ones. Have you had any ghost experiences?
Carrie-No. I’ve had houses that I’ve walked into that I don’t feel good in. Sometimes you can feel that a house has not been taking care of and the energy is heavy. Do you have ghost stories?
Adam-I don’t. I have gone into a house that was like, “Uuuuhhh, get me out of here.”.
Carrie-You can feel it. Yeah, I’ve had that too.
Adam-Or you go down into the basement and find a weird room.
Carrie-Yeah, the creepy dead body room. The weird room off to the side.
Adam-There’s always some sort of a weird thing like that depending on the lighting and time of day. Do you have an assistant?
Carrie-I don’t. When I was super busy a couple years ago my husband grabbed his real estate license and for five minutes was helping me with some of the administrative stuff. Honestly, I tend to manage it all on my own.
Adam-Your husband got his license?
Carrie-For five minutes and he said real estate was not for him.
Adam-Have you seen other people get assistants and you didn’t want one?
Carrie-I’ve never really gotten to the point where I had to commit to it. I’ve been able to manage everything on my own. Not that there hasn’t been busy seasons, but I also refer some of my business out.
Adam-I guess since you are not doing advertising campaigns you don’t have to worry about keeping that all together.
Carre-Right.
Adam-You also mentioned to me that you’ve done some corporate re-lo. Just to give our listeners a little bit better of an understanding, what am I even talking about?
Carrie-Corporate relocation. I actually worked at SIRVA for a period of time which is actually one of the largest corporate relocation companies in the world. A lot of companies, when they are moving employees to and from different cities, they hire a relocation company to handle those moves. The one that I worked for worked for some of the biggest companies in the city. They basically have a manager which is called a relocation counselor and they do all of the communication with the agents and movers and make sure the move goes smoothly.
Adam-Someone works at ABC Large Company and they are living in L.A. and ABC is going to transfer them to St. Louis. They set them up with a relocation manager that works at ABC Company in St. Louis…
Carrie-Actually, that works for an independent company.
Adam-An independent company like SIRVA?
Carrie-Right.
Adam-And then SIRVA goes and finds a realtor?
Carrie-Exactly although some companies have their own relocation people in house too. It varies.
Adam-The company is helping their potential employee have a smoother transition. You would help them find properties? Are you noticing an increase in the relocation business? I wanted to get your impression of the business market in St. Louis.
Carrie-From what I’ve seen it’s been steady, especially with companies like Monsanto, Anheuser-Busch, and Washington University.
Adam-If you have someone moving here, how do you know what area of town they might fit in?
Carrie-That is literally my favorite part of this job. When I worked as a relocation counselor I found that a lot of people that move from St. Louis from other cities, there are a few things that we lack. We have no affordable new construction in the central corridor. It doesn’t exist. If you want new construction you are spending three quarters of a million dollars. A lot of people would say they want the big walk in closets so a lot of agents would push them out west to the other side of the river. When I get people in and I get an idea of what they want, the very first thing I do is take them on a three hour city tour. I will plop them in my car with a map in their hand and drive the outer bend of 270 and show them where North,West, and South County is. If you go this way you are going to hit the arch and eventually Illinois. I like to start there, drive them to the arch, and weave them all the way back through. I’ve found by the time we get back to the 270 bend, they have a good idea how our city is laid out and what areas fit them.
Adam-You can see from that if they like older homes with charm and character of if they think it is old and needs to be fixed or if they want to be in a siding house in West County.
Carrie-I think what really helps is I’m super involved. On Saturday mornings my family is at The Tower Grove Farmer’s Market. While I’m taking people through these areas, I’m telling them what’s going on in the city at different times of the year, where the good restaurants are, and what the scene is.
Adam-That’s good because if they are moving to St. Louis, it is important that they get comfortable here. People say that St. Louis can be cliquey. Have you heard that?
Carrie-We are deeply rooted.
Adam-It sounds like you do a good job helping people find where they will be most comfortable. Have you read the news that we are supposed to be a great city for start-ups?
Carrie-I did. Tech start-ups.
Adam-What do you know about that?
Carrie-I haven’t gotten into the specifics of that but it is exciting.
Adam-But you are techy. I thought you’d be in with all the tech companies.
Carrie-I’m techy but I’m not that techy.
Adam-You don’t program and all that kind of stuff.
Carrie-No no no.
Adam-I’m assuming that some people listening are realtors, investors, or my aunt who listens because they love me. Is re-lo something realtors should try to pursue?
Carrie-With the company that I work for, they have a lot of contracts with different companies. I also have a lot of friends that live around the country so if they know someone moving here, they will give my name. It’s not for everybody. You have to be really comfortable with the city as a whole to do re-lo well. A lot agents have their comfort zones and you really have to have broad knowledge of the city to be comfortable doing cross-country moves.
Adam-When you do have a brand new realtor, do you have any tips?
Carrie-The biggest mistake new agents can make is to plan plan plan plan. You really have to dive head first and do. You can plan until the cows come home but if you are not starting to make money then you are not going to last. Those of us who have been in the business for a long time see so many people come and go. People are scared to get their hands dirty. The very first thing you need to do is get your online profile’s established so that when people Google you, they know what you are about. Start spreading the word that you are an agent. Start phone duty. Open houses. Start to speak the lingo because when people know that you are an agent they want to speak real estate.
Adam-People get into analysis paralysis and they don’t want to do anything until they know everything. Get your hands dirty.
Carrie-There is no such thing as knowing everything in this business and you need to learn to become comfortable with that or you won’t last.
Adam-You went to Mizzou. Where did you like to hang out there?
Carrie-All the places everyone else did. Harpo’s, The Field House, and Shakespeare’s Pizza. Every time I go through Columbia I have to stop for Shakespeare’s. A lot of the bars I used to hang out at are probably gone now.
Adam-Have you been there lately?
Carrie-No. It’s been a while.
Adam-I was there two weekends ago for a wedding and I get lost now.
Carrie-I know. My horrible un-air conditioned dorm is gone.
Adam-What dorm were you in?
Carrie-Jones. It was the worst.
Adam-Is that gone?
Carrie-Yeah. Jones. Laws. I think they were all torn down.
Adam-I lived in Donnelly which was right there. I think almost every building I lived in has been torn down.
Carrie-I know. There used to be this bar called Shattered. When were you there? I’m older than you are.
Adam-I’m not telling you when I was there but I’ve never heard of Shattered.
Carrie-I’m way older than you are but we used to go to Les Bourgeois, the winery. Now it is super nice.
Adam-That A-Frame place?
Carrie-Yeah.
Adam-Well, for all the money I spent there, they took that and invested it into making it nicer.
Carrie-I heard it is like a foodie destination and there is an awesome restaurant. Then it was a little a-frame shack with cheap wine but it was so fun.
Adam-What did you get your degree in?
Carrie-Sociology and anthropology.
Adam-The anthropology building just got torn down.
Carrie-Why did they tear that down? That building has been there since the 1800’s.
Adam-Two weekends ago it was disheveled. Maybe there are some good fossils in there.
Carrie-That’s horrible. I don’t want to hear that. My son’s a sophomore and we are going to start the college tour soon. I don’t know if I’m excited to go back to Mizzou or if it is going to make me feel so old and out of touch.
Adam-Send him to Mizzou. You know what’s exciting when I go down there? All the real estate because it is crazy all the buildings, apartments, and duplexes.
Carrie-Where?
Adam-Everywhere. You will get lost with all the new stuff. Do you remember college park?
Carrie-I lived in college park.
Adam-There is a thousand places like college park.
Carrie-That was still really far out of the way. When I was there, that whole section right off of Nifong, people were just starting to move out there.
Adam-You won’t even recognize it. I think they moved Nifong. I think they moved the street to make room for Wal-Marts.
Carrie-I used to spend a lot of time at The Pinnacles and the rock bridge.
Adam-Don’t tell people about The Pinnacles. Joey, please delete that. That’s like a secret gem.
Carrie-The rock bridge is cool and The Devil’s Icebox. I spent a lot of time there.
Adam-What is the best phone call you could get? I know that is very open ended. Let’s keep it business.
Carrie-Frankly, the best phone call that I get is from a client that I closed a long time ago and they call and say, “Carrie, we haven’t talked to you in so long but we are ready.” For me, success in this business is for someone to think of me and to want to use me again. It is awesome when you sell someone a house when they are newly married and you get a call 7 years later and they have gorgeous babies.
Adam-All right. My five questions. Who lives under your roof?
Carrie-My husband, Steve, my sons, Reid and Parker, and my dog, Pappie.
Adam-Pappie. What kind of dog is Pappie.
Carrie-She is a mutt and if you follow me on Instagram you see our adventures. We go to Castlewood a lot. We do the trails. She’s an outdoor trail dog.
Adam-I’ve got a lot of social media catching up to do. I’ve really got to find you on all these places. Where are you your best?
Carrie-I’m my best when I’m busy, which sounds horrible. I’m probably at my craziest when I’m super busy, but I’m the queen of multi-tasking, and that is when I feel the most comfortable.
Adam-Have you ever heard the saying if you want to get something done ask a busy person to do it.
Carrie-Yeah, I have heard that.
Adam-I think it makes sense because if you are doing ten things today and I ask you to do one, that is only one more. If you ask a non busy person they are like, “Well, I guess I gotta get up.”
Carrie-Exactly
Adam-What is your favorite blog or podcast?
Carrie-Most recently I was sucked into Serial like everybody else.
Adam-What’s that?
Carrie-You didn’t listen to Serial and you are a podcast person? No.
Adam-C-E-R-E-A-L?
Carrie-No. Serial as in serial killer. I don’t want to tell you too much because I don’t want to ruin it but it went viral.
Adam-I like to listen to real estate and business things.
Carrie-This is a true story and it is fascinating.
Adam-What is your guilty pleasure?
Carrie-One of my favorite places ever is Urban Chestnut and their beer-hall in the grove. It is such an awesome place to hang out. If you haven’t been, you have to go. My biggest guilty pleasure is taking time with my friends, hanging out, and doing that because I don’t get a lot of that. I love those days when you have the time to take and do that.
Adam-You go down to Urban Chestnut and order a weird beer you can’t pronounce?
Carrie-Yeah, I hang out and it is a really cool environment.
Adam-Last question. Who is your mentor and how have you thanked them, or have you ever had a mentor?
Carrie-I can’t really say I have a mentor but I can say my dad has been gone for 5 years and the older that I get, I feel the things he taught me, I am really starting to use. I wish I had really recognized that when I could have thanked him. My mom and dad exposed me to a lot of things and as I’m older I see that I’m utilizing that knowledge.
Adam-I’m going to move on past that because I don’t want to start crying.
Carrie-I didn’t mean to make you sad.
Adam-Tell us how we can get a hold of you.
Carrie-My hub website is MoveWithCarrie.com . I’m on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and my blog is called CDN And The City. I love the social media banter and have made great friends on there.
Adam-If people want to Google you should they Google CDN?
Carrie-They can Google Carrie Nenonen. It’s a palindrome.
Adam-What’s that?
Carrie-It’s spelled the same backwards and forwards.
Adam-What’s your phone number?
Carrie-3144527675
Adam-All your past clients listening, get on the phone, call Carrie, and tell her about your babies and you are ready to sell.
Carrie-Yeah. I want to meet your babies. I’ve met so many of the families that I’ve closed who have been getting back into contact with me. It is one of my favorite things.
Adam-Very good. Thank you for coming on the show. Any final comments?
Carrie-No. Thank you for inviting me. It was fun.
Adam-My pleasure. You have an interesting blog and I like to talk to realtors that are doing interesting things.
Carrie-Thank you. I appreciate it.
Adam-That wraps up or show for this week. Thank you, Mr. Joey Vosevich for producing. We are looking forward to the next episode. Take care.