Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Hooks.
Jennifer, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Dating back to elementary school I always took my work very seriously. I stressed out if I didn’t finish my homework on time and I stressed out about making sure I made Honor Roll. I wanted to be in the top percentage all the time. It was important to me. At 10 years old my parents split up and my life changed. My mom moved away and my dad was left to raise my sister and I by himself. He ran his own business in appliance repair during the day and played the drums at night to make ends meet. I was pretty much left without any rules or accountability to stay on track. My poor dad couldn’t keep up with my sister and I. We fell in love with the freedom. By the time I hit middle school I found myself running with the wrong people. Drugs and alcohol came into play which ultimately led to me dropping out of school in the 9th grade. I was 15 years old and doing what I wanted, when I wanted, with whomever I wanted. I was arrested for the first time at the age of 17 and things got even worse after that. Trouble was my middle name and nobody could tell me anything. I ran the streets with the worst of the worst and hustled whatever I could to make money. I felt like nothing could stop me. Eventually I found myself in a super unhealthy relationship. A couple years in, we got pregnant and my first son was born, and we had to depend on the government to make it by. When that relationship finally ended, I went straight back into the party lifestyle I’ve always known. My priorities as a mom were off. I was abandoning my son just like what happened to me. But miraculously I was finally able to secure a job in the apartment industry thanks to a friend who worked for the company. I absolutely LOVED my job. It gave me a purpose and was actually pretty decent money for a high school drop out with a bad history. But helping people find and create a home for their family was one of the most rewarding feelings I had ever felt. That’s what I fell in love with. This was also right around the time my husband and I got together and not long after that, we got pregnant with my youngest boy. It was a high risk pregnancy due to my first son being premature. Complications began and I was hospitalized and put on bed rest. I couldn’t work. I was broke, again. At that point is when I decided that I needed to take this time off as an opportunity to take my apartment career to the next level. The sense of finally doing something right again was so incredible and was a feeling I hadn’t felt since I was very young. I wanted to change and get my crap together and be the mother I knew I should be and be the success I knew I could be. I wanted to get my real estate license. And I did it. I had some of the worst haters in the beginning who thought I was worthless and would never make it. (thanks for the extra motivation😘), but more importantly I’ve had the best support from my husband Cody. Him and I made a promise to each other in the beginning that we would build an empire together. And that’s what we strive to do. Since I started, I’ve had an incredible amount of friends and family who have allowed me to to help them with their buying and selling processes which has played a huge part in my success and I’m extremely grateful to have earned their trust. It’s an every day hustle (which I had already mastered lol) and being referral based in a 100% commission based industry is hard, but I love the challenge. People depend on me to guide them through one of the largest transactions they’ll make in life and I don’t take that lightly. I truly feel like I was made for this. I mean, I’ve been through a lot and I’ve been in situations I’m literally shocked that I survived. I’ve been made to be strong and I’ve been made to be a problem solver. I’ve worked my butt off to turn my life around from this person I was ashamed of to being a good role model with good intentions for my kids, someone they can look up to and be proud of. I’ve worked my butt off to create a new image of myself, a reputation of being passionate, trust worthy, honest, confident, consistent, and simply a go getter. My career took off to a level I never even imagined possible. I was running my own successful business and within 3 years I was making well over 6 figures and had more business than I could keep up with. That’s when I decided it was time to become a leader and build my team. That’s when Hooks Realty Group was born. I brought on 2 rock stars with the same passion that I have and in the last year we have climbed our way into the top 5% of our company and continue to be recognized for being a top producing team in our industry. I have to give a shout out to them for trusting in me to be their leader and to guide them into creating their own success stories. Amanda Capps and Priscilla Silva are amazing agents and I couldn’t do this without them! Our standards for the team are simple..we serve our clients with honesty, integrity, and superior negotiating skills always keeping our clients best interests top of mind and fighting for what they want. When we get to sit at the closing table with our super excited clients knowing that we are a huge part of such a life changing experience with them, it’s literally one of the best feelings in the world. And I could never see myself doing anything else. I’m addicted to it and I’ll never stop loving it. Don’t get me wrong I still like to have fun and enjoy a good night out every so often, but in a much more responsible and respectable way these days.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Funny thing is, ever since I’ve started this path, things have just seemed to fall in place and make so much more sense for me. Real Estate is hard and I’ve made mistakes and lost clients. I’ve said the wrong things at the wrong times and had deals fall apart over things completely out of my control. If a deal falls apart, I don’t get paid. I’ve gone a whole month without a paycheck and I’ve spent a lot of money in the wrong areas that didn’t benefit my business. But everything is a learning experience and I take it as such. Disappointing the client is never easy. There’s no worse feeling than calling your client with bad news. But it’s our job to keep our emotions out of it, come up with solutions on how to turn a bad situation around, and work together to get through it. And that’s what we pride ourselves in doing. We are always looking for solutions before we make that call so we have options to discuss.
Hooks Realty Group – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Hooks Realty Group is a small team of 3 licensed real estate agents helping buyers and sellers in the DFW area. We specialize in residential purchases and sales. We are known for going above and beyond for our clients. We make stuff happen! What sets us apart In such a fast paced world and industry is that we have come to learn that sometimes we need to slow down and really get to know our clients. Build friendships and relationships with them. Not just treat them like a transaction. We make it a goal to really get to know our clients and their personality types so that we can better serve them. Everybody is different, and adapting to their behavior style is an important key to communicating with them and understanding their goals.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I started from the bottom and now I’m here! To know that we’ve made it to the top 5% in our growing company is definitely something I am proud of. The people you are in business with is what truly makes your business a success and I know that I chose the right people to team up with.
Contact Info:
- Address: Hooks Realty Group
240 E Renfro St Suite 100
Burleson TX 76028 - Website: hooksrealtygroup.com
- Phone: 817-714-3534
- Email: jenniferhooks.hrg@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/jenniferhooks_realtorlife
- Facebook: facebook.com/hooksrealtygroup
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