Hoffman Selected for National Leadership Academy
I am thrilled to announce my acceptance into the National Association of Realtors Leadership Academy (NARLA). The 20 Realtors accepted into this prestigious program “will participate in both virtual and in-person educational experiences, joining a nationwide community of volunteer leaders. During the 10-month journey, participants will learn the inner workings of NAR and gain key insights that will prepare them to serve in prominent committee roles and leadership positions at every level of the association.”
I first learned of NARLA when I took the L.E.A.D. Vision class in San Diego last November 2021. A flyer was in my course materials, and something about it stuck with me. When I got home from the conference, I researched it online and called colleagues who could tell me more. Right then I was wrapping up a three-year position serving my local board as vice-president, president, and past president, and looking for my next role where I could be of service.
NARLA's application process was daunting and time consuming... I must have spent 50+ hours preparing the application, doing the online simulation program, making a 90-second video, and gathering three letters of recommendation. Odds were against me, coming from such a small state, but I didn't let that deter me. After pressing "submit" on January 15, and putting my fate in the committee's hands, four months passed before I heard that I made it to the second round. The committee reviewed 109 applications and narrowed it down to 50 for interviews. My zoom interview was in late May 2022, and that was the fastest 10 minutes of my life! Then it was back to the waiting game until I got the call from Gary Rogers on August 1, 2022. We just got home from vacation an hour earlier, and I've been on cloud nine ever since!
Here's a brief video of Gary explaining the program: https://www.nar.realtor/videos/leadership-academy-gary-rogers
There have been so many people who have encouraged and supported me along the way... not just through this arduous application process, but throughout my real estate career and volunteer leadership roles. No one is "self-made" – there's a plethora of mentorship, friendship, colleagues and clients, who shape who we are and who we become. I feel like I've already "won" just by being chosen for this opportunity... that the committee sees potential in me that could benefit our association and industry. The relationships I will build, skills I will learn and improve, and places I will go with Leadership Academy are going to make me an even better Realtor for my community and small but mighty home state of Vermont. Truly, I'm honored and will do everything I can to soak up every minute of this experience.
To give you a glimpse into the process, and how I presented myself, I'm sharing my application video. I think it's a great introduction into who I am and what drives me every day."
Transcript of Video
Hi, I'm Jenifer Hoffman. I want to tell you about “My One Word.” It's a book that I read by Jon Gordon, many years ago. The idea is that you focus on just one thing throughout the entire year to really help guide your improvement in that one area of your life.
In 2015, my first word was relationships. As Realtors, we all know how important it is to have great client relationships but I really also focused on my family and my colleagues and couldn't believe what a 180 it did.
In 2016, I was working on getting healthy. I joined beach body, I started working out at home every day. I think I lost 30 pounds that year and I couldn't believe how much better I felt. I still work out, it really helps handling the stresses of this job.
2017 was all about courage. My husband and I were going on our first big trip and I needed a lot of courage to get on that ship. By the end of the year, though, this word took on a different meaning. My parents' house burned down and I needed a lot of courage to get through that tragedy.
So in 2018, the focus was on gratitude–all the things that we still had to be grateful for–including my husband and I getting married that year in September.
2019 was my first year on local board leadership and I needed to learn to become the best leader I could be for my peers.
2020 was about quality because I was opening my own brokerage and I needed to create quality systems to ensure my success.
2021 was all about growth because now I was stepping beyond local board leadership and I also needed to recruit more agents to my firm.
And 2022 is all about endurance: I've got the energy and the stamina to keep moving forward to seeing whatever the future holds.”
