Winston Salem Times

Heather Brooks had a highly unusual start to her real estate career.

It was 2004, and her first prospective client called after seeing her ad in a local newspaper. 

“I was outside in my pajamas, slippers, (with my) children, my mom was in town and my house was burning to the ground. And I was covering the phone up and talking with this potential client on how well I could market their home as my house was burning down,” Brooks told WFMY 2 News. 

Heather Brooks | Facebook/Heather Brooks

Since her inauspicious start in real estate, Brooks has since become one of the top agents in High Point.

"I was told that it takes three years for anybody to know who you are in the real estate industry," Brooks said, according to WFMY 2 News. "I was 25. I said, I don't have three years, I have three children. So I took all the money that I had and put it into different marketing segments.”

Her biggest lesson involved how to find a customer base at the beginning. For her, it was all about finding her niche.

“If you are an orchid grower, become involved with a group of orchid growers and then expand that into your real estate business,” she said.

Some challenges are hard to overcome. She wasn't necessarily expecting gender to be an issue.

"Being a woman, a lot of women don't want to work with you," Brooks told WFMY 2 News. "(But) the older I get, the less that it matters. When I was younger, it was a bigger issue. Couples would rather work with a man.”

Despite the bumps in her road, Brooks has succeeded, and she has her clients to thank for that. She also feels good about being able to help people.

"A lot of people don't have money saved up, their credit is not good. There is always an obstacle, and when you can bridge the gaps and remove those obstacles and people can see what they wanted to do come to fruition -- it's pretty exciting,” she said, according to WFMY 2 News.