After years working as an IT analyst with only a high school diploma, it wasn’t until Constance Carter was laid off that she found a real opportunity—she used her severance package to finance a real estate license.
Today, Carter is the CEO and broker of Catalyst Real Estate Professionals, a Stockton, California-based real estate firm specializing in sales and lending.
Not only is Carter on a mission to help others create wealth by evangelizing homeownership but to also teach others how to find success in the real estate business.
It wasn’t an easy start to becoming a real estate success story. As if getting laid off and starting a new venture wasn’t frightening enough, on the last day of her corporate job, Carter’s husband was also laid off. It was literally sink or swim for the Carter family.
Her husband found a job to make ends meet, while she went into massive building mode—and after six months of hard work, nothing. No sales.
“There was barely enough money coming in but I knew that actively building my business was paramount to my success.” She eventually became one of the top agents at a real estate firm and was offered a management position, which she seized to learn as much as she could about the industry.
The mission of Catalyst Real Estate Professionals is about building, educating, empowering, and sustaining legacies through real estate. Carter also says it’s about sticking to her core values.
“God is the center in everything we do. Family is why we do what we do. Business is the way we build our legacies. Giving back is essential to building strong communities.”
With her firm of 34 agents, brokers, and staff, the firm is intentional to build slowly but steadily with integrity, sincerity, and preferring quality over quantity. “We have an excellent group of agents who understand the culture and share the same core values about their business. Ideally, we’d like to train, develop, and sustain about 75 agents,” says Carter.
As stated on her company’s website, Carter boasts a transaction portfolio estimated at $200 million. She wants to help others become financially secure as well. Catalyst creates wealth opportunities through evangelizing homeownership—making it attainable for everyone. “We believe if you have a job, then you can—and should—own a home. We’ll help you work through the details. We don’t say you can’t, we show you how you can and provide a step-by-step blueprint on how to become a homeowner,” she says.
Catalyst also offers monthly workshops on credit, investment, and homeownership through a real estate school the company owns and operates.
Carter built her business off of being transformational and not transactional. “I just wanted to help those who felt undeserving, unqualified, and overlooked. People like me.”