Jaya Duraisami, from Keller Williams franchise shares how helping others succeed is an important part of her personal growth.
How did your upbringing influence your drive to succeed?
Love is conditional. My dad never came to see me until 10 days after I was born because I was a girl. I started my life as a disappointment.
It was a struggle from birth to prove that I’m worthy of my parents’ attention. When I went to under funded government schools, my brother went to an expensive private school. Gender inequality was at its glory. I had to be top of my class so that I’m worthy of their money. I begged them to spend the dowry money on my education. Everything was a struggle. I had to prove to them that I could do this, I could be better than a boy. No doubt my parents loved me and provided everything for me but there were always differences…
My current drive to succeed comes from my need to prove myself during formidable years growing up. Recently I realized that I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Now I just do it for my happiness and I’m passionate about what I do.“
“I have always wanted to start a rental business since I was young. It is in my genes since my family managed several rentals in India. I grew up taking care of tenants and collecting rent.
I don’t have an aversion to physical work. I used to sweep floors and clean the apartments before they got rented.
I bought my first Investment in property in 2006. I bought it in a very high market for $240,000 and put $60,000 into renovating the property. I spent $300,000, including the rehab and closing costs. When I refinanced the property, that property was appraised for only $240,000. It collected a rent of $1,700, which meant it was not a financially good purchase.
I didn’t know what I was doing.
My first failure in life! I cried for a week… Failure makes you humble. It also makes you question every step you take so you know you are making the right decision. We spend money to go to college and learn. I drew a parallel and reassured myself that I spent $60,000 to learn this real estate business. I never made a loss after that. That’s why attitude and persistence are the most important qualities in business and in life.
Now I run a real estate business where I sell $40 million worth of real estate every year and provide quality housing for the people who don’t have one. On the investment side of the business, I take care of crisis management and acquisition. I feel like I make decisions every waking hour of my day. I like my life. I’m very passionate about what I do because it’s not just money, it’s like there is a purpose to my life – to provide better housing for people in need.”
I have a very supportive husband. He was like a mother to our children when I was focused on my career. If you want to have a family and if you want to be successful, you have to have some kind of support system, especially as a woman.
I missed a lot of award ceremonies and special moments in my children’s lives. I later realized that I should have been more involved. When my kids were in preteens, I corrected myself. Thank God they don’t remember that I didn’t do any of those fun stuff with them!
When you become successful many do not realize the hard work that went behind it. They don’t see the hours spent on sweeping floors and cleaning toilets before clients show up because the cleaning service is not available. You don’t need validation from everyone. You are going to be OK as long as you have your support system with you.
