From Refugee to Real Estate – Kim Tran’s Story

Kim Tran calls her success an accident… but it was no accident. Escaping Vietnam as a four-year-old refugee she and her mother embarked on a frightening journey that eventually led them to Canada. These humble beginnings served as a firm foundation, grounding her as she pursued higher education in economics in university. 

Despite initially embarking on a more traditional career path, a persistent voice urged her to seek a different trajectory – one where could someday become her own CEO. 

That's when she found Real Estate. And soon found a mentor who would change her life. And now she's looking for the right ways to give back

Guest: Kim Tran
Email kim@teamtran.ca
Website https://www.teamtran.ca/
Instagram
Facebook

Ken can be reached at:
ken@remaxhallmark.com

Transcript

Kim Tran (00:02):

We were refugees, right? So my mom and I, we traveled to Hong Kong with the boat people. So we traveled to Hong Kong together. We were on this tiny, tiny little boat. I remember the water's very salty. I always remember that, right? The water's very salty, and I remember it was very dark always. It was always very dark because you were escaping. So I think they were sailing at night, so just to keep it on the down low so nobody see them, right?

Ken McLachlan (00:42):

Hi everyone, it's Ken McLachlan and welcome to my podcast called Realty Life. Each time we have this conversation with the great people in the world, I get to discover a bit more about them and share what they go through and how they go through life and what propels 'em to be the very best they are today. So today is a special day. As always. I have my friend, colleague that works for our company here in Ottawa, Ontario. Kim Tran. Kim, how are you doing?

Kim Tran (01:07):

I'm doing good. How are you, Ken?

Ken McLachlan (01:09):

I'm wonderful. Welcome to my podcast.

Kim Tran (01:11):

Thank you so much. A privilege to be here and also a little nervous as well.

Ken McLachlan (01:17):

Oh no. We're going to have some fun with it. So let's get a little background. So you're a real estate agent. You run a small team in Ottawa, correct?

Kim Tran (01:25):

Exactly, yes. So probably about 15 years now. Yeah,

Ken McLachlan (01:28):

15 years in it. So tell us about what you were doing before real estate. Tell us about your life then.

Kim Tran (01:34):

Well, before real estate, I was in school. I graduated from Ottawa U in economic and business. So I was a lot, what is it? Younger and a lot. Yes, a lot more innocent. I got into real estate mainly by accident. It wasn't meant to be. I didn't know anything about real estate. We didn't have anybody in our families who work in real estate or any of my friends. I grew up here in Ottawa and I just followed a step, going to university just like everybody else, where your parents set out, you need to attend university, get a degree, go work in the corporate world and then climb the corporate ladder. That was the path for me.

Ken McLachlan (02:21):

That was the path you're on, right? Yeah. And how did it divert to real estate? What happened in your life? I mean, you were on the path that many people take, I guess. Is that going to university, getting a degree in business or economics or communications, whatever you were doing. What was your degree in? What did you do?

Kim Tran (02:36):

Economic and business.

Ken McLachlan (02:38):

Okay. So you had a business background. So typically people will go, especially in Ottawa, they would go into the either government or institutional work out there. So how did you get into real estate?

Kim Tran (02:51):

So what I was doing is during that time I said, okay, let me finish my school. I want to do my M B A and the M B A that I was trying to into was the fast track one that you have to work in a corporate world and then come back and you can go on that course, right? So I'm just thinking, I'm like, okay, I don't have any experience in the workforce. I guess the most I have was working for enterprise, ran a car, and I was washing car at that time. Oh boy. I wash a lot of cars. So I said, okay, well I need to work, so what can I do? What can I do that put me to the top right away that I'm going to be the CEO of myself, of my company. So I said, let's do real estate.

(03:37):

Why don't I do real estate? During that time, my parents bought their first house here in Ottawa, in Canada, the first house ever. It was so wonderful. It was a dream come true for them. I remember a team here, this lady, our real estate agent, and she is phenomenal. I don't think she's around anymore. And just by interacting with her, and I'm sure she say this to all the people that she work with, and she said, you would be good in real estate. And I took it to heart. I really did. I don't know how many people she said it to. I took it to heart. Well,

Ken McLachlan (04:10):

She inspired you. She did it. She inspired you. Were pretty green at the time. So you mentioned something just a minute ago, you wanted to be your own CEO?

Kim Tran (04:19):

Yes.

Ken McLachlan (04:20):

Right. So where did that come from, Kim? I mean, that's really at that young age that you had there to think that I want to have control of what I'm doing, be it my own boss type of thing. Because usually that's what a C E O means. I guess you're chief executive officer of your own company. Where did that come from? I mean, that's unusual.

Kim Tran (04:40):

Well, I seen my mother. So for the first, I would say 10 years of my life, I don't know my father very well. So I seen my mother. My mother is my role model, and she have worked her whole life and she's always been an entrepreneur. She's trying different things to see what's thick and what work. So she have a control of her time and she have control of her life, and that was the path that I keep continue on. So that's where that came from.

Ken McLachlan (05:12):

Your mother was the entrepreneur of your family and she would try different things. She would take chances in life. What did she get into? What kind of work did she do?

Kim Tran (05:21):

Oh my gosh. So when we were in Vietnam, she have a jewelry company. So she did produce a lot of gold and there were trading gold and so on. And then she got into pharmacy and I don't know how she got into it. I'm pretty sure she did pharmacy.

Ken McLachlan (05:40):

You mean running a retail shop pharmacy?

Kim Tran (05:44):

Yeah, yeah. It's kind of like that. And she got into that and all legal drug just don't put it out there.

Ken McLachlan (05:51):

Oh, yeah, yeah. Let's be clear.

Kim Tran (05:53):

So she did that. And then when we were refugees, right? So my mom and I, we traveled to Hong Kong with the boat people. So we traveled to Hong Kong together. We were on this tiny, tiny little boat with

Ken McLachlan (06:08):

So can let's stop you for a minute. How old were you at this time? What year was it?

Kim Tran (06:12):

How old? I was only four.

Ken McLachlan (06:16):

Okay. So you're on a boat from Vietnam? Yes.

Kim Tran (06:18):

To Hong Kong.

Ken McLachlan (06:19):

What was that like? I mean, how long were you on the boat or what were the conditions like?

Kim Tran (06:23):

I remember bit and pieces, so I don't remember the whole thing, but I remember bit and pieces. I remember the water's very salty. I always remember that, right. The water's very salty. And I remember it was very dark always. It was always very dark because you were escaping. So I think they were sailing at night. So just to keep it on the down low so nobody sees. It makes, so I remember makes sense. And it's extremely dangerous. It extremely dangerous. And then seeing that people have fell off the boat and couldn't make it back. So seeing that at a young age. So I also block a lot of it out too as well. Yeah,

Ken McLachlan (07:02):

It was just you and your mom?

Kim Tran (07:04):

Just my mom and I, yeah, just remember,

Ken McLachlan (07:06):

Wow, the courage that your mother must have had to start a new life for you and her and taking that risk must've been unbelievable to witness. That must've been really to think about what you just described as getting on a boat. Mostly dark, the water, very salty, probably sailing at night. And do you have any idea how long you were on the boat?

Kim Tran (07:30):

I actually don't. I have never asked that question, but I remember it was for a very long time. I would say, I don't know, maybe two weeks or more. Could be, yeah.

Ken McLachlan (07:40):

Wow. Does that drive you at all, recalling all that, does that motivate you to be the best you can be or what's that duty? How did that impact your life?

Kim Tran (07:55):

It's quite a bit actually because you get a chance to see so much and going through so much when you're younger and it leads you to think right now, whatever, throwing at me, whatever problem or issues out there, it is very minimal compared to what I been through when I was very younger. So my perspective is it is different. I don't get all heed up and making irrational decision.

Ken McLachlan (08:27):

I don't think any crisis could be any bigger than the one you and your mother went through at that time to change your life and to take that big risk like that. Do you recall how long before you got into Canada what that was like?

Kim Tran (08:39):

So we traveled to Hong Kong and we were in Hong Kong. We were in the camp for a few years. We were in a camp for a few years and actually for a very long time because when I came to Canada, when we got accepted into Canada, that's when I was nine. So for five years,

Ken McLachlan (09:02):

Four or five years. Yeah. Well, you were there for a long and do you have memories of that at all or Yes. That experience?

Kim Tran (09:08):

Yeah, absolutely. I learned a lot. But also I remember when we first landed in Hong Kong and all they do is feed us canned beans, right? Oh really? Until now, I hated it. I do not eat canned beans. Wow,

Ken McLachlan (09:24):

Okay.

Kim Tran (09:25):

So life was very different. It make you appreciate, and I remember we have this chat before too, it make you appreciate life here. And a lot of people when they complain about their life day to day, and I'm like, you know what, by living in Canada, you already went 649, right? I know.

Ken McLachlan (09:43):

You drive the lottery.

Kim Tran (09:45):

I absolutely. You drive on a beautiful road, you don't have to watch your bike where there's a bomb behind you that's going to blow up. Right? So yeah, it's wonderful.

Ken McLachlan (09:58):

Yeah. What did you learn about, I won't spend a lot more time on this again, but it's really important that watching your mother during that time, because it must've been very difficult for her as the head of the family having you to look after and living in a refugee camp, what did you learn about her at the time? What sticks with you about your mom?

Kim Tran (10:17):

That woman is one strong woman. Physically and mentally going through all that, anybody can easily just give up and say, I'm going back home. I'm going back to my country where life was very simple for her. It wasn't that difficult, but she stuck to the end. She want a better life for us. She want a better life for her family. She want a better future for us. Yeah.

Ken McLachlan (10:45):

And why was it Canada? What happened? How did that come about? Oh,

Kim Tran (10:49):

I think at that time, Canada was the best country in the world to be, right? So that's a list that came out and you just have to pick the top two or three. And I believe us, Canada and Australia was the top three country to be, and she just picked up Canada was her top choice. There you go.

Ken McLachlan (11:08):

Wow. There you go. And your life in Ottawa began. So you're at university, you're doing some different things. You're influenced by your mother buying property. You met this agent and she said, coincidentally, you'd be really good in real estate when you believed her, which is

Kim Tran (11:24):

Nice. I believe so,

Ken McLachlan (11:25):

Yes. So you get into real estate, Kim, what was that like? I mean, this is really your first real job, I guess out of university. You didn't have anything, a career. You worked washing cars and things like that, but what was that like beginning in the business?

Kim Tran (11:40):

Well, I joined a team when I first got into business, and I have this discipline since I was younger where you need to learn to walk before you learn to run. So I joined this team and at that time they were the biggest team and And Bill, I still talk to Bill now, he's a team leader. And Bill Renault? Yeah, Bill Renault. And he, oh my god, he's phenomenal, his energy level,

Ken McLachlan (12:15):

He's influenced a lot of people, coached a lot of great people, and he's made a big difference. And I think he's sensational. You're right. So you worked on his team for a while?

Kim Tran (12:23):

Yeah, I worked on his team for two years and after that I decided I think it's time for me to go on. And I think at the end they kind of feel that too. And they were so wonderful with it. They make my transitions very easy. So I went on my own for a little bit and then I got my first assistant was about eight years ago. And then my team just grow. I got my first assistant, so not like many team where the team leader constantly coming out there and getting talents, new talent to be on the team, hiring new talents. But I usually hire when there's a demand within the team.

Ken McLachlan (13:04):

So you fill the demand. Yeah,

Kim Tran (13:05):

Exactly. During that time I was pregnant with Chloe and I needed somebody to help me out with my business and that's how my team, so it was

Ken McLachlan (13:15):

Just a natural transition. And did you model it after Bill's company or how did you

Kim Tran (13:20):

I took a lot of it. So I took what I feel was the right things to bring to my team now then I model that and things that I feel that could improve. I also do that too as well.

Ken McLachlan (13:35):

So what gets in your way when you do your work? What is it with your team? I know you have three people, how many? Tell us a bit about your team.

Kim Tran (13:43):

Sure. Yeah. So we have a boutique team of six people all together. So four of us are licensed. So I'm the listing agents. And then I have three other selling partners that do mainly with bio. I always say they come to me, they hire me as their listing agent and I hire them as my buyer agents. Perfect. And I have an office managers and I also have, what is it, a social media manager on the team too as well. So yeah, our team is quite small and was quite tight

Ken McLachlan (14:13):

Family. And many of them have been with you for a long time as well, right?

Kim Tran (14:17):

Yeah, from eight years to three to eight years.

Ken McLachlan (14:21):

So one of the things that you do, that you did that was very unique, and I don't think many other teams have done it, you actually took your whole team away on a holiday once they retrieve their goal, correct?

Kim Tran (14:35):

Yeah, absolutely. We went to two different locations already and we figured we're going to leave our family behind and we're going to travel somewhere. Let's do something a little bit more adventurous and exotic. So Morocco was one time, it was my first time too as well. It just a wonderful experience Really. Oh, the food, the belly dancer,

Ken McLachlan (14:57):

Beautiful. Everything. Nice. How long did you guys go for

Kim Tran (15:02):

One week.

Ken McLachlan (15:02):

Okay, so Morocco was, Morocco was your first time. You shut everything down. How do they qualify to go? What everybody goes or what?

Kim Tran (15:11):

So they have to meet their goal. So everybody have to meet their goal. And this is where it's going back to our vision and our mission within the team is we elevate each other so we all elevate each other to the next level. So we all help each other to get there and we motivate each other. We have a friendly competition within our team, right?

Ken McLachlan (15:30):

Sure. Yeah.

Kim Tran (15:32):

So that's what we do. And yeah, we all met a goal. We went to Morocco and then we went to Vietnam in February. We were in Vietnam altogether. And it's such an interesting experience. We'd be eating on in the alley, very dark on the street with I turn to a sign, there's a family of rats just,

Ken McLachlan (15:54):

Oh really?

Kim Tran (15:55):

You kidding?

Ken McLachlan (15:57):

Oh my God, we had

Kim Tran (15:58):

Great food.

Ken McLachlan (15:59):

Yeah, great food. Did you? Yes. So you took them over for a week. Now I heard a story that if they have a certain goal that they had to achieve, and if one person didn't have their goal achieved by the time nobody would've gone on the trip, correct?

Kim Tran (16:16):

Yes,

Ken McLachlan (16:16):

Exactly. Okay, so tell us about one, whatever story you can tell us relating to this is that some people didn't have their complete goal in mind, so everybody got together collectively to help them elevate their business.

Kim Tran (16:32):

Well, so that's what we do. We have huddles every morning. So we talk the huddle every morning. We have at nine 30, we talk about what we celebrate yesterday and what are we doing today. So that's also an accountability, 15 minute of morning accountability too as well. So we get together, we talk, and then we celebrate. If someone do a deal, for example, or someone help a family achieve their goal, then we high-fi it and we celebrate. And that's also motivating the other person to be like, okay, you better tighten up and get out there and make some connection.

Ken McLachlan (17:08):

Yeah, well that's what they do. They have, they help each other. Like you said, it's a group of people that really are connected to each other and they actually talk to each other, encourage each other to do better. And it's not a competition between each person. I want more for me and less for you type of thing. It's more of a collective, which is great. And that stems from you, doesn't it?

Kim Tran (17:27):

Yeah. I love traveling and I love our team and I always say, you are the people that you surrounding yourself with. And I told my team, I'm like, well, a lot of motivation for me to motivate you is I like to surround myself with wonderful, successful, great people and happy people. So you better be successful. You better be

Ken McLachlan (17:47):

Happy. Yeah. Don't dilly daddy, you dally around like that. Where's your trip next year? Do you have a trip next year?

Kim Tran (17:54):

We don't have, unfortunately we don't have a trip next year, but we're working very hard to have a trip after and we're thinking Africa.

Ken McLachlan (18:01):

Wow. I'm going to go. I'm going to sign up. Okay.

Kim Tran (18:04):

Because I, yes, I absolutely right. So

Ken McLachlan (18:07):

Kim, do you have a mentor?

Kim Tran (18:09):

I do. I have a mentor. I was very lucky enough to have one early on.

Ken McLachlan (18:14):

So tell me about your mentor.

Kim Tran (18:16):

Yes, so my mentor, it is interesting how I say it. I'm not sure if I say it right. Things happen to me a lot by accident. So I got into real estate by accident. I got my mentor by accident, the same thing where I was, his office, which is also his home. It's literally right across from O'Connor, actually

Ken McLachlan (18:43):

O'Connor

Kim Tran (18:43):

O'Connor office there. So

Ken McLachlan (18:45):

At medical building

Kim Tran (18:46):

Or a medical building? Yes.

Ken McLachlan (18:48):

Yeah, that's right. Okay.

Kim Tran (18:49):

Just right there. So I work when I started in real estate and the first few years, I'm always the first one in and last one out. I was young, I didn't have a family, I didn't have a kid, whatever am I going to do? You worked what? The clubbing happened on the weekends. So I'm okay at night. During the weekday?

Ken McLachlan (19:09):

Yeah.

Kim Tran (19:10):

Okay. I'm always in at seven out by 11. And that area is a very safe area for a young girl to walk around towards. Well, there's a Starbucks right there. So I usually go to get my coffee and I crossed his properties a few times and one day he came out and he said, lady, you're trespassing. Oh really? Did you know that? And I thought I was in trouble.

Ken McLachlan (19:30):

Yeah,

Kim Tran (19:31):

Really? Exactly. So he's like, while you're grabbing coffee and I'm getting coffee, let's go out, walk together. And we just start walking together because we're just grabbing coffee. And at that time I didn't know who he was at all. We were just having a normal conversation and we continued to grab coffee saying hi, being friendly for a little bit longer. And he's like, you have no idea who I am, aren't you? I said, no, should I Google you? And then just from there on, it been for what is it now? Yeah, I think we've been more than 10 years now, he'd been my mentor and he have changed my life quite a bit.

Ken McLachlan (20:16):

What's being a mentor mean? Describe that.

Kim Tran (20:20):

Being a mentor means, so

(20:23):

He's my first mentor, so I'm going to tell you what he did, what he do for me, right? Yeah, please. And I think that's exactly it. So he start with my mindset by talking to me and he understand. He said, I have potential, he see the potential. But I wasn't at the place. My mindset was where I need to be to achieve my goal or to get to where I want to be. I have this vision, I have dream, I'm a dreamer. I have this dream of so much, so high, but my mindset is not allowing me to be there. And it's all coming back to when I was younger, the things I was exposed to, the lifestyle I was exposed to, it didn't allow me. So just he was helping me with that, getting me on the right track, introducing me to affirmation. So Louis Hay, one of my favorite, favorite author, and he would take me to a bookstore, which is close to my house right now.

(21:25):

And funny enough, I was looking in the area, the house I'm living in right now, and I said one day, I love to be there. At that time I didn't own a lot at that time I make maybe 60,000 a year and it wasn't enough to live in the house I'm living now and to live in the area now. So I was buying a book and a cd, Louis Hay, CD at that time. And I look over and I said, I would love to be there and one day I'm going to be there. I'm going to own a house there.

Ken McLachlan (21:56):

Really. So he introduced you to that way of thinking?

Kim Tran (21:58):

Yes.

Ken McLachlan (21:59):

And actually what you just described, I think what he did, Kim, from your description, he actually taught you how to get out of your own way, right? I think you were getting in your own way at that time. And this mentor, he's brilliant, the affirmation, the different things like that and help you to think better and help get out of your own way to achieve whatever you want to achieve in life. And what is he training you with now? Or what do you talk about when you talk to him or her? I'm not sure.

Kim Tran (22:30):

So we're talking about energy too, and he can feel it. He can feel it when my energy is not there. And so he would ask me a question whenever we meet. The first thing he would ask me is, what book are you reading? What book are you reading? What are you thinking? What are the challenges right now? And are you doing your affirmation? So the first thing he always asks is what you're reading, where your mindset is at and you need to do more and more and more.

Ken McLachlan (23:02):

So by doing more and more and more, it's by digging deeper and deeper and deeper into how your life is and what gets in your way and that kind of thing. Correct,

Kim Tran (23:11):

Exactly. Wow. Exactly.

Ken McLachlan (23:14):

How amazing

Kim Tran (23:14):

Is that? It's very casual.

Ken McLachlan (23:16):

That's incredible. Very casual to have that kind of person in your life and you've had him for many years help you guide you. And do you have a regular system of working out with him or do you just whenever you feel compelled to phone him, you phone him and you get help or how does that work

Kim Tran (23:33):

Exactly? So yeah, there's no formal every two weeks, every three weeks because he's a very busy person. He's always traveling all over the world. He's very busy. So whenever he's in town, he will send me a message. He said, you want to grab a coffee? And he's so generous with his time and I know his time. He's a very busy man. I know that he doesn't give a lot of his time to a lot of people. So just for him to do that, we sat down for a coffee and our coffee have never been lasted an hour and a half, two hours, two hour and a half sometime because he's really digging and see how I'm doing and making sure that my energy level is up and making sure that my positive thinking,

Ken McLachlan (24:18):

Wow,

Kim Tran (24:18):

Is there. What a gift.

Ken McLachlan (24:19):

That's incredible. I mean many people look their whole life trying to find somebody like that to guide them, help them to model for them their life. And you have this gentleman that has been with you for a number of years now that's really challenged you to be better in your life. I don't think he's challenged you from what you're saying to make more money, but just to be a fuller experience of what your life is like.

Kim Tran (24:45):

Absolutely. And just by he do a lot of traveling, he been to a lot of places and just by him talking and telling his story, telling his experience is not so that to show off on any kind, just so that I can see that at an example as a next level where I could be where I have no experience with that. Yeah,

Ken McLachlan (25:09):

He's actually setting the template for you in life to help you be better and to help you be a better leader on that. I know you're on the path now that you want to be a better leader. I think you're especially a tremendous leader right now, but you really want to be a better leader for your team and for yourself and for your family on that. So what gets in your way now?

Kim Tran (25:29):

Well, what get in my way, I know that I've been working with overcoming my story for a long time and I'm continue to do so. And I think that the biggest thing that get in my way is overcoming that because we came here, my mom and I came here with nothing, and we start from scratch. And that time I was surrounding myself with the people who want very little or who know very little. And that's a story that I wrote for myself. So just by overcome that and just acknowledging it and that's it, that's them. And that doesn't mean that's my future. Right? Yeah,

Ken McLachlan (26:10):

I get it.

Kim Tran (26:10):

Yes. So just overcome that is tough because that's a lot of voice in the back of your head. You want to do something and say, no, no, no, no, this is where you need to be. You should stay here, but I want more. I want to get out of that. So I had to fight harder than some people just to do that. Just overcoming that

Ken McLachlan (26:30):

And overcoming the stuff that gets in a way. But you're precisely got it right, completely, Kim, is that you're driven to actually make a difference in your life to get through these problems and to make a difference for your family, your daughter right now. So that is really important. Is your mom still with you?

Kim Tran (26:47):

Yep. My mom is still with me. She still called me every single day and she still bugged me about, you're not calling me. Oh

Ken McLachlan (26:55):

God,

Kim Tran (26:56):

You're not calling me. Why are you not answering my call?

Ken McLachlan (26:59):

Yeah, that's her job though. We know that, right? My mother used to do the same thing, but she must be very, very proud of you.

Kim Tran (27:06):

Yes, she's very proud of me. We talk about this and she did express that she's very proud of me and I said, well, I want to do more. I said, I'm glad where I am right now, but there's so much more. There's so much in life I got to give. And there's so much more to achieve, right? And she understand that.

Ken McLachlan (27:29):

What do you want your legacy to be? I mean, this is really, you're so young, but there's a legacy journey that you're on. What, how's that going to be written?

Kim Tran (27:41):

You said, I'm so young, but I already start thinking about it. Right. So the one of the question I asked the team in one of our team meeting is, when you die and your friends and family come to your funeral, what do they want? What do you want them to say about you? And I start thinking about that. I am also into the next chapter of my life now too. I understand that I need to overcome my internal barrier, which is I'm working on right now and I still have a lot to work on. But I also thinking about what do I want to leave behind? What do I want people to say about me when I'm not there? My mentor told me that this from the beginning, and I asked him question, why are you helping me? Why are you mentoring me? And he said, because someone mentored me previously who changed my life and I want to do the same for you, and one day I want you to do that to somebody else.

Ken McLachlan (28:50):

So play it forward, right?

Kim Tran (28:52):

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm still figuring out, I do want to make a difference. I want to make the world or the city or the place where I'm around a better place. I want to leave this life better than when I was here.

Ken McLachlan (29:11):

Well, I mean that's sensational. And your daughter, I've had the privilege of meeting your daughter who since she's a little bit like she gets out there and she talks to people and she's scary. She's very well, she's wonderful, and I'm sure she looks at you and the influence that you're having on her must be profound. Really just to watch you and how you are with people. I mentioned to somebody that I'm having a talk with you today from somebody from Ottawa, one of the leadership group, and they said to me that, you know what, Kim is so good to everybody.

Kim Tran (29:47):

Thank you.

Ken McLachlan (29:47):

She really treats everybody with respect. She has the time for them and we just love her completely how she does things. So I, I'm thankful that you shared the story of your mentor, your journey into Canada. Your next 10 years are about growing and making a difference and helping people become who they want in life. And I know that drives you. I know really the fulfillment you get is from your team being better and bigger at what they're doing and getting a fuller life and completing with things. So I applaud you for that, Kim. So tell us a bit about your team. You work in Ottawa, the Kim Trend team. You sell great in all parts of Ottawa. You sell real estate, correct?

Kim Tran (30:33):

Yes. So Ottawa is not as big as Toronto and there's not a lot of traffic like Toronto. So to get from one place to another is quite easy. And I had the privilege of moving around quite a bit, living in different neighborhoods. So yeah, our team here, we service the whole Ottawa altogether because we have people who, we have a team member who live in the east who service a lot of a client in the east side. And then we also have one of our team member live downtown. So he does a lot of downtown, central town and so on. And we also have another team member Tree live in the west. And so she does a lot of Kanata and Bar Haven in the West end. So that's how we cover.

Ken McLachlan (31:19):

You got pretty well covered everything. Covered completely.

Kim Tran (31:22):

Exactly. Exactly. So just within the team too as well, we motivate each other to reach our goal, but we also motivate each other to be investing and investing in our futures ourself, right? So investing in our futures, making sure that they do two training minimum, right? Going out town, do two conferences, two training per year. That is one of the

Ken McLachlan (31:47):

Criteria to be a team. So always growing, always making difference, not sitting still. I don't think you could sit still if you wanted to, right?

Kim Tran (31:56):

No, it would be hard. It was very, very hard.

Ken McLachlan (32:00):

So Kim, we're at the end of this now and was it as hard as you thought it would be?

Kim Tran (32:05):

No, I think it's probably because the interviewer is quite because you make it easy

Ken McLachlan (32:13):

And you make it comfortable

Kim Tran (32:15):

And relaxing.

Ken McLachlan (32:16):

Your story is tremendous. I mean, the difference you're making really makes a difference to me and I'm learning so much from you and what you've gone through in your life to get here. Your mother, I love to meet her one day. She seems amazing. So much

Kim Tran (32:29):

Power. She's as crazy as I am.

Ken McLachlan (32:31):

She must be. I picture her as being really calmly powerful. Really. You don't overreact to anything. I'm sure you got that from your mother. So congratulations on that. Congratulations on making a difference to the community that you work in. I know you're mentoring the people that work for you to help them be better at what they're doing and they're fortunate to be working with you. So Kim, how could people get ahold of you? They wanted to get ahold of you.

Kim Tran (32:58):

Well, they can get ahold of me by going on Instagram. Just team trend Ottawa. Or they can give us a call. I'm with max hallmark at Bronson and or they can call my cell phone directly. Six one three. Do I give my phone number?

Ken McLachlan (33:15):

Yeah, yeah, go for it, please. Yeah, whatever you want people to get ahold of you.

Kim Tran (33:19):

Or maybe not the cell phone. Let's talk about the office.

Ken McLachlan (33:22):

Okay, so let's do, what's your best email? Best email to get ahold of you.

Kim Tran (33:25):

Okay, perfect. Thank you. Kim@teamtran.ca.

Ken McLachlan (33:30):

Okay. Team. T r a n? No,

Kim Tran (33:32):

Kim. So k i m at Team Tran Dot ca.

Ken McLachlan (33:37):

Yeah. Great. And that's all they can get a hold of you. That's the best way to get a hold of you and you. If any questions about Ottawa, about a team, about growing, about things like that, reach out to Kim. Kim, this has been amazing. Thank you for taking the time. The difference you're making for people is amazing. I love it. And we're do this again one day.

Kim Tran (33:54):

Absolutely. And thank you so much for allowing me to share my story and you are awesome. I appreciate you.

Ken McLachlan (34:00):

Oh, appreciate you as well. That's our podcast for today. This has been Realty Life. Great talking with Kim Tran out of Ottawa re max homework in Ottawa. You can reach her, as she said at her email address that she left. We'll put it down there as a link for you. Hope you like this podcast. If you do, subscribe to it, forward it, tell your friends about it, and we hope to see you soon. Have a great day.

Kim Tran (34:25):

Bye now.