6 minute read
LET NOTHING STOP YOU
BY MELANIE ROBITAILLE, SR. STAFF WRITER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Imagine literally staring cancer in the face not once, but twice, turning your mouth and ability to speak against you. Would you stop selling?
This is a story of perseverance, of wanting to be a real estate agent since childhood. It’s a story of a woman who would make five attempts at the real estate exam while helping her brother navigate a terminal illness. It’s also her story of success, and survival so please be warned there are triggers ahead. It begins in 1993 when Franchisee, Angela Powell finally obtains her license and starts on a path to a promising career, only to have her own cancer diagnosis stop her in her tracks two years later.
“I noticed something on my tongue found to be cancer and underwent surgery. In 1997 it returned, and I proceeded through radiation treatment, which took a great toll on me, but I fought through,” she proudly shared.
Following these arduous years Angela returns to real estate as a broker’s assistant, determined as ever to realize her dream. She’s first introduced to EXIT in 2003 by her husband, Bob, who gave her a presentation on CD by EXIT Founder and Chairman, Steve Morris, and asked her to watch it.
“We both knew we wanted to open an office one day, but this came faster than I expected,” she recalled of buying their first EXIT Team Realty office in Georgia later that year. They’ve attended every EXIT Convention since, and hit the ground running, going on to open subsequent locations and even a real estate school.
NOTICING A SHIFT
Angela enjoyed 19 years in remission, building a successful REO agent career, when she began noticing a distinct shift admitting, “Business slowed down for me, something I hadn’t experienced in a long time. It changed my mind set. I stopped, listened to myself, and had to start over in a sense. Now I’m working with sellers and buyers, something I haven’t done in a while.”
Around this time she started experiencing delayed radiation therapy side effects, like issues eating and swallowing. Speech problems came a year later when her jaw muscles on the left side shut down, but instead of giving up, she walked into a gym at age 55, signed up and hired a coach on the spot. She knew she couldn’t do anything about the effects but she could take control of her body and mind. She now deadlifts 250lbs, back squats 255lbs, and pushes for more, knowing that if she doesn’t take care of herself no one else will.
After everything she still struggled with public anxiety, but Angela’s perseverance is palpable. You hear it in her reference to these issues as a mere “hiccup.” It’s in her diligent physiotherapy regimen, in her continued work with doctors to find a permanent solution, and thanks to an invitation from Senior VP, Susan Harrison, you can even witness Angela’s personal strength of purpose in her HUD Home webinar. Little did she know this resolve would be tested yet again, in the most tragic of ways while we put together this story.
TRAGEDY STRIKES
On April 24, 2022, Angela’s world turned upside down when she learned her daughter’s family was involved in an accident. Her youngest grandson, Lucas, and future son-in-law, Billy, were hit outside their truck on the interstate by a drunk driver, both dying on scene. Her grandson was only nine-years-old, just a year younger than Angela when she first dreamed of becoming a real estate professional.
“Knowing Samantha held her son in her arms as his heart slowly faded, that she saw the love of her life lying just 30 feet away, and the pain she must have experienced is no parent’s wish ever. Losing a loved one changes you and no one knows that feeling until they’ve experienced it. What do you do? How do you move forward? These were the thoughts in my head. How do I keep going with all the pain and not being able to stop crying?” she questioned, admitting that it still feels just as raw these many months later, now living in the aftermath.
Angela undertook the heart-wrenching task of packing up Lucas’ room, so her surviving 16-year-old grandson, Ethan, and her daughter could spend time together. They both now live with Angela, as shortly after the accident emotions were so overwhelming both attempted suicide.
“I worry as any parent would. All these emotions and having to look forward and plan is so numbing but I know I must process this all and move forward,” she explained, but Angela knows no other way as she continues to learn the importance of taking care of herself first. “Once I’ve taken care of me, I can help my daughter, my family, and my business. And if that’s what people see as strong then I’m doing something right. It doesn’t mean I don’t hurt because I hurt daily.”
FIRST STEPS TOWARD HEALING
She recently channeled some of her pain into positivity by participating in a Climb for Kids initiative. Completed on the Appalachian Trail, Angela wanted to honor her grandson who she says, “had such a kind, giving, and loving heart.”
It was a cathartic, almost symbolic step in her healing journey, which she takes day by day. She’s reminded to be more grateful and empathetic toward others saying, “I smile more even though I’m sad inside because the person I’m smiling at doesn’t know what I’m going through, and I don’t know what they’re going through, but they may need that smile just for that one second. We all need each other in some way!”
Despite it all, Angela still managed to close over 50 ends this past production year (one of her most personally challenging to date) and earned a six-figure income, showing incredible resilience and that she’s not giving up anytime soon.
