QA & With Brandy Unruh

Q. Tell us about you and your business. Where did you originally come from and what made you decide to go into the real estate business?

A. I am a 3rd generation realtor. My grandmother owns her own brokerage in California, my Dad had his license in Las Vegas when I was growing up but ultimately decided it was not his path. I on the other hand spent my late teens and early 20’s focused hard on going to medical school. I have a degree in Nutritional Sciences from Las Vegas where I am originally from. I moved to Colorado in 2007 in order to focus on getting some handson patient experience and work in the hospital settings while I apply for schools. Life has a funny way of saying, “this is not your path”. I attempted to apply a few times but life got very complicated every single time (think deaths in the family and then my new atthe-time husband losing his job). The final time I applied, was in 2010. And there was a glitch in the system and it was lost. I was too young to have harnessed my assertiveness and follow up. I was devastated, and then I realized this is a sign. The next day, while at dinner with my husband (who is a marketing guru and worked for a real estate company right out of college) turned to me and said, you know what you would be really good at? Real estate. The next week we did our taxes and had a refund for the EXACT amount that it cost to go to real estate school. As a result, almost 13 years later, he was right (don’t tell him I said that). I genuinely love my job. When people ask me what I do, I tell them I am a solution maker of problems and I also happen to sell real estate. I am passionate about making things beautiful, I love connecting people, I enjoy being in the background of making magic and happiness for those who are achieving their goals. I am never front and center. I am a supporting role and that is just perfect to me. I also believe in having strong relationships with other industry professionals, we are all in this very difficult and lonely world together. There are countless times that having great relationships with others makes a huge difference in a transaction and experience for your clients. Those matter!

Q. What is your motto or philosophy?

A. My motto is to do all things with Grace. Life is filled with challenges and its all about how you respond to them, that matters the most. So as I am navigating through the countless problems that come up for some of my people, I focus on finding grace while searching for the solution.

Q. What do you consider your specialty?

A. I love all parts of residential sales. However, I am really talented at making things pretty, I end up with a lot of clients who want to make a few changes before listing and I really shine when I get to help them by using my project management skills to help make the process easier and the end result is always filled with the trends that sell, which is the ultimate goal.

Q. Why did you select Erie as the place to start your business years ago?

A. Well the humor of this one is that on my first date with Jeremy, we stayed up until 8:30 am talking at a park! I asked him, if you could live anywhere where would you go? He said, “I really want to move back to Colorado, I think maybe near Boulder”. It was the first date, but I said to myself “Well if this goes anywhere I could move.” We got married in 2005, and moved in 2007. We landed in Erie because his brother lived here at the time, bought his home in Canyon Creek in 1999...as soon as we got here, they moved to Boulder and Jeremy and I realized that we loved everything about Erie so much that we planned to grow old here. Now, my parents live 11 minutes one direction from me in Erie and Jeremy’s mom lives 7 minutes the other direction in Erie. This town is a true family home base for us and we love it!

Q. Tell us one thing that no one knows about you: contact Brandy at: 720.353.2149

A. OOOOOOOh, this is a good one! My maiden name is “Boyd,” its a common name but not as common as “Smith” or “Jones” of course. Well my dad and mom met when my mom was 17, and when my dad came to pick her up for one of their early dates he reached out his hand to shake my mom’s dad’s hand and introduce himself, he said “hello, my name is Chris Boyd” and my mom started yelling and calling him a liar, because guess what, her name was Carol Boyd. So my maiden name is Boyd and my mom’s maiden name is also Boyd and no, they were not related. And for icing on the cake, my mom worked for Boyd Gaming in Las Vegas as a Director for 28 years, and I worked for them at one time too as a supervisor at the front desk at Sam’s Town. I had a hard time changing my last name but I don’t regret it as I love being original and there are certainly not many Brandy Unruh’s running around.

Q. How do you give back to the community and non-profits?

A. I find it so rewarding to volunteer. I recently spent some time at the Women’s Bean Project in Denver and A Precious Child. I also love giving back to our schools and our town, you can find me sponsoring all kinds of fun events around including the ice skating rink, Pride Day and Juneteenth. For me, I just want everyone to live somewhere that feels like it is a place that includes and is for everyone.