SuperMom

JENNIFER SHIRLEY

BY LIESEL SCHMIDT

While Jennifer Shirley may have three kids at home, the Realtor feels the importance of having something to devote herself to outside of her family. “Not to take anything away from stay-at-home moms, because they are my heroes,” says Shirley, who has been a licensed real estate agent since 2006 and now works for Bellator Real Estate & Development. “But for me personally, I enjoy working and being able to have some separation from life at home and my work life. I feel accomplished when I'm done after a day of working but equally accomplished when I lay down at night after wearing my mom hat!”

Mom to a twelve, nine and six-year-old, Shirley knows that her kids are watching her to find an example, and she knows that what they see is her drive. “I think my kids are taught a sense of work ethic and also learn to appreciate the things we have and do because of our hard work,” she says.

In her career, she has accomplished a great deal to take pride in, but Shirley also sees the correlation between life and work lessons—and she hopes to pass those on to her kids. “There is an award given by our company called the Eric A. Jones Award that is voted on by our peers and decided on by management,” she says. “I received this award in 2017, and it made me realize that you can be as successful as you want in your career, but at the end of the day it's the impression you leave with people that truly matters. I want my children to know that very thing. I always tell them, ‘You get what you give,’ and I live by that! I hope they will too.”

There are, of course, stressors at her job. But Shirley’s love for her work is something that keeps her passionate—even in the midst of stress. “I have learned that every single transaction and real estate experience is different, and it’s best to put the fires out behind the scenes so that my clients have a stressfree experience. I love to make and see people happy, so if that means taking on a little extra stress so that my clients don't have to, I'm all about it!”

As invested as she is in her work, Shirley is dedicated to showing her children that they are her priority. “I want them to know that everything I do is, ultimately, always for them,” she says. “And that when I'm with them, I'm all in. I'm involved a lot in my children’s school's PTA, serve on the board of a well-known foundation, and volunteer my time with charities as much as I can. I often feel guilty because it does take time away sometimes, but it also teaches them about balance and also to give of their time when they can to enrich others' lives.”

As her children get older, she hopes to leave them with memories of their time together and of all the ways that she showed her love for them. “I don't like to go a day without kissing them goodnight or good morning,” Shirley says. “So when I go out of town or they stay the night away somewhere, when we say goodbye, I'll kiss them goodnight/good morning the number of days we'll be apart! They used to hate it, but now they lean in and go along with it. Not sure what I'll do when they go off to college, but we'll see.”

At 39, Shirley still knows that life has lessons to teach her—and some of those lessons come from her kids. “I've learned that every person is different and needs different things at different times,” she notes. “I'm a big believer in love languages. My children all have different love languages for how they like to give and receive love, and once you learn that about the people in your life, relationships become easier and more fulfilling.”

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