- 6 min read

NaaDei's FAITH leap into Real Estate

31 Mag Ladies I am so excited to introduce you to this Faith-Filled Becoming Proverbs 31 Woman!

Please meet NaaDei Reid! She is a wife, a mother of 3, a former teacher, a worship Leader, and a newly Licensed Real Estate agent!

NaaDei, Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? When did you realize you wanted to change careers?

From a very young age, I knew I wouldn’t have one career. My passions have always varied and I knew I didn’t have those desires for no reason. In all honesty, teaching wasn’t my first career choice, but after years of being a summer camp counselor, teaching became my calling. There was also the fact that my supervisor mentioned that the education system needed teachers like me. All that to say I was called to be a teacher. However, when I was teaching I felt myself yearning to change my career path, but because I was moving in my own timing and not God’s, nothing was working out.

For years, I pictured a career where I would be my own boss, and creating a blog was always a present thought in my mind. I remember clearly, after 7 years of teaching, I was talking with my supervisor, and the words “This is my last year here” randomly came out of my mouth. It was as if I had no control over my words at that moment. Well, it ended up being true… it was 2021 (the height of the pandemic),

I had just had my third child and God wanted me to quit my job.

Why real estate?

I've always been drawn to real estate as a whole. I would find myself indulging in real estate-centered tv shows, searching real estate listing websites for new listings, and recently when mentioning my career change, people have mentioned how I have the personality for real estate.

How did you know God was calling you down this path?

For almost 13 years, I have wanted to take the real estate test to get my license. I actually started this journey at the age of 17. I met with a well-known real estate agent at the time to discuss my options for getting into the field and before that meeting was over, he offered me a job at his brokerage firm as soon as I got my license. Needless to say, I never got my license (at that time). I bought the book to study, but never made it past page 20. I signed up for the class and then had to drop it because of health issues. Then I got married and had children!

Over the years I kept attempting to study the book, but never stayed consistent. During Covid, I made it as far as completing a little over 20 index cards filled with real estate terminology, but I still didn't make it past page 20 of the book.

To be honest, the calling was always there, I just never struck at the opportunity. However, once I moved away from my career in early childhood, the opportunity presented itself and I threw myself completely into finally accomplishing my dream of having a career in real estate.

God gave me multiple chances and when I was mature enough to realize what I could accomplish, I excelled and managed to pass the daunting real estate exam test on my first attempt.

How has your life changed since you passed your exam and started in your new field?

I'm definitely busier for sure! But I'm loving every moment of this new journey. Accomplishing this goal has given me a sense of fulfillment, but nothing will ever compare to the joy I feel when I'm ministering for the Lord. (I know- super corny, but 100% true)

Was your spouse on board with your career move?

My husband (Nelson) was completely on board! Truthfully, if it wasn't for him, I would still be teaching. I didn't want to quit my job when God wanted me to, I was ready to walk in disobedience. I was terrified of the unknown, even though quitting my job was something I always wanted. My husband was my voice of reason, he said, "If God is telling you to quit, do it." At the same time, he was very realistic about the situation, he warned me that things would get difficult with one paycheck in the house, but he still fully trusted God and what He was saying to me.

How did this move impact your faith walk? Was it an easy decision?

I always envisioned that once God gave me the okay to leave my job, it would be a no-brainer and a very easy decision. However, when the time came, I didn’t want to leave. The decision to leave my job was a leap of faith. You see, I thought I would be leaving for a new career, or have an established business that was already generating money, or even just have money in my bank account but that wasn’t the case at all! I left my job with a plan, but no leads for money.

I'm a firm believer that it's better to try and fail than to stay where you are and keep dreaming.

So, I had to look past reality and trust God.

Can you walk us through the hardships at the beginning to the joys and wins have you experienced in this season?

At the beginning of my journey, I felt free! I was able to drop my kids off and pick them up from school every day, which is something I wasn't able to do with my hours as a teacher. I spent time with my husband, I took the kids on adventures. Even though I didn’t leave my job with tons of money in the bank, we weren’t struggling with one source of income. I thought everything was going to be great! - I was wrong(lol).

At the beginning of 2022, Nelson ended up contracting Covid and he didn't have enough paid sick days left, for him to be compensated for the 3 weeks he was out sick. This moment was the beginning of the spiral downward for us. Bills had to be paid, but we just didn’t have it. Thankfully, we had family, friends, and a church family that was there to assist us during our difficult season.

The year 2022, ended up being a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs for our family financially, and as a result of those hardships I struggled emotionally. I was called to encourage others on my blog, but I just couldn’t give anything that I didn’t have. Although we were facing trials, we were still seeing God move in our lives.

In September of 2022, I enrolled in the Intro to Real Estate course because a career in real estate has been a dream of mine since I was 17 years old. I excelled in that course and ended up passing my real estate exam on my first attempt, which isn't something that’s common.

Over the last couple of months, I have experienced a new level of peace in this storm. We are still on the faith journey, but God has been sending blessings, and words of encouragement, and even though our situation hasn’t done a complete 180-degree turn, we are standing on the word of the Lord and resting on the promise that God is in control!

What advice would you give to other women with families that are struggling with the fear of changing careers?

To anyone who is struggling to move in an area that God has directed you to go to because of fear, I would say it is always best to follow God even if you don’t understand his direction. The Bible details so many situations where individuals have relied on God and not the circumstances they faced.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, which was his seed of promise because God told him to. He knew that even if he sacrificed his son, God would still have made a way for His promise to come to pass.

Joseph was promised to live a life of supremacy, but after that word, he was bound to slavery.

God demonstrates to us over and over that He is faithful and He has our best interest at hand, so take the leap even if it is in fear because God wouldn’t take you down a path and leave you stranded. Trust Him!

Can you share 3 things that have kept you grounded through that season?

Prayer -has kept me grounded. Most times I couldn’t pray for myself, but the prayers of others kept me going, even when I felt like I couldn’t.
Community - My community has kept me grounded. Not only did they pray for me, they provided for me, encouraged me and they even fellowshipped with me (which gave me so much joy).
Faith - Recently my personal quote or promise that has kept me grounded is, “God will make a way”. Having faith that God will make a way, has restored my peace and pushed back my anxiety.