We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Lay and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started KL Creations Real Estate Marketing when I was 25. I started in the real estate industry at 16. Back then, we had to deliver printed black & white graphics to the listings, deliver contracts to the agents & the title company & put keys in the old timey lock boxes (yes, up hill, both ways, in the snow!) – essentially I was a runner. Over time, my position extended into the creative realm & I began to design promotional pieces, work on creative projects & learn the overall systems used within the industry.

Being an efficient employee, more & more often, I found myself at the copy machine or doing other mundane tasks as a reward for my quickness. Realizing that assisting real estate agents was a niche market & that I had the training & expertise needed to do so, I launched KL Creations.

The concept was simple – offer real estate assistant & marketing services a la carte to the real estate industry. At that time, there was little to no competition. The concept was fresh to the market & allowed agents to have an assistant when they needed one without any salary obligations. In 1995, I launched KL Creations. At that time, we offered Sign & Graphic Delivery, House Cleaning Services, Organizational Services, Design & Direct Mail. We have since changed with the times & now offer design, digital, print, direct mail & email – happily serving agents for nearly 30 years!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
KL Creations Real Estate Marketing has definitely been a passion project. A woman owned small business in a feast or famine industry has had it’s challenging moments. Gratefully, we have weathered the storm & survived the passing of my business partner & husband Bob in 2007, the great real estate market crash of 2008, the quietness surrounding the 9-11 attacks & most recently the Covid shutdowns in 2020. Through many of these, I wasn’t sure if we could stay the course. The financial insecurity especially during (but not limited to) these times was overwhelming! Gratefully, we are sliding into year 30 & still here, doing what we do best!

Having started this business at a young age, there has been lots to learn! I would say more hard lessons than easy ones. Over time, I have learned not to take things as hard as I once did. I have also learned that mistakes are going to happen & what you do to make them right is what matters.

Learning my worth has been the hardest lesson. I am a very disciplined, hard working perfectionist. I will do, redo & overdo without fail. My work is my heart & I put everything into it. On the upside, I have grown beyond measure with regard to my business skills & especially within the design realm. I have had to learn that I am not everyone’s cup of tea & that boundaries within business is essential to success. My hard truth is that I will always go above & beyond even when it isn’t expected (& sometimes not appreciated), as a result, I will likely not join the ranks of the millionaires but my heart & my clients will always be happy.

Thankfully, I learned early on that there is enough business for everyone. Knowing this doesn’t always make it easy to swallow the ever growing number of competitors. When we started in 1995, we planned agent lunch events; we actually organized the agents & handled the marketing for them as well as the catering. Back then we faxed out & hand delivered flyers to all the offices. Eventually faxing faded & we started e-mailing the announcements. I am relatively sure we were the first company in DFW to send e-flyers or e-blasts, in fact, I would say that was the invention of email marketing in the DFW real estate industry. Needless to say, that market has grown exponentially. The competition is fierce not only in email marketing but also in design & print. Sadly, many of the newer competitors undervalue these services in addition to offering a lessor service. That’s a hard one to explain to new clients as they don’t necessarily understand (& sometimes don’t care) what goes into our services & products. Gratefully, we have many very, very loyal clients that continue to refer us business & use our service year after year allowing us to continue to grow in light of this.

Our business has been built on experience, honesty & growing up within the DFW real estate market. Sometimes I’ll hear myself on the phone & I’m amazed at how much I truly know about the real estate industry, market & marketing. What sets us apart is knowledge. Knowledge of the market – not just the real estate market but all the things that includes – the agents, the cities, the price points, the inventory & so much more! It’s being able to put those pieces together to have a clear picture of what is happening today & how we can help agents to promote themselves & their properties most efficiently & successfully. We care. We care about our clients, their families, their budgets & their reputation.

At the end of the day, we have not only survived, we have thrived. We have learned new things, expanded our services & our knowledge base. We have learned to grow with the times. We continue to stay true to ourselves & true to our clients. We continue to offer top of the line customer service, products, design & marketing services. We will not undersell ourselves, our clients or our competition. We are grateful for all of our customers – current & past – as well as the opportunity to continue to grow & serve the North Texas real estate community.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mom, Lynn Lentscher, passed earlier this year on January 5th. She started her career in real estate with Helena Underwood working side by side with Ellen Gomez & Julia Stafford. In time, she was recruited by a local title company as a Marketing Representative. Calling on local real estate agents & offices, she shared her market expertise, smile & kindness across Dallas & Collin County for over 20 years. Mom encouraged me & helped me to understand the nuances of agents & real estate. She always challenged me to be more creative & take projects & my business to the next level. I was blessed to enter the market on her coat tail; the caveat was ensuring that I treated everyone with respect & kindness so that nothing negative trickled back to her … fortunately, she raised me right so this wasn’t overly challenging but did require discipline as well as give & take in a couple of tricky situations.

I was graced with her mentorship as well as that of Ellen Gomez & Mary Harker – both top producing agents & my first employers in the real estate world. I often say I was taught confidentiality as well as all things real estate by the best of the best.

Website: http://klcreations.biz

Instagram: @klcreationsrealestatemarketing

Linkedin: @klcreationsrealestatemarketing

Twitter: @mktg4realestate

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/klcreationsrealestatemarketing

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDYHMh2N6T2J4ZrWJo1g5hg

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