Joya & Tamarisk: Living As Golden Realtors

Mothers, Business Women & Realtors **Tamarisk Barksdale and Joya Anderson**

Please share your story with us Tamarisk. How did you get to where you are today?

We are two black women entrepreneurs and mothers, one southern girl from Alabama and a yankee from upstate New York. We both relocated to Georgia, with no job, big dreams, little money, and a child to care for. Talk about jumping off a cliff and hoping you don’t hit the rocks. Joya and I met at our old brokerage back in 2018, at that time we had no clue that our new friendship would lead us to where we are today. We now own our own Real Estate Company. Our journey in Real Estate started separately a few years ago, but the power that we possess as a team far exceeds going at it alone. We knew by joining forces that we would be able to double and even triple our impact, because each of us share special qualities that makes us a dynamic company and team.

We had a lot of successes at our old brokerage and a lot of failures. In early 2020, we hit a brick wall that so many people also hit, which forced us to look at ourselves and how we conducted business. Let’s just say we did not like the reflection in the mirror. It was in that moment that we realized we did not have control over our own destiny and we put our fate in someone else’s hands. Well, that was the biggest mistake we made in our careers. We wanted control, power and to position ourselves in the direction that we wanted to go. The only way for us to have that was to launch our own business, so we birthed Living Golden Realtors. Since then, we have added some layers to our company, such as, providing coaching/education to other agents and creating a luxury brand.

Living Golden “Luxury” Realtors, what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from others?

Our company was built on the foundation of “People First”. We are not in the business to just sell houses, we wake up everyday bringing the best version of ourselves so that we can create an experience for our clients that is unmatched. We are both hard working, single mothers so we understand what is like for a family to have their own home and we sympathize with mothers that have no direction and need guidance. We are both Georgia implants, that have come from two separate states, and we specialize in assisting relocation clients that want to provide their family with a better home or environment. Our knowledge, understanding and expertise adds a sense of comfort to what could be a very stressful situation.

What is “failure” and “success” for you?

Failure to us is lessons learned. It’s an opportunity for reflection and correction. Without it, you can’t know what it is like to succeed. Success is counting the small victories and never settling at any level of growth. We consider ourselves to have had many successes along our journey, but we still have a long way to go.

We’d love to hear more about your work.

We are very passionate about what we do and how we do it. Our business is built on principles and standards ensuring that each of our clients feel as if they have been provided with an experience and not just a service. Although we are in the service industry, we see what we do as creating a lifestyle for people, hence the name of our business, Living Golden. It is truly our mission to have every person that we have the privilege of working with to embody their vision of what living a golden life is like for them. From helping a buyer find their dream home, to the seller that wants to find a new home while getting top dollar for their current one, to providing the luxury client with exclusivity, to coaching and educating an agent to building a strong brand for themselves, this is what Living Golden is all about.

What excites you right now?

This is a great question. We get excited everytime we break a new barrier. There were a lot of people that did not support our vision and dream and still don’t, but everytime we are able to help one more person or family buy the home of their dreams, we are winning. Everytime we can educate sellers and buyers, we are winning. Everytime we add a new layer to our business that is going to benefit our people, we are winning.

Yeap, we are in a pandemic, BUT what’s the best thing that has happened to you?

We started our business from the ground up in the middle of a pandemic. It was the scariest thing to do, but we had a lot faith in God and each other to step out and make it happen. Joya and I made the decision to leave our old brokerage because it just wasn’t a good fit for us anymore and we joined EXP Realty. This was the best decision that we could have made at that moment. We started our own Real Estate company and team, and it’s our baby to nurture and care for. We have to own every mistake, every failure and every doubt, but we would do it over and over again in a flash.

What ONE thing would you like for our readers to take away from this feature story, about you?

Trust in your ability to go out there and create the future that you desire for yourself. Failure is not the end, it’s just a lesson learned and an opportunity to try again.