The day began with Christine and Gina sharing their entrepreneurial journey in a classroom setting at Central City Value. They explained how they transform houses into beautifully designed homes and emphasized the importance of relationship building, networking, trust, creativity and teamwork. They provided insights into essential skills for a successful career in real estate and strategies for building strong client relationships.
"This experience meant so much to me. I enjoyed having a deeper look into how these women do their jobs." – Ashley L., 9th Grade
These ideas were reinforced when Neyshia Go, a Senior Global Luxury Estates Advisor with Sotheby's International Realty and founder of The Go Group, joined the students via Zoom.
Our students toured a house currently on the market. Christine and Gina demonstrated how they evaluate a property’s potential, considering design possibilities, market trends, and financial feasibility. Neyshia instructed the students on how the improvements would make the home more desirable to buyers.
 |
 |
| Neyshia (left) explaining marketing ideas, and Christine describing hardscape options (right). | |
We then visited a Five Crown Homes construction site in Bell Canyon, a site where a home burned to the ground during the Woolsey fire in 2018. Christine and Gina detailed the many decisions involved in a ground-up construction and highlighted the importance of adaptability and problem-solving while navigating construction challenges. The experience provided a vivid illustration of the teamwork and trust required to bring a vision to life. Neyshia toured with the students pointing out the possible design features of the home. Christine canvased the students' opinions on their choice of faucet in the primary bathroom, and was grateful that our students helped her make a design decision.
"This experience was a great opportunity to begin searching for my future career. I have been struggling with deciding what I want to be in the future, but this experience has helped me find the perfect career." – Endely P., 10th Grade
 |
 |
 |
| Gina (left), Christine (center) and Neyshia (right) speaking to our students. | ||
"Neyshia had very important skills that increased my interest for real estate such as taking ownership and putting in the work all the time. While construction may not be for me, Christine and Gina shared their amazing story and the importance of building connections." – Ashley B., 10th Grade
Returning to Value Schools, our students had the opportunity to engage in a hands-on budgeting exercise. Gina and Christine led the students through their Repair Estimator to determine the financial viability of the property they had visited. Students applied real-world data and calculated expenses and potential profits. Ultimately, they concluded that the current asking price made the project impracticable. Gina expanded on this analysis by discussing how to raise capital, assess investment risks, and analyze market conditions, all key business strategies in real estate.
"I would like to thank Christine, Gina and Neyshia and let them know I am very grateful for the time and effort they put into helping young high school students like me find our future field of work." – Endely P., 10th Grade
The impact of this Career Exploration experience was clear. Students expressed admiration for the transparency, trust, and problem-solving and skills demonstrated by the Five Crown Homes team.
At the end of every Career Exploration event we ask students what impact the event has had on their education and career options. This is how our students responded:
Career Explorations like this inspire me to work harder in school:
100% of students strongly agreed or agreed
Value Schools Foundation should create more Career Exploration events like this:
100% of students strongly agreed or agreed
I would recommend this Career Exploration event to my friends who are interested in this topic:
96% of students strongly agreed or agreed
"Thank you so much for giving me this special, impactful opportunity. While listening to this presentation, you really inspired me to choose this career path." – Ashley L., 9th Grade
If you are interested in creating a hands-on, interactive career exploration opportunity for our students, please contact me at [email protected].
We are here to serve.