Meet Kristen Pollock: REALTOR

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

Hi Kristen, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I grew up mostly in New Jersey, close to NYC, but as a child my family made an international move and I got to spend 4 years in Paris, France. The relocation presented us with both challenges and amazing opportunities. We got to experience a different culture, travel, and also settle into a new environment and make it our home. Looking back on it now with children of my own, I realize what a leap my parents took to move to a foreign country where neither of them spoke the language with three elementary-school-aged children. I’m so glad they did because it was an experience that shaped us all during those impressionable years. During our time abroad I got to see my mom reinvent her career after being the trailing spouse who moved for her husband’s job. Years later, I was in the same position when a job opportunity for my husband moved our family to Atlanta. Although I spent many years in marketing for luxury brands and e-commerce businesses, I pivoted my career into real estate and this is the job where I feel most at home. I draw on my childhood experience and my own relocation to Atlanta every day as an Atlanta real estate agent. Every aspect of my job involves huge changes in my client’s lives – whether they are buying their first home, selling a home they have lived in for decades, or making a move to Atlanta from elsewhere. I love to help them through these transitional periods and have learned that patience and empathy go a long way.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
As a REALTOR® with Engel & Völkers Atlanta, I help buyers, sellers, investors, and those looking to rent a home in the Intown Atlanta market. The years that I spent in marketing and e-commerce for brands and corporations helped me to hone both my creative and business skills. I’ve always loved being involved in contract negotiations, and that is a part of my current job which I find the most exciting as I’m working to get the best outcome for my clients. I also love marketing a home and making it shine both in person and online – since these days all home shopping starts on the internet. My own personal experience also includes a gut-renovations of a previous house and a condo that I owned with my husband. Our experience going through those renovations, and his experience in the architecture world are things I am constantly drawing on when advising clients with their own home projects. The hardest part for me when I started in real estate was marketing myself. While my professional experience included marketing brands and products, it definitely took time to become comfortable with the personal branding that goes along with being in the real estate world. The best advice I received was to just be myself. Being authentic in my marketing efforts has helped me to attract clients who I love working with, and makes every day at work a joy. Not to say this job is not hard work. I work tirelessly for my clients to make their transaction as seamless as possible, and my goal is always to help them move on to the next phase in their home journey with confidence and ease. I’ve been lucky to get to do this for some truly amazing people, and I love how this job allows me to continually grow my knowledge about the Atlanta area, and meet new people while helping them to achieve their real estate goals.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
What I love most about the Atlanta area is the ability to have a variety of diverse experiences all within an hour of the city. First and foremost, food. I would take them to some of the acclaimed restaurants in the city – my favorites include Kimball House for oysters, TWO urban licks or Lady Bird for great food on the BeltLine and Bon Ton for great fusion food and cocktails. But we’d also head out to Buford Highway for an international feast. I love Nam Phuong for no-frills Vietnamese food, LanZhou Ramen to watch their noodles being hand-made, and of course ICENY for rolled ice cream for dessert. Then, to work some of that food off, we’d ride bikes on the BeltLine and explore some of the great hiking trails outside the city at Sweetwater Creek Park and Arabia Mountain just to name a few of the great places outside the city to enjoy nature. No trip to Atlanta would be complete without exploring our city’s history at the Atlanta History Center and The King Center, as well as walking through the city to see our historic neighborhoods and architecture. And last but not least, we would visit the city’s great farmer’s markets for fresh ingredients so we could cook up a storm at home and then sit on the front porch enjoying the view and soaking in the neighborhood. Because what’s more “Atlanta” than sitting on the porch with the fans going and enjoying a cool drink with friends?

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family has played a huge part in shaping who I am, and I’m especially lucky in that both of my parents are also in real estate in NYC, so we’re never short on things to talk about. I also feel extremely supported by the Engel & Völkers Atlanta team, especially our brokers Christa Huffstickler, Christian Ross and Scott Askew who are seasoned pros in the Atlanta real estate market. When I transitioned my career to real estate I realized I was going to need even more support so one of the first things I did was to pull together a group of amazing women who were also going through career moves of their own. We formed our own business networking group which was part support group and part business strategy. Meeting regularly to discuss our challenges and putting our goals into words was so inspiring. Being part of that community made everything seem possible. Special shout-outs to Michelle Koufman of Ladies who Learn, Joanna Kobylivker of Chaklava and Lauren Chekanow of Open.To. Alchemy who were part of that group.

Website: kristenpollock.evatlanta.com
Instagram: instagram.com/kristenpollock_atl
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenpollock/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristenPollockRealEstate

Image Credits
Lexi Rochell (for portrait outside E&V Atlanta office and photo of office facade) All other photos taken by family 🙂