Tom Heath
We are back with another episode of Housing for Good, as we talk about the intersection of real estate and community development, community activation. And we are here with the fabulous Kasandra Prieto. Did I say that properly?
Kasandra Prieto
Yes, you said it so great.
Tom Heath
I've been practicing all week.
Kasandra Prieto
Have you been practicing? On rolling your R's?
Tom Heath
Yeah, it's like, I'm gonna do this right.
Kasandra Prieto
That is wonderful. I don't hear it pronounced that way very often.
Tom Heath
All right, good. But so as I understand it, you're in real estate, is that correct?
Kasandra Prieto
Yes.
Tom Heath
Excuse me, what brokerage are you with?
Kasandra Prieto
Coldwell Banker Realty.
Tom Heath
And how long have you been over there?
Kasandra Prieto
I have been there going on a little over a year at Coldwell.
Tom Heath
Nice, and how long have you been in real estate all together?
Kasandra Prieto
Going on six years.
Tom Heath
Oh my gosh, you're serious. So I'm gonna put 2018 -ish, you've gone through some interesting times in this business.
Kasandra Prieto
Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's a lot of them, especially in such a short period of time. So many things have changed over the last five years.
Tom Heath
Yeah. I know we've talked in the past a little bit, but remind me, what did you do prior to real estate?
Kasandra Prieto
Yeah. So I actually was in the financial services industry. So I was extremely, I actually, I still am extremely passionate about life insurance. I believe everybody should have some. I don't have any kids and I actively tried to add, I believe that it's a income replacement, I believe in leaving a legacy, I believe in leaving those that you love and care for in hopefully a at least better place financially, if I'm not gonna be around. And I just, I did that, I was very passionate about that for about almost four years, I wanna say, right before I went on this day. Yeah. So what was the transition then? So the transition was, I had a really hard time personally with the situation that happened and my environment became an environment that I no longer wanted to be a part of. So I had a really, really hard time thinking I was gonna move to a different company because I really believed in the specific product that I was selling or that I was offering and And as I started searching, I accidentally
Kasandra Prieto
ran into real estate. And it's interesting, Tom, because I hated real estate. Before going into real estate, I hated realtors. And I would go, I mean, watch what you say. Watch your words. Seriously. I did not like them. None of them had been nice to me, maybe because I didn't qualify for a house. I don't know. But I just, I haven't had great encounters with real estate industry people in general. And so when I started searching, I ran into this gentleman and he started asking me, like, hey, do you think you would be interested in this? And he knew that I was actively seeing if I was gonna do anything else. And then when he offered, I was like, you know, I really don't like realtors. I don't know that I could see myself as one. And so I remember, and I'll never forget what he said to me, he said, But Kasandra, if you feel like there's such a room for improvement in the real estate industry, why not come in and make a difference? Do you realize that this is people's biggest asset? Do you
Kasandra Prieto
think you could make a difference in that? And that's what totally caught me thinking that I could really come and make a difference in the real estate world.
Tom Heath
What, have you?
Kasandra Prieto
I have. Yeah? I have. It's nothing that I ever imagined, completely different. So I do try to be very open when someone asks me about real estate Like hey I'm looking into it because I want the flexibility because I want to be my own boss because this and then I had all of these ideas that That weren't you know I feel like real estate is it's been harder for me than then selling insurance and not because of the sales piece I feel like I'm an established individual with a reputation in town already, but I I believe that I I get so attached and emotionally with clients. I want them to have the absolute best experience and it matters to me. So I make myself available sometimes, you know, seven days a week, but I think I really go above and beyond to try to make sure that they get the best experience and real estate is very different than insurance because in insurance, I meet you, we go out for lunch, we, you know, we like each other, You write an application, and then I just wait, right?
Kasandra Prieto
With real estate, you're my client three to six months, just depending on how fast we can get you in the house. I have to interact with you. I have to really make sure that, first of all, do a consultation, make sure that you like me and that we are a really good match, that I really give you the information up front, because it's such an emotional process. So it is so much more than I ever imagined But I feel like the biggest thing that I've gotten out of being in real estate is the relationships and all the qualities that I've gained
Tom Heath
Patience. Well, how's it a relationship? So you found some real estate agents you liked?
Kasandra Prieto
Yes, I actually I have found a lot of real estate agents that I love But I I also feel like I understand it now how real estate could be very heavy on individuals. I can see how people can carry that, and it could be very heavy on them. I think that in real estate, we tend to see the best in people, and sometimes the worst. It's an emotional buy. It's sometimes the biggest purchase that you ever make in your life. So as you kind of navigate, you want to make sure that you are setting expectations, so that you're giving people the best possible opportunity to navigate that the best way possible. And in my first year, I didn't know what I didn't know, so you learn to give more and more and more information, even though maybe it's not necessary, but at least people have a big picture. And I could see how it's very heavy on some people, but yes, I have great relationships and real estate now.
Tom Heath
There's only one real estate agent I like, and it's me.
Kasandra Prieto
I love a lot of real estate. There's so many of them that I've learned so much from. I just needed to get in the world of real estate.
Tom Heath
I think that's interesting because it kind of leads into this concept of housing for good and getting into that world and understanding things differently because you've also been heavily involved with several projects of which we could probably spend all day talking about the various organizations you support, but the one in particular that seems to be really driving you, at least since I've known you, is the diaper bank.
Kasandra Prieto
Yes, I absolutely love the diaper bank. I got involved with the diaper bank going on for years now. A really good friend of mine was the CEO at the time, and we had done a ton of networking in the past, and so he called me up and he said, Kasandra, you know, I'm the CEO of the diaper bank.
Tom Heath
How do people call you up and put you into things? You're just like.
Kasandra Prieto
I need to, I'm still learning to say no, that is.
Tom Heath
Do you want to get an real estate share?
Kasandra Prieto
I know.
Tom Heath
Do you want to get a diverse share?
Kasandra Prieto
Hopefully, that will be the end. I think real estate is it for me. But never mind. So he said, I want you to come over. I want you to help us out with our, we really need help with our ambassador program. We need to get the word out there and all this. So I was like, you know what? Yeah, I think I could do that. So I was like, whoa, hold up. I don't have kids. My friend's name is Shannon. I was like, I don't have kids, Shannon. I'm like, how could I be passionate about like, if I'm gonna get involved with something, I want to be passionate and truly be about it. I don't even have children to like about diapers and stuff. And he's like, just come over, we'll give you a presentation, we'll show you. And if it's not, you know, does it sit with you? That's fine. So they go over all of these different aspects that they touch, how they make a difference in the world. And really diapers for babies, diapers for adults, which when you really think about that, it's more the integrity part of being
Kasandra Prieto
an adult. And it doesn't mean that you have to be an elderly person, but incontinence, right? That's a huge issue for a lot of people. And just to think that some people are home and they don't leave their home because they don't have money for these products. And then that really got to me. And then also period products. So they do period poverty month and they have a big movement for that. But the thought of, and the presentation went over, is you know why your daughter's friend didn't go to school today? It's because her mother did not have money to pay for period products, and so she had to stay home, and there's this integrity part, and I just thought to myself at home, like how blessed, we don't think of, we have the money to pay for these items. But that's not luxury, right? I mean, these products are expensive, and just to think of kids not being able to, That right there is what I could truly identify with as far as I could imagine. I could see myself going through a scenario like
Kasandra Prieto
that. And I was like, okay, I can get behind this. I'm all in. And after that, we started the ambassador program. I'm a networker. So I just started inviting everybody and their mother. And some people was like the diaper bag, like what's up with that? And I'm like, just come, you're gonna love the presentation. I was really pumped, I was all in. And we did these little monthly gatherings for a while. And I mean, we got the word out there. Shannon did such a phenomenal job. And then eventually I became part of the board. And right now I'm the vice president for the governing board for the Ted Bank.
Tom Heath
And we talk about this in a lot of the episodes and this is a lesson out there for some of the young agents as well. Don't do a good job, because then you'll end up on the board, you'll end up as the vice president, you're gonna be in charge of stuff.
Kasandra Prieto
You're balling tolls.
Tom Heath
Just keep the bar low, like just show up and get some things done. But you start knocking it out of the park, next thing you know, you're in charge of stuff.
Kasandra Prieto
Yeah.
Tom Heath
And then, and then this is the exciting thing.
Kasandra Prieto
Yes. I know where you're going.
Tom Heath
Yes. Where am I going? Dancing with the stars. Yes. That's when we first met. You were in training for dancing with the stars like a year ago, wasn't it? Or almost a year ago at this point?
Kasandra Prieto
Yeah, it was actually exactly just a year ago. Yeah. Oh, that was a wonderful experience. And so I was like, as soon as they invited me, I was like, I got so excited. I was like, I'm going to be a star. I love the cameras. You guys, I just, I love, um, I think I should have been a TV person, but, um, they invited me and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm ready for this. I could dance. And so I just committed immediately. I was like, this is great. And this is for such a great cause. I can get the work done. I can have fun. I could do all this stuff. And then as soon as I sat with them, started going over everything, all the details and the commitment. And I was like, yeah, I got this. And I started practicing time and I realized it dawned on me. So I love singing, I love performing. I can get a room, I could be MC, I'm very outgoing. However, I never danced professionally. I did it, I barely know how to dance. I can just like, you know, but professionally dance, no. And so as I started practicing,
Kasandra Prieto
I was like, oh, wow. Like, there was a lot of steps.
Tom Heath
And then the commitment was a lot of steps. There's a lot of steps.
Kasandra Prieto
A lot of steps to the dance move we made. But then also, like, all the, I think we were practicing two to three times a week. And we're doing this for three months.
Tom Heath
And then it's the same as the television show. You're paired with a professional dancer.
Kasandra Prieto
Yes. Uh -huh. So yeah, so Dancing with the Stars, they have 10 different stars. And you're like people like me that know nothing about dance and then you get put up with a complete professional and then they have a theme and we dance to the theme so we did Pirates of the Caribbean which was wonderful and it was a very heavy commitment but the cool part is guess what I was talking about it all summer long I was sharing it with everybody it got the word out there and you know we had ten other people as well it was just a beautiful wonderful experience for and and all of this for such the great cause. Like that's what I love and you can have a great time and you're contributing to this bigger thing outside of you.
Tom Heath
Does the diaper bank, is this an annual thing that they do or was this a one -time thing?
Kasandra Prieto
So they do this every year. Actually, I'm not certain how many years they've done it for it, but it's been a while. Joseph Blair, do you know the name? He was in Dancing with the Stars.
Tom Heath
Yeah, he's another one of those individuals that has just sort of transcended his professional athlete career and has really given back to Tucson.
Kasandra Prieto
He really has. He's wonderful.
Tom Heath
Question. This is probably one of the more important questions that we've asked on this show. Are there videos of you dancing? Where do we find? Is it on the Diverbanks website?
Kasandra Prieto
Follow me at Kasandra Prieto online. You will find a ton. I recorded the experience and I love capturing moments, but I don't know that they have them on a website.
Tom Heath
They need to. You could be using that for post marketing for years. People would go over there and you just put that on a little page with a donate button right at the bottom. You could just keep sending people back there and say it's not too late to support.
Kasandra Prieto
That is such a great idea. Oh my God. Thank you. I don't even know if we have like a videographer for that because we have a photographer But I'm a lot more involved and on the committees this year For dancing with our stars, so please please please if you are interested in going please reach out to me But I will definitely ask about potentially getting a videographer I think that would be a great even promo for the the future years because we don't have that right now And so well, it's been a well attended event for me. I saw videos of the event
Tom Heath
and maybe it was just personal, like home videos or something like that, and there was a large crowd and an energetic crowd, oh my gosh, they were having fun.
Kasandra Prieto
It's exciting, and you think about like, I had a table full of all my friends and family. My mom came all the way up, I mean, from Douglas, two hours, but she doesn't come up here very often, so it was so cool, and my aunt came out from California, so it was so cool, and they were so excited, and it's dancing with our stars, so it really pumps people up. It's like a beautiful experience, and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you dance, right? Like, you could do really, really well, you can mess up. It's the cause. That's what makes it even better that it's just all it doesn't, you can't go wrong.
Tom Heath
But it's about the cause. And this is one of those interviews that I kind of thought was going to go a slightly different direction because you're involved with so many things. We don't really have time to talk about it, but we need to get back and kind of dig in because you are, you have your, your, your fingers or your, your footprints on a lot of organizations. So I I think the the social media he said again I think that's the best way to follow and you'll see care fun all these other things that you're doing
Kasandra Prieto
Yes, so my name is KasandraPrieto and it's with a K and 1s and then on Instagram You could find me as Prieto real estate But if you just search for my name, it's gonna be Kasandra with a K and 1s
Tom Heath
And then the real estate the community that's all on one page. You can find all together
Kasandra Prieto
So so if you look I mean, I think that if you just google me I'm super active on social media, you can find me on LinkedIn, I mean if you just put my name, you'll find me on LinkedIn, on Instagram, on TikTok, on Facebook, what else, I'm missing one more, and YouTube. So I have a ton of videos, I have everything that I'm involved in, you'll see something about everything.
Tom Heath
And that makes you a great ambassador for these organizations, even if you're just there for events, you get the word out very well, but we need to reschedule this for a Housing for Good part two, it talks about all the other things that you're involved with. In the meantime, if you want to see any of these other Housing for Good videos, our website is housingforgood .com. We don't have a dedicated Facebook page yet, but the Mortgage Guidance Group puts this up and we put it through our YouTube and available in other areas. But we're just blessed in Tucson to have very talented, professional real estate agents who also care very much about our community. and I would imagine it's the same across the country, but I've just gotten to know over the last 25 years these real estate agents that are making a difference and I think it's time that we just recognize that, as you said, it's a large investment we ask people to make, and in exchange for that, you and others are doing a lot to make sure
Tom Heath
that investment is made in a community that is growing and thriving, and I think that's really good and I appreciate it.
Kasandra Prieto
Thank you so much, Tom, I really appreciate you having me, and I love talking about this stuff, see just like I feel like I recharged I you pump me up for the day I'm ready to go
