I'm not writing from the
finish line.

My story didn't start with real estate, entrepreneurship or some perfectly mapped out vision for my life.

Quite the opposite.

My teenage years and early twenties were messy. I made plenty of bad decisions. I spent years in and out of jail, in a hamster wheel, without much direction for where my life was actually going.

I wasn't building a future.

I was reacting to life.

And for a long time, I think I believed that who I had been determined who I was going to become.

It doesn't.

At 22, I moved to Sioux Falls and started building a different life.

I didn't have some grand master plan. I certainly didn't know where it would lead.

I just knew I wanted something different.

Looking back, that decision taught me something I believe deeply today:

Your past can explain you without having to define you.

You can decide differently.

You can become someone different.

And sometimes changing your entire life starts with nothing more than deciding that the direction you've been going isn't where you want to end up.

There wasn't one magical moment where everything suddenly clicked. It was a series of decisions.

Different people. Different environments. Different books. Different mentors. Different standards.

And eventually, a different identity. I started surrounding myself with people who challenged the way I thought. I started reading, learning, setting goals, taking responsibility for my choices, asking bigger questions about who I wanted to become, and what I wanted my life to look like.

And slowly, the person I believed I was, started changing.

That's something I understand much better today:

You don't change your life by simply wanting different results. You change it by becoming the person capable of creating them.

That process never really ends. I'm still doing it, still questioning things.

Still discovering blind spots.

Still setting goals that scare me.

Still learning how to be a better wife, mom, leader, friend and human.

Still getting things wrong.

Still figuring things out.

Maybe that's the point.

We're all a work in progress.

Eventually, that personal growth started showing up everywhere else.

In 2012, I got my real estate license. I had no idea then how much that decision would change my life.

Real estate grew into a career, then a team, then a business, into a coach, and eventually a platform that allowed me to lead, teach and pour into other people.

I built the Allen Edge Team and have had the opportunity to serve over 2,400 families through one of the biggest decisions of their lives.

Along the way, I've had the opportunity to coach and train real estate professionals, lead organizations, teach classes, speak on stages, build businesses and surround myself with some incredible entrepreneurs and leaders.

Today, that continues through Allen Edge, eXp Realty, Upgrade Community, the Fast Forward Movement, workshops, masterminds and the courses and tools I'm creating.

But the older I get, the less interested I am in accomplishments simply for the sake of accomplishments.

Because the things I'm proudest of aren't really numbers.

It's the people, the relationships.

The agents who discovered what they were capable of.

The clients who became friends.

The leaders I've had the opportunity to learn from.

The people I've been able to teach.

And most importantly, the life all of it has allowed me to build with the people I love.

I don't want a great business at the expense of a great life.

I want both.

And I believe we can intentionally build both.

I'm hesitant to call these "lessons," because that makes it sound like I've mastered them.

I haven't.

They're simply ideas that keep proving themselves true in my life.

Who you believe you are matters.

Identity drives behavior. When you change the story you tell yourself about who you are and what you're capable of, your choices begin changing too.

Everything is figureoutable.

I don't need to know exactly how before I start. I need to be willing to take the next step, learn, adjust and keep going.

Your environment matters more than most people realize.

The books you read. The conversations you have. The people you spend time with. The standards you surround yourself with.

They all shape you.

Relationships are the real return.

Businesses grow. Awards collect dust. Goals get replaced by new ones.

The people you get to experience life with are what matter.

Success without alignment isn't success.

More isn't always better.

The goal isn't to build the biggest possible life.

It's to build your life, the one aligned with what matters most to you.

And maybe the biggest lesson:

There is no finish line for becoming your best self.

I'm still learning.

Still growing.

Still changing my mind.

Still trying things.

Still becoming.

Almost everything that has changed my life started because someone else was willing to share what they knew.

A coach challenged me.

A mentor believed something was possible before I did.

An author put an idea into words that changed the way I saw myself.

A friend asked the right question.

A leader showed me another way.

Someone went first and left clues behind.

That's a big part of why this site exists.

I'm not here because I have life figured out.

I'm here because I'm fascinated by figuring it out.

I want to share the books I'm reading, questions I'm asking, systems I'm building, mistakes I'm making, conversations I'm having and ideas I'm testing.

Some will be about building your business.

Some will be about becoming a better leader.

Some will be about marriage, parenting, relationships, faith, mindset, goals or designing your life intentionally.

Because I don't think our lives fit neatly into separate boxes.

Our Best Self affects our Best Business.

Our Best Business should help us create our Best Life.

And we're constantly working on all three.

If there's one thing I hope you take away from my story, it's this:

Where you are today doesn't determine where you have to end up.

You can change your mind.

You can change your habits.

You can change your environment.

You can change your standards.

You can change your direction.

And over time, you can change the trajectory of your entire life.

I'm living proof that your first chapters don't have to determine how the rest of your story gets written.

And I'm still writing mine.

Let's see what's possible.