A Sense of Mission

On her arrival at our offices, Kimberly Allard-Moccia asked for a Post-it note and quietly scrawled her name on the yellow slip. With a mischievous smile, she slapped it onto the nameplate outside my office. “I’m ready for duty,” she said.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. Our guest editor, Allard-Moccia, AHWD, e-PRO, broker-owner of Century 21 Professionals in Braintree, Mass., is the “get it done” type. She runs a team of 10 agents and still closes about two dozen transactions a year herself in her suburban Boston market. Just as important to her as helping buyers and sellers is her commitment to reinforcing to the public—and her fellow REALTORS®—the value of being part of a professional association that keeps its members and consumers top-of-mind.

At listing appointments, for example, Allard-Moccia talks about what she brings to the table that non-REALTOR® licensees don’t. “I always present a copy of the Code of Ethics,” she said. What’s more, she rarely leaves her house without a REALTOR® pin in plain view: “It helps me have a dialogue with people about what being a REALTOR® means.”

Allard-Moccia got involved with committee work at her local REALTOR® association almost as soon as she got into the business 17 years ago. She’s a “Golden R” major investor to RPAC and loves explaining to others the importance of REALTOR® advocacy. In Massachusetts, she worked her way through her state association’s leadership ranks and served as state president in 2013.

Afterwards, to stay active in support of REALTORS®, she started a real estate training company and leads a range of classes from new-member orientations to safety protocols: “A lot of what I teach seems basic. I have to tell people not to look at their phones while walking from their car to a listing or showing appointment.” It’s good advice anytime, but especially worth noting as September marks the start of REALTOR® Safety Month.

With Election Day looming, our editorial meeting turned to REALTORS®’ legislative priorities, and Allard-Moccia’s passion for the “REALTOR® Party” became instantly apparent: “We need to pay attention to what candidates are saying about the issues that matter to members, like tax reform and student debt.”

We also discussed the psychological dimensions of agent-client relationships, a topic featured in our interviews with Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert and author Susan Cain, both headliners at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in November. Gilbert talks about how human “wiring” can impede our decision-making ability, which can pose emotional challenges for real estate pros during a sale. But identifying the problem and tackling it effectively are two different things. “I’m really working at becoming more compassionate,” Allard-Moccia conceded. “There’s no such thing as too much compassion in this business.” Whether you’re selling real estate or writing about it, those are words to live by.