Today we’d like to introduce you to Chauron Cottie.
Hi Chauron, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I spent most of my adult life in healthcare. I started working in the industry around 19 years old and held several different roles over the years. For a long time, healthcare was what I knew. It was stable, familiar, and provided for my family.
Then COVID changed the way I looked at everything.
Working in healthcare during that time made me realize how much of my livelihood was connected to circumstances I couldn’t control—including other people’s health experiences. At the same time, I was raising my children, they needed more of my time and attention, and I was realizing that the traditional work environment simply wasn’t the life I wanted anymore.
I also learned something very important about myself: I thrive when I’m trusted to manage my responsibilities. Micromanagement and I have never been best friends. I wanted autonomy. I wanted flexibility. And after experiencing what it was like to work from home, I realized how much I valued being able to build my work around my life and family instead of constantly building my life around my job.
I needed a change—not just professionally, but for myself and my family.
Real estate became that change.
I’ve now been licensed for six years and full-time in the business for four. I initially entered real estate looking for flexibility, independence and an opportunity to create something of my own. What I didn’t realize was how much the industry would challenge me to grow personally and professionally.
In the beginning, I thought becoming a successful Realtor meant learning contracts, generating leads, selling houses and closing transactions. Over time, I realized that real estate is much more about people than property.
I’ve worked heavily with buyers, particularly first-time homebuyers, and I began noticing that many people weren’t struggling because they didn’t want to become homeowners. They were struggling because they were terrified of making the wrong decision.
And that makes sense. Buying a home is often the largest financial decision someone has ever made. You can’t simply return it because you changed your mind. There are inspections, appraisals, financing, interest rates, negotiations, contracts and a lot of outside opinions coming at you at once.
I realized my clients didn’t need another salesperson convincing them to buy a house. They needed someone who could help them understand their options and make a decision they could confidently live with.
That realization shaped the way I do business today.
My philosophy has become education over pressure. I believe informed clients make confident decisions. Sometimes my job is helping someone confidently say, “Yes, this is the house.” Other times, it’s helping them realize, “No, this isn’t the right decision for me.” I consider both a successful outcome because my responsibility is to help my clients make good decisions—not simply get to a closing table.
My own journey hasn’t been perfectly linear either. I’ve experienced successful seasons, difficult seasons and seasons when I genuinely wondered why I felt stuck despite accomplishing many of the things I once worked and prayed for.
Recently, something clicked for me: maybe I wasn’t stuck. Maybe I had simply outgrown the size of the dream that got me here.
That realization has really defined the chapter I’m in now.
Today, I’m intentionally evolving my business and expanding how I serve buyers, sellers and investors while maintaining that same education-first approach. I’m also growing into leadership and mentorship within the real estate industry and becoming much more intentional about the systems, relationships and experiences I build.
Six years ago, I entered real estate because I needed a different life for myself and my family. Today, I’m building a business that gives me the freedom I was searching for while allowing me to help other people create stability, opportunity and options for their own families.
I’m proud of how far I’ve come, but I’m even more excited about what I’m building next.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. One of my biggest lessons was realizing that the freedom I wanted also required a level of discipline and self-management I wasn’t used to.
I came from healthcare, where there was structure, expectations and a guaranteed paycheck. In real estate, I had to create the structure, generate the business and keep showing up even when the results weren’t immediate. I quickly learned that being good at real estate and being good at running a real estate business are two different things.
I’ve experienced inconsistent income, difficult transactions, clients and opportunities that didn’t work out, and seasons where I questioned whether I was doing enough. I’ve also struggled with comparison and consistency—especially when I have ten ideas and convince myself all ten need to happen right now.
Another challenge was believing I needed to become a more traditional salesperson to succeed. Cold calling and high-pressure sales have never felt natural to me. Eventually, I realized I didn’t need to become louder or more aggressive—I needed to lean into what I do well: listening, educating, asking the right questions and helping people make confident decisions.
I’m still growing and figuring things out, but now I don’t automatically see difficult seasons as failure. I look for what they’re trying to teach me and use that lesson to build the next version of my business.
We’ve been impressed with Chauron Cottie, Realtor / ChaeSales, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’m a licensed Realtor in Maryland and Pennsylvania with Savage Home Group, serving buyers, sellers and investors. While much of my business has been built around first-time homebuyers, I’m currently expanding my brand to serve homeowners and sellers more intentionally as well.
What I’m most proud of is the way my business has evolved. My approach is centered around education over pressure. Real estate involves huge financial and emotional decisions, and I don’t believe people need more pressure when they’re already overwhelmed. They need clarity.
I want my clients to feel comfortable asking the questions they may be embarrassed to ask, understand their options and know the potential consequences before making a decision. Sometimes that means moving forward, and sometimes the best decision is to wait or walk away.
I’m also stepping further into leadership and mentoring other real estate agents. That has challenged me to take what I’ve learned through experience—the wins and the mistakes—and turn it into something that can help someone else grow.
Right now, I’m focused on building the next version of my business: stronger systems, a more intentional client experience, increased visibility and a brand that people associate with honest conversations, education and confident decision-making.
I don’t just want people to remember that I helped them buy or sell a house. I want them to remember that they understood why they made the decision they made.
How do you think about happiness?
What makes me happy is seeing the people I love doing well and knowing I have the freedom to be present for it.
My family is a huge part of my happiness. Watching my children grow, pursue their own goals and become their own people reminds me why I’ve worked so hard to create a life with more flexibility and freedom.
I’m also happiest when I’m growing. I love those moments when something finally clicks—when I realize I’ve accomplished something I once prayed for, or when I can see that I’m becoming a better version of myself personally or professionally.
And honestly, I enjoy the simple things too: being home, having control over my time, laughing with the people I love, traveling, and having moments where I don’t have to be “on.”
I think happiness for me has become less about constantly achieving the next thing and more about having the freedom to enjoy the life I’m working so hard to build.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Chauron_TheRealtor
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chauronc_realtor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChauronCottie/
- Other: https://g.page/r/CcLGvQEOFvZLEBM/review
