This week on Mindset Matters I sat down with my friend and fellow Green Mountain grad, Mikelle Adkins Smith of Keller Williams Advantage.

Mikelle grew up an only child who loved books and writing, with a very straightforward plan: become an attorney, make the grades, do the work, check the boxes. She got into DU, worked 40 hours a week while carrying a full class load, and stayed locked in on that path… until real estate and the title world showed her two things at once:

1. She could make more money, faster, without going hundreds of thousands into debt.
2. She could actually build a life she wanted, not just a résumé that looked good.

From there, her story takes a lot of turns - leaving the law-school dream behind and jumping into title, burning out during the refi boom, meeting her now-husband Brian and, within six months, watching him buy a struggling franchise while she quit her stable job and they got married, and eventually her decision to enter real estate and build a life and business simultaneously.

We get into motherhood, too. Having kids during the 2007–08 mess, choosing to be home as much as she could while still selling, and how having three boys (now 18, 16, and 13) completely reframed how she talks to clients about homeownership.

And then there’s hockey.

A random flyer in a kindergarten Friday folder led to roller hockey at Skate City… then ice hockey… and now all three boys are all-in. They shoot pucks every day without being asked, they study film, they battle each other in the driveway, and they make choices most grown adults won’t make to protect their opportunities. Mikelle and Brian don’t try to be their coaches - they just ask good questions, keep them grounded, and let the work ethic be theirs.

What stuck with me most, though, was this:

Mikelle will tell you she’s guarded, that she keeps a small circle because of some of what she lived through growing up. But if you listen to how she talks about her boys, her clients, and even the kids they play with, you can hear the truth - she’s got a massive heart, and her sons have inherited it. They care, they stick up for people, and they don’t let past hurts decide how they show up.

If you’re in real estate, a parent, or just someone trying to figure out how to chase big goals without losing your mind or your family in the process, this episode is worth your time.

And Mikelle's story... starts now!

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