2009 – Lost everything (5 houses, sold all my furniture, cars etc) after the real estate market crashed. Filed a double bankruptcy worth $3.9M ☹
2010 – Depressed, broke and trying to stay afloat. ☹ Started Alere Transaction Services and got rejected because I was known for being with Threets & Associates as my hubby’s business partner/wife and many didn’t take it well that I started my own company.
2011 – Lost my #1 fan – my Pops. He passed away unexpectedly. ☹😢😭 I spent my last trimester crying EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I was a complete wreck! Gave birth to Babygirl #2. Had complications and she spent 9 days in the NICU. Rough year indeed!
2012 – Moved to the suburbs and gave birth to Babygirl #3. Still completely depressed and financially strapped but had to suck it up because now I was a Mommy of 3. Put Alere Transaction Services on hold to raise my daughters.
2013 – Attended the “Gift of Life” luncheon honoring my Pops. When he passed away his eyes and organs were donated to those in need. He “gave life” to others even after his death. My daughter ’s movie Monster’s University debuted and her voice can be heard in a few scenes. 😍
2014 – Lost my Uncle due to a random shooting in Inglewood. Victim of circumstance. He was the youngest son. First my Pops and now him. The family was grieving hard. ☹😢😭 Homeschooled my daughter and traveled back and forth to LA for her Hollywood auditions. She did many things this year: Ads, Independent films, Internet commercials.🎥
2015 – Still recovering from the real estate crash and decided to ditch Alere Transaction Services altogether and work as a contractor for a few real estate companies. Learned a lot! My daughter went back to school. Both hubby and I were still depressed and our marriage was on the brink of divorce. ☹😢😭We took a trip to Bali together for 2 weeks to work on rebuilding our marriage. It was a awful time for us as a couple! ☹😩
2016 – Discovered I need time for kids because I have so many LOL so I decided to revive Alere Transaction Services. I had 2 kids in school and 1 at home with me while I worked on my own company part-time. Little did I know it would soon pay off! 😕
2017 – BAD year for our family – we lost my Uncle (unexpectedly), my young cousin (cancer) and my biological father (cancer). ☹😢😭 My father spent 2 months in the hospital before passing away. For 2 months my siblings and I took shifts daily to spend time with him. I can’t explain how incredibly awful it is to watch someone you love suffer, deteriorate then die. Such a heavy time. 😭 Then to add to the heartache, Threets & Associates made the tough decision to sever 2 highly profitable but toxic business partnerships. This cost the company everything and we almost went “belly up” (no milk in the refrigerator with 3 kids is horrible!) ☹😢We lost all of our real estate business that year and had to re-organize. What a burden financially, mentally, physically, emotionally. Meanwhile, with 3 kids in school, I decided to spend all my time working on Alere Transaction Services. Time to hustle! 😞
2018 – Adopted our 1st fur baby – Winkie.🐶🐕 My daughter's independent film was released where she was one of the main characters. What a joy to see her on the big screen. She worked hard on this one! 😍 Threets & Associates started to gain traction with business and managed to donate a nice playground to a private school in Livermore. ❤️ Alere Transaction Services also made traction in the industry. I participated on a real estate panel to discuss Transaction Coordination with many top producers in attendance. I closed over 100 transactions, double previous year. Things were looking up! 😀
2019 – Then BOOM - Lost another one - our beloved Uncle – the patriarch. Devastating loss for the Antonio family! We've experienced a loss every couple of years. Life seems so unfair! ☹😢 On a positive note, this was my 3rd year full time with Alere Transaction Services. We closed over 200 transactions and I employed 2 assistants. ❤️ I also spoke at a Women’s Empowerment event sharing my story about the road to being an Entrepreneur and how I balance it all as a Business Owner, Mom and Wife. I don’t think I balance well but apparently somebody does! This year I also managed to spend quality time with the family taking vacations in Maui 🌈, Cancun🏖, Boston, New York 🌇 for a reunion and finally San Diego. I volunteer daily or weekly at my daughter’s school and joined the committee of a non-profit focused on building young leaders. It's been a rocky, harsh, bumpy road to say the least. And still a long road ahead. 💯
Thank you to all who supported my family, my business and my kids! Thank you to my hubby for sticking by my side through it all! Most importantly – Thank you GOD for your provisions! 🙏 I’m ready for 2020 and beyond! Let's get it!
- Contributed by CT
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