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RN to Realtor: the Career Pivot She Didn’t Plan Turned Out to Be the One That Fit | Lisa Cole, the Cole Team

You raised your hand to help with your husband’s career change — and somewhere along the way, you became the one running everything. What you didn’t expect? You actually fell in love with the work. If you’ve ever stumbled into something you never planned and realized it fits you better than the career you chose on purpose, this conversation will hit close to home.

Lisa Cole is a registered nurse of 20 years who got her real estate license to support her husband’s pivot into real estate. Four years later, she’s doing 90% of the business. This conversation covers what it actually looks like to juggle two careers, the behind-the-scenes reality of real estate that most of us never see, and the honest truth about work-life balance when you’re raising four boys, working with your spouse, and building a business on no sleep and managed chaos.

ABOUT THE GUEST: Lisa Cole is a wife, mom of four boys, and co-founder of The Cole Home Team with her husband Neil. Based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, they serve buyers and sellers across the Twin Cities metro, northern Minnesota, and western Wisconsin areas. Lisa is navigating a deliberate transition from full-time healthcare to entrepreneurship.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

  • [00:02] How Lisa went from getting licensed “to help” her husband to running 90% of their real estate business
  • [00:04] What it actually looks like to juggle two careers — nursing shifts plus real estate showings, nights, and weekends
  • [00:07] The behind-the-scenes mental load of real estate that clients never see
  • [00:15] What it’s really like to start a business with your spouse — and why 50/50 isn’t always the goal
  • [00:21] How Lisa’s family supports the juggle — and what it costs (sleep, cleanliness, and personal time)
  • [00:27] Why Lisa is choosing to slow down after years of survival mode — and what finally shifted
  • [00:30] Practical advice for starting in real estate in your late 30s: training, brokerage choice, and leveraging your existing network
  • [00:36] Financial realities of a dual-career household: benefits, retirement, and treating real estate income as bonus money
  • [00:43] Lisa’s rapid round: mom hacks, screen time rules, dream home

GUEST OFFER:

  • Listener offer: Mention Her Intentional Reset for $1,000 off closing costs with The Cole Home Team

HOW TO CONNECT WITH GUEST:

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

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SUPPORT THE SHOW: If HIR has been valuable to you, you can support the show here: https://ko-fi.com/herintentionalreset — no pressure, just making it easy for listeners who want to say so.

MUSIC CREDIT: Music from Uppbeat (free for creators): https://uppbeat.io/t/hemlock/the-way-forward · License code: RVGOVVHKDJFBKVJC

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through my link, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend books and resources discussed on the show that I genuinely use and believe in.

About the Show: Her Intentional Reset is a midlife podcast for women navigating career change — honest, deep-dive conversations about career pivots, second acts, and reinvention with women who’ve actually lived it. This women’s empowerment podcast speaks to women in 30’s, 40s, women over 50, Gen X women, working moms, empty nesters, and corporate women dealing with burnout — women redefining success and finding their why after a layoff, a career wall, or the moment work just stopped feeling right. Each episode traces a real transition story: the catalyst for change behind it, whether that’s a layoff story, career burnout, or hitting a wall; the steps and timeline behind how she actually made the change — quitting a corporate job, leaving corporate America, starting over professionally, and/or going from employee to entrepreneur; and an inside look at her industry along the way.

The conversations also get into the practical side most career-change content skips: transferable skills, upskilling and reskilling in midlife, starting a business with no experience, and career change without a degree. And because money is always part of the story, guests talk financial planning for a career change — paying yourself first, building a financial runway and safety net, income gaps, self-employed health insurance, saving for retirement while self-employed, and the money mindset it takes to trade a paycheck for financial freedom in midlife.

Guests share the career pivot lessons learned, the advice for career changers, and what they wish they’d known before quitting — then close out with a Rapid Round covering the real-life stuff: family recipes, book and show recommendations, a life motto, and a wellness or self-care tip for midlife women, because women are often each other’s best guides and teachers. It’s never too late to make a change, follow your intuition, and listen to that quiet voice — every episode leaves listeners feeling inspired and empowered to explore their own career pivot, second act, or next chapter, on their own terms. New episodes of this career change podcast and midlife podcast for women release biweekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

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