“Your Safety Is Non-Negotiable”

Do you remember the story of Beverly Carter?

She is the Arkansas Realtor® who was kidnapped and murdered four and a half years ago.

At day 2 of the She’s Unstoppable Live! Women’s real estate conference yesterday her son, Carl, presented her story. It was so powerful. You could hear a pin drop. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.

The picture he painted of his mother, that day and the tragedy as it unfolded was so vivid. The last photo she took on her phone during the “showing” was chilling. The entire story, heart breaking.

It was just a regular Thursday. Mrs. Carter was an experienced agent. She took precautionary steps with this appointment. The husband and wife who posed as buyers had premeditated and plotted this plan to kidnap her and have her family pay ransom said that they targeted her because she was a “rich broker” (public perception/generalization of our industry) and that she worked alone.

Think about what we do for a living. On any given day we meet mostly perfect strangers at houses where no one is home with little information about who we are meeting beyond what they tell us.

We need to get comfortable with saying no when it doesn’t feel right. We need to get comfortable with risking a sale in favor of our safety. We need to prioritize our comfort over the comfort of those we are meeting. We are the professionals. Just telling someone else where you will be and “who” you are meeting isn’t enough. There are things we do and say which provide a false sense of security, but aren’t enough.

Follow the Beverly Carter Foundation on social media and check out their website. They share many safety tips that just may make the difference.Comment here with your best practices and let’s work together to prevent future tragedies.