This article appears in the February issue of 400 Life.
Brenda Usher was ready to take a leap of faith.
Usher knew that she had a good job selling million-dollar network systems at AT&T. She was great at it, too, becoming a leader in the company and a mentor to other businesswomen in metro Atlanta.
But three years ago, Usher felt unfulfilled. She wanted to focus on making an impact on people in a new way.
After much prayer and with the support of her husband, she decided to leave AT&T and start making million-dollar deals in real estate with Keller Williams Community Partners.
Going from a massive corporation to a local real estate office might seem like a big transition, but it’s been the perfect place for Usher’s new career. Usher instantly felt at home at KWCP surrounded by agents and office staff who went out of their way to make her feel welcome.
One aspect of KWCP that stood out to Usher was its Agent Leadership Council, which acts as a liaison between agents and upper management. Usher was in charge of a similar group at AT&T, called Women of AT&T, an employee resource group that advocated for employees with upper management. Usher was CEO for the Atlanta chapter and regional director for the whole Southeast. She made sure that more than 6,000 employees at AT&T developed personally and professionally, and that AT&T stayed connected to local communities.
Usher has found more than enough opportunities at KWCP to develop her real estate career, particularly through its signature training program, BOLD: Business Objective: A Life by Design. The seven-week program develops powerful mindset exercises, language techniques and lead-generation strategies in agents.
Usher has combined KWCP’s training with the same qualities that made her so successful in the corporate world: commitment and consistency. Usher goes into the KWCP office everyday “suited and booted” (that’s the commitment) and resolves to find something she can do to help her clients (that’s the consistency).
“I totally understand that my purpose in life is to impact lives,” Usher says.
Usher has worked harder in real estate than she ever did at AT&T. Her latest opportunity is a client looking to sell their 74-acre estate in Pickens County. It’s an escape from city life, with a 6-bed, 5-bath, 6,221-square-foot home at the center of the farmland that includes a 12-stall state-of-the-art horse barn.
But it doesn’t feel like work for Usher. Three years after taking that leap of faith, Usher is having more fun than ever.
She even put a reminder on her business card. It reads, “It’s better than I ever expected.”

