In this podcast, a number of prominent Illinois REALTORS® share their thoughts on Women’s History Month and the American Dream of homeownership.

Join Gwen Newton, Tracey Royal, Sue Miller and Natasha Murphy as they look back on the history of the women’s rights in America, remind us to honor our current female leaders and look forward to greater opportunities for women in the future.

In 2022, are women taking more active roles in buying homes for themselves and their families? Do female REALTORS® get the same consideration for leadership positions as their male counterparts?

Listen in and be sure to thank the female leaders in your local association for their service this month.

Full Transcript:

Jeremy Goeckner: Hello, and welcome to the IR weekly podcast, keeping you up to date with all of the latest news in the REALTOR® world. I’m Jeremy Goeckner. And I want to thank you for joining us for this very special edition of the podcast today,

Jeremy Goeckner: As it does every year, March marks the beginning of Women’s History Month in the United States. Women’s History Month originally began with the annual observance of International Women’s Day on March 8. The day was rooted in 1908 when thousands of women rallied in New York City for better working conditions and the right to vote, that gathering led to a bigger event. When suffragists in women’s rights groups gathered for the first International Women’s Day in 1909. This day would continue to be observed around the world until 1979. When a 15-day conference about women’s history was held at Sarah Lawrence College, chaired by historian, Gerda Lerner out of this grassroot success. In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980, as national Women’s History Week. The proclamation stated: “From the first settlers who came to our shores from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation too often, the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed, but the achievements leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well, it is an essential and indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage and long-range vision. I ask my fellow Americans to recognize this heritage, understanding the true history of our country will help us to comprehend the need for fully equality under the law for all of our people.”

Finally in 1987, after being petitioned by the national women’s history project, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, which designated the month of March as women’s history month. Today women’s history month continues to mark the incredible legacy of women in our society, but also serves as an inspiration to the next generation of incredible leaders that will carry the cause of equality into the future. Illinois REALTORS® is proud to once again, celebrate our heritage with women’s history month. We recently talked to a few prominent women REALTORS® for their thoughts on this month and what it means to them.

Tracy Royal, the 2021 president of the Women’s Council of REALTORS®, framed it as a celebration and a responsibility.

Tracey Royal: Women’s History Month means to me a time where we can really celebrate women, women in leadership, women who are doing amazing things, not just in real estate, but just as a whole. For so long women were not able to do a lot of the amazing things that we can do today. So I think it’s really important that we celebrate all women. We celebrate what they do. I’m really passionate about the youth. You know I have a daughter and I’m very intentional about things that I do and I let her see me do. I tell people all the time I cannot compete with the music artists. I cannot compete with the famous people in the world, but what I can do is I can be the best example I can be for my daughter because she can reach out and she can touch me. She can ask me a question. She can be a part of the things that I’m a part of so that she can pass and carve out her path to greatness. So women’s month to me just means really celebrating and showcasing all the fabulous leaders, women, and things that they do. And just saying, great job, keep going, keep going. We see you.

Jeremy Goeckner: Natasha Murphy. Also a member of the Women’s Council echoed the importance of celebrating women’s accomplishments and the importance of female leadership in moving forward from the past.

Natasha Murphy: I think that female leadership is very important. There’s a lot of females out there. Most likely every industry still are under the impression that, you know, the men should be the leaders and the women should just follow. And there’s a lot of great ideas that come from women, as we all know. And I think we all need that support because for so long in our past, in our parents’ past generations back, the men were the ones leading the way. And I think it is very important for us to support other women, to show them that they can be all they want to be.

Jeremy Goeckner: For Gwen Newton, the 2022 president of the Dearborn REALTISTS® Board, identifying what this mindset comes, not only from being a woman, but also an African American, but to Gwen being the first through the door is vital to keeping it open for those in the future. And as she tells it, it’s a trait very much passed down to her.

Gwen Newton: As a black woman, I have been the first in many of my jobs doing different things. And it’s because of how I was raised. And then the thirst and the knowledge of my life experience is when I’m like, “Hey, no, this, you know, I need that opportunity; I’m going to ask for it.” Everybody doesn’t always have the same strength to ask. I know that I have been passed over by certain opportunities because I wasn’t the right color or I wasn’t the right gender. I think about my mom who was a single parent that raised me, but she was professional. When I go back and look at the pictures and I see a sea of—she was in the medical profession—and I see everyone dressed next to her, everybody in the picture, my mom is the only black woman in this medical garb. And I’m like, you know, what’s the story behind this? And she was the only black student. And I talked to my relatives in Tulsa and I think about all of the life experiences, but my life is not every life out there.

Jeremy Goeckner: Over and over again a common refrain was the importance of remembering the past to forge a better future.

Tracey Royal: I think it’s really relevant for us to sometimes take a step back in our history to really understand why we are here today and why we may have a few challenges. And I think that reading this book about history in real estate will help us carve out ways that we could be better for our industry in the future.

Jeremy Goeckner: Once you establish this, the question then becomes, how do you make this future a reality, not just for all women, but also for women in the real estate profession. For Natasha Murphy, it’s all about empowering female brokers.

Natasha Murphy: I try to support them any way possible. I’m always a great listening ear. I want to try to help them with their problems, whether it’s personal professional. I just want to give them the best advice that I can give and help them become a better leader themselves.

Jeremy Goeckner: And for Gwen Newton, specifically encouraging women to be their own advocate is also important to getting them where they need to be. And she uses a very recent example to illustrate this point.

Gwen Newton: I think as women, we have to be more vocal. We have to be more demanding, even down to the soccer team. They finally got a settlement that they are going to be paid, have a six-year fight where they’re finally going to get money that says, “Hey, we, we are worth everything that you’re paying the male soccer players, but there’s a disparity because you thought that we were, we are not worth that we’re, we’re, we’re worth the same.” Back in the heyday when, you know, a woman’s role was to raise children and be at home and be a housewife and over the years through the women’s rights movements and the other protests, I think there’s an accumulation of just a lot that has come to a head  from the Me Too movements. And you know, where you see women coming out, having a voice and demanding that, you know, Hey, you know, we’re, equal.

Jeremy Goeckner: Perhaps it is best personified in the sentiments of 2021 Illinois REALTORS® President Sue Miller.

Sue Miller: We have to be the best example we can be to keep demonstrating that women are important to not only history, but the future of all things that we do. And to give the generations behind us something to emulate.

Jeremy Goeckner: Gwen Newton, couldn’t agree more.

Gwen Newton: I think women are definitely heading in the right direction, but we’ve got to be the decision makers in the boardrooms making the decisions and not have someone else trying to tell us what we’re worth. We know what we’re worth. So, you know, being able to provide opportunity, being able to reach out and help other women step up and be seen. I think it’s important.

Jeremy Goeckner: One thing is abundantly clear. As we at Illinois REALTORS® embark on our American Dream campaign, it is impossible to divorce, the incredible accomplishments of women into the very fabric of that dream. Continue to stay tuned all throughout March at IllinoisREALTORS®.com for more celebrations of Women’s History Month and the American Dream.