PROOF
Laura Chittick
CURIOSITY BUILT HER. COMPASSION
DRIVES HER. AUTHENTICITY DEFINES HER.
BY ELIZABETH MCCABE • PHOTOS BY MARIA BAY, CASA BAY PHOTOGRAPHY
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
–Maya Angelou
Your daughter would be good at real estate,” a REALTOR® once told Laura Chittick’s father. At the time, Laura was teaching exercise classes, raising three small children, and working as a massage therapist. Real estate wasn’t a grand plan. It was supposed to be a side gig. “I didn’t see it as a career,” she admits. “I laugh at that now.”
Fourteen years later, real estate didn’t just edge its way in. It took over.
Getting to this point in her career wasn’t easy. Laura went to real estate school while working multiple jobs, raising three young children, and serving as their primary caregiver. This go-getter is made for anything.
Helping + Healing
Before becoming a Broker Associate with RE/MAX Elevate and creating Sage Home Advisors, Laura spent 16 years working hands-on as a massage therapist. She didn’t just work on people’s aches and pains; she worked with grief, stress, trauma, and loss. She learned early how to read a room, how to slow things down, and how to create safety when someone is unraveling.
PROOF
That skill set transferred seamlessly into real estate.
“People have to trust you,” she says. “You have to create a space where they feel safe and supported, or none of this works.”
Laura doesn’t walk into appointments armed with a presentation. “I show up with a notebook and a pen,” she says. “I lead with one question: how can I best help you?” She listens without an agenda and without assumptions. People tell her what’s really going on: the death, the divorce, the fear, the exhaustion, the reason they’re considering uprooting their lives.
And sometimes, that honesty means telling a client what they don’t expect to hear. “Sometimes I
have to tell a person that I do not believe it is in their best interest to buy or sell a home right now based on what they have shared,” Laura says.
A Housing Doula
Someone once said it best, “You are a housing doula. You help people in transition.” Laura didn’t push back. She liked the sound of that.
With her heart of compassion, clients cry with her often. She’s held hands while selling homes after a partner died. She’s guided people through sales because they needed money for cancer treatment. She’s shown up with soup when words weren’t enough. “I want people to know I have their back,” she says. “We’re going to get through this together.”
YOU HAVE TO CREATE A SPACE WHERE THEY FEEL SAFE & SUPPORTED, OR NONE OF THIS WORKS.” PEOPLE HAVE TO TRUST YOU
The contracts, the paperwork, the chaos? Those are just tools. “I do all of that because I care about the person,” she explains. “The why always comes first.” After all, people will never forget how you made them feel.
Curiosity. Compassion. Authenticity.
Laura’s life has never stayed in one place for long. Born in Illinois, she spent her childhood moving from Philadelphia to the Bay Area, Houston, back to California, and eventually across the ocean to the Netherlands. By 18, she was living with a host
family,learningDutch,traveling to22countries,andquietly studyinghowpeoplelive,think, andrelatetooneanother.
Shestudiedsociologybecause understandingpeopleisnearand deartoherheart.“Curiosityhas alwaysbeenadefiningpiece,” Laurasays.Coloradoultimately becamehome,theplaceshe’sput downrootslongerthananywhere else.“Ireallylikeithere.”
Herfatheroncetoldhershe’s beentryingtosavetheworld sinceshewasindiapers.That desiretomakethingsbetterhas neverletgo.
WhatmakesLauraexquisiteis herauthenticity.Sheencourages others,“Beauthentic.Begenuinely real.Ifyouarereallygenuineand truetowhoyouare,yourtribe willfindyou.”Lauraremembers whatpeopleusedtoaskher, “Whenareyougoingtobemore professional?”Sheshruggedoff thenaysayers.“Idresscasually andrarelywearmakeup,”she smiles.“Ilooklikeamassage therapist,butIamreallyareal estateagent.”Herauthenticity resonateswithherclients.
Lauraalsolikesmakinga difference,workingwithbuyers tofindaffordableoptionsfor houses.“ImakesureIstayon topofwhatprogramsareout thereforfolks,”shesays.Laura hastaughtaffordablehousing classesandalsosupportedthe SafeShelterofSt.VrainValley, aDomesticViolenceCenterin Longmont.Shehascollected donationsfromherclientsand hercompanydonatestothe shelteraswell.
Family + Four-Legged Friends
Lauraworksprimarilyfromher homeofficewithherfourdogs alwaysunderfoot:Ruby,Willow, Luna,andSandy.
Herson,Zion(26),worksatthe AppleStoreinBoulder.Her daughter,Sage(19),istraveling acrossEurope.Heryoungest,Bodhi (15),isaSilverCreekHighSchool studentwholovesmusic.
Shetravelswhenevershecan, readsconstantly,andworksout atF45inLongmontregularly. Torelax,shepracticesyogaand walksherdogs.Onefunfact?“I’m moreintrovertedthanpeople think,”shelaughs.Shealsospeaks someDutchfromhertimeinthe Netherlandsandhashadallthree childrenathome.
Top Tips
Thebestadviceshe’sever receivedinrealestate?“Hold itlightly.”Youcanprepare,but youneverknowhowit’sgoingto unfold.Expecttheunexpected. “Buckleup,”shetellsherclients. “We’regettingontheroller coaster,andwe’regoingtoget throughittogether.”
Laurawalkshandinhandwith herclients,eagertohelpthem everystepoftheway.From massagetherapisttorealestate agent,shehashelpedclients navigatepain,pressure,loss, andlife-changingtransitionsby meetingthemwheretheyareand guidingthemforwardwithcare andcompassion,neverrushing theprocessandneverlosingsight of the person at the center of it all.
