‘If it was easy, everyone would be doing it’
THE OUTSET OF HER CAREER
Christina Thomas has redefined real estate as a profession for women. A strong and independent woman, she is an inspiration to many young girls. Christina Thomas is no foreigner to struggle. Born to a single teem mom, Christina realized the worth and importance of money at a very early age in her life. She was abandoned in her early years and had to live on the streets for a short period in her life, experiencing the sourest lemon life had to offer. However, Christina turned out to be one of those inspirational women who would not settle for less.
In an adventurous field like real estate, where your career depends on your pitch and your ability to communicate resourcefully to meet the requirements of your customer, Christina is a dedicated professional with multiple skills. She is experienced in different aspects of the industry, such as marketing, management and finance. These contribute to her overall merit and worth as a professional. She has thrived in this competitive environment and come out as an experienced and astute professional. Thomas’ career in real estate began in 2004 when she passed her real estate exam while simultaneously receiving her licensing as a Mortgage Loan Officer. This unique combination allowed her to help her clients understand the finances, emotions, complexities, and strategies of home purchasing and financing.
Her dedication and commitment to her trade led her to obtain her Broker’s license in 2008 and open a successful real estate office in San Diego, where she also continued to negotiate luxury brands and high visibility commercial transactions as a Commercial Real Estate Broker. Christina is a person who doesn’t wait for others. She lives in the moment and seizes every opportunity that comes her way. Expanding her network from first time home buyers to high-net-worth individuals with multi-billion-dollar portfolios, she made sure that she was taking the right steps at the right time and working to the best of her ability. Thomas prides herself on delivering extraordinary service across all price points. Whether she is representing a buyer or a seller, her goal is always to negotiate a mutually beneficial transaction by implementing her “win” business philosophy. Her industry knowledge and resourceful thinking have contributed to Thomas’ ability to negotiate the $72M sale of the Ritz Carlton in Lake Tahoe on behalf of her buyers. She is a woman with a vision who leaves no stone unturned.
Her irrevocable devotion to her work has taken her to a great height, in 2012 she was recruited to join the Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty. In 2020, she was appointed to the company’s management team as Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty’s Brand Influencer. In this role, Thomas is responsible for cultivating and strengthening relationships with agents, engaging them on the new culture, synergy, and direction of the company, and communicating the benefits of being part of the Sotheby’s International Realty global network – the world’s leading luxury real estate brand.
Thomas’ work ethic and dedication to succeed, comes from a very modest family upbringing in the Los Angeles area. “Nothing was handed to me. As a goal-oriented individual, I sought out the tools, resources and connections that set me apart from my peers, and provide my clients with every advantage. I have enjoyed working for all that I have accomplished, and I am fortunate to have a great family to share it with.”
A FAMILY PERSON
For many years, when her kids were small, she would pretend that she didn’t have kids because people would say things like “don’t you have to be with your kids”. “Do you even have time? “. It was apparent that if you were a working mother, you were a disservice. She never spoke about her kids at work, because she was afraid she wouldn’t get the listing just because she was a mom. This is a form of discrimination. Many of her friends who are working mothers have gone through this as well. Now she talks about her kids. She schedules showings around their games so she has to never miss one. She owns the fact that she is a working mother and she is proud of it.
Thomas adds “Men who are father are always applauded if they had to reschedule a home inspection because society would be so delighted to know he was making time for his children, unlike a mother who is expected to acceptably skip work to attend her children’s games. Christina is here to remind other woman that they should absolutely prioritise their family and devote their love and time to their children and make them feel appreciated. She feels that children tend to remember the little things such as their parents missing their games and that is what shapes them as an individual when they grow up and face the world. However, a client won’t remember you missed your child’s game for their home inspection that could have waited a day”.
Besides her professional achievements, Christina makes it a point to find time for other important things. Despite her busy schedule, Christina volunteers her time to youth sports. She has served as the President of the Carlsbad Pop Warner Football Program and her son’s Team as the Business Manager for 8 seasons. During her time as President she was able to apply her business mind to the non-profit organization which ultimately increased their registration numbers for youth tackle and produced 4 teams to the Championship games, this was something that hadn’t been done the previous five seasons. She has been happily married for a little over 19 years and has two beautiful children to who she devotes all her love and time. She has also held the VP chair of Fundraising both on Carlsbad Pop Warner Football and Pacific Rim Elementary School PTA board.
One of her favorite memories of the PTA was creating the first “Fall Carnival” for the school. She was successful in raising $15,000 in a 3 hour period. “I Love Halloween so I brought all my party ideas to the school campus which included haunted maze, DJ, blacked out entrance into the carnival, bigger prizes for the games and pre-selling the tickets ahead of time so parents didn’t have to wait in long lines just to get in”, Thomas tells us with a smile on her face. You can see that she really loves making the kids happy not only at the school events but on the Football field.
ADVICE TO MODERN AGE ENTREPRENEURS
“When you do business right and show up authentically every day, great things happen.”
It’s a fundamental rule that Christina Thomas has lived by for the last two decades, and time after time, it’s paid off in big ways for her clients. She began her real estate career in 2004. Christina’s unique experience as an agent, a mortgage loan officer, and a broker quickly explains why she’s able to sell a $72M Ritz Carlton just as easily as she can a starter home. She’s become one of Southern California’s top real estate professionals, and clients seek her out because she’s incredibly successful and deal maker. She believes that a relationship with a client shouldn’t end after your deal is closed. She feels that client relationships are the most important thing, which is why she is always available to her clients, even after a deal is closed. She makes sure that she is as authentic and as candid as possible with each client.
THE GREATEST MILESTONE IN HER CAREER
One of the greatest milestones in her career was the transition into commercial real estate. She taught herself the ethics and concepts of business while maintaining the residential side. A lot of people have their doubts about her ability to close any type of commercial. She worked on the Ritz Carlton in Lake Tahoe for over a year and a half. She had several interested buyers that wrote offers that never got accepted. She kept at it. She was introduced to Kennedy Wilson, that ended up being the buyer. The property was sold off-market for $72m. This was a game-changer for her, as it proved that she was connected in the market world. Most commercial clients prefer to get the first look at a property before it goes through the broker daisy chain. She prides herself on not being the broker daisy chain. She is direct to her clients and they know that.
Thomas is currently working on the deal of the century with an evaluation of over $1B. She doesn’t hold back on price limits and continues to push herself in avenues of real estate to be the best in her game. “I have done many other commercial deals but most are signed under confidential agreements so I can never talk about them. The Ritz transaction is a global brand everyone knows and loves so it’s always fun to bring that one up”, Thomas says proudly.
OBSTACLES AND DISCRIMINATION FACED
Like most women, she has been subjected to many forms of discrimination during her two decades in the real estate industry. She can’t go into one in great detail, however, she has received considerable discrimination about being pregnant in the workplace. Throughout the years, it’s small-minded people that find her to be a threat when working on deals together. She would be talked down to or treated like their assistant instead of their partner on the deal. She has been circumvented on large deals because of greed. They exploited her knowledge for months to gain momentum on the deals only to circumvent her. She adds “I let karma do its job with people who lack ethics in this business. There is no reason to stoop to their level to prove them wrong. I know that everything happens for a reason and when you show up in this business with ethics you are ultimately the winner even if you didn’t get a slice of the commission you earned.” Thomas finishes with “Almost every career or job I have had there has always been discrimination. What young girls need to know is that this is the era of speaking up and not allowing this from anyone. It’s not only men that discriminate against women, there are women that do this to other women as well. I will say that I know many men that see woman as equal. I think it’s important to acknowledge that.”
THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD LEADER
A great leader is someone that is honest, open minded, acknowledges hard work in others and compassionate.
Leaders are meant to lead by example. Actions always speak louder than words.
