Get sucked into the day-to-day of one of Smart City’s wittiest and matter-of-fact creatives! You can find this Houston-based social media maven giving sound advice lyrically versed from the blessed vocals of Harry Styles himself, typing furiously at her laptop before executing a smooth Irish goodbye, or verbally processing marketing strategy and insights despite the fact no one is sitting next to her.
From an early age, Shelby knew she was meant to work in the music industry (just wait until you get to Thursday). After completing her degree at Texas Tech University, she set off to Los Angeles, worked alongside some of music’s biggest names, and ultimately decided to move back to Texas to be closer to her family. *Cue Smart City’s entrance* As the voice behind the brand in Houston, she brings a v LA swiftness and ferocity, and unexplainable marketing intuition to every property deal, every educational video, and every team collaboration. Plus, entertainment and one-liners are endless! This is just a week in her shoes, but by the end, you’ll feel like you’ve made a new friend/fellow boy-band fangirl/social media sounding board. It’s a little early to say ‘you’re welcome’, but you’re welcome.
MONDAY
7:00am – Wake up. I am not a morning person… at all. If I can’t get done in an hour, it ain’t gettin’ done. Wish I could tell you more about what I do in the morning but I’m half asleep.
10:00am – Spent the first chunk of my morning catching up and thinking about the day/week/lifetime ahead. As a natural-born control freak and known over-planner, the start of the day and the start of the week is list central. Up next, our weekly meeting with the entire content team *head-nod to my Dallas and Austin marketing gals*
1pm – After our marketing meeting, I start my apartment search. I comb the market in Houston, checking with tons of properties and mildly harassing our fabulous agents, or deal wizards, as I like to call them. I’ve built context over many months, checking prices just about every day. So, the agents and I can take a quick look around and know the difference between what’s normal, what’s good, and what’s TRULY kick-ass.
*Update: Nothing is striking me on the market today, so I take my lunch and plan to re-focus my afternoon. We only post the best of the best so its NBD to move on. That’s the name of the game sometimes*
7pm – I used my afternoon to plan out a content strategy for the rest of the week, mainly gearing it toward what our followers, and Houston renters in general, need to know. *Renting, but make it interesting* I make the typical stops on my way home; call me controversial, but Kroger is king. Soon I’ll be chillin’ and doing some evening scrolling, aka playing homescapes. @ me.
TUESDAY
9am – Dry shampoo and go. Reality is chaos and there are no rules in adulthood, so I’m eating soup for breakfast at my desk. Time to tackle a morning one-on-one with my manager – I always come out of these meetings with a page of ideas for the week, which I love. On to the daily grind!
11:30am – Any slowness that we had yesterday is obliterated today and I’ve got a short list of killer deals, but get this…I was just about to leave to go take photos of the unit I’d chosen to feature when my favorite thing happened: an agent texted me an EVEN BETTER deal. Here we go! Call property, confirm pricing, grab photos, write copy and get it up on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat; you name it!! (‘Welcome home’ to whoever leases it; ur welcome!)
2:30pm – Hit up my favorite hole in the wall for lunch – Chick fil a, then made a quick run to Target to buy stuff I don’t need. Now, it’s time to settle back in and deep-dive into refreshing our current Facebook strategy, helping with some influencer marketing initiatives and getting the daily apartment-locating tea from all our agents.
6:30pm – Time to indulge in a little melodrama… The Bachelor. Every Tuesday (yes, Tuesday; talk to Hulu… nobody has cable anymore), I go to my friend Brooke’s house, her husband usually makes tacos for everyone, and we palm-to-face everything Peter does. (Don’t try and tell me he’s not vanilla, bc he is.) Our nightcap typically includes Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch and a DP for the road; Dr. Pepper, obvi.
WEDNESDAY
9am – Analytics time. Yesterday’s post popped off, which is great because it lets me know what the people (you) are looking for. I take some time to dive into insights, impressions and post reach, because social media, DUH. Today I’m on the lookout for an amazing deal in Spring Branch. A little birdy (or Instagram poll) told us that’s what our followers want to see, so I’m all over it!
2pm – Spring Branch post up and it’s a kicker; two-bedroom unit for $1465! It took some digging because properties don’t always list reduced rates or specials on their website, so I spent most of the morning calling every property in the area to find this gem. Now, it’s time to take a “working lunch” and watch a webinar about social media trends in 2020. Takeaways coming soon!
*Key takeaway from the webinar: Don’t attach yourself (your social accounts) to things that aren’t relevant; Authenticity will be everything in 2020 and cutting the “noise” will be key.
6:30pm – I leave the office a little late but make the helluva commute out to the ‘burbs to my best friend’s house. Yesterday, The Bachelor and taco Tuesday; tonight, it’s Catfish re-runs, steak and putting together a new bookshelf she just bought (#adults)
THURSDAY
8:30am – Traffic this morning was absolutely insane. The fog was thick enough to cut with a knife, but my new Dyson blowdryer kept my hair flawless through it all, so don’t worry; we’re gucci, gang! Our Property Relations gal, Shakela, let me know we established an exclusive negotiated deal for our clients in South Main, so I focus on getting content, pricing, photos and a live tour lined up to post. Negotiated deals are probably the most unique aspect of apartment locating that we offer, so they’re fun to post because it’s better pricing than anyone else can get on select units!
3pm – Finally, lunch! Mid-day turn up to THE Harry Styles (loving Harry is a full-time job, but somehow I make time for both), and tedious planning for concerts I plan to hit up in 2020.
*Fun fact: I’ve been to hundreds of concerts in my life, 30 of which have been for the JoBros, and 40-something of which have been for Ed Sheeran and One Direction). Not to mention, the lineup for the Houston Rodeo was recently released, so lunchtime is PACKED.
5:30pm – Spent the latter part of the afternoon updating ‘Leases, not listings’ on the website (we like to show what our clients are actually leasing, as opposed to listing what’s currently on the market and could be inaccurate in a half-second) and now I’m leaving right on time to run some errands. First, I grab El T. with a friend before hitting up Bath and Body Works for HELLA candles!
*UPDATE: I didn’t buy anything because the lady told me the candle sale is this weekend…HELLO!
FRIDAY
8am – Surprisingly enough, Fridays are my busiest days! I work on getting a #FancyFriday post ready, which takes half the day, then prepare content or a deal to be posted on Saturday, which takes up the second half of my day. Somewhere in there, I’ll have to find time to shoot live footage by one of our agents to share next week. I love showcasing them because they know ALL the ins-and-outs of renting.
12pm – Today’s Fancy Friday: right off Allen Parkway and the bayou. This property is my favorite in Houston, so I’m always happy to pay them a visit and grace my photo gallery with their presence. Plus, today’s FF is what we call a “unicorn deal” because pricing is unheard of! Picture it – nestled between Montrose and Washington Ave/walking distance from Eleanor Tinsley, 1,000+ square feet, two-bedroom unit for $1624. Like, OKAY!
3pm – Tomorrow’s content is going to be fun…who wants to play a game of “never have I ever?” A little co-habitation confession never hurt anyone (visit our story and get it out). Creating these slides will take me most of the afternoon, then it’s more “Leasings, not listings,” agent video editing, and lead-gen content planning. HOW IS IT ALREADY THREE O’CLOCK? (I still need to take a lunch; no rest for the keeper of social media)
5:30pm – Friday, pre-weekend ritual – get car cleaned, get nails done by Megan (seriously she’s the best; no cuticle shellac gap, can I get an “amen”). Friday nights are my favorite nights to get sh*t done. Classic Virgo – scratching things off my to-do list gives me energy.
