Today we’d like to introduce you to Nichole Villafane.
Hi Nichole , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
So honestly, I am not sure which part of my story you are interested in lol….Career-wise, I am a Realtor who’s currently pursuing my degree in Psychology at Oral Roberts University. Here’s my story, and please feel free to pull what part you find the most interesting to your readers. My name is Nichole Villafane, and I am a native of the Metro Atlanta area, specifically DeKalb County. Since I was a little girl, by the way, I am now 53, I’ve always loved helping people. Often, I would insert myself into a stranger’s life to ensure they got or found what they were looking for or needed. As a child, my parents would take us on Saturday and Sunday morning drives, looking at all the new home construction coming up around DeKalb. One day, we walked into a home, and a lady greeted us and gave us a tour. My little, impressive mind was so entranced by the fact that the Real Estate Agent got to sit in a pretty house for however long and work out of it as if it were hers, showing it off to interested parties. As I grew up, I would find myself going into new homes that were empty and fascinated by the intricate details each builder put into a house to signify the touches that made them stand out, so I knew at an early age I wanted to be a Realtor, satisfying my passion for helping others while doing what I love. However, life doesn’t happen the way we plan, and for some of us, not even close to what we envisioned. To tell you my full story would require a book or novel, so I will try not to make it that long. I did not immediately enter the real estate industry. My parents, who were government workers, have now retired. They were afraid of the inconsistent income that comes with real estate and the lack of medical insurance or a 401(k) to retire on. Their fear led me down another path, well, several paths, which put me in a very unhappy work and life environment. I wasn’t happy because I was living someone else’s dream and not mine; I was conforming to others’ definition of me, of how I should act, walk, talk, dress, and carry myself, nothing that resembled me. In my previous career, I was able to help people, but only to a certain extent. I was restricted based on the rules and regulations of the people I worked for. Don’t get me wrong, the path led me to a colorful life in politics, the criminal justice system, and campaigning events, where I rubbed shoulders with some well-known constituents and elected officials, but none of this was or is where I wanted to be. In 2010, I took a step, I was laid off, and I seized that opportunity to attend real estate school and obtain my license. It was confirmed that this is what I’m meant to do, as I took the test once and passed with a 97 (I am not a test-taker), but I still ended up going back to work for the county a year later. Real estate was still in a recession, and it was hard to make ends meet when properties were sold for $60,000 and under, so reluctantly, I went back, kept my license active on a part-time level, and worked for the county full-time. And again, I was unhappy, often staring out the window, wishing my office were outside and not in a building. It didn’t help that I constantly received visions of my life: speaking to large groups, traveling, and helping people without restraints. From 2011 to 2013, I would register for school, go to night classes, drop out, try again later, and drop again. During this time, my oldest son, X’avier Arnold, was in boot camp as a Geospatial Engineer with the Army National Guard so he could attend his dream school, the Savannah College of Art and Design. I didn’t mind that my dreams were on hold or may never come to fruition as I found joy and excitment in watching my son, my seed, accomplish his dreams, he was bragging rights, all parents have that one or all they can brag about and God gave me two however my youngest was 8 years younger, still a tyke and navigating through childhood autism and ADHD. In 2013, my life, with its struggles and excitement, took a sharp, unexpected turn that I never saw coming. And this is the story of how I arrived at my current position… Now remember, I wasn’t happy with my county job, so the struggle was real. X’avier (who we fondly called X) and I discussed on numerous occasions how we were going to turn things around for my youngest son. We wanted to move into a community where we could create a safe space for my youngest and build generational wealth through my real estate career, with X’avier assisting me and also selling real estate when he was home on holiday from school. However, I was very adamant that Xavier finish SCAD and possibly deepen his career in the military, becoming an Officer. I feel like we spent the majority of 2013 debating how we would make moves to build a business while he finished school and possibly attended officer school. So let’s bring you back. Remember earlier in my story, I wrote, “life doesn’t always happen the way we plan, not even remotely.” Well, this is where all that comes to a hard reality. November 2013, X’avier called and said he wouldn’t be home for the holidays because he couldn’t find a ride up, and I couldn’t go to Savannah to get him because I was having problems with my car, and it wouldn’t make it. At that time, I was living paycheck to paycheck. I remember feeling so much like a failure, and then on November 24th just as we were being relieved for the Thanksgiving Holiday, X’avier surprised me and made it home, the joy in my heart could be heard throughout the city, my son was finally home and with us until his birthday, January 8th. Everything felt right, I felt complete, we planned his 22 birthday, his beard had finally connected (I think that is some right of passage for young men right), he was inlove with a young lady who reminded him of me, he proposed to his high school sweetheart, I was getting a daughter in law, he brought her to Christmas dinner, the family loved her, they left that night to spend time with her family, they both told me they loved me (he had trained her well) and on December 26, 2013 X’avier’s life was taken by senseless gun violence… life doesn’t happen the way we plan. My world came to a standstill, and I was lost. I was a dead woman walking, not knowing where my own identity was anymore, reduced instantly to a one-child mom. God owed me answers for this one. For a moment, I gave up, gave up on everything, my dreams, my life, and my future felt like it all died when X’avier died. But there was a plan that I had no idea about, God didn’t give up because He knew what the plans were for my life. The timeline is little off, a mother whose son’s life was taken by senseless gun violence and also a media case a year before X’avier’s murder had reached out to me, I ignored (ignoring those who have experience the same tragedy is normal during grief. Most people feel as if someone is intruding in and trying to share their pain) She was patient, as she understood the level of grief I was dealing with…. In 2015, she reached out again, and after walking in my own pain, surrounded by no one who understood, and losing close friends and family members (don’t worry, I don’t find it cruel, most people do not understand how to deal, manage, nor handle someone else’s grief and neither does the one going through grief. It can catch people off guard at times, and a lot of people feel they have lost the person they once knew, forever), I did not know anyone who had experienced losing their child, and I was so lost, so I took her up on her offer. I went to an event she was hosting for a National not for profit Organization and walked into a room of other parents who had been inducted in this awful unwanted club and as sad as this sound, I never imagined how much comfort it would bring me to be in a room with others who truly understood my pain and have walked in my shoes and who made me feel normal. Remember, life doesn’t always go the way we plan, and those visions I had about speaking to large groups were something entirely different. It turns out that this initial encounter would be the prerequisite for a life I never imagined I would be living or speaking about. I never would have imagined that being around other grieving parents and sharing my story with the masses would bring about healing. You never know what will be that thing, that one incident, for me, that one tragedy that will bring you into your purpose (I’ve experienced a lot of traumas in my life before this tragedy, and yet it would be this one that would walk me into my purpose). The tragic demise of my beautiful son took me onto a path that allowed me to work in my passion, just not by my design. It was like breadcrumbs being thrown down a trail purposely made for me to follow. As I became involved. Through the organization, I gained knowledge of our local legislation and advocated for the rights of victims and survivors. Through all the training and speaking to communities about my story and senseless gun violence and how it plagues marginalized communities, the unfairness of black and brown people when it comes to criminal law… a door opened at the church I was attending to become a facilitator of small groups specializing in assisting women who have endured trauma and struggle with anxiety and depression. As I went through training and began facilitating groups, I was invited to become a Grief Support Facilitator for bereaved parents whose children were taken by senseless gun violence, oh wait I left off one thing, after the trial of my sons murder, I lost my job at the County which wasn’t disheartening, because I was now able to go back into Real Estate full time which gave reign toward the aforementioned, ok now back to my story, becoming a Trauma Group and Grief Support Group Facilitator gave me something I never felt before and I finally realized through all the pain, hurt, screaming tears, broken heart, through it all, through the divorces, the abandonment, I discovered God purpose for my life, why I’m here. People hurt people all the time, and so many unhealed souls walk amongst us daily. Many who have no idea that their response system is based on unhealed trauma, from childhood to adulthood, and so many people are not built, or let’s say made, to work with others at the level they are operating from. I am! Most people will run from the pain, and I think that if it wasn’t my purpose, I may have run from it as well, but this was something I couldn’t run from; it was what I was built for, and trust me, I tried to run from it. People have described my real estate business as successful and admirable, that I can come through tragedy to joy and help people the way that I do, I believe my journey of experiencing my son’s life taken and going through grief has made me work with my buyers and sellers on a more compassionate and patient level. It helps me meet them where they are, because people typically purchase or sell a house in response to significant life changes.
I contribute my journey to God, this is not something I was able to accomplish on my own and I do not feel successful, what I feel is that if it is true that we reunite with our loved ones who have transitioned before us, then I want to do everything right and everything I am called to do so that I reunited with my son. And for those who may not believe in God or default to what they call now a “Higher Power”, for me, I would rather be do everything right and find out that He doesn’t exist than to do everything wrong and find out He does. Who defines your walk anyway!
I’m not the type who strives to win awards or be acknowledged for anything I do. There is a saying that has sat with me since the first time I heard it, “if it truly comes from your heart, there isn’t a need to seek recognition or awards for it”, I live by. I am the type of person who helps behind the scenes despite having an enormous personality; I am an ambivert. However, if awards or recognition are needed, I have only a few. 2021 and 2022 Pinnacle Award Recipient for DeKalb Association of Realtors, 2023 Atlanta Agents Who’s Who, Former 2025 Chair for Commercial Council of DeKalb Association of Realtors. In earlier years, I volunteered for many non-profit organizations, some of which no longer exist. Still, one famous one, Hosea Feed The Hungry, I marched on the White House in 2019 when Trump didn’t acknowledge the mass shooting at an Ohio nightclub, also marched in Atlanta in 2020 after the senseless gun violence on black and brown folk by way of law enforcement (I love a good march). I am an active member and a Grief Support Facilitator for Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action. These two groups stand in solidarity for a safe America against senseless gun violence. One of the most prominent consistent characteristics about me, is that I am loyal to my beliefs and I show up.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, nothing about my life is smooth, which is fine with me. The hurdles I’ve had to overcome have mainly involved people. No joke, but it’s funny because, again, when you’re healed and have to deal with people on an everyday level, you come across the unhealed. Most of them are what a lot of people will define as successful based on the size of their bank accounts; however, when you get to know them on a more intimate level, you begin to see things that you wish you had just stayed on a surface level with. Some people would see pieces of themselves in me and make me their little project, voluntarily taking on the job of rebuilding me into their ideal image or a mini-self (which I never asked for but some so many people see what you can’t about yourself, and they want to help, but it can be invasive especially if I’m seeking it out).
In contrast, others who found my personality intimidating would do whatever they could to push me back. My biggest hurdle has been my mental health, where I have perfected imposter syndrome. I lived in constant fear that people would judge and shun me if they knew a psychologist had diagnosed me with PTSD after my son’s murder. I took time to learn about triggers and high-triggering environments. Now, when I find myself in high-triggering situations, I unapologetically remove myself and terminate all ties. My youngest son is depending on my legacy, and I cannot afford to leave this earth and leave him unprovided for. Another thing is that I had to learn how to stop blaming society for why I am not where I know I should be and take a look in the mirror and address what lies underneath, the insecurities and the root from which they came, and I stop being afraid. There’s a birth coming, and it’s not a rebirth; it is an entirely different Nichole, the one who should have been here from the beginning.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What I do is more of a lifestyle that I get paid to do. When you truly find your niche, you can do it every day, whether it’s tied to a paycheck or not; don’t get me wrong I do NOT work for free however when you get excited about waking up to go to work, it’s no longer work, it is a passionate lifestyle. I love helping people meet their goals and will work with any reasonable budget, as long as my clients are reasonable with what they can afford. I am a Realtor. I specialize in first-time homebuyers, new construction, resale, downsizing, baby boomers, and nearly all aspects of residential real estate. I prefer owner-occupants and not investors. Real estate has created the ideal lifestyle for me, allowing me to return to school to pursue my psychology degree, which I began many years ago at Clark Atlanta University. It also allows me to time-block so I can host my small groups. What I am most proud of is that my mother acknowledged real estate as my career, not a phase or hobby, and that she gave birth to a woman who isn’t a clock-in/clock-out type and is her own boss. I don’t own a brokerage, but I am an independent contractor. I’m proud to say that I am not a hustler; I am a supporter, and that’s evident when you work with me. I am not about pressuring you into something that you have made clear you don’t want. I support my clients, and we will turn over every rock until we exhaust ourselves to accomplish that goal. My client decides without me having to convince them to change directions. I don’t push people into higher price points, and I don’t sell them rose-colored dreams. I represent my clients, whether sellers, buyers, or builders, in a way that exceeds their expectations so that they will feel comfortable sending their family and friends to me. And because of what I’ve been through, I am able to hear them with empathy and compassion.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I follow the motto, “a closed mouth won’t get fed”…. However, you have to weigh out the risk when they are presented. Follow the CDC’s choices, decisions, and consequences. A choice is presenting itself, along with a decision that needs to be made, with consequences. That consequence will either have a positive or a negative impact. What would you like to see happen?
In short, risks are taken all the time, and some of your most successful people took risks to get to where they are. Risk should only be taken when you have prepared yourself to fail and know you can pick yourself back up. Risk comes with the possibility of failure, and there isn’t a set number of times a person must fail before they get it right. It is said that you will fail several times before success. Research what it is you want to do, make sure that you have what it takes and are passionate about it, so passionate that you will stand through the storms to achieve it, and then take the risk, and if you fail, pick yourself up and try again, but whatever you do, don’t give up!
Listen, the worst thing that can happen is that you won’t like it or it doesn’t work out the way you envisioned. Just remember, as long as you have breath, you can always start over or return to where you came from. Everything is temporary and nothing is permanent. (outside the internet)
Pricing:
- 180000
- 5 mil
Contact Info:
- Instagram: justsimply_nikki and nichole_villafane_realtor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nichole.cochran
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nichole-villafane-646a1927
- Youtube: coming soon
