The Missing Piece
A Plan, A Purpose & A Perch
I don’t know about you, but I have struggled with commitment my whole life.
I’m a GREAT planner.
I always want the best for my people, my business, my health, my family. I can make the plan. I can buy the supplies. I can create the spreadsheet. I can even make a beautiful little checklist to track the plan.
But actually staying committed to the plan?
Well, that’s another story.
We’ve all heard the saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
But I think they forgot the second half: A plan without the necessary action is a dead duck.
You can plan until the cows come home, but at some point, you’ve actually got to DO something.
Why is it sometimes so difficult to remain committed to something when we KNOW it will benefit us?
Take our health.
We aren’t exactly confused about whether vegetables or French fries are healthier. We know exercise is good for us. We know sleep matters. We know that whatever delicious thing we’re eating (or drinking) at 10:30 at night probably isn’t going to make us feel fabulous tomorrow morning.
Knowing isn’t usually the problem.
Doing it consistently is.
I’ve successfully done it before. Years ago, I was dealing with fatigue and depression and decided I needed to get serious about my health. I joined Medi Weight Loss, got a gym membership, started meal prepping, and eliminated a lot of fast food on the go.
I committed. And…I lost weight. But was that really the goal?
I exercised regularly. And I maintained that lifestyle for about six years.
But oddly enough, I never achieved the healing I was aiming for. And if I’m being really honest, I uncovered even more issues that I didn’t know were underneath. I was working hard on one part of myself, while other parts of my life were completely out of balance.
Funny how you think you’re finally getting all your ducks lined up on the fence, but if the fence posts are rotten, eventually the whole thing is coming down. The ducks weren’t the problem. The foundation was.
And apparently, I had been so busy lining up ducks that I hadn’t bothered to check the fence. 😊
Life changed.
We moved. Schedules changed. Routines changed. New problems were brought to light. Life did what life always does.
It shifted.
And somehow, something I had successfully maintained for years gradually disappeared. Why did the commitment fail? What was rotten underneath all my good intentions? What piece was I missing?
Turns out, it was a pretty important one.
That reminds me of an old story about a father trying to enjoy his newspaper and morning coffee while his young son desperately wanted him to come outside and play.
Trying to buy himself a little quiet time, the father tore a picture of the world from the newspaper into pieces and told his son to put the “puzzle” back together. He figured that should occupy him for a while.
A few minutes later, the little boy returned.
Finished.
His father couldn’t believe it.
“How did you put the world back together so quickly?”
The little boy explained that when one of the pieces fell over, he noticed there was a picture of a man on the other side.
“I figured if I could put the man together, the world would come together too.”
Well, there you go.
Sometimes we spend an enormous amount of energy trying to put our world together when the piece that actually needs attention is us.
Looking back, I realize that during those years when I was working so hard on becoming physically healthy, there was another part of me that desperately needed attention.
My spiritual life.
I had grown up a Christian.
But I didn’t really know God.
And apparently, God decided it was time to do something about that.
Funny how He puts the right people in our path at exactly the right time.
One day, a woman contacted me to look at houses in Daphne. I’d never met her before, and we agreed to meet near Starbucks.
We looked at houses and, by the end of our time together, I was fairly certain this woman was NEVER buying a house from me.
Great.
But when we returned to the parking lot, she mentioned that she was a pastor.
Then she started asking me some strangely pointed questions. Some were eerily like she knew things about me that she couldn’t have known.
“Are you a Christian?”
“Yes.”
“Where do you go to church?”
Well…
I hadn’t found one that I’d joined.
She looked at me and said:
“So, you’re a lazy Christian?”
Excuse me? 😂
I was a little taken aback.
But the problem was…
She was right.
Something in me broke open.
She prayed over me, got in her car, and left.
I never heard from her again about buying a house. Turns out, I don’t think she was ever really there to buy one. Looking back, I believe God put her in my path for a hard stop and a much-needed redirect.
As a Realtor, that particular lead was a complete bust. But a divine appointment? Absolutely.
Apparently, it was exactly what God ordered.
Around that same time, I met Brett Burleson.
He was moving back to Mobile after years of ministry around the country and happened to be purchasing a house I had listed. There were plenty of ups and downs getting that transaction to closing, which ultimately gave me an opportunity to meet Brett at the property.
We were about the same age, and I immediately connected with his character. Not just another old pastor that was full of hypocritical behavior, which was basically what I thought and my excuse for not attending church previously. Not to mention that “lazy” part that I owned.
Anyway, he told me he was coming home to become a pastor at Dayspring Church and casually said:
“You should come sometime.”
Little did I know…
God had already been putting the puzzle together. I just couldn’t see the picture yet.
Dayspring became part of the piece I had been missing. My relationship with God grew. My priorities changed. And gradually, I began understanding that success wasn’t simply about building a healthy body, a successful career, or a comfortable life.
Those things are wonderful.
But they aren’t the whole picture.
Sometimes we aren’t failing because we’re incapable of commitment.
Sometimes we’re trying to commit to building a life when we haven’t yet figured out what we’re building it on.
And that lesson has followed me into my business.
I’ve been incredibly blessed by the people and families I’ve served throughout my career. I’ve always cared deeply about the people I work with. I’ve wanted them to succeed. I’ve wanted their investments to prosper. I’ve wanted their families to flourish.
But if I’m being truthful, good intentions haven’t always translated into intentional follow-through.
I’ve closed transactions with people I genuinely cared about and then allowed life and business to move on to the next thing. It unintentionally felt too transactional.
Another client.
Another listing.
Another closing.
Another fire to put out.
The relationship mattered to me, but sometimes my systems didn’t reflect that.
And I’ve realized something:
If you truly care about people, eventually your commitment has to become bigger than your intentions.
You have to build something that supports the promise you’re making.
And that brings me to a very exciting new chapter.
I want to introduce you to Perch & Oak Property Group, formerly KPT UpLift, Key Performance Team.
And while it may look like a rebrand from the outside, that’s not what it means to me.
It’s a recommitment.
A commitment backed by a lot of prayer, reflection, experience, and yes, some lessons learned the hard way.
We are committing ourselves to serving our clients with excellence, stewardship, integrity, education, and genuine care.
Not just until the closing table.
Beyond it.
We want to be trusted advocates our clients can turn to as their lives change and their real estate needs change with them.
Because Real Estate shouldn’t simply be transactional.
It should be relational.
We want to help our clients make wise decisions that can build stability, opportunity, and generational wealth. We want to provide resources and education instead of simply opening doors and writing contracts.
Most importantly, we want the people we serve to know they belong.
And that’s where the name Perch & Oak comes from.
It may sound like a cute Southern name, but there is a lot of heart behind it.
The oak represents strength.
Roots.
Stability.
Something planted deeply enough to weather life’s seasons.
The perch represents a place to land.
To rest.
To belong.
And the swing represents something even more personal to me: the welcoming front porch. That place where you can sit down, exhale, and feel the warmth and safety of a grandmother who doesn’t particularly care where you’ve been or what you’ve done.
She’s just glad you’re home.
That’s what we want people to feel.
We want to help you find your next perch.
Plant roots.
Build relationships.
Create memories.
Grow wealth.
Give Back.
Weather storms.
And build a life filled with hope and purpose.
Because I’ve learned something after all these years of making plans, breaking plans, rebuilding plans, succeeding, failing, and occasionally having God send a complete stranger to a Starbucks parking lot to straighten me out:
The right pieces really do matter.
And when they’re finally put together with purpose, something beautiful begins to appear.
A life.
A business.
A community.
A home.
This isn’t simply our new brand.
It’s our renewed commitment.
To serve better.
To stay connected.
To keep learning.
To advocate fiercely.
To help people put the pieces together.
And ultimately, to help the people we serve Be Home.
Good intentions brought us a long way. Intentional commitment is taking us forward. Welcome to Perch & Oak Property Group, where we’re planting deeper roots, strengthening relationships, and helping you find your place to truly Be Home.
New name. Deeper roots. Intentional commitment.
Welcome to Perch & Oak. Be Home.