Teresa Shramko says every life tells a story.
Maybe it’s a story about how aspirations became achievements, as though a master stitcher had woven together spools of strong thread.
Perhaps it’s a story about how unexpected events led to hardships, and how those difficulties colored life in shades of blue others could not see.
Then again, it could be a story of a life simply lived, cloudless and unchanging, save for a few ripples here and there, like a clear sky reflected in a lake.
Whatever the story, every life tells one, says Shramko, 48.
Shramko’s began in Dallas, where she was born, but the setting changed to Atlanta when she was a teenager.
When Shramko came of age, she had no interest in college or working a nine-to-five, though she says she didn’t lack direction. Instead, she’d learned a few things about herself by that time and let those insights guide her toward gainful work.
“I liked entrepreneurship. I never could see myself sitting at a desk. That wouldn’t be me. I wanted to be out meeting people and talking with them,” Shramko says. “Whenever I’d go to a restaurant, I’d talk with the people who worked there. Even in school, I was always getting in trouble for talking. I find people fascinating. The things they share when you first meet them and start talking with them are amazing.”
Determined to forge her own path, Shramko became a self-employed skincare professional. She says she liked working for herself, setting her own hours and – of course – chatting with clients.
Shramko’s aspirations became achievements, and she was happy. “I loved the freedom,” she says. “I also loved helping people. Finding a product that helped someone felt good.”
In time, additional characters became a part of Shramko’s story, including her husband, John, and their children. Looking for a calmer and more idyllic setting for raising their progeny, Shramko and her spouse moved to Chattanooga in 2008. There, he invested in real estate and she became a “stay-at-home mom,” as she describes it.
During time, Shramko’s story settled into an easy and predictable tempo. Instead of advancing her career or charting a new course, she simply lived a life that was cloudless and unchanging, save for the size and disposition of her children.
As Shramko labored at home and her husband flipped houses, a thought occurred to her: She could become a Realtor. Chattanooga was growing, the local housing market was strong, and she missed meeting new people. Plus, the things she liked about being an aesthetician – the freedom, running her own venture, making friends out of strangers – were part and parcel to being a Realtor.
It sounded ideal, but there was a “but.”
“We had two kids and were already busy. And then we had two more kids. So, I stayed home,” Shramko recalls. “But, in the back of my mind, I wanted to get out and work again.”
Three years ago, an unexpected event brought this long stretch of unblinking consistency to a tragic end: Shramko’s oldest child was involved in a fall that resulted in a traumatic brain injury.
His care and recovery required everything, Shramko adds, but were also her joy. She tears up as she speaks about her son and the unseen shades of blue that have colored the last three years of her family’s story, but she’s not crying for herself, she says, she’s crying because she loves him.
Earlier this year, a ray of sunlight illuminated the pages of Shramko’s story when she and her husband decided their son was well enough to allow her to return to work. Still lacking interest in a nine-to-five, she decided to pull the trigger on real estate.
“It was time for me to start a new journey,” Shramko says, “so I earned my license.”
Unlike her future clients, Shramko didn’t need to shop around for a home. Instead, she met with Coldwell Banker Pryor Realty’s managing broker, Robert Backer, after a friend recommended the firm and decided to hang her license there before the interview was over.
“My friend said it’s a great place to work,” Shramko explains. “And I’ve found that Robert and the other agents are always there to help me and walk me through everything. That’s what I was looking for. Starting over is nerve-wracking when you haven’t worked in a long time. I love being at Coldwell Banker.”
Shramko has listed one home and has more waiting in the wings. She says she’s pleased with her progress, even though the languid pace of the housing market has surprised her. However, she’s already fixed her eyes on 2024, when she clearly expects good things to happen.
“I’m going to help more people find their dream home,” she says, as if she’s peeked at the coming pages of her story. “I’m going to put my name out there and tell people I’m here to serve.”
Although Shramko loves to meet new people and spend time with her family, whether it’s biking together or watching a movie on a Friday night, she also values solitude, she says. An avid cyclist, she sometimes makes a morning or an afternoon of biking along the bends and turns of Chattanooga’s Riverwalk.
“There are days when I want to go out by myself and feel the wind moving through my hair and the sun shining on my face,” she smiles. “That gives me time to think, and I usually return home refreshed and inspired.”
Shramko’s story embraced all of its narrative possibilities, but none have impacted her like her son’s injury and ongoing recovery, she says. It did more than bind her to his side for three years, it changed her perspective on life and how she perceives the actions of other people.
“I look at the world differently. I try to see other people’s needs and remember they could be going through something. You don’t know. And I no longer take anything for granted. I try to enjoy every moment, even when life is stressful. I try to remember the joy of everything.”
Everything includes work, for which Shramko feels only anticipation as the calendar turns a page to a new year and she turns a page to a new chapter.
“I’m not discouraged. I’ve felt for years like I should become a Realtor. I sometimes wonder why I didn’t do this sooner, but as I look back, I have no regrets. Life panned out the way it did, and now it’s time for something new.”