Turning 40: Embracing Life's Quirks with Karin PT 1

Ever found yourself with oddly forgotten items in your purse, like bananas and chocolate bars? Trust me, it happens to the best of us, and it's one of those quirks I embrace as part of my adventurous spirit. Join me, Carlene Humphrey, on Diva Tonight for a vibrant new series, "This is 40: A Female Perspective," where I’m thrilled to introduce you to Karin, a passionate realtor who also claims the whimsical title of "official mermaid" in her community. Turning 40 is a profound milestone, and Karin shares her heartfelt journey of intertwining her professional ambitions with her cherished role as a mother, revealing the beautiful dance between work life and nurturing family bonds. Together, we navigate through family dynamics and the nurturing instincts that have been passed down through generations, shaping our identities in unexpected ways.

But that's not all—listen to my musings about the joys of travel and why I choose to explore new destinations monthly, except during the delightful summer months when Ontario's homey charm keeps me grounded. These reflections and more set the stage for an exhilarating new season of Diva Tonight, promising fresh ideas and intriguing guests that you won't want to miss. Karin and I have stories that will make you laugh, think, and perhaps even see your own 40s in a new light. Make sure to follow us on Instagram for the latest updates and behind-the-scenes moments!

Chapters

• 0:03 Milestone Reflections at Age 40
• 9:21 Bananas in my purse, and travel plans

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

after a long hiatus, diva tonight is back with a new series. This is 40 a female perspective, with carlene humphrey hi, I'm carlene and this is diva tonight.

Carlene Humphrey: 0:18

I have with me on zoom corinne. We've known each other for a little while and we're talking about a milestone like turning 40. But also, why don't you tell the listeners about you, what you do, like your?

Karin Rotem: 0:34

career. Well, I am an official mermaid. As you can see behind me, I'm a realtor, which, okay, it's not as exciting as being a mermaid, but I do call myself a mermaid because where I do a lot of my business, people started calling me the queen and I don't like that, right, and it's like a waterfront community. So I was like, how about mermaid? Cause that's way more fun and it suits me better. So, and that's what I do is my life. It's actually. People talk about a balance between life and work and then I get confused by that because I don't have a balance. So I kind of realized recently that the word is it's my identity, like it's who I am, so it's like everything about me is like realtor and just serving my clients and like what more can I do for my clients? And I'm like obsessed and I love it and it's just who I am, so I don't need whatever balance other people need. One last rant, and then I'll let you talk to, is I remember when.

Karin Rotem: 1:29

I was 16 or 15 and I think someone asked me like what do you want to do when you get older? And to me it was like what are you talking about? Like I'm going to be a mom, like nothing else matters other than that. So I've just always kind of known like that's the most important thing, and I think part of why my work and my success is my identity is because I know that then I can give to my kids and teach them as well. That's me.

Carlene Humphrey: 1:55

Yeah, I don't know if the average 16 year old would say I want to be a mom. What did your mom do for a living?

Karin Rotem: 2:02

So my mom is a software engineer. She worked really hard for us because it was just her and then my brother and myself, and so it's partly that like I saw her work really hard and I knew also about my grandmother her mom that worked really hard, and then my paternal grandmother also worked really hard, so I had good role models in that sense, yeah, it's just like go and work for it is just kind of how I've always been. My brain is always done.

Carlene Humphrey: 2:33

Yeah, I think it's the family instinct. So if you have siblings, right.

Karin Rotem: 2:38

I do. So it's not that complicated, but it kind of is so. My mom and dad had me and my brother complicated, but it kind of is so. My mom and dad had me and my brother. So we're four years apart. And then my parents split. It's all good. My dad remarried and so I have two more siblings there. I have a sister that's 11 years younger and a brother that's 16 years younger, and then my mom remarried way later and so I have another baby sister who's not a baby she would not like to hear me call her that, but she is she's 20 years younger.

Karin Rotem: 3:07

So there's kind of five of us. And I remember when my 11 years younger sister was five and I was tucking her into bed one night and she said to me are you my half sister? Somebody must've said that to her. And I looked at her and I went no, like I'm your sister, it doesn't't you know, and I think you can relate to that too. Right, it's like your sister's your sister. So technically there's five of us. Five one hand, including yourself three kids right, yeah, so five.

Carlene Humphrey: 3:36

So me and my brother and then two more and one more, yeah, yeah. So yeah, I have five the sister. No, there's five of us and I have four sisters, but I never talk about my dad's side, which is so complicated. It's like my dad has several kids and so when people ask me that question, I don't really dig deep into it, but it's one of those things where I guess it's notorious in the Caribbean. You know what I mean.

Karin Rotem: 4:01

So your mom has five girls, yeah.

Carlene Humphrey: 4:04

And so, yeah, getting into half siblings, so they're my half sisters because we have the same mom, different dad, right?

Karin Rotem: 4:12

But do you say that?

Carlene Humphrey: 4:13

No, no, unless, someone like I mean people can already see, because I'm like 100 percent black.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Yeah.

Carlene Humphrey: 4:21

I'm darker and and like, if you've seen the photos right, they're half Italian, half Grenadian. So that's a given Right, but, like you said, it's not, it's never been like they're my half sisters. The one thing I used to challenge, though, I used to say to people, because sometimes when I was younger I'd drop them to daycare and people would be like are those your kids? I'm like no, they're not my kids, they're my sisters. You know I'd get so defensive about that because I was so young at that time.

Karin Rotem: 4:47

I'm like I guess it is possible you know, which is probably why they asked because they probably thought like, wow, this 12 year old is bringing this kid to school, that's right, yeah, yeah, nobody ever asked me, nobody ever asked me if they were my kids how old were you when you took them to like when you were?

Karin Rotem: 5:07

out. Well, when my sister was born, I would take her out with the stroller, I remember, and like the neighbor's dog. So I would have been 12. No, I would have, yeah, 12, 13. I would have been out with her and a stroller and a dog, yeah. And then my brother was 16 years younger, so I was even older, but I don't think anyone asked Maybe they did and I just laughed it off but I don't think anyone asked me if they were my kids.

Carlene Humphrey: 5:31

Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I guess it depends on the generation. You know, like I said, we are talking about milestones and for you it's reflecting back right. I think I remember you saying, like when you turned 40, do you remember what that felt like, Like where you were in your career and like family wise?

Karin Rotem: 5:52

I think for me, the cool thing about 40 is I kind of like it. Like it felt like, okay, I'm here now, does that make sense? So, like I've always worked super hard for the future, I've always been like about the future, the future, the future. And I think at some point I just kind of looked around and went, okay, I think this is the future, like got my kids and I've got my house and I've got my like my career is kind of like I know what I'm doing. I'm just can always grow and do things better and more efficiently. But like here I am and kind of know who I am, I know what my values are and so, yeah, and I actually had to really train myself because I'm very much like some people are really in the moment and like YOLO kind of people, like you only live once, like do it now.

Karin Rotem: 6:41

And I'm the opposite, like I'm really like a banker, like I like bank money and bank you know, like for the future. And I think it's a mistake at some point. But there's always this trade off of like enjoying now versus the future. Right, you're always kind of competing with yourself, like with money. Do I save money today so that I'm okay when I'm 60? Or do I like no, like I'm 40 now I should go out and have a good time in exchange for what I'll have later.

Karin Rotem: 7:07

So it's always hard for me, but my nature is to bank it and save it for the future, and I think I'm fortunate in that. One of the things I'm really good at is surrounding myself with good people, including you, and just having a really good circle, like just good spirits and successful people too, in my business. And so I have a few really good, successful friends in my industry and I've learned from them like how to not waste today, and so I've had to learn it. It's not my nature and I know other people that are like they go and get themselves their best car and they spend a lot of money going out in their 20s and I always look at that and think like that's such a mistake, like you've got to, like bank for the future. But I think just we kind of have to find our balance. But that's the thing about 40s is I kind of finally told myself like no, like now, like we live right, and that doesn't mean going crazy, although this year has been a little bit crazy for me with travel.

Carlene Humphrey: 8:07

Okay, so clearly, like I do well in real estate, yeah, wait a minute, you're in Innisfil now, right Like some place I've never built. Friday Harbor is like my baby. That's where I'm likeil now, right Like some place I've never built.

Karin Rotem: 8:16

Friday Harbor is like my baby. That's where I'm like the mermaid right Like. I have listings right now.

Carlene Humphrey: 8:22

I love Friday Harbor. I want to go there. Take me to Friday Harbor, even though I can't afford it.

Karin Rotem: 8:27

Well, come anytime no come and you can afford it. You can come anytime. You can come and go to the French Cafe, but I have things all over the GTA, so but the thing is that I'm not really like some people are into Gucci. What did Gucci make? Curses or something, I don't even know.

Carlene Humphrey: 8:43

See, I don't even know.

Karin Rotem: 8:44

But my, my female, my female friends make fun of me, right? They're like oh, how do you not know these things? I don't know Cause I, it's just I've never really valued that.

Carlene Humphrey: 8:54

Watch Sex and the City. It will teach you a few things about the brands. I think if I didn't watch that show I wouldn't have like understood the whole. You gotta have a Birkin. You know, like I like a Birkin is like it's like when you go to New York and you go to Macy's or you go to like Tiffany's, it's like a Birkin is I think it's $1,500 for a Birkin, is I think it's $1,500 for a Birkin or more? What is it? It's like yeah, it's a really high-end purse. I'm not doing that.

Karin Rotem: 9:22

Can I tell you something? I put bananas in my purse, yeah, and then I forget my bananas. I cannot be putting a rotting banana in a whatever you just said, because that's not happening. Because, that's who I am. Like I have banana all the time and like it just rots. Or like chocolate bars I put I have chocolate bars in my purse, like you don't want to look at my purse. Oh my gosh, is this being recorded?

Karin Rotem: 9:48

I'm telling you I'm not, but anyway so the point is that, because I don't like do those things although I'm open to it, I don't. I don't judge, like I totally get it so, but I do love to travel, like I've always loved to travel. So my goal for this year is to go at least once a month, not in the summer, like I actually really liked being home and being in Ontario in the good months May through August, september. It's really nice here, so I have no desire to leave.

Speaker 1: 10:24

Diva Tonight with Carlene will be back. New season, new ideas and great guests. Send us a message on Instagram at diva underscore tonight.