KWKC

Carissa Ortegon's exposure to Keller Williams Realty didn't just happen early in her life, it also happened early in the morning.

"Since I was young, my mother (Keller Williams Associate Deldi Ortegon) has always instilled in me many of the values of KW," Carissa, who hails from South Texas, recalls. "I can even remember her repeating the BOLD Laws to me in the morning before I headed out to school."

Those early morning lessons created a shift in Carissa's mindset that made her want to apply the principles of KW to her own life, so she reached out to KW Kids Can (KWKC) Executive Director Danny Thompson requesting advice on how to realize her dream of going on mission trips around the world.

"I expressed my desire to enable others to also live a life that would leave an impact on the world," Carissa says.

Thompson, in turn, encouraged her to attend Quantum Leap.

"The initial impact that Quantum Leap had on my life was realizing that the dreams I had for my life were not out of reach," Carissa says. "With the tools that had been given to me, I felt like I was pulling the dream down to reality. I realized that I could easily apply models we learned, like the GPS and 4-1-1, to my life, and it would be the first steps that would launch me into an intentional pursuit of my goals."

After Quantum Leap, Carissa first determined her mission and vision to ensure everything in her life pointed in that direction.

"My ultimate mission is to bring light into the darkness, hope to the hopeless and make the name of Jesus known in my sphere of influence no matter where I am," she says. "The vision is to inspire, encourage and empower my generation to take their place and rise to the calling of the Lord and to bring the hope of Jesus into the darkest of places in the earth through missions."

Quantum Leap gave her the skills to overcome obstacles she faced along the way.

"A roadblock I faced was learning I could not give what I did not first have," Carissa says. "Initially, I had a vision without a way or plan to get there. I learned to give of my own resources to others that were in need around me. As I gave generously, I saw that my own needs were always met."

Over the past five years, $35,000 has been donated to Carissa, enabling her to go on 12 mission trips all over the world.