Les Walden had been practicing real estate for 22 years and successfully completed over 3000 real estate transactions when I joined his team. I have known Les personally for a little over a decade and during this time have developed a close relationship with him and his family. On a personal level, Les is an extremely uplifting and positive individual. Over the years, he has become someone that I consider a personal mentor and often seek advice from. It wasn't until Les helped me sell my home… Show more Les Walden had been practicing real estate for 22 years and successfully completed over 3000 real estate transactions when I joined his team. I have known Les personally for a little over a decade and during this time have developed a close relationship with him and his family. On a personal level, Les is an extremely uplifting and positive individual. Over the years, he has become someone that I consider a personal mentor and often seek advice from. It wasn't until Les helped me sell my home in 2016 that I truly understood why he has been so successful in real estate.The Les Walden Real Estate Team takes a "client-centric" approach towards real estate transactions and what I mean by that is, every individual on The Team specifically handles certain aspects of each transaction. This allows each team member to become an expert in their respective client activities. For my personal testimonial, Les and I established our game plan, the team's "Chief Amazement Officer" took amazing pictures, and then they implemented my personalized marketing campaign. The plan worked perfectly because my home was under contract in 24 hours at my full asking price. Then, the team's "Closing Coordinator" managed the entire transaction to our successful closing. Needless to say, they "WOWed" me every step of the way. Although I was entering a completely different industry, the customer service and negotiation skills that I had developed in my previous role as an insurance claims adjuster provided me with the ability to add real value to my clients' real estate transactions on Day 1. Honesty and integrity are foundational elements for successful claims handling and the same is true for being a great real estate agent. It was a great experience working with the team at Les Walden Real Estate and I will always be an advocate for their business. Show less

Travelers Insurance is an industry leading insurance provider for property and casualty insurance. My role while with Travelers was to handle claims for residential and commercial property losses in Upstate SC. During my time there, I gained a wealth of knowledge about residential construction, local building codes and ordinances, and mitigation techniques for fire, smoke, and water losses. One of the highlights during my time with Travelers was that I was awarded the coveted… Show more Travelers Insurance is an industry leading insurance provider for property and casualty insurance. My role while with Travelers was to handle claims for residential and commercial property losses in Upstate SC. During my time there, I gained a wealth of knowledge about residential construction, local building codes and ordinances, and mitigation techniques for fire, smoke, and water losses. One of the highlights during my time with Travelers was that I was awarded the coveted In-Synch Customer Service Award during my first year of employment. Globally, there are approximately 13,000 employees in the company that are eligible to win this award every year and I was thrilled to be one of the 65 winners in 2017. It was an accomplishment that I was very proud of but also, my wife and I enjoyed an all expenses paid trip to Disney World as a result. Overall, it was a great experience working at Travelers and I made many great friends while I was there. Show less

Farm Bureau Insurance sold its first automobile insurance policy in 1952 and the company has been growing ever since. During my employment, my day to day responsibilities included prompt contact with insureds and claimants regarding their claims and addressing their situations to identify their specific needs. As a multi-line field adjuster, I primarily handled claims resulting from homeowners, auto, farm, and general liability policies. I also performed some underwriting functions for the… Show more Farm Bureau Insurance sold its first automobile insurance policy in 1952 and the company has been growing ever since. During my employment, my day to day responsibilities included prompt contact with insureds and claimants regarding their claims and addressing their situations to identify their specific needs. As a multi-line field adjuster, I primarily handled claims resulting from homeowners, auto, farm, and general liability policies. I also performed some underwriting functions for the company and was a licensed automobile physical damage appraiser.My experience at SC Farm Bureau exposed me to many different areas of the insurance industry and provided me with a deep understanding of the litigation process, civil law, and specifically, contract law. It also allowed me to develop the skills that I use everyday in both my personal and my professional lives. I learned how to navigate difficult negotiations, the basic elements of residential construction, and most importantly, how to serve internal and external customers. On a daily basis, I was tasked with meeting people from every walk of life, in less than ideal situations, and faced with the challenge of building trusting relationships with all of them. This is not something that is easily accomplished but I have always enjoyed that particular aspect of the work. The skills and friendships that I developed at SC Farm Bureau continue to have an impact on my life and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity that I was given to be a part of their team. Show less

Adaptive Medical was a small, locally-owned, medical equipment provider. The company had approximately 15 employees during my time with them. It was a great job and a great opportunity for me because I was able to gain some valuable work experience while continuing my pursuit of a bachelor's degree at Clemson University. My major responsibility was to manage a territory of existing accounts and service their needs accordingly. The territory covered the entire Northwestern corner of… Show more Adaptive Medical was a small, locally-owned, medical equipment provider. The company had approximately 15 employees during my time with them. It was a great job and a great opportunity for me because I was able to gain some valuable work experience while continuing my pursuit of a bachelor's degree at Clemson University. My major responsibility was to manage a territory of existing accounts and service their needs accordingly. The territory covered the entire Northwestern corner of South Carolina and the accounts consisted of nursing and retirement homes. My activities included included delivering medical equipment and oxygen tanks to the accounts on a weekly basis. I also delivered to personal residences on occasion. My other major responsibility was to maintain a personal stockroom of medical equipment in Clemson, SC. This included maintaining records of all stock as well as replenishing the stock as needed. I also gained some minimal sales experience from this job by calling on similar type facilities and contracting them with our company for the services that we provided. I was able to cultivate several new accounts during my time with Adaptive Medical and as a result of our teams hard work, the company was able to negotiate a merger with the much larger Southern Home Medical to form a very profitable partnership moving forward. Show less

I enjoyed my time at Lockheed Martin thoroughly. Lockheed is one of our nations leading manufacturers of aerospace, defense, and security technologies. They are a global company with an impeccable reputation for innovation and cutting-edge technology. I was thrilled when they selected me as one of their potential candidates to participate in a 6 month work program through Clemson University. The spots were extremely limited as the program included other universities in the area such as… Show more I enjoyed my time at Lockheed Martin thoroughly. Lockheed is one of our nations leading manufacturers of aerospace, defense, and security technologies. They are a global company with an impeccable reputation for innovation and cutting-edge technology. I was thrilled when they selected me as one of their potential candidates to participate in a 6 month work program through Clemson University. The spots were extremely limited as the program included other universities in the area such as Auburn, Georgia Tech, University of North Carolina, and Duke. I found myself at a disadvantage because my major was Business Management and the majority of candidates were pursuing Engineering degrees. However, myself and nine other candidates were able to secure our positions after two rounds of personal interviews with representatives from Lockheed Martin. I am proud to say that I was the only Business Management student that was selected from our group.I worked in the front office of the Custom Fabrication department at the Lockheed Martin facility in Greenville, SC. That facility specifically performed custom modifications and refurbishment services for fighter jets and the large C-130 cargo planes. My job requirements were to attend monthly functional meetings with the department heads and analyze the data for our departments performance that month. On a daily basis, I would review the list of parts that were in our shops and then address their progress from the aircraft, through our shops, and back to the aircraft.My experience at Lockheed was great. Not only was I able to learn about all of the interesting things that they do and the technologies involved, I was able to form relationships with individuals much older and experienced than myself, many of which I am still friends with today. Show less