Real Estate scholarship helps struggling Philadelphia restaurateur change careers

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The pandemic took a tremendous toll on the restaurant industry. While many survived, others were forced to close.

When that happened to a local restaurateur and mother of three, she took a major leap and changed careers.

Nadia Laksana's newfound success in real estate started with the help of a special scholarship program for women and minority candidates.

Laksana earned her real estate license and graduated from Maria Quattrone & Associates' hands-on training course in South Philadelphia.

Her pivot started when she was forced to close her family's Indonesian restaurant, Jembatan 5, in the city's Bella Vista neighborhood.

"It was difficult for us to keep the business afloat," Laksana says. "We decided to close down the business, unfortunately. I was thinking to myself,, 'What kind of career that I can do afterwards,?' I had three small children. When I did my research, I ended up on Maria's page and the rest is history."

She says her life has changed drastically with this new career.

Quattrone says she feels really strongly about making sure women and minorities are represented in her industry.

"It provides the education to get your real estate license, which is 75 hours of classes," Quattrone says. "There is also training in our real estate academy. What happened with Nadia is, within the first week of her completing the program, she had her first deal under contract."

The new scholarship program starts September 6th.

If you're interested in applying, CLICK HERE.