She has always lived in the Northwest and appreciates the outdoors. As a kid growing up in Elgin, Oregon, she was outdoors all the time, playing in the dirt. They lived in a very small town with only 1,700 residents. They had two grocery stores and one gas station and there was no stop sign, not one. You just drove right through town.
She was taught such an appreciation of nature that it might be the reason that now she's a real estate agent by day, and a farmer by night. Her husband and she own a sixty-acre farm in Newport, Washington. They have 16 cows, several geese, and pigs during the summer.
Even though she was raised in a small town, farming is a completely different way of life. You have to protect your animals from coyotes and other predators all the time. She’s learned to talk to the animals, and they talk back. The cows moo at her in half greeting/half rebuke when she comes home. They’re glad to see her only because they're hungry and want their hay.
She studied retail management in college because she had this wild idea that she wanted to open up a clothing store. And then she worked in a clothing store and decided this was definitely not want she wanted to do. So, she decided to get an office manager job working for two dozen gastroenterologists because she enjoyed helping people.
She did that job for 14 years before moving to Newport. She couldn't find an office manager job in the medical field here, but she knew she still wanted to help people. Her mother-in-law was a real estate agent and she thought she'd be good at it, so she decided to throw her hat in the ring.
She found it hard in the beginning because she didn't know anybody here and she had to build a business. She was used to getting a paycheck and having a 401K and health benefits. It took her five years to build her brand, but she did it.
She works seven days a week and loves it. She doesn't burn out because she has a huge passion for this job and wants to shine that passionate light on all her clients. She's known around Newport as the sunshine person.
Now, everybody brings her things that say, "Hello Sunshine." She just got a sweatshirt yesterday with the two words emblazoned across the front. People drop off flowers out of the blue with a note saying, "I was just thinking, of you, Sunshine, so I had to run these by."
That’s just one of the things she’s known for. The other is honking. She loves to honk her horn at the houses that she helped to sell or buy for her clients, just to say hi. She likes to let them know she’s still thinking about them by honking her horn, and they all love it.
Her favorite part about real estate is helping people find their dream home, and her clients seem to appreciate it. It always makes her smile when someone says to her, "Enjoy your day, Sunshine."
Home Types:
Lot/Land, House, Manufactured, Condo, MultiFamily, Commercial, Townhouse
Years of Experience:
12
Education:
Bassist College
