Family: Both my husband Marc and I are extremely fortunate to be lifelong residents of Glynn County. I am proud to share that my husband is the Glynn County Coroner, although I usually get a quirky look and am asked questions about his duties when I deliver this information. We are blessed to live in Riverside in the City of Brunswick with our very spoiled golden retrievers. My Mom, Dottie Clark, still calls St. Simons Island home. I have two sisters … yes, I am the middle child! My sister Danielle lives in Camden County and my sister Leslie lives all the way across the world in Australia (it is awesome to get to visit). I have a total of six wonderful nieces and nephews. My world is also blessed with amazing in-laws, Jack and Annette Neu, who also live on St. Simons.
Years in the Golden Isles: Since the beginning … 1970.
School: I graduated from Glynn Academy’s 200th class in 1988, and went on to earn my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Georgia Southern University.
Occupation: Realtor and vice president of business development at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hodnett Cooper Real Estate.
Favorite landmark in the Golden Isles: I really love the St. Simons Land Trust’s park at the corner of Frederica and Sea Island Roads. I always have a smile and fond recollections as I travel by it almost every day. Like many kids in the 1970s and 80’s, I spent every waking hour I was allowed to on that spot at The Sea Island Stables with the Long Family. Living right across the street in Black Banks Subdivision, coupled with my fanatical love and obsession with horses, Sea Island Stables was my neighborhood stomping grounds. In fact, it was an extra special occasion when we got to spend the night at the Stables occasionally. I have many, many amazing memories from those days in my childhood: working hard, learning important life lessons, taking moonlit rides on the beach, and loving my horse, but more importantly loving and respecting all the animals at the Stables…except for Tuffy the grumpy bulldog. I owe a debt of gratitude to The Long Family for all I learned during those sunup to sundown days at the Stable.
A local you admire: Outside of my family, as I reflect and also assess my current life, I have been blessed by multiple strong and amazing female mentors. Some would say it started in kindergarten, but we will get to that part a little later. At the age of 9, Elizabeth Childress Herndon taught me so much about the horse show world and the value of 4-H. She showed me what sacrifice looked like as she had a full-time job, a part-time job to pay for her horses and she still volunteered and led the 4-H horse program in Glynn County. She let me make decisions like an adult and helped me learn from my mistakes, which molded me into a fair and humble competitor. Sissy Chitty McGraw was next, as the owner of the barn where I started my teen years. She kept me out of trouble, taught me how to have confidence, and took me on some pretty cool adventures. For example, she taught me how to drive at 13, and promptly the week I turned 15 and earned my learner license she had me pulling a horse trailer to Virginia with her in the passenger seat! In my professional career, I had the honor of witnessing one of the real estate greats, Klickie Aiken, work every day from just down the hall from the time I was 25 to the age of 38. I was blessed that she had a special place in her heart for me and that she showed and taught me what a true work ethic for your clients looks like and helped me spread my real estate wings at a crucial time in my career. And now, I have come full circle and work with my favorite childhood teacher, Pat Hodnett Cooper. Pat was my kindergarten and first-grade teacher and now is my career leader, mentor and one of my closest friends and confidants. We have the honor of leading and supporting an amazing team of more than 70 Realtors together at BHHS Hodnett Cooper Real Estate. I am blessed every day by the knowledge, experiences, and life-lessons these ladies shared with me, and it is my goal that I successfully share with others what they shared with me.
What are some local charities that you volunteer with? Through the years there have been and continue to be multiple organizations in which I have been involved in. Right now, I am the incoming chair for the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Georgia. In my opinion, the service and resources that the Boys and Girls Club provides to the youth of our community is unparalleled. I believe in what the organization does every day as it fills immediate needs but also it also has a lifelong impact on the kids who are served, as well as their families.
What do you think are some aspects that make a Realtor successful? A successful Realtor will have a multitude of key characteristics, but the three that really stand out to me are having a culture and attitude of service to your clients and our community, working daily to be as knowledgeable as possible about the local real estate market, and all things that impact it and having an extremely strong work ethic. If you have all three of those attributes and you CONSISTENTLY work to build genuine and valuable relationships with your clients based on service and integrity you will be a successful Realtor. These characteristics are supported by being associated with a top-notch real estate brokerage making the highest level of success possible for an agent and most importantly, for their clients.
Over the years, what are some issues you have learned about in the real estate industry? Wow, there are so many, but for me, I really gravitate towards understanding and having an interest in how governmental entities and programs impact the real estate market and industry, so staying abreast of things like the National Flood Insurance Program, development procedures, zoning and building codes, fees and cost associated with building and remodeling and much more have served me well in meeting the needs of my clients and in helping enable BHHS Hodnett Cooper Real Estate agents to become extremely knowledgeable in serving the needs and concerns of their clients.