How Did I End Up in Real Estate?

For as long as I could remember, I’ve had a fascination with places. As much as I love local history, it went deeper than that. I craved the personal stories that built a place. My father used to take us on local day trips and we’d spend hours exploring places that are relatively unknown. He was a history lover and passed this curiosity of the past onto me.

I’ve always loved real estate. I love architecture & design. I love connecting people to places — a local park, a great coffee shop, a unique tidbit of history. I am happiest when I’m blabbing on endlessly about South Jersey.

In 2015, I created South Jersey Adventures out of my love of South Jersey — the diverse landscapes, the unique ecology, the impactful history, & the absolute weirdness that you can see driving from bayshore to seashore really captured me. At first, it started as a hiking blog, but quickly developed into much more than that. It was a way to show South Jersey as I saw it — with admiration and awe. It became a community of people who loved South Jersey and connected to it in different ways. It’s a beautiful part of South Jersey advocacy & I’m so proud of its impact.

From there, I wanted to give local businesses & artists a platform here. It feels so natural for me to bridge the gap from unique places to adventure to great places to invest your money while you’re adventuring. Growing up in a historic small town in the 80’s & 90’s, I got into the habit of supporting your neighbors and getting your goods from the local guy. I carried that value into adulthood. I have been drawn to downtown districts and have explored the majority of them in South Jersey.

After a lunch with some incredible friends, it was suggested that ‘we needed a South Jersey Adventures for local business’ & South Jersey Made was born. I offered free or low cost services to these businesses including photography, marketing, branding, & hosted festivals for local makers. Through this, I became friends with so many incredible people — artists, business owners, advocates.

I became the director of a nonprofit in my hometown that mentored youth & my goal was immediately to make them fall in love where they lived. I wholeheartedly live by the Baba Dioum quote, “In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.” I want these kids to invest in the area when they grow up and, to me, the only way to do that was to connect them to our town. I am so fortunate that those teenagers are still a part of my life. They call me mama &, if they need me, I am there. I hope I’ve made as much as an impact on them as they have on me.

I moved back to my hometown into a magical1929 tutor-style home and immediately needed to know everything I could about this home. It was a home I knew well, as I grew up in the neighborhood and played football in the yard as a kid, but I had never stepped inside. As soon as we moved in, I started digging. I found out about the original owner, Guss, and found his only living child. She sent me a picture of him and I had it framed. As zany as it sounds, this home and its stories were a part of my story now. I spoke with every previous owner and relished in the stories told.

Once settled in my hometown, I joined a local environmental board and a local historical preservation board in hopes to connect the youth to these things. What I gained, was a deeper love of the area where I grew up.

I became the executive director for a main street organization in 2019. It felt like I was home. Everything I loved — advocacy of local business, history, & people were bound in one job. As I grew into my position and became appointed & included in local decisions, I realized that everything I have ever done is threaded together by relationships — my love of connection to people & places.

When I moved, I joined another main street organization where I felt like I had found ‘my people’. Passionate professionals who worked towards a greater good. I loved showing not just the potential of places, but the value that was already there. Sometimes, it was hard to see, but there’s always something beautiful about every town. The history always connected me, but the people I meet that made up these communities made me want to fight hard for opportunities.

In my drive to connect people to places, I realized there was one part missing — real estate. It was probably my first love; it seems so obvious. It was a culmination of everything I’ve done and loved. It’s not just finding houses — it’s helping someone fall in love with where they live and create a home. It’s the adventure of being a part of someone’s dream. It’s connecting them to the owner of the local coffee shop so that they know a friendly face in a new town. It’s showing them their new favorite spots, so they feel grounded when they settle. It’s using my experiences to lead and advocate with compassion & passion.

For me, that’s the dream — and I’m living it.

I’m so full of excitement for the future. Let’s get to work.