My real estate career started in London in the late 1980s in commercial investment with Knight Frank, the UK's premiere real estate agency with wide international reach. I then moving into residential property management for a private investor in Mayfair, London.
I moved into sales on the Algarve in Portugal, selling my first luxury villa in 1989 on the prestigious Quinta do Lago golf resort, home of many European Championships and The Ryder Cup.
On returning to London, I ran sales and marketing for a short stay apartment company owning buildings in Kensington and Chelsea as well as acting for homes owned by private individuals. This prompted me to start my own short stay marketing agency, think Air B&B before the Internet.
I have been a South Bay resident since 1994 when I moved here after marrying my engineer husband. I spent some years helping him with the funding of his tech startups as well as helping local businesses with their marketing needs and volunteering my time to non-profits to help with their fundraising.
In 2002 I had a massive stroke which put me in a wheelchair with my left side paralyzed. It took me the best part of 2 decades to learn to walk, run and everything else people who have never had that type of challenge takes for granted.
Through all of this, I kept my hand in the real estate market, helping agents with marketing and writing blog posts for agents all over the country. The one thing that came apparent to me through all this is that I can look at a property that has a couple of small steps that an able-bodied agent won't see as a problem. To me, however, I know that for someone with mobility issues it looks like climbing a mountain.
When I made the decision to return to real estate sales to help this sector, I spent a considerable amount of time researching local brokerages before choosing Christie's International Real Estate Sereno. All agents regularly attend trainings to keep us up to date on the most recent regulations in the industry to best serve our clients with professionalism and ensure transactions run smoothly in a collaborative environment.
In addition, the company speaks to my community spirit with agents donating a portion of their income to their charitable foundation, 1% for Good which donates money to local charities some of which I have supported in my charitable endeavors.
I spent several years on the Board of the Pacific Association and advised NorCalSCI, a charity that helps people with spinal cord injuries, on their fundraisers when they were first founded. I also currently lead the Western United States for, a 1,000-year-old International charity, Sovereign Order of St. John where the regional chapters raise funds for capital projects for charities in their community.
