After more than 15 years actively involved in real estate, and 25 years working in some capacity with high-net-worth individuals, I woke up one morning in November 2025 and said:
“We need to shut this down and start over.”
I did not mean we were done.
I meant it was time to stop trying to make an old version of our business work in a place that needed something different from me.
This is just the beginning of a VERY long story—one I cannot wait to share because I hope the lessons I learned along the way may help someone else.
But to move forward, I have to go back…to 2016.
Before Cape Coral
Long before the real estate market across the country skyrocketed, I was consistently among the top performers in my home state, where my husband and I had lived since the 1970s.
We spent time at yacht clubs and country clubs. We went from waterfront restaurant to waterfront restaurant. Our circle included attorneys, lenders, financial advisors, insurance brokers, and investors.
We were wined and dined, and we returned the favor in kind.
Our street-level boutique office in downtown Westerly, Rhode Island, was designed to look like an elegant living room, with a large conference area that felt more like a big ol’ dinner table…because it was.
The direction I gave our designer was simple:
“Make it Ethan Allen meets Pottery Barn, on the coast, and make it feel nothing like an office.”
We were only a few miles from Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island home, after all.
Our designer NAILED IT.
Our sphere of influence—and our clients—kept suggesting that we should open an office in Florida. Many of our clients were already buying here, and they trusted us because of our reputation, our experience, and the way we did business.
After a weekend trip to Cape Coral in May 2018 to visit clients who had sold in Connecticut and relocated here for work, we decided to do exactly that.
We bought a home, opened an office, joined the Chamber, and left everything and everyone we knew to start over.
Seven Years Later
Fast-forward seven years.
One morning, I finally admitted that what worked so well in Rhode Island was not working in Southwest Florida.
Cape Coral is a city I know and love, but it is also a crowded real estate market with an enormous number of licensed agents and a public that has every reason to be cautious.
I am not threatened by competition.
In fact, I welcome it.
What I learned, however, is that a real estate license alone does not automatically equal experience, local knowledge, strong ethics, transaction expertise, or genuine advocacy for a buyer or seller.
A buyer or seller deserves more than someone who can unlock a door, place a sign in the yard, or post a home online.
They deserve someone who understands the contract they are signing, the risks they may be taking, the local market conditions affecting their decision, and the details that can cost them money later.
They deserve someone who tells them the truth—even when the truth is not what they hoped to hear.
For seven years, I kept trying to figure out how to stand out in a profession that often struggles with public trust.
I know I am in real estate for all the right reasons. I have the expertise. I have the experience. I have the passion.
But how do you convey that message?
How do you help people recognize that you are genuine?
How do you set yourself apart without simply being louder than everyone else?
The Answer Was Not “More Real Estate”
The answer was not a new slogan, a prettier logo, or a louder social-media presence.
The answer was figuring out who I really am and allowing that to become the foundation of everything I do.
I am not just a real estate agent.
I am a connector.
I am someone who sees the value in people, places, businesses, experiences, and relationships. I care about this city. I care about the people who live here. I care about the people who are considering making this their home.
I am also an advocate.
I spend a great deal of time helping people avoid potentially costly decisions. I would rather talk a client out of the wrong house than push them into a transaction that does not serve them.
That is not always the fastest way to do business.
But it is the right way.
It Is Okay to Recreate Yourself
This rebrand is about more than a business.
It is about realizing that it is okay to recreate yourself in your 50s—or to admit that it took until your 50s to truly understand who you are and what you are meant to bring to the world.
In my case, Cape Coral helped me do that.
The incredible friends I have made here were telling me who I was all along.
I just needed to stop and listen.
Follow me as I deep dive into “finding myself,” the lessons I have learned, and the person—and business—I am becoming.
Next up: RE-imagining.