Colleen is a ninth generation Californian. She is a graduate of
She has been a REALTOR® since 1978, and a partner in RE/MAX Valley Properties since 1980. She has several professional designations, including CRB, CRS, ABR, and LTG.
Colleen has served and chaired many committees at the California Association of Realtors, was Treasurer in 2004-05, and is currently President-elect. She is a Director for Life and a N.A.R. Director. She has served as Chairman of the Marketing Forum at N.A.R. and is on the national MLS committee; she will vice-Chair that committee in 2007.
She and her husband and business partner, Dennis, live in
I have a Masters degree in education and had career aspirations in education. I was a teacher for about twelve years and taught in the gifted and talented program. I was the coordinator of the program and taught in three different schools in our school district. When
My father-in-law was a real estate broker in
I had been involved for about twenty years with the state association when the President at the time, of what is now the Santa Clara County Real Estate Board, asked if I would chair the education committee. Since that required being a director at the state association I became involved there.
I still do a little sales myself and bring to the table the perspective of a medium-sized company in
My mother certainly. She was always a professional woman. She was a journalist. I was raised in an environment where there was no thought that you couldn’t do something because of your gender. That was never an issue.
Diana Bull, a Past President of the California Association of REALTORS®, was another role model for me. She was more of a mentor to me. She gave me the opportunity to establish myself in real estate. Once you establish a reputation, finding other opportunities is not as difficult.
Get a good education and use it.
I met my husband while in high school through speech and debating. He was my competitor. We dated for about six years before we got married. My husband and I are both involved in the company. He is the managing broker while I work on the educational part and handle marketing and the sales development. We have two children – one of each -- and four grandchildren.
Balancing my personal and business life. Because either one – particularly the business one – can get out of control if you let it. When my youngest daughter went off to college I filled the gap and let the business take over. I think the biggest challenge was regaining a work/life balance so that I could focus on fewer things and move forward which included making more of a contribution at the state level.
Sometimes better and sometimes not so well. Both my kids were very involved in sports. I was a soccer mom before it was even a term. Lots of time I used my kids’ activities as an opportunity to network. We used to laugh that out of every carpool I got a listing or a sale! I just held things together with a fairly structured schedule so that I could balance out family and personal time.
Well, I don’t play golf. I’m not even a good golf-cart driver. It’s just not my way of bonding with people. I just try get to know people and take an interest in what they do.
I garden, I grow vegetables and flowers. I have a pretty big piece of dirt. I like to travel. I go to
“She showed up and played hard.”
Optimistic. Focused. Compassionate.
I’m become increasingly selective about where I can make a contribution, where I can leverage my own ability to contribute the most. I was never worried about the length of my résumé. It’s the depth of the contribution that matters.
