Voices of Women

We set the gold standard. I want people who can carry forward, who can lead the luxury real estate industry to new levels.

Always put the client first. Always do your personal best. We teach people how to listen. Technology supports what we do but the key is that real estate is a people-to-people business.

My original concept was to represent four or five very affluent people and take care of all their real estate transactions around the globe. I tried that and had a lot of interesting encounters, but nothing that would sustain a business. I was living in Lake Tahoe at the time and it was a real draw. I read Forbes Magazine and studied up on the 250 to 300 billionaires around at the time.  Focusing on them, I was able to make several great connections. When they found out I lived at Lake Tahoe they were interested in what was available.  And, there was no looking back.

At first, I worked with a few people and was focused on how I wanted to do business. My attention to the needs of others created trust. Constant communication provided knowledge and value to my clients. We never thought of just selling real estate. We provide a service that fills peoples' needs.

My determination to succeed. Looking back, I put myself in the forefront of selling luxury real estate when luxury was a word seldom used. I was determined to be the captain of the ship. I went all out. There was no rock left unturned in pursuit of a buyer for that property.  The owner had written a book - I sent a copy of his book to all the politicians and attorneys and in the state – it created a buzz and a buyer.

I was independent early on, even as a young kid. When I was 4 years old my parents were having an old lodge painted and I wanted to paint.  The painters told me I needed licence.  Next time we went to town, I escaped my Mom and found the City Hall, went in and asked for a licence. The Chief of Police gave me a paper and then delivered me back to my Mom.  I was always an achiever and love adventure. I always thought out of the box. I've gone to the base camp at Mount Everest. I've worked with Transamerica bringing Nigerian natives to the Hajj. I was one of the first Americans to enter China after Mao died.  Those experiences were so rewarding for me.  Just being in real estate and doing things the simple way like most people wasn't ever appealing to me.

My mother is a major inspiration in my life. She ran her own restaurant for many years. She started with nothing. I grew up with the attitude of "if you want it, you can go get it."

When you are encouraged, there's nothing you can’t do. I want to give that back to each person who works with us. We do that in lots of different ways. When you first start out you're a leader by example and then with time, you become a leader by empowerment.

Failure was never an option for me. When I went through my divorce, the divorce itself was easy. It was after the divorce that was hard. We had a huge business investment which involved friends and family, and we had a huge fire in our home. My husband fled from any of the responsibility and I had to carry the burden and was probably $5,000,000 in debt. I had to figure out how to survive and get out of that situation satisfying everyone’s needs.

I was focused and determined. I wasn’t ever going to fail and I wasn’t going to let anybody down who we had made promises to.

My Mom and three really very supportive step children. There were a lot of people who surrounded me with help. When you’re in dire straits the universe works in strange ways. I believe all that happened, happened for a reason. It taught me so much that I apply in my work today. When I first came to Lake Tahoe as my escape, I met a gal who was the broker at Lake Tahoe. She was transitioning out of real estate and was happy to teach me the ins and outs of the business. For a year she guided me on how to move forward with what I wanted to do. She taught me a lot about people and real estate in general - we would just chat a lot about life.

I really have the best of people surrounding me.  Early on I met this wonderful gal who worked for Harrah’s Entertainment. She had started her own business that was called SOS and was working for an affluent client of mine.  The minute I met her, I knew she had what it takes and asked her if she ever thought of going into real estate. Lo and behold she’s been with me ever since (17 years) and is corporate Vice president of our company today.

I have always been attracted to very unique and special people.  For many years, I wasn't looking to grow the company at all.  As things evolved and someone crossed my path that was great, we hired them, if not, we were still doing great. We have some amazing people working with us today.

When we decided to grow our company we hired Jon Cheplak. Jon paved the way for our expansion and has shown us different ways to achieve what we wanted. I love to learn and listen and I think Jon is one of those people you can gain a lot from. He's given us a whole different direction. Even though we were as different as night and day, we soon took the best from each other and have achieved great things.

I don't. There are some but there aren't as many as women.

I think women were really the first to get into the luxury market.  Women are good listeners. They're caring. They can multitask.  Most successful women have tenacity. They’ve got a vision and they're going to achieve it. I think they have more style.

One special network stands out and has had an impact on my outlook. I've really grown from being part of a brain trust of seven independent women who own brokerages in the luxury market. Kind of like a sisterhood in a way. We meet twice a year bringing all of our managers to a two and a half day event of critiquing and sharing ideas. Very special.

Highly reputable. Driven. Make it happen. Demanding the best. I have different visions.  My beat is to a different drummer.  I like the path that hasn't been walked and I tend to like people like that too.

Stand by your values. Be truthful. Be strong and never say no. You can do it.

Click to email Shari