Tennis, Triathlons & Titles: My Endurance-Driven Leap into the Real Estate Profession

Enjoying a hard-earned beer after a race.

I’ve never been one to turn down a challenge.

In fact, when most people hesitate to start something new, I’m usually the first one asking where to sign. I guess that’s what drove me to sign on the “dotted” line in January ’95 and make the dreaded mid-year move from the University of Maryland College Park to Salisbury State.

Flashback to 1993, I was at my dream school. The place where I had always imagined myself graduating. The University of Maryland— Home of the Terrapins.

Looking back now, it’s a little ironic that I left a school where the mascot was a giant tortoise. And had I stayed there, I would have been just like that tortoise – walking around with my head in a shell.

Thankfully, something happened at the beginning of my Fall Semester in 1994 that kept me out of the slow lane.

I showed up for the walk-on tennis tournament completely on a whim. I think I saw a flyer advertising it outside of Cole Field House. The NCAA requires all Division I teams to have try-outs for non-scholarship athletes. I had played regularly over the summer to drop the dreaded Freshman 15. I figured it would be good to get some exercise in that weekend. I just wanted to play.

Side note: I was, however, a very experienced athlete. I had competed in everything (literally everything) under the sun growing up: field hockey, softball, basketball, swimming, gymnastics. You name it, I played it.  While I was by no means unprepared, I also wasn’t certain I would get anywhere. However, winning the tournament meant a sure-fire spot on the squad.

And guess what? I won.

Thrilled that I finally had something at Maryland to be excited about (I wasn’t having a great time at that point), I immediately called my old high school coaches, Fred and Holly. I had to share the good news. I was very surprised to hear their response.

“No, Courtney, don’t do it,” they told me. “Don’t even show up for a single practice.”

They went on to share a much better opportunity —one where I would actually play, not sit the bench. One where I would have an even better coach. A young, up-and-coming guy named John Browning who was shaking things up — in a good way. The only catch? It was at Salisbury State.

“We just think you should go down there and check it out,” they told me.

Of course, that’s what I did.

Browning and I hit it off during my first visit. I agreed to transfer on the spot. Just in case you’ve never met someone who has transferred from a Division I school to play a sport at another school, the paperwork is just as painful and tedious as what it takes to close on a new house. As it turns out, I was already preparing for my real estate life!

On top of that mess of paperwork, I had a really hard time transitioning to the new school.

The dorm I was placed in was more like a motel than a college dorm. My roommate had transferred to Salisbury that semester too. We had absolutely nothing in common and didn’t quite hit it off.

Thankfully, however, I had something to help me get through – Tennis.

Something I’ve realized in life is that when you have something important to focus on, everything else in your life seems to get better: your health, your grades, your attitude…everything. 

I was focused on the sport, not my own struggles. My one tough semester ended there. The rest of my time at Salisbury turned out to be a dream. In fact, it was at Salisbury where I met my future husband and my future best man (my roommates—a whole other story I’ll save for later).

Right after graduation, another great opportunity presented itself.

It was a job with Bell Atlantic (AKA: Verizon). My dad had worked there for years so it was a natural place to consider. It was the perfect place for a challenge-seeker like me to thrive.

Big companies like Verizon are fertile ground for someone who wants to grow in any direction they wish. That’s exactly what I did.

In 19 1/2 years, I conquered a lot at Verizon. I moved quite a few places too:  Annapolis, Wilmington, Middletown, Havertown, West Fenwick, and back to the Eastern Shore.

I don’t mind moving or working my way up from the bottom but, I always have to have something to reach for, a new goal to achieve.

There’s nothing wrong with staying in one position throughout your career. I meet people all the time who are happy in the same role for 20, 25 or 30 years. It turns out I wasn’t built that way. I was competing in triathlon and cycling, earning an MBA and climbing the corporate ladder at the same time.

I’m sure that right about now you’re wondering, “what does all of this have to do with real estate?”

Well, remember how I love challenges?

I thrived in sales at Verizon. I love solving problems—I got that from my Dad. Real estate seemed like the perfect fit. Since my Mom and Great Uncle had been in the business, I had a pretty good feeling I would be good at it.

My Mom carted me around to every model home in Howard and Anne Arundel Counties in the late 80s. I was even her Open House assistant on several occasions. We watched Mike Rowe’s Baltimore area real estate show every Sunday morning. I was fascinated by it.

After almost 20 years with Verizon and becoming the top salesperson worldwide in their Enterprise Solutions group, I decided to take the leap and go out on top!

I got my real estate license last February and started my business in April 2017.

It has been an incredible year already. I’ve learned so much. I’ve seen the good and ugly parts of the business all too soon. I know I have finally found an amazing team to work with.

I knew what it was like to work with both good and bad real estate agents, having moved so much in the past. I am determined to be the kind of agent who makes a difference. It is so fitting for me to help people find their dream home after achieving my own childhood dream.

Have you heard of Ferry Park before? It’s a quaint little beach on the Chesapeake Bay, where I grew up on the Eastern Shore.

From that little beach, you can see literally everything – all the way from Baltimore to the Key Bridge, the Bay Bridge to Annapolis and Kent Island. It’s a beautiful place. The kind of place that makes you promise you’ll end up back there someday.

After decades of life and challenges and growth, I did just that. You always end up back home.

I firmly believe that everybody deserves to chase their dreams. It is what life is all about. Just like my life made a pivotal turn after one phone call with my high school coaches, here I am in the middle of another one.

Whenever I meet a new client looking to make a move, I’m the first one in their corner.

I know it isn’t easy. Change is hard enough as it is. Add to that the stress of paperwork, contracts, negotiations and titles—it’s enough to make you want to dig in your heels and stay put.

Take it from me, the hurdles are worth jumping.