In 5th grade I found a way to determine which baseball players were included in unopened packs, then price them accordingly, and sell to my friends.  This might have been my first business.  Later ventures included delivering split firewood stacked in the location of your choice, lots of mowing yards, odd jobs, and barn cleaning.  The demand for young people to hone their skills on hard work was strong and I jumped at every opportunity.  

 

In 2003 my mother was operating a small, but successful, greenhouse business.  With a vision for growth, I partnered with her.  Ultimately we expanded to 20,000 square feet of greenhouses, 3 stores, and a design/build landscape company.  At one point we grew to 35 employees and topped that 1,000,000 revenue mark.  When the economy took a drastic downturn in 2008, things changed.  We worked endless hours with no pay in an attempt to “right the ship” for the people who counted on us but came to realize that the business had failed.  You read a lot about the past failures of successful people but it’s tough when it's your story.

 

With the growth of the internet, a willingness to move anywhere, and little desire to own a business, I found Century 21 on Monster.com.  A late Saturday night personality test led to a Monday morning phone call.  This turned into a meeting and my opportunity to affiliate with the leading real estate company in Southern Ohio.  

 

Century 21 Empire Realty, S.E. was started April 1, 1989 with a commitment to providing a higher level of service to real estate customers than what existed in this area.  The realization that our clients are counting on us to help them through the largest financial decision of their lives led to crazy numbers of working hours and missed family functions.  This level of service also results in lots of emotion as we experience the highs and lows of every transaction right along with our clients.  

 

On January 2, 2015 Monster.com ultimately led to our next business venture.  We slid a check across a conference room table and in turn took over the reigns of this 25 year old company that was built on excellence, dedicated to pride in our community, and sold on the fact that southern Ohio is a great place to live, work, and play.  

So here we are...dedicated to developing top notch real estate agents to help clients from first-time home buyers to empty nesters successfully make their next real estate move.