Family-Minded Ideas
Sarah Messali, 29, MRP, SRES, e-PRO, owned a small nutrition consulting business when she decided to “go bigger.” She got her real estate license and, five years later, opened her own brokerage. With a 3-year-old son and a daughter on the way, Messali specializes in working with growing families like her own. Reliant on word-of-mouth marketing to generate business, she finds the little things she does for clients make a big difference, like scheduling extra time between home tours to stop on the road for snacks or diaper changes. Messali keeps in touch with past clients by inviting them to quarterly get-togethers at a local brewery. Her efforts are noticed: Readers of the local Union-Tribune newspaper voted Messali the best real estate agent in San Diego for 2015. “It took a leap of faith to completely change career paths, but I am so happy I did,” she says.