Seven yearSHONTELL RUCKER, 29
Broker-Owner
Rekcur Properties
Houston, TX
Rucker bought her first home after her pastor told her it would be a prudent investment. "Although I was young and felt overwhelmed, I educated myself with the help of a good salesperson," she says. The experience inspired her to get her real estate license. She founded her company three years ago to gain greater work flexibility and provide education to her clients, including single African-American women who sometimes need extra help to improve their credit and plan how to attain homeownership, says Rucker. She closed $16.3 million in sales in 2005. To expand her reach, she's now learning Spanish and sign language.
Family business: Rucker and her husband Alfred, a mortgage broker, also operate mortgage lending and advertising firms, which they promote along with their real estate business on billboards under the Rucker Inc. corporate umbrella.
Balanced approach: With two sons, 9 and 13, Rucker carefully schedules her work week and keeps weekends free for family and herself. But she also sets aside time for her spiritual side. "It may sound like a cliche, but when things get to me, I meditate."
LORIEAL GREEN ABR®, 28
Associate Broker
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Smyrna, Ga.
With an MBA in marketing, Green was all set to conquer corporate America when love intervened. She moved to Atlanta to marry her college sweetheart but couldn’t find a job that clicked. Prompted by her father, a successful sales associate with Continental, REALTORS®, in Memphis, Tenn., Green found freedom through real estate. One year later, she was her company’s rookie of the year; two years after that, in 2006, she closed $9 million in sales.
Goal to be the boss: Her success as a salesperson hasn’t dissuaded Green from her eventual goal of owning a brokerage. “I want to keep it small, maybe 10 associates,” she says. “I also want “to continue to invest. I own four houses; it’s a fantastic way to build wealth.”
Fairness for foreclosures: Although she’s carved out a place in Georgia’s burgeoning foreclosure market, getting 66 percent of her business from helping investors purchase preforeclosures and bank-owned properties, she says, “I don’t want to be perceived as someone who’s just trying to make the sale. My motto is ‘Do Unto Them as They Would Have You Do Unto Them.’”