Hats off to our newly elected members of the board of directors! Each of these trailblazers has a unique story to tell, and we caught up with them to learn more about their journey and how it shaped them into the person they are today.
BRITTANY EDDY | Director-at-Large
Brittany was born in San Diego, CA, and moved to Columbus with her family as a child. She made the jump from law school to real estate five years ago and says she loves the ever-changing challenges of the industry – no day is the same. Brittany also enjoys being able to help everyone from first-time homebuyers to renovators looking to revitalize blighted properties. “Home means so much more than just an investment,” she says, “it’s where you grow up with neighbors and friends, it’s the community you create.”
Brittany is excited about the direction that Columbus REALTORS® is taking in 2021 and hopes to lend her voice to issues like sustainability and diversity. “I’m very good at being a connector and a bridge-builder,” Brittany says, and she looks forward to being able to connect with different communities and bring their perspectives into the conversation. She prides herself on being very approachable and inclusive, and she feels that “whether it’s someone who’s brand new and just got their license, or they’ve been in the industry for 20+ years, there’s something that we can all bring to the table.”
When it comes to her free time, Brittany says “I’m pretty simple.” She loves to travel, go for walks, and read, and she enjoys playing tennis. Lately, she’s been rereading Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming, and her favorite books include The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and The Alchemist. Brittany also likes to try new restaurants, including recent favorites like the Royce Gastropub and the Hen Quarter in Dublin. Something you wouldn’t expect about Brittany? She lived in Geneva, Switzerland and worked with the United Nations on women’s rights issues as a missionary for United Methodist Church.
Brittany currently lives in New Albany with her husband and two-year-old son.
BEN HEMMERT | Director 2021-2023
When Ben was eight years old, his family settled in Columbus, after having relocated four times in the preceding six years. The knowledge and friendliness of the family’s REALTOR® made a big impression on Ben.
As Ben sees it, there is no single blueprint for success in the real estate business: rehabbing, investing, property management, and commercial real estate all reward new agents who stick with it and have their clients’ best interests at heart.
For Ben, the key to success is ensuring his clients understand the purchase process. He sets expectations early, asks and answers questions, and educates his clients so that they can make the best decisions for their families. It’s no wonder Ben’s business is ninety-eight percent referral and repeat business (that’s right: 98%)!
If he hadn’t gone into real estate, Ben wonders if he might have become a teacher or a coach. He enjoys live sports and is delighted to be able to tune in to college and pro games again. A fan of the Columbus Crew (his kids play soccer), the Hemmert family has enjoyed hosting several of the Crew’s youth academy players.
Ben is proud of our Association’s innovations and excited to have a part in its future. He’s also bullish about the growth central Ohio is experiencing, and believes the market will continue to thrive, with or without the pandemic. He sees buyers “choosing to move home to Ohio and work virtually” to be closer to family and friends.
From his office window, Ben looks out on his children’s schoolyard. The bulletin board by the window is brimming with “thank you” cards from past clients. Close to family and close to friends: for Ben Hemmert, it’s a great way to run a business.
LARI MADOSKY SHAW | Director 2021-2023
In 2021, Lari Shaw will rejoin our Board of Directors. Having served with the board as a director in years past, Lari brings an incredible amount of experience to the position. She provided us an intimate look at her background in real estate and her projections of what lies ahead for the business.
Lari recounted her start in the business as a teacher looking to make ends meet. “I started off doing real estate part-time, but within about a year and a half, I quit my job as a teacher and started real estate full-time.” If she never became a realtor®, Lari thinks she would still find herself teaching today.
After years as a realtor®, Lari joined the Board of Directors. While she enjoyed her time on the board, she did not run again until this year. The reason she decided to rejoin? In her words: opportunity. “I saw lots of opportunities [to apply] my experience. I bring experience in sales volume. With the amount of volume that I see, I have a different picture on what agents need.”
And what agents need in the future will prove a central question for the Board of Directors in 2021. When asked about the future of the industry, Lari noted that “[the] job will become more streamlined. The customer will still be in need of our counsel. The job to get to that endpoint will be more efficient.” Lari related this to her surprise as a new agent when she realized just how many steps still existed even after the signing of a contract.
With this insight and experience, Lari will undoubtedly serve as an invaluable addition to the Board of Directors in 2021. We at In Contract look forward to seeing what the board accomplishes in the coming year.
SARAH MARTIE | Director 2021-2022
“Welcome to Real Estate! Which committees are you joining?” Sarah Martie was introduced to the wonderful world of real estate by her broker (a past Columbus REALTORS® president) at about the same time that she was introduced to the world of motherhood by her firstborn.
From the start, she knew that both new “enterprises” required that she jump in with both feet and her whole heart, and that is exactly what she did.
Sarah believes that there is always enough business to go around and that new agents benefit from finding and working their niche. She credits the mentorship of great REALTORS® and ongoing involvement with the Association as keys to her professional growth and encourages REALTORS® to share their know-how and time with others.
Sarah has worked with YPN, CORPAC Fundraising, Sales Awards, and the Government Affairs Committee, and has traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit with lawmakers. She witnessed the value of Columbus REALTORS®’ local lobbying efforts in the naming of real estate as an essential business in Ohio during the pandemic, while in other states business ground to a near halt.
Proud to see our Association adapting to new realities, as a new Director Sarah pledges to be engaged, inquisitive, and dedicated, and to bring fresh eyes to every challenge! She pledges to put her background in banking and small business at Chase, and her degree in marketing from Capital University, to good use.
Now the mother of two, Sarah’s guilty pleasures include streaming “The Crown” on Netflix (she lived outside London, UK as a child), and sipping Starbucks’ seasonal specialties. She enjoys vacationing in Cabo with her family and plans to go on a photo safari in South Africa someday. But most of all, Sarah would love to go Shark Cage Diving, and Shark Week is her favorite week of the year. Oh, yeah!
VANESSA SIMMONS | Director 2021-2023
Vanessa is passionate about increasing diversity and inclusion in our industry, not only in the clients we serve but in the agents we recruit.
And Vanessa does a lot of recruiting. “Asking people to uproot their lives, and trust that they’ll be ok” sounds like a hard sell. But in 2005 she “traded a position with a good income for a 100% commission job” in real estate. And she has never regretted it.
She believes customers should be able to find REALTORS® who understand them, come from their background, and can translate their needs and hopes into reality. This may take an ability to communicate in a second language, or it may merely require that REALTORS® hone their sensitivity to being able to truly hear what their clients are saying.
Vanessa believes education is the only way to increase satisfaction with real estate transactions – for buyers, sellers, and REALTORS®!
To familiarize the public with the home buying process and the role REALTORS® plays in successful closings, Vanessa volunteers to teach Homeport classes for middle- and low-income first-time buyers.
Vanessa knows that “the better we are, the better advocates we can be for our clients,” and in turn, “the more business we will have!” As a non-selling manager, she devotes much of her time to coaching new agents in best practices. Although she misses selling, “watching the lights come on” in their eyes is tremendously gratifying.
With grown children in Columbus, Las Vegas, Florida, and New York, Vanessa looks forward to plenty of family get-togethers in the coming year. She caught the travel bug with recent trips to Rome and Barcelona and hopes London will be her next international destination. Recent genealogical research suggests a trip to Ghana (West Africa) in the next few years, where she will continue tracing her family roots.
SHAUN SIMPSON | Director 2021-2023
Shaun is a local boy whose earliest memories are of walking new build job sites with his dad. In high school, he worked construction and dabbled in new home sales after college. Following a stint in Chicago’s industrial tech world, Shaun became a REALTOR® and found his calling.
A shy high-schooler, Shaun’s college experience awakened the gregarious and involved nature for which Shaun is known today. He sees his degree in Finance and Real Estate as opening the door - not just to closing deals, but to helping build relationships and communities.
Never one to sit still for long, Shaun says that the more he does, the more he can take on! With the aid of smart scheduling, super team members, and an early bedtime for his kids, he is energized by his work with the city of Powell, local business owners and groups, and opportunities to help plan future development in the Dublin-Powell area.
In his spare time, Shaun can be found golfing with his kids, at their soccer and b-ball games, at the pool, or at the movies. During the pandemic, he has invested in 11 streaming services and developed a fascination for Japanese cinema. The family’s six-year-old lab has been joined by a three-month-old pandemic puppy – a Westie whose mission is to keep them all on their toes!
Shaun is excited to join Columbus REALTORS® Board of Directors, having had a taste of the Board’s work as the appointed 2020 Director-at-Large. Having worked with YPN, REALTOR® Care Day, Corpac, and the Corpac Governing Board, Shaun firmly believes that “you don’t just bring a fork to a potluck!” He envisions Columbus REALTORS® & MLS becoming the top area resources for real estate and community information, and he is ready to roll up his sleeves to make it so!
EMILY OWENS | Affiliate Director
Emily has been an active affiliate member of Columbus REALTORS®, serving as a volunteer and coordinator for REALTOR® Care Day, as a member of the Residential Standard Forms Committee. She is going to make a great Affiliate Director.
Emily brings not only her energy but a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Before signing on as Corporate Counsel at Search2Close Title Company six years ago, Emily did policy work for seven years with the Ohio House of Representatives. She is also a member of the Bar Association’s Real Property Committee, which recommends and approves changes to the Columbus REALTORS® residential purchase contract, and she enjoys teaching continuing education classes – even via Zoom!
It is Emily’s hope that she can be a resource for Columbus REALTORS® and the Association Board of Directors. She would especially like to lend her support to the REALTOR® community and affiliate members by helping to increase and enhance professionalism and broaden the base of knowledge in the real estate community. She cites networking and relationship building, continuing education, and encouraging volunteer work as ways to increase professionalism, even if Zoom is the only way to bridge the gap.
A Youngstown native whose parents live in German Village, Emily feels right at home in Columbus. She is mom to four-year-old and eleven-month-old boys, and her husband is a restaurant and bar consultant, and a distributor of fine craft cocktail ice.
In her free time, Emily participates in a book club and looks forward to the day when she and her husband can continue their tradition of date nights out at their favorite restaurants, like Commune, on Parson’s avenue.
BOB McCARTHY | Broker Advisory Council Director
Bob brings a broad range of experience to his new position as Broker Advisory Council Director.
Over his 27 years in the business, Bob has been an agent, manager, and broker; and worked with small, medium, and large firms. His resumé includes serving on the Ohio REALTORS® and Columbus REALTORS® Board of Directors, and he’s also been an area association President.
Bob has served on just about every committee at Columbus REALTORS® and chaired quite a few, too! From Affordable Housing, Foundation Fundraising, and REALTOR® Care Day, to making the hard decisions on Professional Standards hearing panels, or helping approve the creation of the Benevolence Committee that has touched so many lives - every committee and so many committee members have enriched Bob’s understanding of what it is to be a REALTOR®.
It is this understanding, along with his willingness to take the time to consider issues from all perspectives, that will make Bob such an asset as Broker Advisory Council Director.
Looking forward, Bob believes that although how we do things may change, selling real estate is an emotional experience and a value proposition; clients will always need in-depth information and service that only well-informed REALTORS® can provide.
Bob often works from home these days, sharing internet bandwidth with his wife, law-school daughter, and high school daughter. Their miniature schnauzer, Rosie, makes sure the family gets in plenty of afternoon walks and ball-playing sessions.
A Cleveland native, Bob says he “moved South for the winter” to attend school – and decided to stay. As a kid, Bob says he cut grass for a REALTOR®, and after college decided to dabble in real estate on nights and weekends while working for OSU. After 18 months, he was more than hooked – he was successful. And the rest, as they say, was history!
