In this next installment of the Female Founders series on Union Street Media’s YouTube Channel, Rachel Allard, Senior Vice President of Strategy spoke with Shayne Hollifield, Owner, Broker and Co-Founder of Noble & Company Realty, serving Western North Carolina and South Carolina. Hollifield and her co-founder, Mary Noble Braden, describe themselves as farm-house living, get-our-boots-dirty women who rely on their intuition, strong drive for connections with their clients, and their 20 years of experience in the market to help buyers and sellers. Click the video above to watch the full interview. 

When Shayne Hollifield turned 50 years old, she decided she was going to change career paths and do something she was interested in. Inspired by friends already in real estate, Hollifield quit her salaried job and became an assistant to her now business partner, Mary Noble. 

Being in the industry while getting her license and being mentored by Noble put Hollifield at an advantage in the industry. “There’s a lot of things that you just cannot learn in school, you have to experience them,” states Hollifield. 

“I feel like as women you have intuition and you shouldn’t ignore that because that helps us a lot in our business.” –Shayne Hollifield

Another advantage Hollifield has is that because Noble & Company Realty is a small firm, they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which makes working together more efficient. She believes having a small company is good and “sets us apart because we do work as a team — a lot of people don’t.” In fact, the rise of teams within the industry over the past few years especially is a testament to this.

When asked what changes they’ve had to make due to the pandemic, Hollifield says that they only had to make some minor changes because they were already doing much of what they needed to. For example, Hollifield and her team had already been doing video tours for all of their listings, simply to ensure the best customer experience.

Touching on how technology has helped them this year, Hollifield says that they adapted to video conferencing to keep in touch with their clients, especially those living out of state. “It’s always good for them to be able to see you and know who they’re talking to,” she explains. Hollifield also notes that because everyone is online even more, clients are more aware of the market. “It sort of streamlines [the process] and by the time they get ready to talk to a realtor, they sort of know what they’re looking for,” she says. 

In their market, like in many others throughout the country, there are more buyers than sellers, resulting in a strong and steady market, though a competitive one. Hollifield and the team work with a lot of buyers from out of state who rely on them to tell them what the area is like. “There are some things that you can’t figure out from a map,” she says. Clients frequently inquire about hiking spots, lakes, and breweries, and how remote areas are. They’ve also done things to put sellers at ease about showing their homes, and help them understand the opportunity the current market provides. In addition to sharing their market expertise, they’ve focused on personal touches like putting out baskets with masks and sanitizer in homes they’re showing.

Noble & Company Realty also prides themselves on being honest and upfront with their clients in order to build trust, an element that’s even more essential during a time of such uncertainty. “If you have your client’s best interest at the forefront, then it sort of all falls in place,” Hollifield explains. 

When asked what she wants to achieve for the future of Noble & Company Realty, Hollifield says that “being a new business, we need that exposure” and they plan to work on their social media presence. They launched a brand new website in 2020 that really showcases the lifestyle elements of their company and why they’re in the real estate business. And they know people will continue to leverage digital to find homes, communicate with each other, and even more than last year, transact sight unseen. Another goal they have is to expand into specialty areas and branch out further. 

Whatever the goal, new challenge, or opportunity, Hollifield is looking forward to what’s next. Her advice to others is “if you find something that doesn’t feel like work, you should stick with it if it makes you happy.” She adds, “find what you like doing – if you like working with sellers,  buyers, you know lake property, whatever it may be – find that and stick with it.” And don’t be afraid of taking a leap, like Hollifield has done over and over since changing careers. “I didn’t think that I would be able to do this interview with you,” Hollifield laughs, “but I was like, ‘you know what? I’m just gonna do it.’” You “can’t be afraid,” she concludes.

To learn more about Shayne Hollifield and Noble & Company Realty visit: https://nc-realty.com/ 

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